Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Antiphon
He fed them with the finest wheat and satisfied the with honey from the rock (Psalm 80:17).

Collect
O God, Who in this wonderful Sacrament,
have left us a memorial of Your Passion
grant us, we pray,
so to revere the Sacred Mysteries
of Your Body and Blood
that we may always experience in ourselves
the fruits of Your redemption.
Who live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Scripture
Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came as high priest
of the good things that have come to be,
passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle
not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,
he entered once for all into the sanctuary,
not with the blood of goats and calves
but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes
can sanctify those who are defiled
so that their flesh is cleansed,
how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from dead works
to worship the living God.
For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place for deliverance
from transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
(Hebrews 9:11-15)

Reflection
Where do we begin on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ? Is there anything we can comprehend about Jesus’ complete gift of Himself to us? Deep, mind-spinning questions often flood our minds when we ponder the Mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood even momentarily. We get ‘stuck’ on questions such as “How can this be (remember somebody else early in Luke's Gospel asking this question)?” How can can I comprehend and explain transubstantiation? If this is true, why do so few participate in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist? Since the Holy Eucharist is a mystery and therefore I will never understand completely, why waste time talking and reading about this?

The questions are not necessarily bad or wrong, just misdirected. Theological questions are good provided they keep us responding to the Living, Loving God with lives that give evidence of charity and service. The difficulty is that many of our questions want ‘to figure things out’ and once we ‘think’ we have figured things out, we stop searching for meaning because we think we have mastered the mystery of the unknown.

Wonderfully, Church’s rich heritage of liturgical music offers us an insight from the experience of worship and devotion. Our repertoire of sacred chant and music stirs the mind and heart, creating an environment ready to receive and to cooperate with the abundance of life and love the Holy Spirit showers upon us daily. Take, for example, the hymn Ave verum corpus. Even though historians debate the author, (some say Saint Thomas Aquinas, others Pope Innocent III, IV or perhaps even V), the text offers some points for reflections appropriate for today’s Solemnity.


“Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine,” - Hail, true body born of the Virgin Mary: Jesus is a real Person, period. He is not a myth. He is not a fictitious person of an imaginary story. Even before pondering His Presence in the Most Holy Eucharist, we have to ask ourselves, ‘do I (and we as a community of faith) believe that Jesus Christ is a real Divine Person Who once lived among us at a particular time and in a particular place with both divine and human natures (the Mystery of the Incarnation)?’ Do I believe this Person preached and lived a new way of life called the Kingdom of God that called one to daily conversion and belief? Do I adore and worship Him as the God-man, the High Priest Who, in the words from Hebrews “cleanses our consciences from dead works to worship the living God?”


“Vere passum immolatum in Cruce pro homine,” - Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the Cross for man: Jesus’ message of Kingdom living cost Him His human life as an innocent victim. His life among us was eminently self-less. Do I (and we as a community of faith) live sacrificially or is life on my terms? Do I project and live an attitude of entitlement? Do I charitably serve the needs of others as Jesus did in His ministry?

“Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine,” - Whose pierced side overflowed with water and blood: Even in death, Jesus gives life and blesses us with His Presence: water (the Gift of Baptism) and blood (the Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist). How often have I considered the ‘price’ Jesus paid for our salvation? Do I recognize and reverence His Presence sacramentally and in the people around me?

“Esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.” - Be for us a foretaste in the test of death: Jesus teaches with His life that there is more to life than what we see around us. The goodness of life in the here-and-now is temporary. We live fully in the present knowing that our lives are being drawn to an eternity of life and love, or as Hebrews states, “the promised eternal inheritance.” Hence, do I live with a view towards the eternity of life with Father, Son and Holy Spirit – OR – do “I want it all, and I want it now?” Do I assist others in helping them to live Jesus’ life?

In the end, this Solemn Day reminds us that the Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist, similar to last week's celebration of the Most Holy Trinity, is not a thing to be figured out, but a Person Who calls us as His Body to be in communion with Him as we joyfully, charitably and selflessly serve Him in one another.


Preface
The Fruits of the Most Holy Eucharist

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation
always and everywhere to give You thanks,
Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.

