Real Food, Real Drink

My Flesh is real Food, my Blood is real Drink

JESUS, I trust in you!

The other day, our parish operations manager called my attention to the fact that our fried rice left on the table during the entire day did not spoil. Apparently, it was fake or plastic rice. The issue of fake rice is trending in the social media. Considering the fact that rice is our staple food, anything about it will turn out to be a great concern for all of us. Fake rice does not give nourishment. It does not deliver the nutrients it promises. And because it is plastic, it is even dangerous to our health.

In the Holy Gospel, the Lord Jesus tells us that what he gives us is not fake but true: “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” The Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In the Eucharist, Jesus is truly present: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. In other words, the entire Person of Jesus is present in a real way in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. We can rely on this because the one who said “This is my Body” and “This is the chalice of my Blood” is the one who said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Being the Truth, Jesus cannot and will not lie. And his resurrection from the dead is the very affirmation of the truth of all that he taught us.

Because Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, we can offer the Father true worship. The Mass is the only genuine sacrifice that is accepted by God. Here, we offer to the Father his only begotten Son, his Beloved in whom he is well pleased. In the Mass, Christ’s humble obedience unto death is made present – the same humble obedience that pleases the Father. We do not offer the Father a symbol or a token of Christ’s obedience. Rather, we offer to him Jesus himself, the obedient One, the humble One, the Father’s Beloved One.

Because Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, our communion with him is genuine. We remain in him and he remains in us. In Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit, we are united to the Father and also among ourselves. The Eucharist perfects our communion with God the Father by identification with his only Son through the working of the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, “the mystery (of communion) is so perfect that it bring us to the heights of every good thing: here is the ultimate goal of every human desire, because here we attain God and God joins himself to us in the most perfect union.” (Nicolas Cabisilas in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 34.)

Because Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, we are assured of eternal life: “He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day…Just as the Father who has life sent me and I have life because of the Father, so the man who feeds on me will have life because of me.” He who has risen as he promised will be true to his promise: “The man who feeds on this bread shall live forever.”

Because the Eucharist is real and not fake, “it is good to cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist.” (EDE, 34.) Let us not be indifferent to this great gift of Christ to us. Let us prepare ourselves for every Mass we assist in and for every Communion we receive. Remember what the Eucharist is: the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. The Eucharist is truly Jesus. There is this pop song whose lyrics I remember: "I did not know I was starving till I tasted you." Let us taste and see the goodness of the Lord!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! 

The Holy Sacrifice

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

“Ito ang aking dugo ng tipan, and dugong mabubuhos dahil sa marami,” (This is my blood of the covenant which will be shed for many) says the Lord. The reading for the feast of Corpus et Sanguis Christi this year gives more emphasis on the Blood of the Lord Jesus which was shed for the forgiveness of sins. By consecrating the wine into his blood of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus brings us back to Mount Sinai where Moses offered a sacrifice of young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord (Sila ay inutusan niyang pumatay ng mga hayop na gagamiting handog sa pakikipagtipan sa Panginoon). Moses splashed half of the blood on the altar and when the people pledged obedience to the covenant, he sprinkled the other half of the blood on the people as he said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you…” This was how the covenant between God and his people was sealed. If today, parties enter into an agreement by signing a contract, God and his people entered into an agreement or covenant by the sprinkling of blood. Blood, being the conduit of a living creature’s life, is sacred. It has consecratory power. It seals a relationship. It binds persons into a relationship.

