This feast day is best known by its Latin name, Corpus Christi.  It was inspired by a vision of St. Juliana of Mt. Cornillon, Belgium (1193-1258).  Pope Urban VI, who had met Juliana when he was an Archdeacon in Liege, extended it to the universal Church as a feast on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday in 1264.  The Thursday observance corresponded to the establishment of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday.  A procession with the Eucharist outside the Church has often been connected with the feast.  The pope processes with a monstrance from the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome, to St. Mary Major, along the Via Merulana.  Although many places have moved the observance of the feast to Sunday, it is still observed on Thursday in the Vatican. 

First reading:  Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14b-16a

The entire Book of Deuteronomy is a final instruction by Moses, just before his death and near the end of their desert journey and crossing into the Promised Land.  Forty years symbolized a time of preparation for a sacred mission.  Testing was not just to see whether the people were worthy.  It was a time to train and exercise their new relationship of trusting on the Lord through the covenant.  It was a preparation for the future.  As they encountered threats to their existence as a people, God provided protection and guidance. 

The serpents that attacked the Israelites in Nm 21:6-9 are called saraph, fiery.  It could describe the coloration of the snake or the burning sensation of its bite.  The water flowing from a rock is described in Ex 17:6 and Nm 20:7-11.  The description of the rock as “flinty” emphasizes the impossibility and unexpectedness of the event.  It was by the intervention of God.  Manna may be the secretions of an insect.  But the amount and continuous presence of it was miraculous.  The word, “manna,” means something like “whatever it is.”  Even the name reflected the special nature of it, since it could not be identified exactly by another name. 

Second reading: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Paul uses a Jewish phrase from the Passover meal, “cup of blessing,” to describe the Christian celebration.  Blood and life are associated in the Scripture.  The “cup of blessing” and “the bread that we break” leads to sharing with Christ and with one another.  The “one body” is expressed in partaking of the “one loaf,” which also brings about “participation in the body of Christ – which is the Church! 

Gospel: John 6:51-58

This passage is taken from the Bread of Life discourse of Jesus in the Gospel.  Jesus compares the “food” that He offers with the “food” that the Hebrews received in the wilderness during the Exodus.  Food is the fuel for life.  So, bread from heaven nourishes eternal life.  There is a strong Eucharistic tone in these verses.  Jesus identifies with the “living bread,” flesh and blood.  He does not do that with the “living water,” which He offers to the Samaritan woman in Jn 4:10. 

What Jesus offers is not just a good idea.  The word “flesh” is used six times, a graphic form of food to eat.  It is also a word that is tied with earthly existence.  Flesh and blood are also terms that are used in a cultic context of sacrifice.  Bread, a word that can be applied generically to “food,” is used five times – at the beginning and end of this passage.  The verb “eat” is also used six times, emphasizing the importance of continuing nourishment. Jesus “remains” as food and drink.  What He offers is imperishable, as compared to the manna that lasted only a day. 

Meals are meant to be more than just the food that is served.  It makes a difference with whom we share the table at mealtime.  The Eucharist has led to the sharing of lives, which has transformed me, just like the bread and wine that becomes the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Because we shared the Eucharist, I have met a Chinese seminarian in the US, whose parents never left their village.  He would be going back after ordination, perhaps to be placed under house arrest.  I met a lady, who served as an ambulance driver in Croatia, when Nazi bombs were dropping in her city.  She had to race the injured into the shelter of the caves in the mountains.  This weekend, I heard the story of a parishioner, who had just been diagnosed with cancer. . .again.  I have been in awe of the heroic faith of the people, who have shared a meal at the table of the Lord.  I would never have met them. . .and many more!. . .if I had not shared a meal, the Eucharist, with them.  They are the stories of the Body of Christ. 

Who will join you at the table this weekend?  Someone may share a story that will transform your life. 

---

Fr. Richard Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.