CORPUS CHRISTI SUNDAY, YR B: REFLECTION BY FR JULIAN EKEH

THEME: TAKE; EAT, DRINK, AND ADORE

(Mark 14:12–16.22–26)

Today, the Church calls on us to pay attention to the Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus offers Himself to us. He replaces the old covenant and makes Himself the centre of all we do as Christians. He gives us to eat. He gives us to drink. Let us, therefore, pay attention to the message of our Lord Jesus Christ hidden behind the Eucharist. Let us allow the Eucharist to influence all we do. Let us adore forever The Most Holy Sacrament.

THE HOLY SACRIFICE

The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is celebrated every day since its institution by Jesus Christ except on Good Friday. It is the Holy Eucharist, it is the Holy Mass. It is the source and summit of our Christian faith. It is the greatest sacrifice made by Christ, the High Priest, and commanded to be carried out in His memory in perpetuity. It is the New and Everlasting Covenant. It is not like those of the Priests of the old covenant made with the blood of bulls and calves. It is a pure, unblemished Sacrifice made by Christ Himself to His Father. A sacrifice that made God wipe away the sins of mankind. It is, therefore, an invitation by God for us to participate in His Holiness. It is a Sacrifice that wipes away our attachments to the devil. In it, we enjoy on earth what awaits us in the heavenly banquet. Thus, Jesus takes us up to where He has prepared for us to dine with Him. Let’s therefore know:

WHY WE MUST EAT AND DRINK

It was within the context of the Passover meal that Jesus Christ took over the Jewish celebration and made it an eternal, salvific, and redemptive celebration. Thus, it brought about a new beginning.

We must eat for strength to journey on, to overcome temptations, to live in God and God in us, to make heaven. We must eat and make our flesh and blood one with the Lord. We must eat to share in the life of Christ and be able to become what we eat. We must eat because our battle has been fought and won by Christ. We must eat and drink for fortification against principalities and powers. When we eat and drink, we proclaim the death of Christ until He comes again in glory. We eat and look forward to the coming of God’s kingdom. We eat in order not to hunger for perishable food. When we fail to eat from the table of the Lord, the enemy of the Lord presents his unholy food to stop us from the Holy Communion.

WHY WE FAIL TO TAKE

The Lord stretches out His hands to give us. But we seem not to open our hands to receive. Why? Sin. Because of the sacredness of the Body and Blood of Christ, it is required that it must be taken in the right disposition; state of grace. To stop us from participating in this gracious meal, temptation takes us to those sins we have denounced for which Jesus paid the greatest price on the altar of the Cross. Thus, we are made to still be owing when, from His side, Jesus paid for us and set us free.

We fail to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ when we adamantly receive Christ in the State of mortal sin. In this situation, Jesus will be giving another thing while we receive another. He will be giving life, and the individual will be receiving death. May this never be our case.

We starve ourselves of the blessings that flow from the Holy Communion when we fail to take the Sacrament of Reconciliation seriously.

But when we receive Jesus in a pure heart, we feel peace and joy, we become tabernacles of the Most High. We become abodes of the Holy Spirit. We move about carrying Jesus to people around us. We indeed become mobile monstrances showing Jesus to the world. We live in appreciation of the Eucharistic Lord.

ADORE

After eating in the African context, appreciation follows. The appreciation is not just done collectively. In Igbo land, all the children will individually say: ‘Mma/ mpa, I meela’, ‘I shiela’, ‘mma mma’ ; “Thank You”. This is because: Ekelee onye akidi, ya agwota ozo (It is right to give thanks and praise).

This is indeed what we do in adoration. After receiving the Holy Communion, adoration is evoked. In adoration, we thank and praise the Eucharistic Jesus for His love and for feeding us. We listen to Him speak to our hearts. We observe a reverential and meditative silence. It is not a time for empty noise. It is not a time to chat and discuss. It is not a time to be absent-minded. It is a time to live in the presence of The Immanuel, who is the Real Presence. It is a time to be convinced by the words: I am with You till the end of time, He who eats me lives in me and I in him etc.

May God bless this word in our hearts and make it take flesh to abide within us.

LET US PRAY

Thank You, Jesus, for the wondrous gift of Yourself in the Holy Eucharist. As we receive Your Body and Blood, help us to be united to You in soul and body. May we become what we eat. May we live in adoration of Your abiding presence and be brought to enjoy the vision of Your glory in heaven where you live and reign forever and ever. Amen

Happy Sunday/ Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Yr. B)

Rev Fr Julian O Ekeh