The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord – Sunday, June 2. 2024
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May 30, 2024Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Following the Solemnity of Pentecost, which concludes the Easter season, the Church celebrates two more liturgical solemnities: last week we had the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity; this week we have the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord, known in our tradition as Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ).
The greatest treasure we have as Catholics is the Lord’s gift to us of the Holy Eucharist. We remember and celebrate at every Mass that the “night He was betrayed” he took ordinary bread and wine and changed them into His Body and His Blood. We believe that after the words of consecration, first pronounced by the Lord Himself at the Last Supper, the bread and wine cease to exist. We have only the appearances of bread and wine. Their substance has changed in the most radical way possible. We call this change transubstantiation. This doctrine assures us that Jesus is truly and really present for us in the Holy Eucharist until the end of time.
We believe that under the appearances of bread and wine, Jesus Christ is contained, offered, and received. That means that at every celebration of Mass the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary is perpetuated, that Jesus remains present under the appearances of bread and wine, and that He can be received into our souls through Holy Communion.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross, though in an unbloody manner. That event defines the whole Christian life. When we least deserved it, Jesus gave up His life to atone for our sins and open the gates of heaven. The supreme sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross can be summed up in one word: love. It makes sense that the Lord would institute a way to make Himself present to us through the centuries in a dynamic, real, visible way.
Here is the Romance of the Christian Life: to take up the cross and follow the Lord. We are called to sacrifice ourselves in love in whatever vocation we are called to live out each day. Yes, it is hard to be faithful priests, parents, spouses, and children. The Holy Eucharist, instituted by the Lord Himself, gives us the most efficacious means by His love and His grace to live holy, loving, Godly lives. We are not alone.
Therefore, one of the Laws of the Church that remains unchanged before and after Vatican II is that we have a grave obligation to assist at Mass on all Sundays and Holydays of obligation. To miss Mass on those days is grave matter and unless there are valid reasons to miss is a mortal sin. This is a sin that must be confessed before receiving Holy Communion again.
On this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, we renew our love and devotion to the Eucharistic Christ.
Yours in Him,
Fr. Mark G. Mazza
