Saints + Scripture: Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ

The Long Road Back, Part III of VI
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Popish Plot
Solemn Sunday: "The Fantastic Four: Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity, & Corpus Christi"

Sunday, 3 June was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi): Corpus Christi-link & Wikipedia-link Corpus Christi; Wikipedia-link Real Presence, Wikipedia-link Body of Christ, Wikipedia-link Eucharist, & Wikipedia-link Transubstantiation.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

The Feast of Corpus Christi is the Roman Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body & Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the Eucharist—known as transubstantiation.

Scripture of That Week
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ
The Book of Exodus, chapter twenty-four, verses three thru eight;
Psalm One Hundred Sixteen, verses twelve & thirteen, fifteen & sixteen, & seventeen & eighteen;
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter nine, verses eleven thru fifteen;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter fourteen, verses twelve thru sixteen & twenty-two thru twenty-six.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel focuses on the spiritual power of the Eucharist. The central claim of the Catholic Church is that Jesus is substantially present under the forms of bread and wine. His presence is not simply evocative and symbolic, but rather real, true, and substantial.

To verify this scripturally, look at the accounts of the Last Supper in Matthew, Mark, and Luke—and also in Paul. But look especially at the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” But when they object, Jesus does not soften his language; he intensifies it.

This is the ground for the Church’s defense of the Real Presence. How can we make sense of it? It has everything to do with who Jesus is. If he were simply an ordinary human being, his words would have, at best, a symbolic resonance. But Jesus is God, and what God says, is.

Thus, when Jesus’ words over the bread and wine are spoken, they change into what the words signify. They become really, truly, and substantially the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Video reflection by Mister Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.

Audio reflection by Doctor Scott Hahn, Ph.D.: Breaking the Bread.

Mass Journal: Week Twenty-three
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

As Catholics, the one thing we do more than anything else is celebrate. Everything the Church does is centered around a celebration. We celebrate life. We celebrate the changing seasons with the riches of the Church's calendar. We celebrate excellence by honoring as saints the heroes of our faith. We celebrate birth & eternal life with baptism & burial. We celebrate truth, beauty, & goodness by seekign them out wherever they are to be found & honoring them in our everyday lives. We celebrate Christmas & Easter. We celebrate pilgrimage—our common journey & our own individual journeys. We celebrate salvation. We celebrate forgiveness with reconciliation. We celebrate total dedication to the service of God's people with Holy Orders. We celebrate s education. We celebrate communion with God & community with the Mass. We celebrate unity by seeking to bridge the gap. We celebrate love with marriage. We celebrate…

†

Otherwise, 3 June would have been the festival of Saint Juan Grande Román, Religious, O.H. (1546-1600, A.K.A. Juan Grande Pecador, "John the Great Sinner"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also have been the festival of Blessed Francis Ingleby, Priest & Martyr (circa 1550-1586), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link LXXXV & Wikipedia-link LXXXV.

'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs (died 1885-1887, A.K.A. the Martyrs of Uganda), martyred in the reign of the Bugandan king Mwanga II: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Uganda & Wikipedia-link Uganda.

Papal Quote o' That Day

"Jesus gives us the command to repeat this action by which He instituted the memorial of His own Pasch, & in so doing give us His Body & His Blood. This action reaches us today: it is the 'doing' of the Eucharist which always has Jesus as its subject, but which is mead real through our poor hands anointed by the Holy Spirit."
—Pope Francis (born 1936, reigning since 2013)

Little Flower Quote o' That Day

"Yes, I can feel it, when I am charitable, it is Jesus working in me."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the living heart of each of our parishes."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)