THE PERFECT AND LIVING SACRIFICE
The body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is not only a sacrament of the Church. The celebration of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist is a pure, perfect and living sacrifice. The Eucharist is the sacrifice of the cross where Christ´s body was immolated, and his blood was poured out for us.
Ironically, the unbloodied celebration of the Holy Eucharist instituted by Christ on the Last Supper celebration of Holy Thursday. It is the same as the bloody sacrifice of the cross on Good Friday. In other words, the sacrifice of the Last Supper on the feast of the Passover, the spotless or unblemished lamb is sacrificed one and same with Christ´s sacrifice on the cross.
In both instances, Christ was not only the Victim (Lamb), he was the High Priest that offers himself for us and at the same time the altar of the sacrifice.
THE EUCHARIST AS THANKSGIVING
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 worthily the Holy Eucharist. 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 stem of “kharizesthai” signifying “show favor,” from the word “kharis” meaning “favour, grace.”
This Eucharistic meal of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is one of the most controversial teachings and mysteries of Christendom. The offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is taken at different of level understanding in Christendom.
This controversy exists because the concept and meaning of sacrifice are not understood by many Christians. Hence, it provokes and leaves us wondering whether talking about sacrifice, body and blood makes us carnivores. Are we really carnivores?
OUR THEME
The readings of this solemnity focus on sacrifice to enact a covenant, one that is once and for all and everlasting. To appreciate the readings, we should look closely at the concept and meaning of sacrifice.
The sacrifice is a universal concept to all religions and religious rites of worship of God. There can be no religion without sacrifice. Through religious sacrifice, man has access to God and God´s presence. Arguably, sacrifices are of purity, sanctity, worthiness and gratitude, as well as covenantal in the sense that it opens man´s access to God. This is what religion is all about to grant man access to God.
SACRIFICE FROM THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
However, there is one exception to the concept of sacrifice in Christianity as it is in other religions. That is, in other religions the adherents of the faith offer sacrifices to God or gods. While in Christianity, it is God in the person of Jesus Christ who offers himself for us. This act of sacrifice of God in Christ Jesus makes him (Christ): the victim of sacrifice, the altar of sacrifice, and the priest of the sacrifice.
This fundamental difference should be considered when analysing the concept of sacrifice. It makes a whole difference between Christianity and other religions. The sacrifice of Christ in person and the sacrifices of animals or things.
In every religion, a sacrifice is a ritualistic rite of offering something or animals to God and sometimes something greater like humans to God. Sacrifice is done in every religion for purification of the body, in atonement for sins or wrongdoings, or as an appreciation for favours received from God.
METAPHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING OF SACRIFICE
These three elements: Offeror, Offering, and Divine Recipient are essential to offering any true sacrifice. Three things are also required in a true sacrifice: the Priest, the victim, and an altar. In a true sacrifice, blood is a necessity as the sacredness of life is in the blood of sacrifice either animals or humans.
Equally, in the metaphysical ontology of existence and being, spiritual being sacrifice is greater and more potent than human sacrifice. Invariably, human sacrifice is also greater and has more potential in efficacy than animals or things sacrifice.
Imperatively, in this context of ontological existence Jesus Christ truly God and truly human sacrifice are the best of sacrificial appeal to God on the behalf of man´s purity, sanctity, atonement, gratitude and covenant. It is the pure, perfect and living sacrifice that opens the fountain of grace, mercy and love of God to humanity.
Hence, the readings of today present us with the reason why sacrifices are done. The manner sacrifices are performed as well as the elements and things necessary for sacrifices to be true and valid.
The readings of this Sunday reveal to us the historical origin of sacrifices in Judaism and the Judeo-Christian traditional background of the Eucharist in the Old Testament and Pauline or early Christian writing respectively. And with a culmination in Jesus´ own sacrifice in the context of the Last Supper in Mark´s gospel.
THE FIRST READING: EXODUS 24:3-8
The sacrifice of blood is the most potent sacrifice of all, in the first reading of today, Moises purified, atoned for Israel’s sins. As well as he renewed the covenant between God and the erring community of Israel with the blood of bulls.
This way of covenantal ritual or rite of sacrificing a large number of bulls and collecting their blood and pouring half of that blood on the altar and sprinkling the other half over the assembled people. It is a symbol of God’s presence and a gesture that the People and God are now joined by a bond of blood.
