John 6:51-58
Corpus Christi
Rev. Paul Grankaukas
Reprinted by permission of "The Arlington Catholic Herald"

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John wrote to show that Christ was
the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.  Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven.  Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Memorials are a big part of our lives. 

We celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries.  We remember our loved ones on the anniversary of their death.  Each year, we mark significant dates: Sept. 11, July 4, Dec. 7.  Not very long ago, we celebrated Memorial Day, remembering those who have died serving our country in the military.  We honor that sacrifice.

It is obvious that we don't want to forget things that are of great significance to us.

In the Book of Exodus, we hear of the first Passover.  The Angel of Death passed over the land of Egypt, striking down the first born of the Egyptians.  The Hebrew slaves were spared by sacrificing a lamb and sprinkling the doorposts of their houses with its blood.  The lamb - the Sacrifice - would be consumed.

The Lord commanded that the Passover be a perpetual memorial to be celebrated annually.  Time and again, the prophets would tell the people of Israel they were never to forget that once they were slaves in the land of Egypt, and that God was the one who had liberated them from that bondage.

When the Passover was celebrated, a young boy would ask:  "Why is this night different from all others?"  The question is in the present, not the past tense.  The idea is that those who were celebrant this memorial - even if it were decades and centuries after the event - were participants in that event, that it was being made present to them in that moment.  They understood who they were as God's chosen people because of that first Passover.

Today, we celebrate Corpus Christi, the solemnity of Christ's Body and Blood.  When we speak of the Eucharist, we speak of Christ's Real Presence.  However, its just as important for us to remember the Eucharist as memorial and sacrifice.

In today's Gospel, Our Lord tells us that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we will not have eternal life.  At the time, many people said this was a hard saying and walked away.  We have the benefit of knowing how Our Lord fulfilled these words on the night before he died, he gave us his flesh and blood as food and drink under the sacramental signs of bread and wine.  His body, broken on the cross; his blood, poured out as a sacrificial offering to cleanse us from sin, is given us as food and drink under the signs of bead and wine.  All of this constitutes what we call the Paschal Mystery.  Through his Passion, death and Resurrection, Christ has passed from death to life.  When we celebrate the memorial he left us - when we participate in Mass each Sunday - we, too, share in that new Passover.

How many people do we know who neglect Mass?  How often do we say I am too tired, too busy to attend Mass?  Do we realize what we are neglecting?  The divine Son of God, out of love for us, assumed a human nature that was capable of suffering and dying so that we might be freed from sin and death.  Heaven is not something we should take for granted.  The price paid for opening the gates of heaven to us was the shedding of the Precious Blood of Christ.  Participation in the Mass reminds us that we are a people who have been redeemed.  This is not something we are meant to forget.

St. John Chrysostom spoke of our communion with Christ in the Eucharist in this way: "He gives himself to you, not just to be seen but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within. . . .   Let all of you be ardent, fervent, enthusiastic.  If the Jews stood, shoes on, staff in hand, and eating in haste, how much more vigilant should you be.  They were going to Palestine, . . . you are about to go to heaven."

Our Lord established the Eucharist as a memorial of his suffering and death, not simply so that we could remember it, but as a means of sharing the very gift of his divine life with us.  It is the Divine Bridegroom's desire to be united with his bride, the church, so that he can lead her to heaven.  The Eucharist is the outpouring of his love for us. 

What kind of love would we be showing if we left the Divine Bridegroom standing at the altar?