Feast of Corpus Christi – Sister Godelieve Ziunga
June 6, 2021
Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
Today the Church, our mother, celebrates the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament. This feast is also called « Fete Dieu ». It is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday and was established on September 8, 1264 by Pope Urban IV, former archdeacon of Liege, Belgium.
In reading this selection from the Gospel, we conclude that Christ was looking for the place where he would celebrate Passover with his disciples. This reminds us of the Feast of Holy Thursday. But comparing this with the feast of this Sunday, it is in verses 22 and 24 where St. Mark mentions the words said by Jesus to his disciples when the bread became his body and the wine became his blood.
When the Church invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, she wants simply to help us affirm our faith in the real presence of Christ who died and rose to save us.
At each Eucharist, Jesus exhorts us, invites us to his table, gives us to eat and drink. The bread which is our daily nourishment becomes the Body of Christ for life eternal. While the wine becomes his Blood, given for the multitude, sign of the New Covenant of God with all humankind, God invites all to share at this meal of love.
To celebrate the Blessed Sacrament is to recognize the presence of Christ in our lives. This invites us to welcome and become adopted children of the Father. This feast of the Body and Blood of Christ reminds us that the Eucharist is at the center of our Christian life.
As for Christ, there is no authentic Christian life without our regular participation in this sacrament. The Eucharist is the privileged time when we are challenged to transformer our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh
Let us ask God to increase our faith so as to contemplate the real presence of Christ in each Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen!
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi to All!
Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”‘ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The Gospel of the Lord
Meet Sister Godlieve Ziunga, SNDdeN
