Our generosity and forgiveness brings Christ alive in our community … selfishness creates depression & violence
Corpus Christi Sunday – June 22, 2025
Corpus Christi is Latin for the Body and Blood of Christ. During every Mass we make the Body and Blood of Christ present: we take the gifts God has given us; we work with them to create bread and wine, which is then transformed by God into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Jesus instituted the Eucharist on the night he was to suffer:
Jesus was linking the Eucharist and personal sacrifice together.
The bread we offer in Mass represents the achievements, successes and joys that we create or experience in our daily lives. We offer them to God and allow God to transform our efforts and joys into something that also helps and sustains others in our community(s).
The wine we offer in Mass represents our disappointments, failures, the abuse we receive, the betrayals we endure in our daily lives. We offer all that as our “passion” and pray that through Christ even our sufferings can be life-giving for others in our community.
Does this diminish the sacrifice of Jesus from the Eucharist: Body & Blood of Christ?
Our friend, Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI, says this: Jesus is a divine person within the Trinity, someone who once walked this earth as a flesh and blood individual, and who is now with the Father as part of the Godhead. And, although he is also the key component within the reality of Christ, Christ is more than Jesus. Christ is a mystery…
which also includes: you and I (Jesus’ followers on earth), the sacraments, the Word (Scripture), and the church. Scripture is clear: we are the Body of Christ on earth. We don’t represent Christ, replace Christ, or are some vague mystical presence of Christ. We are the Body of Christ, as too are the Eucharist and the Word.
This explanation captures something very profound for us: through the Eucharist we are actively touching the lives of our loved ones, and Christ is touching our individual lives. This is why a memorial Mass is so special: it helps us to connect with our loved one who has gone to God, to maintain our loving relationship and strengthen our hope of seeing each other again.
Or a special Mass intention, either within our heart, or through the priest, for a friend or family member who is having a challenge. However, some Catholics fear that a family member who is “misbehaving” might be out of reach of, or outside of, the Body of Christ.
Sacred Scripture clearly says: we are, faults and all, the Body of Christ on earth: the catholic (universal) Church. But you ask, if Christ is without sin and pure, how can God embrace us with all our faults? Good question.
You might recall the instruction of Jesus: be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. What does that perfection mean? Its means God’s ability to embrace all our imperfections.
Consider a child who is seriously misbehaving: the parents do not throw the child away, they still embrace the child with love (although it might be tough love at times!).
Let’s reflect a moment on the Eucharist in what Catholics refer to as Adoration. Many people find it meaningless and boring. So how can we make it more understandable and valuable?
Just as we pick up a telephone to talk to our loved ones, we should consider the Blessed Sacrament as a spiritual “phone” through which we can talk to our loved ones who are either living or deceased. Although the living may not know you are explicitly speaking to them through the Blessed Sacrament, you and God know: good things will happen for them.
You may also have unfinished issues to discuss with your loved ones who are deceased. Through the Eucharist you can tell them how you feel, and even offer forgiveness to them, or ask for forgiveness from them.
Finally, is the Body and Blood of Christ just a source of comfort and energy for each of us, or is it a two-way street? If we are all living members of the Body of Christ then we also become channels to strengthen the Body of Christ through our generosity and forgiveness given to others just as Christ has given to each of us.
Today’s feast is both an invitation and a challenge: an invitation to receive graces from the Eucharist, and a challenge to use those graces to strengthen other members of the Body of Christ. Here are some suggestions to be more generous while still fulfilling our responsibilities:
- Teach a younger person some skill that you already have= empower others.
2. Learn a new skill that you think can help others in the future= improve the world.
3. Congratulate or appreciate others 3+ times per day= make others smile.
4. Forgive someone who has hurt you and practice Adoration for 10 minutes every week.
In all these actions, and others, we make the Body of Christ alive and well in our world, meaning that we build a happy and peace-filled community = Kingdom of God.
By Gerard Conlan, OMI
