Corpus Christi Year A

  

Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Eucharist we believe it is truly the Son of God, though we cannot see Him.

When we receive Holy Communion, while in the state of grace, we become one with the Heart of Jesus. In the Gospel today, Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in Me and I in him.” And Our Lord promises that if we eat His flesh and drink His blood we will live forever and that we will rise from the dead. He said, “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.”

And because we believe Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist many parishioners spend time with Our Lord in adoration every week here in our parish. Our parish is so blessed to have Eucharistic adoration. Jesus is silently touching hearts and lives of all who come to be with Him.

The Solemnity of Corpus Christi was brought about due to a Eucharistic miracle. In 1263, a priest from Prague was in route to Rome making a pilgrimage asking God for help to strengthen him in his faith, because he doubted his vocation. He stopped in a village called Bolsena, 70 miles north of Rome. While celebrating Mass there, as he raised the Host during the consecration, the bread turned into visible flesh and began to bleed. The drops of blood fell onto the small white cloth, called a corporal. That blood stained cloth can still be seen in the Basilica of Orvieto north of Rome. The following year in 1264 Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of the body and blood of Jesus, today’s solemnity of Corpus Christi. Since then, on the feast of Corpus Christi, many churches will have a Eucharistic procession, in which the people will follow Jesus in the Eucharist down the streets, on sidewalks and through the city.

On Sunday, Fr. Aaron will have Mass and lead us in a Eucharistic procession, as he processes Jesus in the monstrance through the streets of Little River.

The miracle of the Eucharist, which brought about the Feast of Corpus Christi strengthened the faith of a doubting priest. The drops of blood that fell on white cloth pointed to the fact, that Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist.

The same Jesus who came down from heaven in the womb of Mary, walked the face of the earth, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, is the same Jesus in the Eucharist today, but resurrected.
The miracle of the host turning to flesh and bleeding--- pointed to the fact that in the Eucharist is a real and entire person. The Eucharist is not just a hunk of flesh or just some blood. The Eucharist is a person! The Eucharist is the whole Jesus! We can’t have a relationship with a hunk of flesh, but we can have a relationship with a person, who will listen to us, and whom we can listen, as He speaks in the silence of our heart.

On Holy Thursday, when the apostles fell asleep during Our Lord’s agony in the Garden, remember the words of Jesus to Peter, James and John, “Could you not watch one hour with me!” Stay awake, so that you may not undergo temptation.”

In one of Pope Benedict’s homilies, he said, “The praying Church feels the intense desire to watch with Jesus; not to leave him alone in the night of the world, in the night of betrayal, in the night of the indifference of many”.

Today throughout the world there is so many churches in which Jesus in the tabernacle is abandoned. He is left all alone in the night of the world. And there are so many today, who are indifferent to Him, who fail to come and spend time with Him in the Eucharist. He has no one to come and visit Him, but He longs for men, women and children to come to Him, so that He may give them special gifts and graces to live out their lives. He wants to heal the broken hearted, give comfort to the sick, be a friend to the lonely, give strength to help us carry our cross, and give joy and hope to those who long to be loved.

When we come to adore Jesus in adoration, not only do we receive many graces to help us on our journey toward heaven, but graces for others as well. Pope Paul VI said, “Perpetual Adoration extends its influence far beyond the individual adorers, touching their homes and families and reaching out to the parish community and beyond!” And St. Faustina said, “A Holy Hour before the Most Blessed Sacrament, so pleases the Heart of Jesus, that every man, woman and child on earth receives a new effect of God’s graces!”

Our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration is so powerful that it helps many souls to go to heaven. Jesus told Dina Belanger, “A Holy Hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is so important that a multitude of souls go to Heaven who otherwise would have gone to hell!”

Many people, in the wee hours of the night, watch with Jesus in adoration. Through Eucharistic adoration, adorers come in the middle of the night to spend time with their best friend. They come to open their heart to a God, who loves them, cares for them, comforts them, and gives them peace. They come to pray in reparation for those who do not watch with Jesus and they come to console the hidden Jesus.

St. Peter Julian Eymard said the heart of Jesus is beating and pulsating in the Eucharist. When there is a Eucharistic miracle often times, a Host will bleed. And whenever the miracle is approved by the Church, and then scientifically tested, the substance has always been found to be that of heart tissue. And the blood type is always the same --AB. It is also the same blood type that is on the shroud of Turin.

There are at least 152 Vatican approved Eucharistic miracles. One was approved in 2001 in India and 2006 in Mexico. 2008 in Poland.

One of the latest miracles to be approved happened on October 12, 2008, in Solkolka, Poland, a consecrated Host fell out of the hands of a priest while he was distributing Holy Communion. He picked it up and placed it in a vessel filled with water, in the tabernacle. After Mass, the vessel containing the host was placed in a safe --present in the sacristy. On October 19, 2008, after opening the safe one could clearly see a red stain on the Host that had fallen, which with the naked eye immediately gave the impression of being a bloodstain.

On January 7, 2009, a sample of the Host was taken and examined independently by two professionals in histopathology at the University of Medicine of Białystok. They issued a common declaration which states: ‘The sample sent for evaluation looks like myocardial tissue. In our opinion, of all the tissues of living organisms this is the one that resembles it the most.’

It sounds to me like what they are saying is the flesh taken from the Host, that they were examining, continues to appear to be live. Amazing!

My friends, the Heart of Jesus is beating for love of you in the Eucharist. Come and receive His love in Adoration.

All who come to adoration know, it is quite and peaceful. Just you and Jesus. Just Jesus and you. It is your hour with God, and His hour with you! A heart to heart exchange of love! What a beautiful way to keep watch with Jesus. Are you looking for that one hour of time alone—but only with you and Jesus?

Today, Jesus is speaking to you and He is telling you--- what He told Peter, James and John, “Will you not watch one hour with me?” Jesus does not want to be left alone in the night of the world, filled with indifference.

Today, on this Corpus Christi Solemnity, may Our Lady, Mother of the Eucharist, gently encourage Her children to spend time with Her Son.

You will be blessed not only in this life, but in the life to come, because your place in heaven will be raised in glory for every hour you spent with Jesus on earth.