In order for blood to be obtained, a victim has to die in a sacrifice. In the case of the covenant on Mount Sinai, the victims were bulls. At the last supper, the victim was Christ. In any religion, the sacrifice was always deemed as the highest form of worship. It was so because it was the costliest…it involved the death of a victim which was slaughtered to proclaim the sovereignty of the deity over life itself. For the Israelites, animals were suitable victims. For other religions, humans were offered. But for us, we offer to God his beloved Son Jesus: “Christ entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Minsan lamang pumasok si Kristo sa Dakong Kabanal banalan, at iyo’y sapat na. Hindi dugo ng mga kambing at bisirong baka ang kanyang dalang handog, kundi ang sariling dugo, sa ikapagpapatawad ng mga kasalanan natin.) Thus, we should remember that the Mass is not simply a meal or a banquet. It is a sacrificial meal wherein the Body and Blood of Jesus is offered to the Father. Thus, the Mass is the highest form of worship not only for us Catholics, but for the whole world. We say this because the victim offered at Mass is not just any animal or human being. The Victim offered is Christ himself. He is the Salutaris Hostia, the Saving Victim, the one who dies in order to obtain the forgiveness of our sins: “Sa pamamagitan ng walang hanggang Espiritu ay inialay niya sa Diyos ang kanyang sarili na walang kapintasan. Ang kanyang dugo ang lumilinis sa ating puso’t isip upang talikdan na natin ang mga gawang walang kabuluhan at paglingkuran natin ang Diyos na buhay.”

We should always be aware of what transpires at the altar during the Mass. What we have in the Eucharist is more than just a banquet that celebrates unity. What we have here is a real sacrifice, a real offering of the Lamb who once was slain and now who lives for ever. “On the Altar of the Cross He offered up His Body to God the Father as a sacrifice for our reconciliation He shed His Blood as the price whereby He redeems us from wretchedness and bondage, and the washing whereby He cleanses us from all sin. And for a noble and abiding memorial of that so great work of His goodness, He has left unto His faithful ones the Same His very Body for Meat, and the Same His very Blood for Drink, to be fed upon under the appearance of bread and wine.” (St. Thomas Aquinas, 57^th Opuscula.) Let us reverently enter into the presence of God. Let us partake of this sacrifice by keeping in mind that what we eat and drink is the One, who out of love for us, died on the Cross to atone for our sins.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. 

Entering into the Trinitarian Communion

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

In last week’s meditation on the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, we saw that God wills that all his creatures enter into the communion of his Trinitarian life: “The ultimate end of the whole divine economy is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity.” (CCC, 260) He wishes us to have access into his Divine Life which is a Communion of life and love. We may ask: How? How are we to participate into the communal life of the Blessed Trinity. The Lord Jesus answers this in today’s reading: “Just as the living Father sent me, and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” Yes, you heard it right: he wants us to feed on him…to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It might sound odd to you, but do not worry, it also sounded the same way to the Jews who heard him. In fact they quarreled among themselves: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They thought they heard him say that Jesus wanted them to eat his flesh. They just wanted to be sure that they heard him right. And so Jesus confirmed what they heard: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have life in you.” As if it were not enough, he continued: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day.” Just in case you did not understand him, Jesus reiterated: “For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” And so that there would be no further misunderstanding, he repeats: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

The words of Jesus undeniably speak of the mystery of his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus. In the Eucharist, Jesus is truly present: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Let there be no mistake about this. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Presence of Christ. But let it not be forgotten that the purpose of his Presence is to be offered as Sacrifice. At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and said: “This is my Body which will be given up for you.” Likewise, he took the chalice of wine and said: “This is the Chalice of my Blood which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  His Body is given up…offered up. His blood is shed…poured out as a libation, a drink offering. And this is why he wishes us to eat and drink his flesh and blood: partaking of sacrificial food brings about the communion of the recipient with the God to whom the sacrifice is being offered. In the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles forbade the gentile converts from eating meat offered to idols. This is because eating the meat offered to idols would bring about communion between the eater and the false gods to whom the meat was offered. In like manner, eating the flesh of Jesus in Holy Communion brings about our communion with the Blessed Trinity to whom the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered: “Just as …I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” Understand that when we approach the Altar for Holy Communion, we are not receiving ordinary food. We will be eating the Body and Blood of Jesus himself. This is the reason why we kneel for communion. This is why we receive communion with great reverence and devotion. We are approaching Jesus himself truly present in the Holy Sacrament of the altar. And in doing so, we enter into communion with the Most Holy Trinity. Thus St. Pope John Paul said: the Eucharist “is at one and the same time a sacrifice-sacrament, a communion-sacrament, and a presence-sacrament.” (Redemptor Hominis, 20.) In the Holy Eucharist, we have the abiding presence of the Lord Jesus whose body and blood is offered and poured out for our salvation and in doing so, he brings us, the Church, into communion with the Blessed Trinity. “The Eucharist is the sacrament of sacrifice and communion. All of us who participate in it as sacrifice receive it in communion. At the same time, we receive God’s gift of himself in the Holy Spirit, whom Christ merited for us through his passion.” (John Paul II, Homily of Mass for the Sick, June 14, 1987.) 

