THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST WE SHARE...THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST WE ARE...

Every Sunday of the year the Catholic-Christian community gathers to honor the declaration of Jesus the Christ to celebrate the Eucharist in His memory. From the beginning of Christianity 2,000 years ago when the earliest members of the Christian community met in house churches on Sundays where they celebrated the Liturgies of Word and Eucharist, and then joined in an Agape meal, Sunday Dinner. Thus Sunday, the first day of the week, has been commemorated for two milleniums as the Lord's Day, a day of rest, a day for family and friends. And the Holy Eucharist is at the center of Sunday. Since the 4th Century, Catholics have celebrated the Eucharist daily, as well as on Sundays. The Second Vatican Council, (1962-65), the latest ecumenical council in the history of the Church, proclaimed the Eucharist to be, "the source and summit" of our lives as Christ's Disciples. Therefore, one Sunday of the Liturgical Year in the United States also bears the title of the Eucharist under the designation, 'CORPUS CHRISTI', the Body and Blood of Christ. The Body and Blood of Christ is the sacrament of the Eucharist we celebrate and partake of at the Lord's Table. But the Body and Blood of Christ is also who and what we are when we participate in the Memorial of Jesus' Passion, Death, and Resurrection, His Paschal Mystery. On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi what outward sign of connectedness with the Eucharist are you exemplifying ? Your presence at, and participation in, Sunday Mass is the most concrete and complete way you show your commitment and fidelity to being a member of the Body of Christ in the community of believers and the wider world. Celebrating Mass so often throughout the year we must not take it for granted, or experience it as a rote ritual. Feasts such as Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, fortify our faith and focus on the true meaning of the Eucharist in our lives : to share in the Paschal Mystery of the Risen Christ, by becoming full members of the Body and Blood of Christ we celebrate and receive. Alleluia ! Amen !.........Fr. Troy