CORPUS CHRISTI – BODY OF CHRIST – MWILI WA KRISTU

“Oh holy Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is received, the memory of his passion is renewed, the soul is fulfilled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given us”

In your parish bulletin there is going to be this leaflet with a big title “Solemnity if Corpus Christi” some of you may be wondering what it is all about. It’s very simple: Today we are solemnizing the feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ”

Two months ago on Holy Thursday we remembered the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist. But because of the rather sad atmosphere of the passion and Death of Our Lord which clouds Holy Week, the rejoicing and external manifestation of our faith in the Eucharist was suppressed. This is why to conclude the mystery feast of this season, the Church instituted this feast. Many parish communities will make processions in honour of Christ present in the forms of Bread and Wine.

The treasures of the Eucharist are summed up in five points

a) Oh holy Banquet in which Christ is received, our thoughts go back to the children of Israel. Moses was leading them from slavery to the Promised Land. While they were still in the wildness they ran short of food. And God in his providence provided them daily with manna. Our lord did refer to this incident in his teaching when he said. “It was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from Heaven…. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry” (John 6:32-35).

Like Israelites we too find ourselves in the wilderness of this life. We have the table made for us every day. Not that of Moses but directly from heaven the bread that gives

b) Eternal life-Yes, Christ himself is the food at this daily sacred banquet.

c) The memory of this passion is renewed. When we believe in God we have reverence, of fear, of hope, of desire, of adoration. One of these expressions is offering sacrifice. Do this until the Lord comes, every time we eat the bread and drink we are proclaiming the death of our Lord. We who were not there in the cenacle at the last supper, not at the foot of the cross on Calvary, are enabled to offer anew the same Sacrifice which Christ offered alone centuries ago.

d) The soul is filled with grace

Our first parents sinned, but Christ came to restore that life, give even greater measure. He came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. This is wisdom and power he chose to impart life to us through the Sacraments and in very special way in the Eucharist. “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the World” (John 6:57)

e) The pledge of Eternal glory. Practically we have no idea of what the glory in heaven is like. St. Paul says that now we see God as in a mirror, and then we shall see Him face to face as He is. Elsewhere he says “eye has not seen, nor ear heard…” We have no idea of what it is but we have assurance of its existence. We are sure it is waiting for us and we have a pledge, something with which to assert our right to the eternal glory. The Eucharist, for Christ says: “Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life and I shall raise him upon the last day John 6:54”.

The Eucharist is the seed of glory, as often as we receive it worthily we multiply the seeds of eternal glory in our ourselves.



My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, once we discover the importance of Mass even in a small way what it is as a banquet at which we receive Christ, that mass is renewal of Christ’s Passion that Eucharist that floods our souls with grace, and the Eucharist is the pledge.

The seed of eternal glory, I am sure those pews should not be empty. I am sure there would be real scramble for communion. If so many Christians miss even Sunday Mass, if so many Christians spend months, even years without receiving Holy Communion. It’s because they do not know what they are losing.



Let us pray for one another for a better understanding of the sacrament of love and greater devotion to it in our daily life.