Genesis 14:18-20
Today’s reading from the Book of Genesis tells us all we know about an obscure king named Melchizedek. Abraham had just won a military victory, and Melchizedek honors him with a meal of bread and wine. Over the course of time, this meal was seen as a distant foreshadowing of the Eucharist, which is why this passage was chosen for today’s feast.
1 Cor 11:23-26
The First Letter to the Corinthians was written about 25 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. Today’s passage contains our earliest written account of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. It predates even the Gospels.
Luke 9:11-17
Bishop Untener’s Homily
The feast of Corpus Christi has been celebrated for more than 700 years. It was established to emphasize two things about the Eucharist. First, that the Lord is truly present in the bread and the wine. He is not just symbolized by them. The bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.
The second reason why this feast was established was to emphasize that the Eucharist is food. In the 13th century, as a result of a drift away from tradition for 300 years, people had stopped going to Communion except very rarely. They came to Mass and watched. The Church wanted to help people re-discover the fact that Jesus gave us this gift as nourishment – not for the elite, but food for sinners.
If I were to ask you – and I’m not going to do that, I simply want you to think about it – if I were to ask you what are the chief effects of participation in the Eucharist, what would you say? Well, I looked back to the old Baltimore Catechism and found that very question. Actually, there were two questions that deal with this:
First, "What are the purposes for which Mass is offered?"
And then, "What are the chief effects of a worthy Holy Communion?"
The answers might surprise you.
What are the purposes for which Mass is offered?
Four are given:
- First, to adore God as our Creator and Lord;
- Second, to thank God for the many favors given to us;
- Third, to ask God to bestow blessings on all people;
- Fourth, to make up for the sins committed against God.
What are the chief effects of a worthy Holy Communion?
- First, a closer union with Our Lord and a more fervent love of God and of our neighbor;
- Second, an increase of sanctifying grace;
- Third, preservation from mortal sin and the remission of venial sin;
- Fourth, the lessening of our inclinations to sin and the help to practice good works.
Now, I don’t know what your reaction is, but a number of things struck me as I read these answers. For example, the fact that in the Eucharist we ask God’s blessings on all people. Also, that the Eucharist is meant to make us more fervent in our "love of God and of our neighbor." At the Eucharist we widen our concern for all people, for all creation.
I would like to single out just one of the effects of the Eucharist, one that is the most striking of all. Did you notice how often sin is mentioned? The word "sin" is used four times in the answers to those two questions about the Mass. It is refreshing, and consoling, to realize that our participation in the Eucharist cleanses us from sin. In my mind, I remember having the impression that you were supposed to be cleansed before you came to the Eucharist. But Church teaching is very clear and the New Catechism emphasizes this even more. It quotes St. Ambrose who in the fourth century said:
If we proclaim the Lord’s death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
If, as often as his blood is poured out,
it is poured for the forgiveness of sins,
I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins.
Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy."
The penitential rite at the very beginning of Mass deals with sin. We acknowledge our sinfulness and the presider prays over us: "May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life."
Listen to this prayer that one is to say after proclaiming the Gospel: "May the words of the gospel wipe away our sins."
In the words of institution over the cup – at that very sacred time of the Mass – the presider repeats the words of Christ: "This is the cup of my blood... It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.
At the beginning of the Communion Rite, when introducing the Our Father, one of the prayers is: "Let us ask our Father to forgive our sins and to bring us to forgive those who sin against us."
Just before Communion we pray: "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
The presider, before receiving Communion, prays quietly: "By your holy body and blood free me from all my sins, and from every evil."
One of the striking things is how often the forgiveness of sins is part of the prayer said after Communion. Here are some samples, some excerpts from that prayer:
- "God of mercy, may this eucharist bring us your divine help and free us from our sins."
- "By this eucharist free us from sin and keep us faithful to your word."
- "Merciful Father, may the gifts and blessings we receive bring us pardon and salvation."
- "Lord, may our sharing in this mystery free us from our sins."
- "Lord, in sharing this sacrament may we receive your forgiveness."
If I can put it this way, one of the reasons, the incentives for coming to Mass is to have our sins forgiven. Now, we need the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But we make a mistake if we see this primarily as a preparation for the Eucharist, sort of a "Saturday night bath" before coming to Mass on Sunday. The Sacrament of Reconciliation should be seen more as related to Baptism. It was traditionally called a "second Baptism." When we have broken our relationship with the Lord and with the community of disciples we call the "Church," then we deal with this before gathering with the community at Eucharist. We "re-do" our baptism.
But in our normal day-to-day living, we fail repeatedly. We can look back upon any given week and see things we should not have done, or things we should have done and didn’t do... we see things we said that we’d like to take back... we see our sinfulness.
It is a great relief, a wonderful refreshment, to come to the Eucharist and know that these sins are forgiven, washed away, cleansed. It is God’s gift for us. At the Eucharist we enter into the Lord’s own dying and rising, and we in Communion we receive the food that cleanses us, strengthens us, nourishes us to live as true disciples of the Lord.
It may seem strange to be talking about the forgiveness of sin on this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. But that is what Jesus came to do. During his ministry, Jesus was accused of "eating and drinking with sinners." He still does that – with us. His response to that accusation was: "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance... but sinners."
Originally given on June 17, 2001