For at the Last Supper with His Apostles,
establishing for the ages to come the saving
memorial of the Cross,
He offered Himself to You as the unblemished Lamb,
the acceptable Gift of perfect praise.
Nourishing You faithful by this Sacred Mystery,
You make them holy, so that the human race,
bounded by one world,
may be enlightened by one faith
and united by one bond of charity.

And so, we approach the table
of this wondrous Sacrament,
so that, bather in the sweetness of Your grace,
we may passover
o the heavenly realities here foreshadowed.

Therefore, all creatures of heaven and earth
sing a new song in adoration, and we,
with all the host of Angels, cry out,
and without end end we acclaim:

Ordinary Time
Saturday of the Ninth Week

“Prayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with wickedness. It is better to give alms than to store up gold ...” (Tobit 12:8)

Saint Gaudentius of Brescia  offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Frist Reading:

“It is written that fasting with almsgiving is a good thing. It was necessary to do both, to mitigate the Lord’s indignation. Perhaps you cannot fast, and you cannot because you do not want to — at least give food to someone who is hungry. You who cannot stand to fast for three hours past the usual hour can certainly understand what someone would suffer who unwillingly goes hungry because of his poverty. Your cruelty forces him to fast, you who, fattened by sumptuous banquets, do not think to relieve the poor person’s hunger with even a little food. You point to the possibility of famine, you pretend to be in need, you complain of unfavorable circumstances. You beg more shamefully than that poor person — indeed, you behave toward God like an ingrate with your false complaining. But what if there was a famine? Would you perhaps be the only one to feel it, and not that poor person? How is it that every day you lay out new silver, beautify your houses with marble, buy silk garments, trade necklaces adorned with gold and gems? It is shameful to mention and painful even to think of the number of peasants who, living on the lands of people who live in the luxury we have described, have died of hunger or been supported by the alms of the church.” (Sermons, 13.)



Collect
O God,
Whose providence never fails in its design,
keep from us, we humbly beseech you,
all that might harm us
and grant all that works for our good.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 


The way to come to true life

Today’s Second Reading from the
Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours [loth])

Ordinary Time: Saturday of the Ninth Week


An excerpt from: Exposition on John (Chapter 14)
Saint Thomas Aquinas
(priest and Doctor of the Church)



Christ himself is the way, and therefore he says: I am the way. This certainly is eminently right for through him we have access to the Father. Since this way is not separate from its end, but joined to it, he adds the truth and the life; thus he is himself at once both the way and the goal. In his human nature he is the way, and in his divine nature he is the goal. Therefore, speaking as man he says: I am the way; and speaking as God he adds: the truth and the life. These two words are an apt description of this goal.

For this goal is the object of human desire, and a man desires two things above all. In the first place he wants to know the truth, which is peculiar to him; and secondly he wants to continue to exist, which is common to all things. Christ is the way by which we come to know truth, though he is also that truth: Lead me, O Lord, in truth, and I shall enter into your way. Christ is also the way to come to life, though he is also that life: You have made known the ways of life.

Therefore, he designated the end of this way by truth and life, about which we have spoken above with reference to Christ. First, he himself is life, for life was in him; then, he is truth, because he was the light of men, and light is truth.

If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way: This is the way; walk in it. And Augustine says: Make man your way and you shall arrive at God. It is better to limp along the way than stride along off the way. For a man who limps along the way, even if he only makes slow progress, comes to the end of the way; but one who is off the way, the more quickly he runs, the further away is he from his goal.

If you are looking for a goal, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the truth, where we desire to be. My mouth shall reflect on the truth. If you are looking for a resting place, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the life. Whoever finds me finds life, and receives salvation from the Lord.

