Corpus Christi

Today our diocese celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, a solemn feast dedicated to the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It's one of several solemnities which come one after another, and it was pleasant to have Father W. speak on the topic of the Eucharist.

He's been on a real roll lately with all of these solemnities coming one after another, and today was no different. He spoke of the Greek in the Gospel, and how we sterilize it by saying "eat" when the word is really more along the lines of "gnaw" and how visceral an image that is. That Christ was being literal, which is why the Jews reacted the way that they did to what He said. He was suggesting blasphemy under their religious laws of the time, to eat flesh and to drink blood, and it horrified them to no end.

Once we were done with the Real Presence (and someone nearby muttered, "What is this bullshit?"), he moved on to proper respect. How we should kneel or bow before receiving the Eucharist, but so few people did. I have to admit, it's a problem at our parish. Today I was barely bowing when an EM forced the Body of Christ into my hands. Another time, I held up the entire line briefly because I shocked an EM by showing reverence as a college aged guy.

The last part of the homily was in defense of the Eucharistic bread we use. Father had to have a meeting with the Vicar General and the Bishop this week because a woman from another part of Pennsylvania sent a scathing letter decrying him as a blasphemer and heretic, and a maker of an invalid Eucharist to the Bishop. He was called in, asked what was in it. "Flour and water", the right answer. The woman said in her letter that she was horrified at the "desecration of the Eucharist by the use of yeast".

At first, Father W. was offended, and I could tell a lot of people in the congregation were upon hearing what she said. After a moment of silence, he said, "At first I was shocked and angry, but then after a bit, I at least appreciated that she cared that much about our Lord's Body."

Food for thought on Corpus Christi. Are we that willing to defend what we hold dear? Are we able to do what must be done, even if we look foolish? God grant us all that we may love Him that much.