Solemnity of Corpus Christi

06-06-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

In the first reading, the blood of animals seals the old covenant. In the Gospel, the blood of Jesus Christ seals the new covenant. The Holy Eucharist is the sacrifice of the new covenant where His flesh is real food, and His blood is true drink, the cup of salvation.

Before the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified: He asks His Apostle to prepare the Passover meal. The Jews celebrate the Feast of the Passover annually to commemorate their liberation from Egypt. The law requires all adult male Jews to go to Jerusalem; for this reason, Jesus went to Jerusalem together with His disciples. They follow the ritual of the celebration called the Passover Seder, similar to the Catholic Eucharistic Celebration.

After the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses informs the people about the Laws from God. The people all agree to follow and obey the Laws of God and live by these Laws. Whatever God commands, they will follow. Then, Moses performed the ritual of ratification by sprinkling the blood of animals on the people. From that time on, the people of Israel became a covenanted people.

In the much older covenant, people offer bread and wine from their first fruit as a sign of sacrifice and thanksgiving to the creator. This sacrifice received a new significance after the Exodus by eating unleavened bread during the Passover meal: in commemoration of their haste departure from Egypt. The manna in the desert serves as a reminder for the Jews of how God takes care of their physical needs by sending bread from heaven. In the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Eucharist that gave a new and definitive meaning to the sacrifice of the bread and wine.

In context, the institution of the Eucharist during the Passover meal gives it a richer meaning. After the Last Supper, Jesus, Passover to the Father: Jesus passing over to His Father by His death and resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the Kingdom. (CCC 1340)

With the new Passover, unlike the old Passover, more than its commemorative ritual or celebration is its expiatory aspect. The second reading sites the expiatory effect of the Eucharist. The sprinkling of the blood of animals in the Temple worship does not remove or forgive sins because only the blood of Jesus Christ is the ransom for all our sins.

As Catholics, we highly value the celebration of the Eucharist: Body and Blood of Christ. For us, the Eucharist relates to our birth, life, journey, sufferings, sins, struggles, death, and most importantly, our salvation. How do we prepare ourselves fully to participate worthily and meaningfully in the Eucharist?