Gospel Reflection for Sunday June 2nd 2024 – The Body and Blood of Christ

By Fr Brian Maher OMI

Gospel Reflection for Sunday June 2nd 2024, Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) | Mark 14:12-16,22-26

Since we celebrated Easter, we have reflected on all of the central mysteries of our faith. With the exception of creation and the Incarnation (Christmas) we have celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus, his appearances to his disciples, his ascension, Pentecost, and last week, The Blessed Trinity. This week we celebrate what used to be called ‘Corpus Christi’ (Body of Christ) but which now is called the most Sacred Body and Blood of Christ.

All of them are mysteries of faith. God’s gifts to us of curiosity, intelligence and exploration both allow us and encourage us to reflect on these mysteries, always with humility and wonder, in an attempt to understand, in a human way, what God is revealing to us.

We must, however, be careful. The sin of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis was believing that they could get for themselves ‘the knowledge of good and evil’. Having this knowledge would make them equal to God, knowing all things and understanding all things.

However, they were not created to be ‘Gods’, but beloved creatures and companions of God, made in ‘his’ image and likeness and basking in a love beyond all understanding. Their sin was pride – believing that they could achieve all knowledge and no longer need God. The result was confusion, uncertainty, misunderstanding, error and sin. All of these equate to unhappiness, anxiety and sadness.

We were created by a God who is love, and we were created in the “image and likeness” of that God. All of us have the potential to love and to be loved. Even before we are born we can experience and respond to the love of our mother. By coming to understand our own experiences of love, we can, in some tiny way, come to understand our God, who IS love.

It seems to me that all of the mysteries we reflect upon – Creation, Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, Pentecost, the Trinity, the Eucharist, etc. – come back to one, single, overwhelming mystery. That mystery is Love.

When we reflect on the mystery of the Blessed Trinity we are, if fact, reflecting on one, tiny, aspect of love (the internal love of God). When we reflect on the Incarnation, or Death and Resurrection, or Pentecost or Creation, we are, in fact, simply seeing other aspects of love. (a love that shares, gives, never loses hope, is always with us, is victorious, etc.).

The mystery of God is the mystery of Love, and the good – no, great – news is that love is accessible to all of us. Literate or illiterate, rich or poor, even without Google or Alexa, we can all give and receive love; we can experience for ourselves the power and passion of love, as well as the gentleness and com-passion of love; we can “be in” love, “fall in” love, “make” love, find “true” love.

What’s more, there is no room for pride in Love. Why? Because we love without knowing how, or when, or from where it comes, or goes.

The best articulation of the mystery of God is probably in John’s Gospel: “…for God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

St. Paul put it this way, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Whether we reflect on the Incarnation or the Death and Resurrection of Jesus we are, in fact, simply reflecting on love.

We could, if we liked, come to this week’s Feast – the Body and Blood of Christ – with the mindset of trying to understand it intellectually. It would lead us to a reflection on ‘transubstantiation’, ‘epiclesis’, ‘consecration’ and the Council of Trent. It might be interesting and valuable at an intellectual level, but, in the end, we will still not ‘understand’ the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ (the Eucharist).

If we, instead, come to today’s Feast with the mindset of seeking to understand the ‘Love’ that God reveals to us in this mystery, then we will find we can understand and appreciate it at an experiential level. In other words, what we celebrate will touch, in some way, our own experiences of love and we will understand it in this way.

Firstly, we must acknowledge that the Gospel is written to those who are already ‘believers’. There is no attempt to ‘prove’ the Gospel message in any way. The rationale is simple: These are the words Jesus spoke, and Jesus rose from the dead. Therefore we believe them.

We have something to learn from this. Sometimes, in our enthusiasm to share our belief in the Body and Blood of Christ (Eucharist), we fall into the trap of trying to ‘prove it’ to others. I have come across some very committed Christians who link belief in the Eucharist with stories of ‘miracles’ where the bread and wine of the Eucharist somehow became flesh and blood for a while and are seen as such. While linking ‘faith’ with these ‘miracles’ may be a genuine attempt to attract non-believers to the Eucharist, it is doomed to failure.

St. Paul says it quite forcefully in his Letter to the Romans, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and so is your faith.”

Our faith in the mystery of the Eucharist is based purely and completely on our faith in the person of Jesus. If it is based on anything else it is useless and in vain.

It is also important for us to realise that we find almost exactly this same formula of words spoken by Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, as well as in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, which is the earliest account we have of the Christian Eucharist.

Why is this important? Because the Gospels were written in different places and at different times. Therefore, it is clear that these exact words of Jesus (and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”) are important.

From the very beginning these words held a particular significance for Christians. They come directly from Jesus, without change or interpretation; they say what Jesus said…exactly what he said…and the meaning is self-explanatory.

It is no coincidence that these are also the words of consecration at Mass.

When we are “in love” we want nothing more that to be with the one we love. When we are separated we miss them and think about them constantly. When reunited we celebrate and are happy again.

If this is how human love works, isn’t it fully understandable that Jesus, who loved his disciples, would want to remain with them?

The mystery of the ‘Body and Blood of Christ’ will not be understood intellectually, no matter how hard we try to do so. But in the context of ‘love’ the mystery of the Eucharist can be understood by anyone who has had the experience of ‘love’.

At the end of the day all mysteries of faith will resolve themselves in Love, because God IS Love.

“When we love one another…”,  St. John’s First Letter tells us, “…we live in God and God lives in us.”

The Love that exists within God is simple. There is nothing to change it, or complicate it, or degrade it. God is just… only… Love.

The love we experience in our lives is not simple. It grows, changes, develops, is tainted by selfishness, pride and sin.

However, the potential to love and be loved is still there, living within us. It is, I believe, what the Book of Genesis refers to as being created “…in the image and likeness of God…”.

The more we choose to live in love, share love, grow in love and allow ourselves to be loved, the closer we come to God.

Today’s Feast – The Body and Blood of Christ – expresses the desire of Jesus to remain with us; to be close to us always. It is also God’s desire to make it happen. It is simply what Love does!

I can kind of get that!!!

Can’t you?

Many thanks,

Brian.

If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection, please feel welcome to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie

This is my body; this is my blood