Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 2 June 2013 - Corpus Christi

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The Body and Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi)

One of the hallmarks of my own early upbringing as a northern English Catholic was the vibrant history, told to us of the recusant Catholic community who (to misquote a famous hymn) 'braved dungeon, fire and sword' to uphold the Catholic faith and a particular focus on the celebration of the Mass.

At the heart of this ancestral faith community was a deep devotion to the presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements, what we know and call the ‘Blessed Sacrament’. This is one of the more ancient Roman Catholic traditions, the Eucharistic elements consecrated and received at Mass are also reserved, that is kept in a suitable container and placed what is often called a tabernacle or aumbry in a fixed place, primarily for the communion of the sick but secondly for veneration and devotion.

This devotion has a long history and has gone through various shifts from an accent on Communion for the sick and dying ( the ancient Church until early middle ages) to a more focused devotion to the presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements ( Middle Ages right up until the twentieth century), which became prominent as the practice of regular communion decreased, and more recently on more frequent Communion and in both kinds, that is consecrated bread and wine.

The feast of Corpus Christi recognizes the importance of all these elements but brings us back sharply into a proper theological focus. As recent Popes from Pius XI onwards have often said, reception of Communion is intimately tied to the actual Mass celebrated and that is the central focus of the feast, the transformation of ordinary foodstuffs into the real life of God in Christ.

Paul in the second reading talks about the handing on of a mystery that Christ continues to feed his people with his own life, his spiritual and intimate presence in the form of bread and wine. This is certainly what our Gospel tells us, the miracle of Christ feeding others continues in the mystery of the Eucharist where we are fed with food of salvation!

I made my first Holy Communion on the feast of Corpus Christi as did my brothers and sisters after me and countless other Catholic children have done and will do, this is feast of the loving kindness of Christ who makes sure we are continually nourished with his presence. As we receive the Body and Blood of Christ we are not only entering into a deep and intimate relationship with him, but we are also being built up into the living mystical body of Christ.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain.