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Body and Blood of Christ (B)

June 02, 2024

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Kyrie

Gloria

Collect

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament
have left us a memorial of your Passion,
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of your redemption.
Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

FIRST READING Exodus 24:3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 116:12-13 / 15-16 / 17-18

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

SECOND READING Hebrews 9:11-15

Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come. He passed through the greater and perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 He entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God! 15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

SEQUENCE

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today before you set:

From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.

Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.

Here the new law’s new oblation,
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:

Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.

What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne’er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:

Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow’r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life.

Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.

When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That each sever’d outward token
doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.

Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

ALLELUIA

GOSPEL Mark 14:12-16,22-26

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 13 So Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16 So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. 22 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Catena Nova

[At the Last Supper] Christ spoke of the blood of the new covenant, that is of the promise, the new law. He had promised long before that the new covenant would be ratified by his blood. As the old covenant had been ratified by the blood of sheep and calves, so the new covenant was to be ratified by the blood of the Lord. Thus, by speaking of his covenant and by reminding them that the old covenant had also been inaugurated by the shedding of blood, he made known to them that he was soon to die. And he told them once again the reason for his death in the words, “This is my blood, which is poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins and, Do this in memory of me....” As Moses had said, “This shall be for you an everlasting memorial,” so now the Lord says, “Do this in memory of me until I come.” This is why he also says, “I have longed to eat this passover,” meaning, “I have longed to hand over to you these new rites, and to give you the passover which will turn you into people moved by the Spirit (St. John Chrysostom).

It came into my mind that God has created bountiful waters on the earth for our use and our bodily comfort, out of the tender love he has for us. But it is more pleasing to him that we accept for our total cure his blessed blood to wash us of our sins, for there is no drink that is made which pleases him so well to give us. For it is the most plentiful, as it is most precious, and that through the power of the blessed divinity. And it is of our own nature, and blessedly flows over us by the power of his precious love. The precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as truly as it is most precious, so truly is it most plentiful. Behold and see the power of this precious plenty of his precious blood. It descended into hell and broke its bonds, and delivered all who were there and who belong to the court of heaven. The precious plenty of his precious blood overflows all the earth, and it is ready to wash from their sins all creatures who are, have been and will be of good will. The precious plenty of his precious blood ascended into heaven in the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is flowing there in him, praying to the Father for us, and this is and will be so long as we have need. And furthermore, it flows in all heaven, rejoicing in the salvation of all mankind which is and will be there, and the filling up the number which is lacking (Julian of Norwich).

The New Testament was ratified with the blood of a rational man, and of that man who was also God, that is to say, with the blessed blood of our holy Saviour himself. And that self-same blood did our Lord here give unto his apostles in this blessed sacrament, as he plainly declared himself, saying: This is my blood of the New Testament, or: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood which shall be shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. When our Lord said this, he declared therein the efficacy of the New Testament above the old, in that the old Law in the blood of beasts could only promise the remission of sin that was to come later. For as Saint Paul says: It was impossible that sin should be taken away by the blood of brute beasts. But the new Law with the blood of Christ does perform the thing that the old Law promised, that is, the remission of sin And therefore our Saviour said: This is the chalice of the New Testament in my blood – that is, to be confirmed in my blood – which shall be shed for the remission of sins. His words also declared the wonderful excellence of this new blessed sacrament above the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, in these words: For you and for many. For in these words our Saviour spoke, says Saint Chrysostom, as though he meant to say: The blood of the paschal Lamb was shed only for the first-born among the children of Israel, but this blood of mine shall be shed for the remission of the sin of all the whole world (St. Thomas More).

The Son of God has descended from Heaven, he was humbled, he laboured, he suffered he became subject to death, and died on the cross, for our Salvation- these are striking testimonies of his love, but he so willed it says the Prophet that all his benefits should be concentrated in one, which is contained in the heavenly food he has prepared for us. No his love was not exhausted, it was not even satisfied by all that he had done and suffered for us; he yet would do something more. It was finished, heaven was appeased, our Sins were expiated, and Hell shut up, and though all seemed accomplished, the tender love of our Divine Saviour still invented a new work, to recommence again all he had done and if it may be so said to recommence it again at every moment. Yes, Dear Brethren, in this Sacrament Jesus Christ incarnates himself anew, he again buries himself in the obscurity of his hidden and innocent life, again he instructs, and models his disciples, again he is exposed to the hatred and fury of his enemies again he suffers, again he dies. Thus the holy Fathers have called this Sacrament the extension and continuation of the Incarnation- therefore it may be justly said that in this sacrament is reunited the All the Wonders of his Mercy (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton).

Come and drink of the chalice the Lord offers you; it is full of so delicious a draught that once you have touched it to your lips you will want to drain the cup. Come; here you will find the way that leads to true sorrow of soul, to the holy anguish of zeal which is no longer a penance but a grace. Come, come to rest on the sacred tree of the Cross; come, under its crimsoned boughs, take your delight and feed on its fruit; come and hide from the pursuit of the enemy of salvation; come and see from experience how sweet and light is the Lord’s yoke. … always be seen on the summit of the holy mountain holding in [your] hands the chalice of salvation and uniting [your] voices to that of the Precious Blood in order to beg grace and pardon for [yourselves] and all people. At the sight of this striking sign of the inexpressible love of his Word made flesh, the heart of our Father who is in heaven will be touched and the waves of his mercy will flow over every point of the globe (Ven. Mother Catherine Aurelia).

Do you now therefore, speaking through my lips, pronounce over this earthly travail your twofold efficacious word: the word without which all that our wisdom and our experience have built up must totter and crumble — the word through which all our most far-reaching speculations and our encounter with the universe are come together into a unity. Over every living thing which is to spring up, to grow, to flower, to ripen during this day say again the words: This is my Body. And over every death-force which waits in readiness to corrode, to wither, to cut down, speak again your commanding words which express the supreme mystery of faith: This is my Blood. That is why, pouring into my chalice the bitterness of all separations, of all limitations, and of all sterile failings away, you then hold it out to me. ‘Drink ye all of this.’ How could I refuse this chalice, Lord, now that through the bread you have given me there has crept into the marrow of my being an inextinguishable longing to be united with you beyond life; through death? ….Like the work of creation which it redeems and surpasses, the Incarnation, so desired of man, is an awe-inspiring work: it is achieved through blood. May the blood of the Lord Jesus — the blood which is infused into creatures and the blood which is shed and spread out over all, the blood of endeavour and the blood of renouncement — mingle with the pain of the world (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin).

[The] Eucharist is really related to sacrifice but instead of representing the violence against the victim, of being the victim that you eat, you eat the total refusal of violence, which is Christ. It’s a reversal, but it’s still the same symbolism. The anthropologists are right to point that out. It doesn’t mean it means the same thing, but what they see is that it is the same thing, so since they think that the killing is only symbolical anyway, they feel the Eucharist and sacrifice are pretty much the same thing. But it is not because the shedding of blood, the violence in sacrifice, is essential. It means the end of violence yet at the same time it shows the continuity with a whole history of religion, so when the anthropologists tell you “Hey, it’s cannibalism” you should answer “Yes, of course, cannibalism is part of human history and the Eucharist summarizes it all in non-violence.” Therefore, why not cannibalism there as well? Cannibalism is the essence of sacrifice. Cannibalism means that you eat the sacrificial victim in order to be your victim, because you want to be that victim. The reason you killed him is you want to be him/her. Therefore, if you absorb his/her flesh, you become them, just as if you absorb the flesh of Christ, you should become a little bit nonviolent, more than you were before (René Girard).

Homily

The feast of Corpus Christi — the Body of Christ — has been celebrated since the 13th Century with its texts written by St. Thomas Aquinas. But in 1969 Pope Paul VI introduced a change, renaming the feast Corpus et Sanguis Christi — the Body and Blood of Christ — partly because the feast of the Precious Blood on July 1 was suppressed from the General Roman Calendar. But it's only in Year B of the lectionary cycle that the readings offer the best chance to focus on the change beginning with a something little known to most who attend Mass having to do with the origins of the Eucharist in its Jewish antecedents. Yes, in the plural.

For if I were to ask what the origin of the Mass was I would no doubt be told the Mass is rooted in the feast of Unleavened Bread [during which Jesus] ate the Passover with his disciples (cf. G). Which is correct. The Mass as we have it reveals its Passover in roots in the Scripture readings that recount the history of salvation, in the singing of psalms, the Alleluia verse, the offertory prayers modeled on Jewish table blessing prayers, the institution narrative recounting the Last Supper, the unleavened bread and wine, the references to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and finally in sharing the sacred meal.

So what, you might wonder, is left? Well, much, if you read the Letter to the Hebrew where Christ is described almost entirely in terms of the other Jewish feast the Mass also depicts — namely, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. Not, however, as it was observed in the time of Jesus, but in the time when the first temple built by Solomon still stood before its destruction by the Babylonians. In that first temple, behind a veil, in the Holy of Holies, stood the Ark of the Covenant whose cover was known as the mercy seat. Once a year, and only then, on the Day of Atonement the high priest passed beyond the veil where he sprinkled the blood of a goat on the mercy seat. He would then emerge and do the same on the assembled people. Hard to imagine, I know. But what did the ritual mean?

