Learn about a bleeding communion host that appeared in 2006 and the biblical roots of the Catholic belief of the transformation of the bread and the wine into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ that takes place at every Mass, as well as how this effects and transforms the one who partakes of this great sacrifice. This homily was given by Father Mayer on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 19, 2022.
Learn about a bleeding communion host that appeared in 2006 and the biblical roots of the Catholic belief of the transformation of the bread and the wine into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ that takes place at every Mass, as well as how this effects and transforms the one who partakes of this great sacrifice. This homily was given by Father Mayer on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 19, 2022.
In October 21, 2006 a religious sister, meaning a nun, who was helping to distribute communion at Tixtla, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Mexico turned toward the priest with tears in her eyes because one of the pieces of the Blessed Sacrament had begun to effuse a reddish substance. The matter was investigated and the scientific research revealed that 1. the reddish substance analyzed corresponded to blood in which there was hemoglobin and DNA of human origin. 2. two studies by respected forensic experts using different methodologies that showed that the substance originated from the interior, meaning that someone could not have placed this red substance on from the outside. 3. The blood type was AB, the same as has been found in other miracles of this type. 4. The immunohistochemical studies revealed that the tissue found corresponded to the muscle of the heart. Because of this and other studies done, it was concluded that this event did not have a natural explanation. This is an example of what is called a Eucharistic Miracle, something that has happened at various times in the last thousand years, a gift from the Lord to help us to wonder and consider the power and mystery of what takes place at every Catholic Mass all around the world.
Today we are celebrating Corpus Christi, Corpus meaning body and Christi of course meaning Christ. We are celebrating the special way in which the body, blood soul, and divinity of Christ becomes present at the Mass and what this means for you and me.
To understand this miracle that takes place at every Catholic Mass, or Eucharist, or Catholic Communion Service, as some might call it, it helps to understand that Catholics see this as a sacrifice. The early Christians, those that lived in the first few centuries after Christ Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and others described the Mass by referring to Malachi 1 which describes the perfect sacrifice that would be offered up all over the world. Of course you are probably asking, what is this sacrifice and why is it offered?
- Well, this goes back to the Passover in Egypt, back in 14th Century BC when the Israelites were in slavery and God freed them from Pharaoh through a series of plagues, the last of which was the angel of death who came and killed the first born child in every family. However, this did not happen in the homes of the Israelites or the homes of Egyptians who were willing to follow God’s instructions to sacrifice and eat a lamb as part of a sacred meal. The angel of death passed over the homes of those who did this, which is why the event came to be known as the Passover. 1400 or so years after the first Passover Christ came as the true Passover lamb that was sacrificed on behalf on behalf of all of us sinners, but, like in ancient Israel, in order to partake of Christ’s sacrifice, you had to eat the sacrifice, you had to partake of the lamb, that is you have to eat Christ. Jesus himself said in John 6 unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you can have no part in me. The question of course is how do you do this? How do you eat Christ?
- The answer begins to form way back in the 20th century BC, back in Abraham’s day. You heard the first reading today about Abraham going to the priest of God, Melchizadeck who offered up bread and wine, the fist hints of what is now known as the Eucharist, the holy meal that takes place at every Catholic Mass. Fast forward from that event by about 700 or so years to the 14th century BC when God feeds his people with manna, bread from heaven, as they were wondering in the wilderness. Now move forward again by 14 centuries to the 1st century AD when Jesus who supernaturally multiplies a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands of people and then he starts teaching that he is the supernatural food, that he is manna from heaven. At the last supper with his disciples he picks up bread and wine and he says that it is his body and blood that he is freely giving, sacrificing for all of us. What he is saying is that in some supernatural way, which you might not understand, at the Mass, at the Eucharist, the bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Christ so that you can partake of him. St. Paul, in the eleventh chapter of his first book to the Corinthians confirmed this when he explained that when partaking of this sacred meal, you must discern the body and blood of Christ, otherwise you will be taking judgement upon yourself. Meaning that to partake, you must believe that the bread and wine has been transformed into Christ’s body and blood.
