The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

Today is another major feast in the Church’s liturgical calendar: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally known as Corpus Christi. It is a fantastic opportunity to contemplate the fulfillment of one of Christ’s most consoling promises at the end of the Gospel of Matthew: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Though we take many things in our faith for granted, it has been my experience that if there is one thing that I (and I believe most Catholics) am consistently grateful for, it is the Eucharistic presence of Christ in our Catholic Churches. From early on in my childhood until now, that red flame signaling the presence of Christ has always stirred up such great consolation within me. It signals to me that I am home, and that I am not alone, and that I never will be alone in one of our churches. It is such a mystery how our God would have ever thought of giving us such a bizarre and astonishing gift. 

There are a couple approaches in grasping this mystery. In the western Church we like our realities analyzed and explained. We tend to want to understand everything in detail. I am one of those who want to understand everything! But, however good it is to understand as much as we can about this and other mysteries, I think we have much to learn from our Eastern Christian brethren and today’s Gospel. Jesus proclaims quite an amazing statement: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Now after a statement like this my tendency, much like the Pharisees in the Gospel, is to analyze! What is he talking about?... “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?!” But I need to tell myself, no, wait. Before beginning to analyze, let me first just have faith, as I once did as a child. Remember who is saying this—the Christ, the Son of the Living God. There is something special about this particular mystery which I believe God would like us to accept with a trusting heart just as Peter does when everyone else left Jesus because of this revelation: “To whom shall we go,” Peter says to Jesus, “You have the words of everlasting life.”

Michael Gokie