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June 13, 2019Almost every parent will be confronted by a child with the question “Why should I attend Mass?” The Mass, of course, is the only place where you partake and receive the actual body and blood of Christ. The Church has a special feast day every year to remind Catholics not to take this for granted and to remind parishioners what they are receiving when they go to Holy Communion.
The special feast day (Corpus Christi) is on June 23. The second reading will be Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 11:23-26. At Catholic Mass, during every consecration, parishioners will hear the same words repeated that change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Father Cory Stanley, pastor at Prince of Peace in Altus, explained, “This Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is the perfect time to recall and focus on how important the Holy Eucharist should be in our lives. Perhaps we should ask ourselves how we can center our lives more fully on our blessed Lord. Maybe we'll hear the Lord's voice calling us to adore him during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament – or even to adore and to receive him during the week at a daily Mass.”
In John 6:53-68, Jesus gives the secret to eternal life – eating his flesh and drinking his blood. When many of his followers further challenged him on this, Christ remained firm and let them leave “to return to their former lives.”
He asked Saint Peter if he wanted to leave too, and Saint Peter said, “You have the words of eternal life.”
The Church has been celebrating the feast of Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ for nearly 800 years.
“This solemnity has its roots in a eucharistic miracle that took place in Bolsena, Italy, in 1263. The relic of that miracle – a linen from Holy Mass that was miraculously stained with the Blood of Christ – is now housed in a chapel in the Duomo church in Orvieto, Italy,” Father Stanley said.
“This solemnity is a wonderful time to look up information about this miracle and to learn that story.”
Charles Albert is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.