June 2 2024. Feast of Corpus Christi
GOSPEL Mark: 12-16, 22-26
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .
GOSPEL Mark: 12-16, 22-26
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him,
"Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
"Go into the city and a man will meet you,
carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"'
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there."
The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating,
he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said,
"Take it; this is my body."
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
SUMMARY
On this feast of Corpus Christi we read the account of the preparation and eating of the Passover from St Mark’s Gospel. It is important not to consider the Eucharist as a static entity. Rather it is a participation in the dynamic events of the liberation of humanity by Christ. Jesus tells the disciples to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water who will lead them to the upper room. This is a symbol of baptism, of being transported to a higher level lived according to the perspective of God. The Lord has already prepared the Passover, prepared our liberation, and we are invited to prepare ourselves and enter. The Lord consecrates the bread and wine into his body and blood, but it is our task to prepare the bread and wine, which is done during the presentation of the gifts using an ancient Hebrew prayer of blessing. Our humanity is offered up in that bread and wine and it is transformed into Christ. The Eucharist calls us to live our humanity as a reality consecrated by God. In a sense, we are asked to live out our humanity in such a way that it ascends to the upper room, a higher and more beautiful level. Women and men are never so beautiful as when they live according to the will of God, carrying the invisible God in their every act and thought. We are invited to live this dynamic where our humanity and actions are transformed into Christ. Participation in the Eucharist is a call to transform our human existence into an existence as children of God, no longer simply a biological reality but a spiritual reality. In the Eucharist, the elements retain their properties, and so do we, but spiritually we become the body of Christ. Twice during the Mass, the celebrant calls on the Holy Spirit, once upon the bread and wine, and the second time upon the assembly of people. We celebrate the Eucharist in order to become the body of Christ, to achieve real union between us. His blood courses in our veins because we have received him in Communion. The goal of all of this is that we become the presence of Christ in this world, even in our simplest acts. The basilica of St Clement in Rome has a mosaic with Christ at the centre of a great tree which encompasses saints, martyrs and everyday scenes such as a women feeding the chickens. Even an everyday act can become something which has heaven inside it! This is the power of the Eucharist which we celebrate this Sunday.
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