Here I rely on British Scripture scholar Margaret Barker who says,

[I]n temple symbolism, this was new life brought from heaven to renew the earth [since for the Hebrews, life was in the blood] and [this was meant] to restore the community of all creation which had been broken by sin…. The blood which renewed the creation was new life from the LORD…[t]he role of the high priest, the LORD, was to remove the damaging effect of sin from the community and the creation, and thus to restore the bonds which held together the community and the creation” (cf. The Great High Priest, 50, 83-84 passim).

All of this lies behind the second reading: When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption (II).

And what of the Mass? Here Barker observes how, “The original context of the Eucharist should be sought in the Day of Atonement…In the bloodless sacrifice of the Christians, the wine was substituted for the blood of the goat…but the same process was believed to take place. The Christian altar…derived from the [mercy seat] in the holy of holies, the place where the atonement blood was transformed and the LORD was present” (ibid., 57, 61-62).

And where do we see this? In the altar with its corresponding language of sacrifice, in the priest celebrant who wears corresponding vestments, in the incense, in the demarcation between nave and sanctuary corresponding to the outer court where the assembly was gathered and the Holy of Holies, in the veil covering the chalice in which the Blood of the New Covenant will be offered and in the tabernacle where the consecrated Bread is reserved reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant in which some of the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert was reputedly preserved.

So then to view the Mass completely you need liturgical bifocals. Admittedly, it's difficult since the reform of the liturgy has accented Passover with the elements of Yom Kippur being somewhat obscured as was the former in the centuries prior. It would help if we were to use terms like "altar table," "priest-presider" and "sacrificial meal" which unite the two aspects.

But unless we learn to view the Eucharist with both eyes I fear the so-called "liturgy wars" will continue, between those who favor the Mass as we have it in most places since the Second Vatican Council and those who would like a so-called "reform of the reform" which for the most part would leave the Mass unchanged from the time before the Council. Will we ever get it right? I'm not sure, but we can try and the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ offers an opportunity to reflect on the fullness of the Mystery we celebrate whose signs are to be seen in the offerings we here present (Prayer Over the Offerings) to the glory of God. Amen.

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website )

For the Church, many members but yet one body: that we may grow in unity and love as we manifest Christ’s saving love in the world.

For courage to lay down our lives like Christ: that through our sharing in the Eucharist, we may be strengthened to give ourselves in loving service to all those to whom we are committed and to those who are in need.

For all who are unable to share in the Eucharist, particularly those who are being persecuted for the faith: that the Word of God and the love of fellow Christians may bring them strength and support.

For all who are hungry, particularly refugees and those displaced by violence: that God will provide them with food for their bodies and friendship for their spirits.

For the protection of the fresh waters of the earth: that God will guide us in keeping the waters free from chemicals and other pollutants so that the human family and all God's creatures may have safe water for drinking.

For all who are suffering: that God help the unemployed to find work, open resources to the homeless, protect run away children, and free those experiencing abuse.

For Christian Unity: that God will heal the wounds and mistrust between Christians, help them work together for God’s glory, and speed the day when all can share the Body of Christ.

God ever-faithful, you have made a covenant with your people in the gift of your Son, who offered his body for us and poured out his blood for the many. As we celebrate this eucharistic sacrifice, build up your Church by deepening within us the life of your covenant and by opening our hearts to those in need. We ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)

Offertory Antiphon

Offertory Hymn

Our blessing cup is a communion with the blood of the Lamb.

What return shall I make to the Lord
For all the good He has done for me?
I will take the cup of salvation
I will call upon the name of the Lord.

How precious in the eyes of the Lord
Is the death of His children
Your servant am I your handmaid's son
And You have loosed my bonds.

I offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving
I will call upon the name of the Lord
My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
In the presence of the people of our God.

Our blessing cup is a communion with the blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ
He is the Lamb of God.

Communion Antiphon

Closing Hymn (John Michael Talbot)

In remembrance of Me
This is My body
In remembrance of Me
This is My blood
Whoever eats of this bread
And drinks this cup of salvation
Shall not die but shall live
Shall live forever

For His flesh is His food
And His blood we'll drink
Those who receive shall never die but shall live forever
Strengthened by Heavenly bread
Strengthened by bread of angels
Your cup of salvation bring
Come all and receive

Come humbly bow and adore
Before the mystery of mysteries
Under creation's form
Yet the creator of all
Within flesh yet not enclosed
Incarnate and transcendent
Consumed but by all yet not destroyed
Received by all and the Lord

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