Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi is the old way of saying The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It used to be celebrated on Thursday but was perpetually moved to the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
Let us take one second to look at the solemnities we have celebrated in two weeks. First was the Ascension of the Lord. The next weekend was Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then we celebrated the Trinity, our three-in-one God. Now we celebrate the Divine Presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine.
This week we will celebrate the Nativity of John the Baptist on the 23rd, the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the 24th, the Immaculate Heart of Mary of the 25th, and then we begin counting Sundays starting not with one, we did that earlier in the year, but we are now up to the 13th Sunday.
And we are starting to experience shorter daylight and we get the sense that we are moving back to – dare I say, Christmas?
The Church gives us the liturgy of the year to experience together God in our lives. How God lives in us and how we live in God.
When we look up at the night sky and see the immensity of creation, do we pause to see God in all this grandeur? When we look through a powerful microscope, do we pause to see God in the minuteness of tiny electrons and photons? God is everything. Even in our daily experiences.
Rainbows are always a reminder of God’s presence. Sharing a cup of coffee with a friend is sharing of the love of Jesus who is in each of us. Doing an act of kindness or good will for someone anonymously is a sharing of God’s generosity. Forgiving one another is act of God’s forgiveness. Receiving the Eucharist is not so much receiving God into us but God taking us into Him. We cannot possibly take our God within us except spiritually. Yet, when we receive His Son in the precious body and blood, we enter the life of God.
The United States Council of Catholic Bishops begin their Eucharistic Revival today. It is to be a time for all of us to renew our understanding of the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. The best way to know God is to spend time with Him. Pray about becoming an Adorer. One hour a week is hardly a hardship. And the time given to God in Adoration will always produce abundant fruits of the Holy Spirit.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen