Corpus Christi

June 22, 2025

Luke 9: 11b-17

We celebrate today the lasting presence of Jesus Christ in his church, a great and monumental event. And yet, isn’t it strange that so often Jesus did things, which were not monumental at all, but small, insignificant, and ordinary; and yet, they turned out to be extraordinary events. At the very beginning of his life, Jesus is born in a small, unimportant town called Bethlehem in a manger, a feed trough for animals: and this town and feed trough became the birthplace of God. Ordinary water at Cana became a fine wine; grains of wheat and mustard seeds are now signs of God’s Kingdom. And in today’s gospel from Luke, a rather simple picnic lunch for a few, becomes a meal for thousands.

It is very appropriate theme for celebrating the Body and Blood of Christ, because what is the Eucharist, if not turning the ordinary into the extraordinary? We know that eating and drinking bread and wine, are common elements of daily life. And yet, in the Eucharist, these same ordinary things are transformed into something most extraordinary: the very Body and Blood of Christ. And we are transformed also, as we receive Christ into ourselves.

As we go forth to love and serve the Lord, it is necessary for our lives as Christians, that we always remember that each of us has become the Body of Christ for whoever we meet. And when we meet them, we are to be poured out for the many, just as Christ was and is. So when we leave Mass today, the Eucharist does not end at all; it is just beginning. 

Since we now celebrate both the Body and Blood of Christ in one feast, one spiritual writer as suggested this: The Body of Christ is what we are to become; drinking deeply of the cup is how we become it - by pouring ourselves out for others. So, in a sense, you become what you eat by eating his Body, but do so also by drinking the cup of the covenant in Christ’s Blood.

The truly amazing thing is it does not end there. To have the Body and Blood of the Lord present among us would be enough; we could be content just to be in Jesus presence. But in the Eucharist, it is not only the bread and wine that become the Body and Blood of Christ: so do you and me. We certainly are ordinary and unassuming people, yet God loves us so much that when we eat the Body of Christ and drink His Blood, we are transformed, each one of us, into the very presence of Christ in our world today. And beyond that, we are joined to one another. Individually and together we are Christ's presence.

Cardinal Hume of Westminster tells us about an incident that happened when he visited Ethiopia in the middle of the famine in the middle 1980s. One of the places he visited was a settlement in the hills where the people were waiting for food which was likely to arrive. He was taken there by helicopter. As he got out of the helicopter a small boy, about aged ten, came up to him and took his hand. He was wearing nothing but a loincloth around his waist. The whole time that the cardinal was there the child would not let go of his hand. As they went around he made two gestures: with one hand he pointed to his mouth, and with the other he took the cardinal’s hand and rubbed it on his cheek. Later, the cardinal said, “Here was an orphan boy who was lost and starving. Yet by two simple gestures he indicated two fundamental needs or hungers. With one gesture he showed me his hunger for food, and with the other his hunger for love. I have never forgotten that incident.” Cardinal Hume did no monumental deed either. He simply held the hand of a child in need of food and love, and by doing so, passed Christ’s love to him.

Since we now celebrate both the Body and Blood of Christ in one feast, one spiritual writer as suggested this: The Body of Christ is what we are to become; drinking deeply of the cup is how we become his body by pouring ourselves out for others. So, in a sense, you become what you eat by eating his Body, but do so also by drinking the cup of the covenant in Christ’s Blood.

As we go forth to love and serve the Lord, it is necessary for our lives as Christians, that we always remember that each of us has become the Body and Blood of Christ for all whom we meet to be poured out for the many. When we leave Mass, the Eucharist does not end at all; it is just beginning. We too are his Living Bread. And we make Christ present in the small actions and words of ordinary life.

Fr. John Tran