We Become Christ’s Body

2022년 6월 19일

We Become Christ’s Body

< Solemnity of Body and Blood of Christ  >

 When the final hours of Jesus’ life here on earth were fast coming to an end, he chose as his everlasting memorial, not a stone monument, not a special prayer or song, but the Passover Meal. A meal! He took the unleavened bread, symbol of deliverance from slavery, and stated, “This is my body.” And the wine, symbol of God’s fulfilling the Covenant to give the Chosen People the Promised Land, and said, “This is my blood.” Christ gives us his body and blood to eat and drink. In other words, they are to become part of us. Conversely, we are to become part of him. But there are even deeper meanings to the Eucharist.

Among the 613 commandments in the Old Testament, one expressly forbids eating food sacrificed to an idol, because that would create a spiritual bond between the person and the god. Another commandment prohibits drinking or eating blood, because blood equals life. The life of the animal would then be inside the person. (No 순대 for observant Jews!). Imagine then, the surprise of the apostles when Jesus offered them his flesh to eat and his blood to drink, in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Jesus wants to create an intimate connection to him by eating his Body. Furthermore, Jesus wants his life to course through our veins, and so gives us his Blood to drink. So the Blessed Sacrament is not simply the mystery and miracle of bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ but also, and more miraculously, the Body and Blood of Christ becoming us. Jesus doesn’t give us the Eucharist just to remember him, but to re-member him. To acknowledge his presence in our lives and world. As we celebrate today’s feast of Corpus Christi, let us fulfill Christ’s sacrifice by living the life Christ wants for us.

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