It’s Corpus Christi Sunday

Today is Corpus Christi Sunday. Our gospel reading today comes from John 6: 51-58. It’s only in the gospel of St. John that we are taught about the theology behind the words of Jesus, which is called the Bread of Life Discourse. You cannot read this from other New Testament evangelists. What’s interesting here is that St. John must have written this piece in Patmos, when he was already ageing and the young Catholic Church leaders and followers were already saying Mass and focusing on the consecration of the body and blood of Jesus.

“51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

“53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

“57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

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During Mass, when the priest raises the host up and says the consecration prayer, what happens is what we call Transubstantiation. Our eyes still see the white host and wine, but it really has become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Eucharist is the highest form of worship that Catholics have been doing in the past 2,000 years. While this has been debated when the Catholic Church lost many bishops and priests due to the Reformation. However, in all honesty their reformation was not focused on the issue of the real presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

When I studied being an apologist, I met Steve Ray, an American Baptist turned catholic and I interviewed him and his wife Janet on my TV show on Dec. 16, 2002 and I was amazed that it was the real presence of our Lord that helped him open his eyes and join the Catholic Church. I have no doubt that it was the devil that supported the Reformation movement, so those who now call themselves as evangelicals are no longer receiving the true body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus.

Why do I say that? Remember that in Revelation the number 666 is the number of the devil. And if you continued reading in today’s gospel, from John 6: 60-67, let me reprint this.

“60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

“64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.

“65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.”

Call it a coincidence that we read in John 6:66 “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” Indeed, 666 is the devil’s number and those disciples who no longer believe in him turned their backs on him. Sounds like the Catholics who left the Catholic Church to join the evangelical church where there’s no Holy Eucharist. How blessed we Catholics are that today we celebrate Corpus Christi.