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

A Memorable Corpus Christi Procession

The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite celebrating the external solemnity of Corpus Christi

We walked in procession in the midst of the poorer sections of the parish

The Lord is passing by!

The rain poured heavily in the middle of the procession

Everybody was wet (including the priest)...everybody except the Lord.

They all knelt on the wet pavement

Such a wonderful manifestation of Faith

The children sang the praises of the Lord!

In the middle of the procession, the rain poured heavily. No one scampered for shelter. Everybody continued to walk and sing to the Blessed Sacrament. Imagine the choir singing the Te Deum in the rain! The only concern for everyone was to keep the Blessed Sacrament dry. At Benediction, everybody knelt on the wet pavement. Everyone was wet...including the priest...everyone except the Lord. It was truly a manifestation of great faith...indeed, a procession befitting the YEAR OF FAITH! (Thanks Ron Yu for the Photos and songs)

The Priesthood and Corpus Christi

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

To the disciples who suggested to our Lord that he should dismiss the crowd so that they could buy their provisions, the Lord said, “You yourselves give them to eat.” At that time, the disciples thought that the Lord was requiring them to feed the crowd from their own pockets. And so they protested that they have only so few provisions that they would not be able to fulfill their task. It would be at the last supper on Holy Thursday evening that they would begin to understand the task that they were ordained for. At the last supper, the Lord Jesus took bread and wine and consecrated these as his body and blood. And then, on that same night, the Lord will ordain these apostles as priests of the new covenant. The ordination took place when the Lord mandated these men to “do this in memory of me.” Both the Eucharist and Holy Orders were established on the same day (Holy Thursday) because they cannot be separated from each other. Without a priest, the Eucharist cannot take place because only an ordained ministry can consecrate the Body and Blood of the Lord. On the other hand, the Eucharist is the reason for the priest’s identity. The priest is a priest because he is the one who offers the sacrifice of the Mass.

Thus, when the Lord told his disciples: “You yourselves give them to eat,” he was referring to the Eucharist. His disciples, ordained priests on the night when the Lord was betrayed, are to imitate the Lord who on that same night took bread and wine, blessed them and said, “Take this all of you and eat of it, this is my body…drink from it, this is the chalice of my blood.” The food that the priests are to give  is not their own but the flesh of Christ. The drink that the priests are to give is not their own but the blood of Christ. The priests of the New Testament offer food and drink that is better than anyone can offer. All food and drink can satisfy bodily hunger and thirst and cannot do more than just sustain bodily life. None of them can keep a person from dying. (Last week, I had the wonderful privilege of offering a funeral Mass for a woman who died at the age of 101 years. I was so amazed at her age that I asked her children: What did she do to live this long? They answered: Oh Father, she lived on a simple diet of vegetables and fish. However, even with a very balanced and nutritious diet, death kept up with her at 101 years. She had to die sometime. None of them can keep her from dying.) The Eucharist, Christ’s flesh and blood, alone brings to us the assurance of the resurrection from the dead and life everlasting. While all else perish, this alone is the food that lasts unto everlasting life. And so, let us take advantage of the opportunities to worthily receive Holy Communion. If only we realize who is it that we receive in the Eucharist, we will not hesitate to say, “Lord, give us this food.” The one we receive is He who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He is the one who said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” He is the one who said, “I am the living Bread come down from heaven. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

Corpus Christi in Holy Family Parish

Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was celebrated at the Holy Family Parish on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 10, 2012. It was followed by a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. Thanks to Dennis Maturan for the pictures.

