The Feast of Corpus Christi 

   "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the body of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever feeds upon my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6: 53 – 54) 

   Today the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, the Body, and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  Of all that I love about the Church it is the Eucharist which draws me most.  When I take the host upon my tongue I know the presence of Jesus Christ within.  Not a symbol, not just a remembrance, but the reality of my Lord under the guise of bread and wine.

   Even many Catholics no longer accept the plain words of Christ, repeated over and over to proclaim that we must consume His body and blood if we want to have eternal life.  Many claim it is just a symbol, but I would reply just as Flannery O’Conner did when the Eucharist was referred to as a beautiful symbol.  If it’s just a symbol, to hell with it.

   Rejection of the miracle of the Eucharist isn’t something new.  It began even as Christ proclaimed it.  “After this, many of his disciples turned away and no longer remained with Him.” (John 6: 66).  He didn’t call them back saying that He was speaking in a parable or symbolically, He let them walk away.  I can’t imagine Christ letting disciples walk away over a misunderstanding. 

   A friend once asked me why I am Catholic.  I replied, “Because no other church can feed me, can give me the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of my Lord, Jesus Christ.  The reason I am Catholic is because of the miracle of the Eucharist, when my Lord feeds me with His Body and Blood in Holy Communion.