Therefore hold fast to Christ if you wish to be safe. You will not be able to go astray, because he is the way. He who remains with him does not wander in trackless places; he is on the right way. Moreover he cannot be deceived, because he is the truth, and he teaches every truth. And he says: For this I was born and for this I have come, to bear witness to the truth. Nor can he be disturbed, because he is both life and the giver of life. For he says: I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 

— Memorial: Saint Boniface —

Ordinary Time: Friday of the Ninth Week

“Weeping, he exclaimed, “I can see you, son, the light of my eyes!” Then he prayed, “Blessed be God, blessed be his great name, and blessed be all his holy angels. May his great name be with us, and blessed be all the angels throughout all the ages.” (Tobit 11:14)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:

“It is necessary to observe the means of expression the Evangelist used as to whether he says to us that the eyes of the blind person were opened or that he saw. He expresses that he opened his eyes with the words, “It was the sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.” But it also says that he saw with the words, “He went and returned seeing.” We will be able to find the difference between the expressions from Tobit. When white patches had formed over his eyes, it is not written that his eyes were later opened but that he saw. Of the rest, you will be able to observe one or the other aspect in the course of the entire episode related concerning the blind person, where one person asserts one thing and another that, with quite a bit of dissent from each other.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, Fragment 66)



Collect
May the Martyr Saint Boniface
be our advocate, O Lord,
that we may firmly hold the faith
he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood
and confidently profess it by our deeds.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen





The careful shepherd watches over Christ’s flock


Today’s Second Reading from the
Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours)
Ordinary Time: Friday the Ninth Week

Memorial: Saint Boniface

An excerpt from:
Letter 78

 By
Saint Boniface
(bishop and martyr)

In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.

The ancient fathers showed us how we should carry out this duty: Clement, Cornelius and many others in the city of Rome, Cyprian at Carthage, Athanasius at Alexandria. They all lived under emperors who were pagans; they all steered Christ’s ship—or rather his most dear spouse, the Church. This they did by teaching and defending her, by their labors and sufferings, even to the shedding of blood.

I am terrified when I think of all this. Fear and trembling came upon me and the darkness of my sins almost covered me. I would gladly give up the task of guiding the Church which I have accepted if I could find such an action warranted by the example of the fathers or by holy Scripture.

Since this is the case, and since the truth can be assaulted but never defeated or falsified, with our tired mind let us turn to the words of Solomon: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own prudence. Think on him in all your ways, and he will guide your steps. In another place he says: The name of the Lord is an impregnable tower. The just man seeks refuge in it and he will be saved.

Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God’s strengthening aid and say to him: O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations.

Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful and he tells us: My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, let us die for the holy laws of our fathers, so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.

Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead let us be careful shepherds watching over Christ’s flock. Let us preach the whole of God’s plan to the powerful and to the humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God gives us the strength, in season and out of season, as Saint Gregory writes in his book of Pastoral Instruction.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 

The Church moves forward
like the advancing dawn

Today’s Second Reading from the
Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours)
Ordinary Time: Thursday of the Ninth Week

An excerpt from:
Moral Reflections on Job, (Book 29)
Saint Gregory the Great
(pope and Father of the Church)

Since the daybreak or the dawn is changed gradually from darkness into light, the Church, which comprises the elect, is fittingly styled daybreak or dawn. While she is being led from the night of infidelity to the light of faith, she is opened gradually to the splendor of heavenly brightness, just as dawn yields to the day after darkness. The Song of Songs says aptly: Who is this who moves forward like the advancing dawn? Holy Church, inasmuch as she keeps searching for the rewards of eternal life, has been called the dawn. While she turns her back on the darkness of sins, she begins to shine with the light of righteousness.

This reference to the dawn conjures up a still more subtle consideration. The dawn intimates that the night is over; it does not yet proclaim the full light of day. While it dispels the darkness and welcomes the light, it holds both of them, the one mixed with the other, as it were. Are not all of us who follow the truth in this life daybreak and dawn? While we do some things which already belong to the light, we are not free from the remnants of darkness. In Scripture the Prophet says to God: No living being will be justified in your sight. Scripture also says: In many ways all of us give offense.

When he writes, the night is passed. Paul does not add, the day is come, but rather, the day is at hand. Since he argues that after the night has passed, the day as yet is not come but is rather at hand, he shows that the period before full daylight and after darkness is without doubt the dawn, and that he himself is living in that period.