For the Israelites and all cultures and religions, blood is an essential component of sacrifice. Blood in sacrifices whether animals or humans have the sacredness of life. The shedding of blood for peace and reconciliation.
Sacrificial covenants have reciprocal effects of bonds among the victims, the offerors, and the divinity. Hence, Israel’s people acclaimed twice; “we will do everything that the LORD has told us.” This is the response of the people to the ritualistic purification, atonement, gratification and covenant, God is renewing with them through the sacrifices of bulls.
THE PSALM AND THE SEQUENCE
The psalmist through Psalm 116:13 invites us to be appreciative and thankful to God for the Body and Blood of his Son: Jesus Christ. He acclaims, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.”
This acclamation or responsorial is my personal act of thanksgiving whenever I celebrate the Eucharist since my ordination. Especially, as an unworthy person or instrument privileged to celebrate in the Person of Christ.
The Sequence Hymn for the Feast of Corpus Christi: “Lauda Sion Salvatorem” is a song of praise and adoration to the Immolated Lamb of God whose Body and Blood is our Salvific Meal: the Eucharist. It is one of the hymns composed originally by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) for the liturgical celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
The Palmist and the Sequential Poet sang the praise of Christ, the sacrificial Lamb in the eternal feast of joy and love.
THE SECOND READING: HEBREWS 9:11-15
Blood is life and the vitality of life is in the blood. Life as a gift of God has its vitality in the blood. The second reading from Hebrews 9:11-15 demonstrated this fact and concluded with the powerful reason why the sacrifice and blood of Christ have a forgiving and redeeming potency than that of goats, lambs and bulls.
Interestingly, the Letter to the Hebrews shows that Jesus is the only High Priest who through a pure, perfect and living sacrifice brings us in contact with God or grant us access to God. This perfect and living sacrifice of Jesus is far greater and far more effective than that of animals.
THE GREAT SUPERIORITY OF THE PERFECT AND LIVING SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST BRING TO MIND THREE THINGS.
(i) The ancient sacrifices cleansed a man’s body from ceremonial uncleanness; Jesus’s sacrifice cleansed his soul. We must always remember this–in theory all sacrifice cleansed from transgressions of the ritual law; it did not cleanse from sins of the presumptuous heart. Jesus’s sacrifice takes a load of guilt from a man’s conscience.
(ii) Jesus’s sacrifice brought eternal redemption. The idea was that men were under the dominion of sin; and just as the purchase price had to be paid to free a man from slavery, so the purchase price had to be paid to free a man from sin through Jesus’s sacrifice.
(iii) The sacrifice of Christ enabled a man to leave the deeds of death and to become the servant of the living God. That is to say, he did not only win forgiveness for a man’s past sin, but he also enabled him in the future to live a godly life.
THERE ARE FOUR THINGS THAT BIBLICAL EXPERTS THINK MAKE JESUS’ SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF DIFFERS FROM THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES OF THE OLD COVENANT.
(i) Jesus’s sacrifice was voluntary. The animal’s life was taken from it; Jesus gave his life for us freely. He willingly laid it down for his friends.
(ii) Jesus’s sacrifice was spontaneous. Animal sacrifice was entirely the product of law; Jesus’s sacrifice was entirely the product of love. It was not law but love that lay behind the sacrifice of Christ.
(iii) Jesus’s sacrifice was rational. The animal victim did not know what was happening; Jesus all the time knew what he was doing. He died, not as an ignorant victim caught up in circumstances over which he had no control and did not understand but with eyes wide open.
(iv) Jesus’s sacrifice was moral. Animal sacrifice was mechanical; but Jesus’ sacrifice was made, through the eternal Spirit. This thing on Calvary was not a matter of prescribed ritual mechanically performed; it was a matter of Jesus obeying the will of God for the sake of saving all men and women. Behind it, there was not the mechanism of law but the choice of love.
THE GOSPEL: MARK 14:12-16, 22-26
The first part of the gospel gives the detailed preparation of the Lord´s Passover celebration with his disciples. Certain things were necessary and these were the things the disciples would have to get ready.
(i) There was the lamb, to remind them of how their houses had been protected by the badge of blood when the angel of death passed through Egypt.
(ii) There was the unleavened bread to remind them of the bread they had eaten in haste when they escaped from slavery.
