This Sunday is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord. Traditionally it was referred to as the Feast of Corpus Christi. In different parts of the world, following a solemn Mass, the Eucharistic host was carried in the streets in a gold monstrance while the faithful walked in procession behind the priest. The feast has its origins in the Middle Ages when Western and Central Europe were largely Catholic, and devotion to Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament was at its apex.

The feast invites us to reflect on Christ present in his body and blood. On the night before he died, Jesus took bread, said the traditional Jewish blessing, broke the bread and said the words, “This is my body.” He distributed the consecrated bread, now transformed into his body, to his apostles who ate it. He similarly blessed a cup of wine, pronounced the words “This is my blood,” and passed the cup to the apostles who drank from the cup. Then he said the words, “Do this in memory of me.” That instruction is carried on in the celebration of the Mass. We consume his body and blood and remember his death and resurrection.

In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John we read that Christ told the crowd of his followers that they must eat his body in order to have eternal life. St. John tells us that many of those following Christ were scandalized by this, and left him for good. Today there are still many Christians who do not believe that the bread and wine really become the body and blood of Christ. The feast that we celebrate on Sunday reminds us of the significance of the Holy Eucharist for our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, while it also reminds us of the promise he gives to us of eternal life.

At Villanova College our monthly community celebration of the Mass punctuates our academic year and offers us all the grace of truth, unity and charity which lies at the heart of our common life.

Have a blessed weekend and summer,
Fr. Robert Dodaro