It will be fully day for the Church of the elect when she is no longer darkened by the shadow of sin. It will be fully day for her when she shines with the perfect brilliance of interior light. This dawn is aptly shown to be an ongoing process when Scripture says: And you showed the dawn its place. A thing which is shown its place is certainly called from one place to another. What is the place of the dawn but the perfect clearness of eternal vision? When the dawn has been brought there, it will retain nothing belonging to the darkness of night. When the Psalmist writes: My soul thirsts for the living God; when shall I go and see the face of God?, does he not refer to the effort made by the dawn to reach its place? Paul was hastening to the place which he knew the dawn would reach when he said he wished to die and to be with Christ. He expressed the same idea when he said: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 

— Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions —
Ordinary Time: Wednesday of the Ninth Week

“Then sad at heart, I groaned and wept aloud. With sobs I began to pray...” (Tobit 3:1)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:

“Regarding the second kind of prayer, see Daniel: “And Azarias standing up prayed in this manner and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire he said ...” And Tobias: “And I began to pray with tears, saying, You are just, O Lord, and all your works are just and all your ways mercy and truth. And your judgments are true and just forever.” And since the passage in Daniel has been obelized on the ground that it is not found in the Hebrew text, and those of the circumcision reject the book of Tobias as not being canonical, I shall quote the words of Anna from the first book of Kings: “And she prayed the Lord, shedding many tears. And she made a vow, saying, O Lord of hosts, if you will look down on the affliction of your servant,” and so on. And in Habakkuk: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet with song. O Lord, I have heard your voice and was afraid. O Lord, I reflected on your works and was astonished. In the midst of two animals you will be known; in the approach of the years you will be recognized.” The example just given illustrates very well the definition of prayer inasmuch as he who offers it unites it with praise of God. And again, in the book of Jonah: “Jonah prayed to the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish. And he said, I cried out of my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell you heard the screams of my voice. And you have thrown me into the deep in the heart of the sea, and a flood has surrounded me.” (On Prayer, 14)


Collect
O God,
Who have made the blood of Martyrs
the seed of Christians,
mercifully grant
that the field which is Your Church,
watered by the blood
shed by Saints Charles Lwanga and his companions,
may be fertile and
always yield You an abundant harvest.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen





The glory of the martyrs — a sign of rebirth

Today’s Second Reading from the
Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours)
Ordinary Time: Wednesday of the Ninth Week

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions
(martyrs)

An excerpt from:
Canonization Homily
Blessed Pope Paul VI
(pope)

The African martyrs add another page to the martyrology — the Church’s roll of honor — an occasion both of mourning and of joy. This is a page worthy in every way to be added to the annals of that Africa of earlier times which we, living in this era and being men of little faith, never expected to be repeated.

In earlier times, there occurred those famous deeds, so moving to the spirit, of the martyrs of Scilli, of Carthage, and of that “white robed army” of Utica commemorated by Saint Augustine and Prudentius; of the martyrs of Egypt so highly praised by Saint John Chrysostom, and of the martyrs of the Vandal persecution. Who would have thought that in our days we should have witnessed events as heroic and glorious?

Who could have predicted to the famous African confessors and martyrs such as Cyprian, Felicity, Perpetua and — the greatest of all — Augustine, that we would one day add names so dear to us as Charles Lwanga and Matthias Mulumba Kalemba and their twenty companions? Nor must we forget those members of the Anglican Church who also died for the name of Christ.

These African martyrs herald the dawn of a new age. If only the mind of man might be directed not toward persecutions and religious conflicts but toward a rebirth of Christianity and civilization!

Africa has been washed by the blood of these latest martyrs, the first of this new age (and, God willing, let them be the last, although such a holocaust is precious indeed). Africa is reborn free and independent.

