Image by The Gazz
The image above is a play on the tag line from the movie, Sixth Sense, but it plays well here as we approach the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ this weekend. Saint Augustine in his sermons (below) spoke clearly that in the Eucharist we become, indeed we are, what we receive. At the Lord's table, then, we become and we are bread people.
Sermons, [227] A.D. 391-430:
... That Bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ. Through that bread and wine the Lord Christ willed to commend his Body and Blood, which he poured out for us for the forgiveness of sins. If you receive worthily, you are what you have received.
What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice the Blood of Christ. ... How is the bread His Body? And the chalice, or what is in the chalice, how is it His Blood? Those elements, brothers and sisters, are called sacraments, because in them one thing is seen, but another is understood. What is seen is the corporeal species, but what is understood is the spiritual fruit. ... `You, however, are the Body of Christ and his members.' If, therefore, you are the Body of Christ and his members, your mystery is presented at the table of the Lord, you receive your mystery. To that which you are, you answer: `Amen...' For you hear: `The Body of Christ!' and you answer: `Amen!' Be a member of Christ's Body, so that your `Amen' may be the truth. |
Spend some time now with the readings and background material for Corpus Christi Sunday this weekend. Got kids ? You can help them prepare for this Sunday with these notes.
-ConcordPastor
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