It is Corpus Christi Sunday

June indeed is a great month of the solemn feast that the Catholic Church has celebrated starting last June 9 when we held the Feast of the Pentecost, and then last Sunday we had the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. This Sunday we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which the entire Christendom calls Corpus Christi. This is the time when the Holy Eucharist is brought out of the tabernacle or altar of a church and brought into procession for all the people to worship. Today’s gospel reading comes from Luke 9:1-17 on the feeding of the five thousand.

“9 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

“7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.

“10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

“13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disci-ples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.”

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I’m sure that many Catholics are wondering what the feeding of the five thousand has to do with the Feast of Corpus Christi? A simple answer is that, the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is in reality a miracle that we apparently get every time we go to Mass. How many miracles that our Lord Jesus has done where five thousand men were able to participate? Mind you, women and children in those days were not even counted and for sure that number must have swollen to a total of 7,000 strong.

Today, Christianity is on the wane simply because the devil has been finding ways to prevent Christians from taking the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and one of them is moving away from the Catholic Church where in the new church that they attend, they no longer receive the Holy Eucharist which only an ordained priest can give us.

Sure, many protestant churches do have a communion service, but ask yourself: Is it a Holy Communion like what Catholics have? Hence, the enormous difference between the Catholic Church and the protestant churches which their members fail to accept that their communion doesn’t give them the Corpus Christi! Someday, when non-Catholics realize it, then many of them come home to the Holy Mother Church that our Lord Jesus Christ founded.