The infamous crime by which these young men were put to death was so unspeakable and so expressive of the times. It shows us clearly that a new people needs a moral foundation, needs new spiritual customs firmly planted, and to be handed down to posterity. Symbolically, this crime also reveals that a simple and rough way of life—enriched by many fine human qualities yet enslaved by its own weakness and corruption—must give way to a more civilized life wherein the higher expressions of the mind and better social conditions prevail.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 

— Saint Justin of Rome —
(martyr and apologist)

Ordinary Time: Monday of the Ninth Week

“For he shall never be shaken; the righteous shall be remembered forever.” (Psalm 112, 6.)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from the Responsorial Psalm proclaimed at Mass today:

“So “the just person will be remembered forever; and he will not be afraid of an evil hearing.” The judge is coming, you see, of the living and the dead, as we read in the Gospel. And it is true; since in fact the things we now see had not yet occurred, when it was foretold they would happen. The fact that you can now see the name of Christ being proclaimed throughout all nations, people converted to the one God, idols being forsaken, temples pulled down, images smashed; none of these things had yet happened, and yet they were spoken of, and now they can be seen. So in the Scriptures in which these things we can now see were written about (they were written, though, at a time when they could not be seen, but they were being promised for the future), in the very same Scriptures we read of what has not yet come about.

I mean, the day of judgment has not yet come, the resurrection of the dead has not yet happened, the one who is going to judge has not yet come, who came the first time to be judged.” (Sermon 328)



Collect
O God
Who through the folly of the Cross
wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,
grant us, through his intercession,
that, having rejected deception and error,
we may become steadfast in the faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 


I have accepted the true doctrines of the Christians


Today’s Second Reading from the
Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours)
Ordinary Time: monday of the Ninth Week

Memorial
Saint Justin
(martyr and apologist)

An excerpt from:
Acts of the martyrdom of Saint Justin and his companion saints


The saints were seized and brought before the prefect of Rome, whose name was Rusticus. As they stood before the judgement seat, Rusticus the prefect said to Justin: “Above all, have faith in the gods and obey the emperors.” Justin said: “We cannot be accused or condemned for obeying the commands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Rusticus said: “What system of teaching do you profess?” Justin said: “I have tried to learn about every system, but I have accepted the true doctrines of the Christians, though these are not approved by those who are held fast by error.”

The prefect Rusticus said: “Are those doctrines approved by you, wretch that you are?” Justin said: “Yes, for I follow them with their correct teaching.”

The prefect Rusticus said: “What sort of teaching is that?” Justin said: “Worship the God of the Christians. We hold him to be from the beginning the one creator and maker of the whole creation, of things seen and things unseen. We worship also the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was foretold by the prophets as the future herald of salvation for the human race and the teacher of distinguished disciples. For myself, since I am a human being, I consider that what I say is insignificant in comparison with his infinite godhead. I acknowledge the existence of a prophetic power, for the one I have just spoken of as the Son of God was the subject of prophecy. I know that the prophets were inspired from above when they spoke of his coming among men.”

Rusticus said: “You are a Christian, then?” Justin said: “Yes, I am a Christian.”

The prefect said to Justin: “You are called a learned man and think that you know what is true teaching. Listen: if you were scourged and beheaded, are you convinced that you would go up to heaven?” Justin said: “I hope that I shall enter God’s house if I suffer that way. For I know that God’s favor is stored up until the end of the whole world for all who have lived good lives.”

The prefect Rusticus said: “Do you have an idea that you will go up to heaven to receive some suitable rewards?” Justin said: “It is not an idea that I have; it is something I know well and hold to be most certain.”

The prefect Rusticus said: “Now let us come to the point at issue, which is necessary and urgent. Gather round then and with one accord offer sacrifice to the gods.” Justin said: “No one who is right thinking stoops from true worship to false worship.”

The prefect Rusticus said: “If you do not do as you are commanded you will be tortured without mercy.” Justin said: “We hope to suffer torment for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so be saved. For this will bring us salvation and confidence as we stand before the more terrible and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Savior.”

In the same way the other martyrs also said: “Do what you will. We are Christians; we do not offer sacrifice to idols.”

The prefect Rusticus pronounced sentence, saying: “Let those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the command of the emperor be scourged and led away to suffer capital punishment according to the ruling of the laws.” Glorifying God, the holy martyrs went out to the accustomed place. They were beheaded, and so fulfilled their witness of martyrdom in confessing their faith in their Savior.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)