SUNDAY REFLECTION/HOMILY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: OUR COMMUNION, OUR COVENANT
BY: Fr Anthony Chukwuebuka Ohaekwusi
This Sunday we celebrate Corpus Christi, the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This solemnity prompts us to reflect on the sacred food and drink we consume in thankful memory of Christ’s supreme covenant and sacrifice. Food and drink give strength and nourishment to the body, bringing joy wherever people gather. When we invite people to friendly gatherings, we often offer them something to eat or drink. I have noticed that in some cultures people offer tea or coffee to show that the visiting person is a welcome guest.
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In Europe, I realized that it is common practice for people to ask me if I wanted tea or coffee. Of course, as a newcomer, I accepted every offer, even if I didn’t feel like having any beverage. In my culture, we offer kolanut to every visitor as a sign of welcome, and no one should refuse such a gesture. One day I followed a friend of mine to visit five families in their various homes. Expectedly, each family offered us tea or coffee, and being a nice person I accepted the offer and filled my stomach that day with litres of tea and coffee. When we got home, I told my friend that I had had enough for the whole month. But surprisingly, when I visited his apartment the next day, he still offered me tea and coffee!” And when I asked if he had forgotten what I said the day before, he replied that it was not just about keeping a tradition or being thirsty, but about being together.
Jesus in the gospel today, invited his disciples to a meal. His disciples expected a traditional Passover meal, just like ordinary tea or coffee. But at this last supper he established something special, an everlasting covenant with His followers. He showed them that it was not just about following Him like a crowd of fans, but more about being with Him and like Him. That’s why this supper was not just a usual Passover meal that is celebrated from time to time, but He made it a new covenant in His eternal memory. Jesus replaced the old covenant, presided over by Moses, with a new covenant that brings us into communion with God. Now we don’t need bulls and rams as channels for our relationship with God, we need communion with God who offered Himself on the cross and on this table, the altar. In this communion, God is not just the priest who ministers, He is the sacrificial victim, and we eat Him to be like Him. He has established this everlasting covenant once and for all, which does not need to be repeated as in the old covenant. So every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we re-enact this covenant of love, and Christ remains alive in those who receive Him. We become what we consume as we commune with what we become, and when we do, we don’t need a set of rules to condition us, because we live and love like Him.
Remain lifted and do have a great Corpus Christi Sunday
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