The Sacrament of Charity
June 11, 2006

Readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Reading 1: Gen. 14:18–20

Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 110:1, 2, 3, 4

Reading 2: 1 Cor. 11:23–26

Gospel: Lk. 9:11b–17

Link to Readings

By Father Nicholas L. Gregoris

On May 26, 2007, I celebrated the tenth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. Serving Mass on the solemnity we celebrate today and participating in the Corpus Christi procession in my home parish bolstered my childhood faith in Our Lord’s Eucharistic Presence and likewise inculcated in me a deep appreciation for the mystery of Christ’s Sacred Priesthood.

As a newly ordained priest, I had the distinct privilege of offering one of my first solemn masses of thanksgiving on Corpus Christi. These two words—“Corpus Christi”—signify the inexorable link between the Eucharistic Mystery and the Mystery of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

Having studied in Rome afforded me the privilege on more than one occasion of concelebrating the Mass of Corpus Christi with the Holy Father on the steps of the Basilica of St. John Lateran and of subsequently following him in solemn procession down the Via Merulana (located in the heart of the Eternal City) along with numerous other clergy and lay faithful in order to receive Eucharistic Benediction on the steps of the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Certainly such opportunities should serve to bear witness to Christ in a public fashion, manifesting to the local church, to whole neighborhoods and communities, that God dwells in our midst through the Eucharistic Mystery; that He continues to make Himself really and substantially present to us through the humble ministry of His priests; and that He wills in a special way to lead the Church along her pilgrimage of faith through the ministry of the Successor of Peter: the Pope, Supreme Pontiff and the “Servant of the Servants of God” ("Servus Servorum Dei").

Along these lines, I would encourage all of you to read Pope Benedict’s recent Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis (“Sacrament of Charity”), “On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission.” In it, he encourages us to engage in personal and communal Eucharistic adoration and processions.

Furthermore, the Pope teaches us about the inherent beauty of the Eucharistic celebration. The outward signs (rituals) of the Mass should serve to enhance our esthetical sense as well as our sense of sin and the sacred. Every aspect of the Sacred Liturgy—the vestments, the furnishing, the sacred vessels, the music (especially the great patrimony of Gregorian chant), even the church building and sanctuary area with its sacred furnishings—should foster reverence and awe for the mystery of God. The Holy Father encourages us to contribute to that beauty by the means of prayerful participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

The Pope teaches us that our faith must always have a public component and witness. Therefore, the Holy Father encourages us to use the Church’s mother tongue, Latin, especially at international gatherings, in order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church. He also encourages all members of Christ’s lay faithful to learn the more common prayers of the Mass in Latin as a concrete way of manifesting the Church’s unity and catholicity (universality). St. Augustine of Hippo, Father of the Church in the fifth-century was renowned for his love of the Latin language. He termed the Mass “Sacrament of Unity” ("Sacramentum Unitatis") and Bond of Charity ("Vinculum Caritatis").

Furthermore, Pope Benedict recalls how early Christian martyrs from North Africa once boldly proclaimed that they would rather die than live without the Sunday Eucharist. The Holy Father explains that we who enjoy freedom of religion must never forget those who are persecuted and sometimes killed for their faith. Pope Benedict recalls that even in our contemporary society Christian men and women die as martyrs for the faith, and in so doing their “worship culminates in the joyful and convincing testimony of a consistent Christian life, wherever the Lord calls us to be His witnesses.” [1]

In the Mass, we encounter Christ in a transient, temporary manner; in Heaven, we shall encounter Him for all eternity. Here, we possess Him through faith in the Real Presence hidden under the simple forms of bread and wine; in heaven, we shall see Him face to face. The Eucharist is the seed of eternal glory. Our Lord could not have put it more precisely: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi is an eight-century-old grace of the Church offered to increase our faith in the Holy Eucharist, to overcome our doubt and confusion, to strengthen our communion with Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, under the leadership of our Pope, bishops and priests, to deepen our child-like faith in Jesus’ Real Presence. What will your response be to this grace today?

Let us use the beautiful feast of Corpus Christi first to examine our consciences and then to recommit ourselves to the proper respect and adoration due to the Lord’s Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, to which the prayers and hymns of St. Thomas Aquinas are such a sublime tribute. [Ed.: Click here to read Fr. Gregoris’s “'O Sacred Banquet': St. Thomas Aquinas and the Office of Corpus Christi”]

Paraphrasing the words of the Opening Prayer, “May your worship of this sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood help you to experience the salvation He won for you and the peace of the Kingdom.” Let us make our own St. Thomas’ prayer at the end of the Lauda Sion:

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestows
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heavenly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

Father Nicholas L. Gregoris, a member of the Priestly Society of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum in Rome and serves as the managing editor of The Catholic Response. He is the author of The Daughter of Eve Unfallen: Mary in the Theology and Spirituality of John Henry Newman, published by Newman House Press. He is likewise the translator and editor of Father Giovanni Velocci’s book Prayer in Newman, just released by Newman House Press.

Also by Fr. Gregoris:

“O Sacred Banquet": St. Thomas Aquinas and the Office of Corpus Christi

Ten Practical Suggestions: Implementing Eucharistic Theology in Our Daily Lives

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[1] Summary based on the pamphlet entitled, “Pope Benedict XVI, The Eucharist, Sacrament of Charity, Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission,” distributed by Our Sunday Visitor (Huntington, Indiana, 2007). www.osv.com

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