So, why at the Mass, does the bread and wine supernaturally transform into the body and blood of Christ? It is so that you can eat it, so that you can partake in the sacrifice, join yourself with the sacrificial lamb, so that you can be a living sacrifice. You see, you and are, not the perfect sacrifice, but Christ is. So, we unite ourselves with Jesus and then as the united body of Christ we offer ourselves up to God the Father. In this form of the Mass, you can easily remember this because the priest stands on the same side of the altar as you, symbolizing that all of us, in a way unite with Christ symbolized by the priest, and offer ourselves up to God the Father. This is what it means when we say that the Mass is a sacrifice.
However, because as Catholics we believe that Christ becomes present at the Mass in a supernatural way, that the bread and wine are transformed, you too are transformed when you partake of Christ in this way. You become what he is. Christ is the sacrificial lamb, that is he of course gave himself one time on the cross, but he is in a way, always giving of himself, offering himself in love to the father, offering himself in love to you and me. When you join yourself to him, you become what he is. You become a living sacrifice and this effects everything about who you are.
- First it, in a way, changes your identity. You are part of him and he is part of you. You become part of the body of Christ. As Jesus said in John 6: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood I will raise him on up on the last day” This is where the whole Mass obligation bit comes into play. You know the rule right? When Christ shows up in this supernatural way on Sunday, then you also show up. Why? Because you are part of the body of Christ and if you weren’t there, something would be missing. There is a third century instruction on the life of the Church which states "Let no one deprive the Church by staying away; if they do, they deprive the Body of Christ of one of its members!" Imagine if you showed up to meet your husband, but when you arrive you discover that you forgot a part of your body, a member of your body, say, you left your ears at home. You can’t hear the guy because a vital part of your body is missing. One of your members is missing. This is why we show up for Mass on Sunday. Not to simply follow the rules, although it is good to do that too, but rather as a fulfillment of identity. You are a member of the Body of Christ and it’s somethings just not right when you are not here.
- Second, not only does coming to Mass fulfill who you are, what your identity is and more firmly strengthens you as a member of the body of Christ, but it also transforms you and the way that you live your live into a sacrifice for others. The sacrificial love of Christ permeates you and everything about you. This is why being a Christian and partaking of Christ cannot be a private matter. This would be a contradiction of the sacrifice of Christ which was for others. It is the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist that impels you to hear the cry of the poor and respond in love especially to the vulnerable: the unborn, migrants and refugees, victims of rachial injustice, victims of prejudice and misunderstanding, the sick and the elderly. It is these people for whom the Eucharist transforms you for. Pope Benedict XVI said of the Blessed Sacrament: the "love that we celebrate in the sacrament is not something we can keep to ourselves. By its very nature it demands to be shared with all." "What the world needs is God's love; it needs to encounter Christ, to really encounter him and the way to do that is in the Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament.
When you partake of Christ in the Eucharist, when you partake of this sacrifice, you become the sacrifice, you are transformed, in a way into Christ, into one who is living not just for yourself, but for others. Your identity is transformed. You are a member of the body of Christ. So, when Christ shows up at the Mass on Sunday, you are there. When you receive Christ you are renewed and strengthened to go and be that living sacrifice.
Blessed Carlo Acutis, young Italian teenager who died in 2006 used to say "The Eucharist is my highway to heaven." He became a saint at a young age because the Eucharist was the center of his life, he attended Mass daily, and was known to often adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament daily. It was in his joy of friendship with Jesus that he brought that joy to others in his everyday life and on the internet. St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Once you understand the Eucharist, you can never leave the Church. Not because the Church won't let you but because your heart won't let you." It is this Eucharist, through which Christ becomes uniquely present, through which you are transformed into the life giving sacrifice of Christ. Amen.