Homily for the Evening Mass on Corpus Christi

Readings for Year A:  Deuteronomy 8:2-16;  I Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

This is a difficult time to be celebrating the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  We would normally be celebrating the presence of Christ in the bread and wine consecrated at Mass, we would be receiving that body and blood and we would probably taking the Blessed Sacrament in procession.  Today we are celebrating the Mass in an empty church.  There is nobody in the congregation to receive the Blessed Sacrament and no public gatherings like processions. 

 One of the many good things to come out of the reforms of the Liturgy around the Second Vatican Council was the idea that full participation in the Mass meant that everybody who was able to would receive Holy Communion at every time they attended Mass.  This was great joy to those of us who had been used to receiving Communion may be once a month, or even just once a year.  We were able to receive this precious gift much more frequently and really be fully part of the celebration of Mass.  Now most people find themselves more removed from the celebration than they were then.  I know many of you really appreciate these live streamed Masses which include the act of spiritual communion but I know it is not the same. 

 Perhaps one thing this does for us is to appreciate the difficulties of those who, for one reason or another, find themselves unable to come receive Holy Communion when they come to Mass.  It also makes us appreciate the difficulties of the house bound and of those many people in remote parts of the world with few priests where they are not able to celebrate weekly Mass, let alone daily.  As we go through the experience of not being able to be physically present at Mass and receive Holy Communion we might remember those for whom this is their normal experience. 

 Perhaps also this is a time when we might come to appreciate more that gift of the sacrament we are not currently available to receive.  In the Gospel Jesus talks about himself as the Bread of Life.  When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ it is a source of life for us and a reminder of the way in which Christ has given himself for us by his cross and resurrection.  That is why we celebrate this feast so soon after the Easter season. 

 St Paul in the second reading reminds the Corinthians that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of them being united as the Body of Christ.  Again, that is a sign we are only able to celebrate virtually at the moment.  We cannot gather together to celebrate the Mass and we cannot receive Holy Communion together.  There is a danger for us in this time of lockdown of loosing sight of the fact that we are part of the community of the Church a danger of our faith becoming simply and individual thing.  We need to do what we can to keep in touch with each other and maintain that sense of community.  The unity expressed in the Eucharist is something especially important in this time, not just of pandemic but also of concern about racism and political ideas which stress the differences between people.  With the kind of diverse congregation we normally have in this church it brings home how the Eucharist unites people of all races, orientations and backgrounds in the one Body of Christ.   That is a Gospel value to hold on to as we live our daily lives. 

 Perhaps this celebration of the Feast in these difficult circumstances can be an opportunity for us to reflect on who we are, what we have received in Christ and renew our faith that, in the words of the first reading, that we do not live by bread alone but by everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 

Fr Chris Pedley, SJ