The Body and Blood of Christ

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Tifkira Solenni tal-Ġisem u d-Demm ta’ Kristu

Missalin B 331

Reading 1                 -           Exodus 24:3-8

When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, "We will do everything that the LORD has told us." Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and, rising early the next day, he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD, Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, "All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do." Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his."  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari     -    mill-Ktieb tal-Eżodu  24, 3-8

F’dak iz-zmien,  Mose’ niżel igħid lill-poplu kulma qallu l-Mulej  u kull ma ordnalu.  Il-poplu wieġeb b'leħen wieħed u qal: "Kull ma qalilna l-Mulej nagħmluh." Mose' kiteb il-kliem kollu tal-Mulej, u filgħodu qam, bena altar  taħt il-muntanja, u waqqaf tnax-il plier għat-tnax-il tribu' ta' Israel. Imbagħad  bagħat xi żgħażagħ minn ulied Israel biex joffru sagrifiċċji   u joqtlu ogħġiela bħala  sagrifiċċji tas-sliem lill-Mulej. Mose' ħa nofs id-demm u qiegħdu fi bwieqi, u  xerred in-nofs l-ieħor  fuq l-altar.   Imbagħad ħa l-ktieb tal-Patt, u qara minnu hekk li  seta'  jisimgħu l-poplu.  U huma qalu:   "Kulma qalilna l-Mulej nagħmluh,  u nisimgħu minnu." Mose' mbagħad ħa d-demm u, hu u jroxxu fuq il-poplu qal: "Hawn hu  d-demm tal-Patt li l-Mulej għamel magħkom skont dan il-kliem kollu." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                       Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18

R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.                         R

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.                                                        R

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.                                            R.

Salm Responsorjali                                    -              Salm 115 (116)

                R/  Ngħolli l-kalċi tas-salvazzjoni u isem il-Mulej insejjaħ

Xi  rrodd lill-Mulej

għall-ġid kollu li għamel miegħi?

Ngħolli l-kalċi tas-salvazzjoni

u isem il-Mulej insejjaħ.                                              R/

Għażiża f'għajnejn il-Mulej

hi l-mewt tal-ħbieb tiegħu.

Jien qaddej tiegħek, bin il-qaddejja tiegħek.

Int ħallejtli l-irbit tiegħi                                               R/

Lilek noffri s-sagrifiċċji ta' radd il-ħajr,

u isem il-Mulej insejjaħ.

Intemm  lill-Mulej il-wegħdiet tiegħi,

quddiem il-poplu tiegħu kollu.                                R/

Reading 2                             Hebrews 9:11-15

Brothers and sisters:  When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God. For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Qari   -    mill-Ittra lill-Lhud 9, 11-15

Huti,  Kristu ġie bħala qassis il-kbir tal-ġid li diġa ġie.  Hu daħal minn Tinda aqwa u aktar perfetta, li mhijiex  maħduma b'idejn il-bnedmin, jiġifieri mhijiex ħolqien  ta' din l-art;  hu daħal darba għal dejjem fis-Santwarju,  mhux bis-saħħa tad-demm tal-mogħoż u tal-għoġiela,  imma bis-saħħa ta' demmu stess, u hekk kiseb fidwa għal dejjem. Għax  id-demm tal-mogħoż u tal-gniedes u l-irmied ta' l-għoġiela,  mraxxax fuq dawk li  huma mniġġsa jista' jqaddishom billi  jagħtihom l-indafa tal-ġisem, kemm aktar  id-demm ta' Kristu, li  bl-Ispirtu ta' dejjem offra lilu nnifsu vittma safja lil Alla, jista'  jnaddaf il-kuxjenza tagħkom mill-għemil mejjet biex taqdu lil Alla ħaj? U għalhekk  hu medjatur ta' patt ġdid, testment ġdid, biex, wara li seħħet  il-mewt  għall-fidwa mill-ħtijiet li saru fi żmien  il-patt ta' qabel,  dawk li huma msejħa minn Alla  jiksbu l-wirt ta' dejjem li hu wegħidhom.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                       -         Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Evangelju    -    skond  San Mark 14, 12- 16, 22-26

