Reflection: The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ

Today is the Feast Day of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Real Presence of Jesus is a powerful encounter. Jesus gave Himself to us in the Eucharist to nourish us spiritually, the Bread of Life, food for the journey through life.

In some parishes the Feast Day is celebrated this Sunday. Corpus Christi is a time of thanksgiving and adoration for the gift of the Holy Eucharist. It is also a time when our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and carried in procession in a public way, bringing Jesus outside the Church to the rest of the world.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.  John 6:51-58

On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, I recall beautiful memories. My husband and I were on a pilgrimage in Lourdes, France. We happened to be there on a day there was an annual meeting of altar servers from all over France. We were blessed to witness a Eucharistic procession of priests and seminarians and 2,500 altar servers and their families. It was the most beautiful sight to be in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament during this procession in Lourdes. The world would have you believe the faith is not alive but do not believe the world. The faith is alive and living in all these families in France, as well as throughout the whole world. Lourdes is a place of peace where the presence of Our Lady is felt and where families come from all over the world to know her and to know the peace that comes from Jesus in the Eucharist.

Pope Francis on the Feast of Corpus Christi 
"While on Holy Thursday, we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, today is for giving thanks and adoration. And in fact, there is a traditional procession with the Most Holy Sacrament on this day. To adore Eucharistic Jesus and to walk with Him. These are two inseparable aspects of today's feast, two aspects that characterize the entire life of the Christian people: a people who adore God and a people who walk: who do not stand still, who journey!"

Then He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of Me." Luke 22:19

As you prepare receive the Bread from Heaven this day, ask the Lord to come into your heart in a new way. Ask Him for an encounter with the living God that you may be changed by this encounter and that this encounter will lead you on a journey, walking with the living God and inviting others to walk with you.

For we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones. Ephesians 5:30

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.