While the weekday masses are now firmly back in Ordinary Time, the Sundays after Pentecost continue to highlight major components of the faith. Last week was the Most Holy Trinity and this weekend the focus is on Corpus Christi, or the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

One way a parish can celebrate Corpus Christi is by processing with the consecrated Host in a monstrance. For some it may be a quaint way of keeping old traditions alive. However, there’s more than just tradition in this ancient practice. Look at the pieces of what goes into a procession: the Holy Presence of Jesus in the Host, the congregation walking behind, and songs of praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. This is like a miniature version of life. This is what we’re supposed to do on a daily basis: walk with God, allowing Him to lead us, and sing His praise in all that we do. In practicing on a small scale on this solemnity, we are exercising our faith muscles so that we can use them in our daily lives. 

The Eucharist is food for our life journey. While the Church asks us to attend Mass weekly, if we were able to attend daily, we could receive Holy Communion each time. However, regardless of how often we receive, we need to be on guard about it not becoming a habit. A habit, as described in Merriam-Webster is, “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.” Basically, when the Eucharist is received out of habit, then its effect on us is diminished. It’s similar to when Jesus visited His hometown, and because the people thought they knew Him and who He was, He was not able to perform many miracles amongst them. 

Attitude is the key for preventing such a precious gift from becoming a mere trinket. At each Mass, we prepare ourselves to receive Jesus in the Sacrament by being attentive and participating in the liturgical responses. We take the time of silence before receiving to open our hearts, to have an attitude of welcome for Jesus. Just before the Our Father is one of the most important prayers the priest says: the Eurcharistic Doxology: “Through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, Almighty Father, forever and ever.” In this prayer, we lift up the Mass, with all our intentions through Jesus, uniting them with the Holy Spirit in an offering to God the Father. When we receive Jesus, the opposite happens: we allow Jesus to work through us, with us, and in us, and in unity with the Holy Spirit. We don’t receive the Sacrament to stay the same person we are in our sin, but rather to be transformed out of our sinfulness into the best version of ourselves. We strive to become the Body of Christ on earth by allowing Christ to use our hands and feet to do His will. The Sacrament not only feeds us spiritually, but stirs up the Holy Spirit we received in Baptism and Confirmation to continue the guidance long after our bodies have absorbed the Host. 

Corpus Christi is the Latin phrase for the Body of Christ. As we celebrate this food for our journey, let us welcome the solemnity and the sacrament it celebrates, so that we can be blessed with all the graces God can bestow to our open hearts.