(iii) There was a bowl of saltwater, to remind them of the tears they had shed in Egypt and of the waters of the Red Sea through which they had miraculously passed to safety. ) There was a collection of bitter herbs–horseradish, chicory, endive, lettuce, and horehound—to remind them of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.
(iv) There was a paste called Charosheth, a mixture of apples, dates, pomegranates and nuts, to remind them of the clay of which they had made bricks in Egypt. Through it, there were sticks of cinnamon to remind them of the straw with which the bricks had been made.
(v) There were four cups of wine. The cups contained a little more than half a pint of wine, but three parts of wine were mixed with two of water. The four cups, which were drunk at different stages of the meal, were to remind them of the four promises in Exo.6:6-7,
Such were the preparations that had to be made for the Passover. Every detail spoke of that great day of deliverance when God liberated his people from their bondage in Egypt. It was at that feast that he who liberated the world from sin was to sit at his last meal with his disciples.
In the gospel of today, Jesus through the spiritual and cultural memory of the Paschal feast re-enacted the eternal and everlasting covenant of the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross. In a bloodless manner… he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Again, in an unbloodied way, he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”
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.
EACH EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION WE CELEBRATE OR ATTEND AS CHRISTIANS ARE FOR FOUR INTENTIONS:
(a) It is an act of thanksgiving for all He has done, is doing and will do for us, especially the salvific work of our redemption.
(b) It is an act of reparation for our sins, to be worth partaking in the most holy, perfect and living sacrifice.
(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 render to God: Father for the work of our creation; the Son for our redemption and the work of our sanctification through the Holy Spirit.
THE ORIGIN OF THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI
The Feast of Corpus Christi (Ecclesiastical Latin: “Dies Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Domini Iesu Christi, lit”, meaning “Day of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ the Lord”), also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It is a Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Western Orthodox liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist.
The feast of Corpus Christi was proposed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, to Pope Urban IV, to create a feast focused solely on the Holy Eucharist, emphasizing the joy of the Eucharist being the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
Hence, having recognized the authenticity of the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena on the input of Aquinas in 1264. The pontiff, then living in Orvieto, established the feast of Corpus Christi as a Solemnity and extended it to the whole Roman Catholic Church.
The feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, where the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is not a holy day of obligation, it is assigned to the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity as its proper day.
WHY THE CELEBRATION OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST?
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 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 with 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 EUCHARISTIC MEAL AS PEACE AND RECONCILIATION MEAL
The sense of meal is what makes a family house a home. Mealtimes are not just rituals but a fundamental moment to deepen family and friendships ties. This is not just a tradition or cultural trend, it is also spiritual. Having meals in the family in the African sense is not just a moment to fill the belly. It is a profound gesture of togetherness and peace. This is why enemies or perceived enemies are not welcome to share our table.
Traditionally, when there is a cleansing rite of reconciliation or peace, the ritual is concluded with partaking in a shared meal as a sign of unity and togetherness. It is friends who share a meal, not enemies. A reconciled parties must or should eat together as a sign of peace and reconciliation.
The Eucharistic Meal is in the same sense, a peaceful meal of reconciliation with God and humans. It is the meal of brothers and sisters of the family of God and the Church as the home for sharing. This is the community sense of the Eucharist as a celebration! However, over and above this sense, the Eucharist is the CENTRE OF FAITH; OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE AND THE COMMUNAL LIFE OF THE CHURCH.
EUCHARISTIC PEACE AND ITS IMPLICATION
In the same way or manner, we cannot approach the sacrament of the Eucharist with hate, bitterness or rancour in our heart against a fellow Christian brother and sister. Worthy reception of the Eucharist is with a reconciled heart and forgiving spirit towards all who offend us or those we offend as well.
Fundamentally, 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. It implies when assisting at the celebration of the Eucharist, we draw strength and grace from Christ. When the celebration is over liturgically, we go into the world to become what we celebrate. That is becoming a perfect and living sacrifice for others as well.
OUR PRAYER
Eucharistic Jesus, You are the Living Bread and Blessing Cup that we commemorate, celebrate, share and participate in the Christian communion of faith and life. Help us to re-live this Eucharistic experience and mystery profoundly in our daily life and to become what we eat and partake of: the Eucharistic Christ to others. Amen
One Comment