Feast of Corpus Christi 2023
Bishop Rhoades delivered the following homily at Mass ending the eight-day Cross-Diocesan Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 11, at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend:
Last Sunday, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, after Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, Father Stephen Felicichia carried the Blessed Sacrament, followed by a group of the faithful, to Saint Patrick Church in Arcola, thus beginning a cross-diocesan Eucharistic Procession and Pilgrimage. This past week, people joined the procession as it moved then from Arcola to Churubusco, then on to Albion, Ligonier, Goshen, Elkhart, Mishawaka, and ending the 100-mile trek this morning here at Saint Matthew Cathedral on this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi. Father Stephen and all who processed with him the whole 100 miles or part of those miles walked with the Lord through streets, on sidewalks and fields, stopping at parish churches each night, celebrated Mass and Adoration daily, reaching the end of the pilgrimage here today on this feast when the Church celebrates with special devotion the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. I pray that this cross-diocesan pilgrimage, which has been a pilot preparation for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages next July, will bring many blessings to our diocese.
A week from tomorrow, Bishop Andrew Cozzens and I will be meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, God-willing (if the Holy Father recovers well from his recent surgery) where he will bless the monstrance that will be used at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis next July.
On this feast of Corpus Christi, we heard in the first reading about the miraculous bread from heaven that God provided for His people during their 40-year sojourn in the desert until they arrived at the promised land. The Israelites did not know what it was. That’s why they called it manna, which, in Hebrew, means “What is it?” In the book of Psalms and in the book of Wisdom, it is called “the bread of the angels,” “panis angelicus.” It was bread from heaven, given by God. After the people ate this miraculous bread, they reserved what was left and kept it reverently in the tabernacle, the portable temple in which they worshiped God, where they kept the Ark of the Covenant. They considered the manna to be holy, so sacred that they reserved it in the Holy of Holies itself, alongside the ten commandments and the staff of Aaron. For them, the manna was not ordinary bread. It was the bread of the angels, bread from heaven, and a foretaste of the promised land.
In the Gospel today, Jesus recalled the manna, the miraculous bread from heaven during the Exodus. Keep in mind that the Jewish people expected that when the Messiah came, there would be a return of the manna. They believed that the Messiah, the new Moses, would bring down new bread from heaven. So, imagine their amazement when Jesus said that He is “the living bread come down from heaven” and that “whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Even more startling was when He Identified the bread as His “flesh for the life of the world.” He was “the new manna,” but this “new manna” was something much greater than the old manna. Our Lord said: “Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
The Jewish expectation of a return of the manna with the coming of the Messiah was fulfilled, but in a way that surpassed what anyone expected. In instituting the Holy Eucharist, Jesus the Messiah has given us Himself as the new manna, the bread of life. He nourishes us with His Body and Blood on our journey to the promised land of heaven. The mystery of the Eucharist is much greater than the miracle of the manna. However, notice the parallels. Like the Israelites, we reserve this new manna in our tabernacles. And it nourishes us on our journey to the promised land, not an earthly promised land, but the promised land of heaven. It is holy bread, the bread of angels, yes, but even more, it is the Body and Blood of Jesus — it is Christ Himself who in the Blessed Sacrament “remains mysteriously in our midst as the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us.” (CCC 1380).
In the second reading today, Saint Paul speaks of the Eucharist as a participation in the body and blood of Christ. The word “participation” is a translation of the Greek word “koinonia,” a very rich word that can also be translated as “a sharing” or “a communion.” It’s a word Saint Paul also uses for the intimate relationship between spouses in a marriage. So, this participation, this sharing, this communion in the body and blood of Christ is an intimate union with Him which brings about also an intimate union with one another. The Eucharist makes us one Body in Christ. As Saint Paul wrote: “Because the loaf is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” Think of the Acts of the Apostles. There we read that “the community of believers was of one heart and one mind.” They lived in unity. They made sure there was no one needy among them. Our unity with Christ given through Holy Communion creates our unity with one another. We are nourished with His divine life, from which flows fraternal charity. We are supernaturally bound together when we share in the heavenly banquet of Christ’s Body and Blood.
When we are properly disposed and open our hearts to the graces of Holy Communion, we are transformed into what we receive. Nourished by the Eucharist, the capacity of our souls to love, even to love our enemies and to forgive injuries, grows. It is not an accident that Christ gave the “new commandment” to love one another as He has loved us, right after giving the disciples their first Holy Communion.
At Mass, we meet Jesus on Calvary. And we are joined to His sacrifice of love for the redemption of the world. We unite our lives, our praise, sufferings, prayers, and works with those of Christ and His total offering of Himself. Then, in Holy Communion, we receive His Body given up for us and His Blood poured out for us. We enter into profound communion with Jesus who nourishes and strengthens us to live in His love and to bear witness to His love in the world. We do this not only as individuals, but also as His Body, the Church, bound together by the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that makes us one body in Christ. It is no wonder that Saint Augustine, before the greatness of this mystery, exclaimed: “O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!”
My brothers and sisters, this is how Jesus builds up His Church — through the Eucharist, He transforms us into unity with Himself and with one another. On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we give thanks for the great gift of this new manna from heaven. May we always receive Holy Communion with humility, properly disposed, with reverence and adoration, and with love and devotion. May we never take for granted this awesome gift of Christ’s love and may we go forth, strengthened by the Eucharist, to witness to His love in our daily lives!