Corpus Christi in De La Salle, Manila

As part of the closing activities for the centenary of De La Salle University in Manila, a Missa Cantata in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite was offered at the historic Blessed Sacrament Chapel of the University on the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 10, 2012. The Mass was said at the request of the Alumni of the University. Thanks to Dinky Nievera for the pictures. 

Eucharistic Adoration

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The Feast of Corpus Christi gives us the occasion to express our faith in the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament through Eucharistic Adoration. Unfortunately, in the liturgical reform following the 2^nd Vatican Council, there has been a perceived waning of Eucharistic Adoration because of the over emphasis on the celebration aspect of the Eucharist. In his Corpus Christi homily for this year, the Holy Father acknowledged and expressed his sadness over this imbalance: “concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as ‘beating Heart’ of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities.” 

There should be no conflict between Communion and Contemplation: “In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual ‘environment’ in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

“To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture.” 

We have to adore what we receive in Holy Communion: “As Saint Augustine put it: ‘nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit; peccemus non adorando – no one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it.’ In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, "only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another." (Sacramentum Caritatis, 66.)

The Eucharist is not simply a matter of food and drink which we share in fellowship. We cannot and should not deny that what we eat and drink is Christ the Lord himself, the Holy One who offers himself to his Father to obtain our eternal redemption. “In this Sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood (which)…cannot be apprehended by the senses but only by faith which relies on divine authority.” (CCC, 1381.) Therefore, let us adore Christ in the Holy Eucharist. “Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go and meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.” (CCC, 1380)

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

In his Corpus Christi homily for 2012, the Holy Father made reference to the imbalances that occurred in the liturgical reform after Vatican II:

"...a reflection on the value of Eucharistic worship, in particular adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the experience that we will also live after the Mass, before the procession, during its development and at its end. A unilateral interpretation of Vatican Council II has penalized this dimension, restricting the Eucharist in practice to the celebratory moment. In fact, it was very important to recognize the centrality of the celebration, in which the Lord convokes his people, gathers them around the twofold table of the Word and the Bread of life, nourishes them and unites them to Himself in the offering of the Sacrifice. This assessment of the liturgical assembly, in which the Lord works and realizes his mystery of communion, remains of course valid, but it must be placed in the right balance. In fact – as often happens – the stressing of one aspect ends up by sacrificing another. In this case, the accentuation placed on the celebration of the Eucharist has been to the detriment of adoration, as act of faith and prayer addressed to the Lord Jesus, really present in the Sacrament of the altar. This imbalance has also had repercussions on the spiritual life of the faithful. In fact, concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as “beating Heart” of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities. The Sacrament of the Charity of Christ must permeate the whole of daily life.

In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual “environment” in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

The Holy Father spoke of the relationship between Communion and Contemplation:

"... Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go together. To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture. Instead, in true communion, prepared by the colloquy of prayer and of life, we can say to the Lord words of confidence as those that resounded a short while ago in the Responsorial Psalm: “O Lord, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. / Thou hast loosed my bonds./ I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving /and call on the name of the Lord” (Psalm 115:16-17)."

The Holy Father spoke on the Sacredness of the Eucharist:

