2323AFC060923 – Corpus Christi
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.
John 6:55-58 – 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
1 Corinthians 10:17 – 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread
Psalm 147:14 –
14 He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat. (↔ Music Link)
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 – 2 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone,(↔ Music Link) but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. [as he decrees]
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him in the breaking of the bread. This Sunday is the fourth and last of the Principal Celebrations in the Easter Season – The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The next Principal Celebration is the First Sunday of Advent on December 3, 2023. On Monday, June 12, we return to the tenth week in Ordinary Time. Some Catholics will tsk-tsk about parts of this. Most non-Catholics will merely shake their heads and think, “No wonder.” NONETHELESS, I ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO READ THIS because there is a lot of good Scripture, a ton of good music, and a few things to ponder as we go along. Let’s get going then!
We can begin with this startling statement by Jesus. Even those of us who have heard this over and over on this Solemnity find it strange and mysterious. This quote is from John 6 which contains some of the most remarkable things Jesus said and did. He fed 5,000 men and their families. He walked across the Sea of Galilee during a storm, and as soon as he stepped foot in the boat, the storm was over and the boat and everyone in it instantly arrived at their destination. It is in this chapter that Jesus’ discourse on ” the bread from Heaven” occurs (See John 6:27-59 this is really fascinating stuff.) When the Disciples heard this they were grumbling (gongyzousin – murmuring in discontent), and some were offended (skandalizei shock, stumble, offend, scandalize) – some were so offended by this time that they gave up following him. For this reason, we must look at what he said.
John 6:32-35 – Good News Translation (GNT) [1]
32 “I am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they asked him, “give us this bread always.”
35 “I AM the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. Just down the page a bit in verse 41, Jesus is quoted as saying “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Then in verse 51 he repeats and expands this, saying 51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. I AM the Living Bread (↔ Music Link). Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Well, naturally, the folks there at the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus said this were … astonished! Verse 52-53 says, 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Today around the world the dispute that erupted then goes on with statements like “This is not really the actual body and blood of Jesus. It’s just a symbol, a representation, that’s all. Saying that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine is ridiculous.” “When the Priest intones ‘This is my body,’ he’s talking to a wafer of bread, and that’s all. Nothing else happens.” Jesus said, in Verses 53-54, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” When the Priest intones “This is my Body,” he MEANS what Jesus meant: This is the Body of Christ. And here I must remind all of us of the meaning of houtos in these passages. This Greek word is very specific and means this one thing (or person), the one visibly present here, the one just named and none other than this one. There’s not another one, there’s no way it could be someone else. It will be precisely, exactly, THIS.
I have commented previously in 1512AFC051515 – Look him up about the word οὗτος houtos (oútos) {hoo-tohs or oo-tohs} we looked at recently in Luke 22:19 – 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” The Greek words used here are τοῦτό and τοῦτο which are two of the many forms of the root word οὗτος we just looked at. As with the passage in Acts on the Ascension, the meaning is very clear. Here is what we can learn from their usage.
When Jesus says, “this is my body,” his declaration is that what he is about to share – pieces from the broken loaf of bread – IS HIS body. He is not saying, “this represents my body,” “this is like my body,” “this is a symbol of my body,” or “pretend my body is bread” or “think of this as a body.” He means what he says: “this is my body.” In the next sentence, there is another declaration in the form of a command: “Do this in remembrance of me.” He is telling the Apostles they are to do and say exactly what he has done and said. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the presiding Priest does NOT say, “This is his body,” or “This represents his body.” The Priest, in his ministry as the Alter Christus, repeats what Jesus told the Apostles to repeat: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Here again, the meaning, intent, and purpose are perfectly clear. It is the same with the communion Chalice – as in Matthew 26:27-28 – 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Here is the Real Presence of the Body of Christ, here is the Real Presence of the Precious Blood of Christ, and here is the exact expression of what Jesus commanded should be said 
and done. Wherever we find one of the demonstrative pronouns in these passages, there we will also find the meaning this one, meaning the item actually present here, the one just named and none other than this one; and also this action, meaning the action actually performed here, the one just shown and none other than this one. In these few words, Jesus affirms that the Grace given by and of his own flesh and his own blood as the true Paschal Lamb of God, as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world, and as the wherewithal of the true life of mankind will be present when the Supper of The Lord is celebrated as he has prescribed. “This is my body … This is my blood …” This is Jesus (↔ Music Link)
In this commemoration of his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension, Jesus affirms that the Grace given by and of his own flesh as the true Paschal Lamb of God, as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world, and as the sustenance of the true life of mankind will be present when the Supper of The Lord The Supper of the Lord (↔ Music Link) is celebrated as he has prescribed. Over the centuries, it was gradually revealed to us that Christ is the Priest at the Altar because he is the one making the offering. Christ is also the offering on the altar because it is he who willingly Sacrificed once-for-all (See Romans 6:5-11) his life as bread for the Life of the world. Moreover, Christ is himself the Altar because the offering and the offeror are made in and through him. One Bread one Body (↔ Music Link) Does that make sense? I admit, it seems a bit circular in logic, but it has long been an axiom in theology that Christ’s offering is sufficient and efficacious; there’s a word we need to explore a bit.
Efficacious is a word closely associated with the meaning of sacrament. A Sacrament is an efficacious symbol of Grace, meaning that it produces the outcome it represents – baptism is a symbol of washing, and through baptism sin is washed away. There is an inherent attribute or benefit that is realized in the exercise of each Sacramental action. Christ’s willing Sacrifice of his Life is commemorated (NOT recommitted) in the Sacrament of the Eucharist – Holy Communion – and thus his flesh and his blood are given through this efficacious symbol of Grace producing Life for “whosoever believes in him.” In sum, then, the Precious Body and Precious Blood offered at the Altar and consumed in the believer become the efficacious saving Grace of Eternal Life. Whew! All of this at The Table of Plenty! (↔ Music Link) Thus we have The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. We commemorate this as a community of believers. We come share our story (↔ Music Link)
Many of us have heard in recent years of a Pew Research Center survey (see summary) finding that a bit less than ONE-THIRD (31%) of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Nearly half (43%) believe that it is the Church’s position that this error is actually the Church’s teaching! About one-fifth (22%) disbelieve the action of transubstantiation is actual even though they know that’s what Scripture, Apostolic Teaching, and the Magisterium profess in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 1374 The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as “the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend.” In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” “This presence is called ‘real’ – by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be ‘real’ too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.”
When we say we believe that Christ is “consubstantial with the Father,” we mean that he is of the same substance as the Father. So it is also with the elements of the Eucharist – they are of the same substance of the Christ of God – they are The Real Presence. He is indeed present to us “through him, with him, and in him” as O Sacrament Most Holy (↔ Music Link). Thus, the Eucharist is the perfect core and operating system of the Absolutely Perfect Plan. We are One Body in this One Lord.
We close with this classic hymn for Corpus Christi: Panis Angelicus (↔ Music Link)
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
