CORPUS CHRISTI: AN ACT OF THANKSGIVING
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi was intended to affirm Catholic belief in the Real Presence of the Risen Christ in the consecrated bread and wine at Mass. A firm belief in the Body and Blood of Christ and regular reception of the Blessed Sacrament or Holy Communion is fundamental to Catholic doctrine, spirituality and growth in holiness. It is our inheritance.
The feast came to be accompanied by processions where the Blessed Sacrament, held in an elaborate monstrance, would be carried to “altars of repose,” for adoration by the faithful and Benediction (blessing) with the Blessed Sacrament.
The Eucharist is the centre of our catholic faith and liturgical celebration. It is the perfect and highest form of prayer offered in adoration of God, in thanksgiving for graces and favour, in reparation for sins and petitions of our needs.
THE HOLY MASS IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PRAYER
The Holy Eucharist, Vatican II tells us, is “the source and summit of the Christian life”. This is because we are baptized, confessed, confirmed, wedded, ordained, and visited to celebrate and receive the Holy Eucharist worthily.
It is also the sacramental mystery of the Church as indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.
The Eucharist in Latin “eucharistia”, is from the Greek word “eukharistia” which means “thanksgiving, gratitude.” The Greek word “eukharistos” signifies “grateful,” where “eu” means “well” and the stem of “kharizesthai” signifying “show favour,” from the word “kharis” which means “favour, grace.”
OUR THEME AND SCRIPTURAL TEXTS
Today’s first reading describes how the priest-king offered a thanksgiving sacrifice of bread and wine to God for the welfare of the patriarch Abraham and shows how the event prefigured the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Priest-King Jesus. Genesis 14:18-20
St. Paul gives the earliest account of what Jesus said and did during the last meal he celebrated with his followers, interpreting it as a sacrifice, a memorial and a communal love feast. I Cor. 11:23-26
Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ miraculous feeding of five thousand people by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish. Theologically, this feeding is a prefiguring of Jesus’ gift of the Eucharistic bread that would spiritually nourish those who believe in him. Luke 9:11-17
The Eucharistic meal invites us to become what we eat: Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness of divinity and humanity. We must become Christ, Christ-bearers and Christ-conveyers.
OUR INTENTIONS AT EACH MASS WE ATTENDED
Each Eucharistic celebration we celebrate or attend as Christians is an offering for four basic intentions:
(a) It is an act of thanksgiving for all God has done, is doing and will do for us, especially the salvific work of our redemption in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
(b) It is an act of reparation for our sins, to be worthy of partaking in the holiest sacrifice of praise and worship to God.
(c) It is an act of petitions for our needs, the needs of the universal Church, and the needs of others both living and dead.
(d) It is also an act of adoration to God, perfect worship renders to God: Father for the work of our creation; the Son for our redemption and the work of our sanctification through the Holy Spirit.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, the Eucharist is our strength and joy, our faith´s commitment and the love that gives meaning to all our existence. Help us to appreciate your self-gift to us in the Real Presence, and may we offer our lives for what we partake in you a sacrifice and become you: our Eucharistic meal. Amen
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IS A CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT: CATHOLIC SUNDAY SCRIPTURE REFLECTION: 12TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE C, 2022
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IS A CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT
To be a follower of someone or something, we must know such a person or thing to a reasonable extent. This is a basic principle of life and devotion. The readings today invite us to reflect on the Person of Christ or Jesus Christ. It is a Christological quest of who Jesus is for every one of us in our encounters and experience personally.
SCRIPTURAL READINGS
The Prophet Zechariah 12:10-11, 13: 1, made a prophecy of the person of Christ as the Savior, Redeemer and Liberator of his people for shame, sin and impurities.
St. Paul called us all sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus, which Jesus the title of A Brother of the new humanity in God, where there is no distinction or discrimination among believers. Gal. 3:26-29
In the Gospel of Luke, we see the threefold steps to being a disciple of Jesus: first knowledge and identity of him, second, commitment to him despite all odds and joys, and last following his example and way of the cross. Lk. 9:18-24
THE SUMMARY
To know Jesus is to know the way: it is to know the truth and it is to know life & have it in abundance. The message is simple but men find it difficult. God help us. Amen, your word help concretizes our knowledge of you: the messiah of God. Amen!
To what extent do we know Christ personally?
Does knowledge of Christ mean anything to you?
OUR PRAYER
Lord, the question of who are you to us? It is one, which requires a personal answer born out of our encounter, experience and commitment to you. May each event of life, the moments of fellowship with the sacraments and the living awareness of your word help concretize our knowledge of you: The Messiah of God. Amen!