"... the sacredness of the Eucharist. Also here we heard in the recent past of a certain misunderstanding of the authentic message of Sacred Scripture. The Christian novelty in regard to worship was influenced by a certain secularist mentality of the 60s and 70s of the past century. It is true, and it remains always valid, that the center of worship is now no longer in the rites and ancient sacrifices, but in Christ himself, in his person, in his life, in his paschal mystery. And yet, from this fundamental novelty it must not be concluded that the sacred no longer exists, but that it has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, incarnate divine Love. The Letter to the Hebrews, which we heard this evening in the Second Reading, speaks to us precisely of the novelty of the priesthood of Christ, “high priest of the good things that have come” (Hebrews 9:11), but it does not say that the priesthood is finished. Christ “is the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), established in his blood, which purifies our “conscience from dead works” (Hebrews 9:14). He did not abolish the sacred, but brought it to fulfillment, inaugurating a new worship, which is, yes, fully spiritual but which however, so long as we are journeying in time, makes use again of signs and rites, of which there will be no need only at the end, in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there will no longer be a temple (cf. Revelation 21:22). Thanks to Christ, the sacred is more true, more intense and, as happens with the Commandments, also more exacting! Ritual observance is not enough, but what is required is the purification of the heart and the involvement of life."

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

Back to Thursday!

Last Sunday, I was ranting about the unfortunate transfer of Corpus Christi from Thursday to Sunday just because Corpus Christi is not a Holy Day of Obligation. I thought that this is an indication of spiritual sloth. Just because we do not want to "burden" the faithful with the obligation of assisting at Mass on a working day, we transfer the feast to the succeeding Sunday. In ancient Christianity, before Constantine declared Sunday as a non-working day, the day of the Lord used to be the first working day. Remember that the Sabbath (the Jewish day of rest) was Saturday. Because Sunday was a working day, the Christians broke bread at dawn (before they went to work). Isn't it strange that by transferring Corpus Christi to Sunday, we are actually training people to "hit two birds with one stone" (that is, fulfill the obligation of Sunday and Corpus Christi on the same day)?

By transferring Corpus Christi to Sunday, its immediate association with Holy Thursday is lost. I am glad that I am not alone in this ranting. Guess who rants in the same way?

follow the link: ZENIT - Liturgy Official Backs Return of Corpus Christi to Thursday

Benedict XVI's Corpus Christi Homily

Dear brothers and sisters!

The feast of Corpus Domini is inseparable from the Holy Thursday Mass of Caena Domini, in which the institution of the Eucharist is also celebrated. While on the evening of Holy Thursday we relive the mystery of Christ who offers himself to us in the bread broken and wine poured out, today, in celebration of Corpus Domini, this same mystery is proposed for the adoration and meditation of God's people, and the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession through the streets of towns and villages, to show that the risen Christ walks among us and guides us toward the kingdom of heaven. Today we openly manifest what Jesus has given us in the intimacy of the Last Supper, because the love of Christ is not confined to the few, but is intended for all. This year during the Mass of Our Lord's Last Supper on Holy Thursday, I pointed out that the Eucharist is the transformation of the gifts of this land -- the bread and wine -- intended to transform our lives and usher in the transformation of the world. Tonight I would like to return to this point of view.

Everything starts, you might say, from the heart of Christ, who at the Last Supper on the eve of his passion, thanked and praised God and, in doing so, with the power of his love transformed the meaning of death, which he was about to encounter. The fact that the sacrament of the altar has taken on the name "Eucharist," "thanksgiving," expresses this: that the change in the substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is the fruit of the gift that Christ made of himself, a gift of a love stronger than death, divine love that brought him to rise from the dead. That is why the Eucharist is the food of eternal life, the Bread of life. From the heart of Christ, from his "Eucharistic Prayer" on the eve of his passion, flows the dynamism that transforms reality in its cosmic, human and historical dimensions. All proceeds from God, from the omnipotence of his love One and Triune, incarnate in Jesus. The heart of Christ is immersed in this love; because of this he knows how to thank and praise God even in the face of betrayal and violence, and thus changes things, people and the world.

