CORPUS CHRISTI – B
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Almost every religion has rituals through which the people
aspire to connect with a deity. These
rituals are set of man-made
prayers/incantations and actions/dances which express the longing of humanity
to reach out to the divine. What makes
Christianity unique is in its liturgy which is expressed in the celebration of
the Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ.
On the night before Jesus died, he celebrated the First Mass
through the Last Supper which would be an anticipation of the great sacrifice
he would be offering on the cross.
During the Last Supper, he offered himself in the form of bread and wine
which will would be his body and blood on the cross. Therefore he was the High Priest and at the
same time the Victim being offered in one continuous event of the Last Supper
and the Crucifixion. This is the mystery
of the Corpus Christi (Body and Blood of Christ) in the Holy Eucharist.
1.
It
is a SACRIFICE! While the sacrifices of
all other religions are made by man, our sacrifice is one, ultimate and
unrepeated offered by God-man Jesus. It
sanctifies the cosmos, humanity and each individual person as it transforms all
worldly realities unto the realm of the divine.
When we celebrate the Eucharist, we do NOT repeat the sacrifice of Jesus
but rather we re-live it and make it present so that we can still participate
in that salvific event even if it happened two thousand years ago. The sanctuary is transformed into Calvary; the cross stands now as the altar of redemption; the bread and wine are
transformed into the Body and Blood and the High Priest is now the ordinary man
celebrating the mass. In the unfolding
of this great sacrifice of which we part, the Word becomes flesh once
again: "This is my Body…."
2.
It
is FOOD! Jesus fully understands the
nature of man and its basic needs so he bequeathed himself to humanity in the
form of food. As compared to ordinary
foods, his Body and Blood is for spiritual nourishment. It is the fruit of man’s offering (bread and
wine) to God that is given back,
transformed (Body and Blood of Christ) and transforming those who are
participating on it (the Mystical Body of Christ). In our communion of this heavenly food, we
become one with Christ and with one another as companions (cum = with; panis =
bread) on the journey!
3.
It
is a SACRAMENT! Instituted at the Last
Supper and fulfilled on the cross, the Body and Blood of Jesus continue to
confer grace to humanity. It is the
sacrament of the God’s love beyond understanding expressed in divine
self-emptying (kenosis) so that man may have fullness of life (pleroma).
The Body and Blood of
Christ is God’s overflowing and excessive charity which is beyond measure. This is the boundless God whom we encounter
(liturgy) and partake (communion) as he continues to transform us unto the
image of Jesus Christ!
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