Bishop Paul&#039;s Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

June 7, 2021

Abu Dhabi.

Readings of the Day: Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16.22-26

Below is the full text of the homily given by Bishop Paul Hinder on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) at Abu Dhabi.

In the responsorial Psalm after the first reading, the praying man asked, “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?” Then he replied, “The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.” We can take this verse as a summary of what we are celebrating on the Feast of Corpus Christi and in each Holy Eucharist. Offering the Holy Mass, we duly repay the Lord for his goodness not with the little we have at disposal as our own, but with what he has given into our hands in remembrance of Him. In the Holy Eucharist, we can truly worship him coequally with the cup of salvation, the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, the “Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world”.

Each celebration of the Holy Eucharist is preceded by the liturgy of the word. On Sundays and Solemnities, we first listen to the Old Testament, then to a reading from letters of the New Testament, the acts or the book of Revelation, and finally to one of the four gospels. We do this not only in order to learn the word of God and to internalize it. We are reminded of what is written in John’s gospel, that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). In the Holy Mass, this happens in a sacramental and real way: the word we are listening to dwells in Jesus among us and is becoming again flesh in the host and in the chalice. It is really the cup of salvation we raise, calling on the name of the Lord as the psalm says.

In the Holy Communion, we receive the body of Christ as the divine gift that changes our whole being and gives our life a new destination, a new identity. Saint Augustine explained the mystery with the following words: “If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying ‘Amen’ to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear ‘The body of Christ’, you reply ‘Amen.’ Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your ‘Amen’ may ring true!” (St. Augustine, Sermon 272). In the celebration of the Holy Mass, we have therefore three important mysteries: first, the word of God is given us in the readings; in the Eucharistic prayer the Eternal Word becomes flesh and is really present as the sacrificial Lamb who offers himself to the Father for the sins of the world; in the Holy Communion we incorporate the body of Christ and are called to live and to act as his body, as St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Co 12:27). Christ’s work has to be continued and achieved in each one of us. As Jesus offered Himself on the Cross as the unblemished Lamb, each follower of Christ is called to reflect the Lord’s sacrifice in his or her own life.

In the Eucharistic prayer, we hear the words over the bread “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you.” And then over the chalice “Take this, all of you and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” “For you”, this act of self-offering of Jesus on the Cross, made present in the Holy Eucharist has now to continue in our life. When we are consuming the body of Christ in the Holy Communion it means much more than a kind of private spiritual gift for the sanctification of our souls as many faithful understand it. The Lord gives a mandate. “Do this in memory of me”, does not refer to the celebration of the Eucharist only, but also to the self-sacrifice in our life as Christians.

Remember the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, “You were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body” (1 Co 6:20). He refers to the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross in which the faithful through the Eucharist take part and as a consequence have to glorify God in their bodies. St. Paul speaks these words in the context of sexual immorality but without any doubt means all sinful acts that compromise and damage the body of Christ on the cross and the body of Christ in the living Church. We all are called to reflect the sacrificial love of Jesus in our own lives. It means that the Mass is not over with the final blessing but continues on the way back, in our home, and at the place where we are working. The Christian life is a permanent and ongoing Eucharist, a translation of Christ’s “for you” into our personal self-giving for others.

Dear Sisters and Brothers, I started my homily with the question of the Psalm, “How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?” And the reply was, “The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.” Let the body of Christ you receive permeate your whole being and keep in mind the words of St. Paul “Glorify God in your body”, in your whole human being and doing.