Reflection on Today's Readings and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Year B, June 6th, 2021
Texts: Ex. 24:3-8; Ps. 116:12-13.15-18; Heb. 9:11-15
Today we celebrate the priceless gift of all time that Christ has given us: the gift of His Most Holy Body and Blood. To give one's body is to mean readiness to serve. I give you my body means I am at your service. Jesus Christ has come to serve, not to be served. We are to follow His example, seeking to serve, not to be served, to love, not to be loved, to heal, not to be healed etc.
Many of the time we approach life from the wrong way, and so we miss the joy of life. We often seek to be served rather than to serve, to be loved rather than to love, to be healed rather than to heal. We fail to know that it is in serving that we are served, it is in loving that we are loved, it is in healing that we are healed. We have to serve to be served, we have to love to be loved, we have to heal to be healed. It is what we throw at the life that the life throws back at us. It is also put this way "We reap what we sow." If we sow service we will reap service, if we sow love, we will reap love, if we sow healing, we will reap heal. In this world, it is not always the case that the one you serve will also serve you, the one you love will also love you or the one you heal will also do the same to you. One thing is sure you will be loved. Be certain that God loves you and some people do.
Jesus Christ also says, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many." He gives His Blood. To give one's blood is to give one's own life. Jesus gave us His own life. He did not serve us alone, He gave up His life for us. Hence, St. John admonishes us thus: This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1John 3:16). By His own very life, Jesus teaches us that we should be ready to make sacrifices for love; He calls us to sacrificial love. Sacrificial love is the love that endures all things for the sake of love. Such love endures to enjoy. Such love manifested in the life of St. Paul. He says, "Indeed, even if my blood has to be poured as a libation over your sacrifice and the offering of faith, then I shall be glad and join in your rejoicing" (Phil. 2:17). He said to Timothy, "As for me my life is already poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to depart" (2Tim. 4:6).
This is the mystery we celebrate today: the mystery of service, love and life. Jesus Christ has won for us eternal life by giving us His Body and Blood. Jesus Christ gave us His Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine, and commanded that it should be done in memory of Him. The mystery continues till today. We shall receive His Body and Blood today. We should remember that Whenever we receive the Body and the Blood, we are called to service of the faith, love and life.
Today's Readings try to shed more light on the Most Holy Body Blood of Jesus. The first reading tells us that the Blood of Jesus is the seal of the new covenant. This means it is the Blood of Jesus that unites us to God. The reading also tells us that it is the blood of Jesus that consecrates us to God and dedicates us to His service. The reading says, "Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' And Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.'" Our union with God takes the blood of Jesus Christ. We sustain the union with God by keeping the term of the covenant; we are to keep the commandments of God and live by them.
The second reading tells us how efficacious the Blood of Christ is. It says, "For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." The Most Holy Blood of Christ has the power to purify our consciences from defilement and sin.
The sacraments of the Church have their merits in the Most Holy Blood of Christ. The administration of the sacraments is the application of the Blood of Christ to our souls. The Penny Catechism puts it thus: "The sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Christ's Precious Blood which they apply to the souls" (no. 251).
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for calling us to service, love and life by giving us Your Most Holy Body and Blood; grant us the grace to seek to serve rather than to be served, to love rather than to be loved, to heal rather than to be healed, and we shall know the joy of life and have peace. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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