Fl-ewwel jum ta' l-Ażżmi, meta kienu jissagrifikaw  il-ħaruf tal-Għid, id-dixxipli qalu lil Ġesu':. "Fejn tridna mmorru nħejju biex tiekol l-ikla tal-Għid?" Imbagħad hu bagħat tnejn mid-dixxipli tiegħu u qalilhom: "Morru l-belt, u tiltaqgħu ma' raġel iġorr ġarra ilma. Morru warajh, u għidu lil sid id-dar ta' fejn tarawh dieħel: "Qallek l-Imgħallem:  Fejn hi l-kamra tiegħi ta' l-ikel li  fiha nista' niekol l-ikla tal-Għid mad-dixxipli tiegħi?" U hu jurikom  kamra kbira fuq, imgħammra u lesta. Ħejjulna hemmhekk."    U d-dixxipli marru u daħlu l-belt,u sabu kollox kif kien  qalilhom hu; u ħejjew l-ikla tal-Għid. Huma  u jieklu, ħa l-ħobż  f'idejh, qal il-barka, qasmu  newwilhulhom u qal:  "Ħudu dan hu ġismi."   Imbagħad   ħa l-kalċi f'idejħ, radd il-ħajr, u newwilhulhom, u  lkoll  xorbu minnu.   U qalilhom: "Dan huwa  demmi, id-demm  tal-patt, li jixxerred għall-ħafna.   Tassew,  ngħidilkom,  li  ma nixrobx iżjed  mill-frott tad-dielja sa dak in-nhar li nixrob  inbid ġdid fis-Saltna ta'Alla." Imbagħad kantaw is-salmi u ħarġu lejn l-Għolja taż-Żebbuġ.   Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa ofm cap

In your midst stands one whom you do not know

I believe that the most necessary thing to do on the feast of Corpus Christi is not to explain some aspect of the Eucharist, but to revive wonder and marvel before the mystery.   The feast was born in Belgium, in the early 13th century; Benedictine monasteries were the first to adopt it. Urban IV extended it to the whole Church in 1264; it seems that he was also influenced by the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena, venerated today in Orvieto. 

Why was it necessary to institute a new feast? Doesn't the Church recall the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday? Doesn't she celebrate it every Sunday and, more than that, every day of the year?  In fact, Corpus Christi is the first feast whose object is not an event of the life of Christ, but a truth of faith: His real presence in the Eucharist. It responds to a need: to solemnly proclaim such faith.    

It is needed to avoid the danger of getting used to such a presence and no longer pay attention to it, thus meriting the reproach that St. John the Baptist made to his contemporaries: "In your midst stands one whom you do not know!"   This explains the extraordinary solemnity and visibility that this feast acquired in the Catholic Church. For a long time, the Corpus Christi procession was the only procession in the whole of Christendom, and also the most solemn.

Today processions have given way to manifestations and sit-ins (generally of protest); but although the exterior form has declined, the profound sense of celebration and the motive that inspired it remain intact: to keep alive the wonder before the greatest and most beautiful of the mysteries of the faith.    The liturgy of the feast faithfully reflects this characteristic. All its texts (readings, antiphons, songs, prayers) are suffused with a sense of wonder.   Many of them end with an exclamation: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received!" (O sacrum convivium). "O victim of salvation!" (O salutaris hostia).    

If the feast of Corpus Christi did not exist, it would have to be invented. If there is a danger that believers face at present in regard to the Eucharist, it is to trivialize it.   There was a time when it was not received so frequently, and fasting and confession had to precede it. Today virtually everyone approaches it. Let us understand one another. It is progress; it is normal that participation in Mass also implies Communion; that is why it exists. But all this entails a mortal risk. 

St. Paul says: Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let each one examine himself and then eat the bread and drink the cup, because he who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment unto himself. 

I believe it is a salutary grace for a Christian to go through a period in which he fears to approach Communion, that he tremble before the thought of what is about to occur and not cease to repeat, as John the Baptist: "And you come to me?" (Matthew 3:14).  We cannot receive God except as "God," that is, respecting all his holiness and majesty. We cannot domesticate God! 

The preaching of the Church should not fear -- now that communion has become something so habitual and "easy" -- to use every now and then the language of the letter to the Hebrews and to tell the faithful: "But you have come ... to a judge who is God of all ... and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel" (Hebrews 12:22-24). 

In the early times of the Church, at the moment of communion a cry resounded in the assembly: "Let him who is holy approach, let him who is not repent!"  One who did not get used to the Eucharist and spoke of it with overwhelming wonder was St. Francis of Assisi. "Let humanity fear, let the entire universe tremble, and the heavens exult, when on the altar, in the hands of the priest, is Christ, son of the living God. ... O admirable rapture and amazing designation! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity, that the Lord of the universe, God and son of God, so humbles himself as to hide under the small appearance of bread!" 

However, it must not be so much the grandeur and majesty of God which causes wonder before the Eucharistic mystery, but rather his condescension and love. The Eucharist above all is this: memorial of the love of which there is no greater: to give one's life for ones' friends.

[Translation by ZENIT]  © Innovative Media Inc.

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