Sunday, June 14, 2020

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Essential and cosmic


Father Richard's words for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Readings: Click here

The Eucharist - essential and cosmic


The Eucharist is essential to life. This truth is clear from Our Lord’s words in today’s Gospel: “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you will not have life in you.” The celebration of the Eucharist, then, is the most important action which happens in the whole universe today. It is not merely an act of worship stemming from a “private” faith of individual Catholics (which is how it is portrayed by our civil authorities). Rather, the Mass is necessary for the salvation of the whole world.

The greatest of all Sacraments that we give thanks for today is the way in which God the Creator of the Universe has chosen to continue to be truly, substantially, physically present to his creatures. Fruits of creation – from the vine and the earth – are turned into the Lord’s Body and Blood by the words and actions of priests who imitate Christ the Head and Shepherd of the Church. Whenever the Mass is celebrated – even as, at the moment, privately by Canon Michael or myself – Christ the God-man truly becomes present in the Yorkshire Dales. God has the power and the dominion to come down from heaven to earth to His creation – and no authority can stop Him.

Nothing on the face of the earth, then, is comparable to the Eucharistic mystery. The Sacrament of Sacraments cannot be for one moment equated on the same level in society as shops, cinemas or concerts. It isn’t even on the same level as earthly food and drink – although, of course, these are essential for survival and for bringing people together in fraternity. Christ our Eucharist, rather, is the Living Bread which has come down from heaven to sustain us; to bring us closer to God and each other in charity; and be the food for our journey to eternal life.

Even when Mass is celebrated privately by the priest, “it is an act of Christ and His Church”. As Saint Paul VI taught, “such a Mass brings a rich and abundant treasure of special graces to help the priest himself, the faithful, the whole Church and the whole world toward salvation…” [Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, 32] Another saint of the Eucharist, Saint John Paul II, described the “cosmic” significance of the Eucharist: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation.” [John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 8]

In truly believing what the Church celebrates today, we therefore believe that the Eucharist is not simply important for us, but essential for all of creation. On this year’s celebration of Corpus Christi, I’m sure you can be in solidarity with the famished people of Israel in today’s first reading. You know what, or rather Who, the Food of Eternal Life is, but you haven’t been able to receive Him for three months. We know the Church only requires the faithful to receive Holy Communion once a year at Easter (though even this duty was dispensed with this year). But we know, in our lifetime, the Church has strongly encouraged a frequent, even daily, reception. You may feel like the Israelites wandering through the wilderness, wondering when you’ll be able to receive the Bread of Life again. But when we’re deprived of the most important reality in our lives, indeed in the whole world, it should deepen our hunger for it and love of it.

To satisfy, in part, that hunger, with give thanks to God that one of our churches (St Joseph’s in Richmond) is able to open safely tomorrow and each day between 9-10am. I encourage you to come if you’re able. Why? Because here Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. Behind the veil of the tabernacle, Christ our Eucharist waits for us and longs for us to be with Him.

Jesus remains in the tabernacle “like a prisoner of love”, so says St Peter Julian Eymard, the 19th century French Catholic priest named by John Paul II as ‘apostle of the Eucharist’. He says Christ “is a prisoner of love, so that we can show our love to Him and gain the graces all of us and our families so badly need…”*

Let us keep in fervent prayer the swift return to a safe celebration of public Mass, where you’ll be able to receive the greatest Gift of life. Until then, rejoice in coming to see Christ in the Tabernacle. As St Peter Eymard says: “He is here awaiting our visit, and He rejoices when we come to Him.”*

Reference
[*St Peter Julian Eymard, quoted in Rawley Myers, The Saints show us Christ: Daily Readings on the Spiritual Life, (Ignatius Press: San Francisco, 1996), entry for ‘November 5’.]

No comments:

Post a Comment