Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
On Corpus Christi parishes often have processions of the Eucharist through the streets. When I studied Spanish for ten weeks in Guatemala I had the opportunity to partake in many processions throughout the city of Antigua. One was three hours in length and rain poured down upon the faithful for most of the time. Yet, hundreds of people were joined together to celebrate the great gift to the Church which is the Eucharist.
Today we have the opportunity to participate in a Eucharistic Procession. We will take Christ out into this world. This is exactly what we should be doing with every Mass that we attend. We gather here and receive Christ and in return are to take what we have received into the world.
Our life is a constant procession towards Heaven. The Israelites were found to be in slavery in Egypt, but God liberated them from this slavery. They then processed through the Red Sea and into the desert where they would wonder about. They were making a procession towards the Promised Land. On their journey there were many setbacks and grumblings, but God poured out bread from Heaven upon them which gave them the strength to carry on and to not move back towards their former way of life.
And so our procession today will remind all of us of this journey that we are currently on towards Heaven. It is the Eucharist which comes down from Heaven and feeds us in order that we may faithfully accomplish this journey. We may struggle and grumble as we toil about with our daily life, but we must remember Christ who is present with us in the Most Holy Eucharist and nourishes our heart and soul with the grace which is necessary to get to Heaven.
In our Gospel Jesus looked out upon the multitude and He saw their hunger. This is the same hunger that we have some two thousand years later. Jesus continues to look out upon each of us who are alone and afraid. He looks out upon us despite our separation from Him through our participation in sin and He desires that we be healed from its grasp. He poured Himself out for us in the Eucharist. This is the great gift which has been extended unto the Church for this is the gift of Christ Himself. The Eucharist is not just some symbol pointing towards Christ, but what we have the opportunity to receive is Christ Himself.
The Second Vatican Council exclaimed that the Eucharist is the source and the summit of the Christian life. If we can claim this to be true then we can claim that nothing is superior to our relationship with Jesus Christ.
When you reverently receive the Eucharist today realize that what you are receiving is food for the journey that each of us is making towards Heaven. Realize that what you are to receive is to be brought by you into the world by the interactions that you have with others as well as how you order your life after Christ.