This transformation is possible thanks to a communion stronger than division, the communion of God himself. The word "communion," which we use to designate the Eucharist, sums up the vertical and horizontal dimension of the gift of Christ. The beautiful and eloquent expression "receive communion" refers to the act of eating the bread of the Eucharist. In fact, when we carry out this act, we enter into communion with the very life of Jesus, in the dynamism of this life that is given to us and for us. From God, through Jesus, to us: a unique communion is transmitted in the Holy Eucharist. We have heard as much, in the second reading, from the words of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ"(1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

St. Augustine helps us to understand the dynamics of holy Communion when referring to a kind of vision he had, in which Jesus said to him: "I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me"(Confessions, VII, 10, 18). Therefore, while the bodily food is assimilated by the body and contributes to sustain it, the Eucharist is a different bread: We do not assimilate it, but it assimilates us to itself, so that we become conformed to Jesus Christ and members of his body, one with him. This is a decisive passage. Indeed, precisely because it is Christ who, in Eucharistic communion, transforms us into him, our individuality, in this encounter, is opened up, freed from its self-centeredness and placed in the Person of Jesus, who in turn is immersed in the Trinitarian communion. Thus, while the Eucharist unites us to Christ, we open ourselves to others making us members one of another: We are no longer divided, but one thing in him. Eucharistic communion unites me to the person next to me, and to the one with whom perhaps I might not even have a good relationship, but also to my brothers and sisters who are far away, in every corner of the world. Thus the deep sense of social presence of the Church is derived from the Eucharist, as evidenced by the great social saints, who have always been great Eucharistic souls. Those who recognize Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, recognize their brother who suffers, who is hungry and thirsty, who is a stranger, naked, sick, imprisoned, and they are attentive to every person, committing themselves, in a concrete way, to those who are in need.

So from the gift of Christ's love comes our special responsibility as Christians in building a cohesive, just and fraternal society. Especially in our time when globalization makes us increasingly dependent upon each other, Christianity can and must ensure that this unity will not be built without God, without true Love. This would give way to confusion and individualism, the oppression of some against others. The Gospel has always aimed at the unity of the human family, a unity not imposed from above, or by ideological or economic interests, but from a sense of responsibility toward each other, because we identify ourselves as members of the same body, the body of Christ, because we have learned and continually learn from the Sacrament of the Altar that communion, love is the path of true justice.

Let us return to Jesus' act in the Last Supper. What happened at that moment? When he said: This is my body which is given to you, this is my blood shed for you and for the multitude, what happened? Jesus in that gesture anticipates the event of Calvary. He accepts his passion out of love, with its trial and its violence, even to death on the cross; by accepting it in this way he transforms it into an act of giving. This is the transformation that the world needs most, because he redeems it from within, he opens it up to the kingdom of heaven. But God always wants to accomplish this renewal of the world through the same path followed by Christ, indeed, the path that is himself. There is nothing magic in Christianity. There are no shortcuts, but everything passes through the patient and humble logic of the grain of wheat that is broken to give life, the logic of faith that moves mountains with the gentle power of God. This is why God wants to continue to renew humanity, history and the cosmos through this chain of transformations, of which the Eucharist is the sacrament. Through the consecrated bread and wine, in which his Body and Blood is truly present, Christ transforms us, assimilating us in him: He involves us in his redeeming work, enabling us, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to live according to his same logic of gift, like grains of wheat united with him and in him. Thus unity and peace, which are the goal for which we strive, are sown and mature in the furrows of history, according to God's plan.

Without illusions, without ideological utopias, we walk the streets of the world, bringing within us the Body of the Lord, like the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation. With the humble awareness that we are simple grains of wheat, we cherish the firm conviction that the love of God, incarnate in Christ, is stronger than evil, violence and death. We know that God is preparing for all people new heavens and new earth where peace and justice prevail -- and by faith we glimpse the new world, that is our true home. Also this evening as the sun sets on our beloved city of Rome, we set out again on this path: With us is Jesus in the Eucharist, the Risen One, who said, "I am with you always, until the end of world "(Mt 28:20). Thank you, Lord Jesus! Thank you for your fidelity, which sustains our hope. Stay with us, because the evening comes. "Jesus, good shepherd and true bread, have mercy on us; feed us and guard us. Grant that we find happiness in the land of the living." Amen.



ZENIT - Benedict XVI's Corpus Christi Homily