This is my body. This is my blood.

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Collect

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Ex 24:3-8

This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.

A reading from the Book of Exodus

When Moses came to the people
   and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD,
    they all answered with one voice,
   “We will do everything that the LORD has told us.”
Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and,
   rising early the next day,
   he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar
   and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites
   to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls
   as peace offerings to the LORD,
   Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls;
   the other half he splashed on the altar.
Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people,
   who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.”
Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,
   “This is the blood of the covenant
   which the LORD has made with you
   in accordance with all these words of his.”

The word of the Lord.

Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18

R. :

℟. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
   for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
   and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

℟. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD
   is the death of his faithful ones,
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
   you have loosed my bonds.

℟. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

To you will I offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
   and I will call upon the name of the LORD,
My vows to the LORD I will pay
   in the presence of all his people.

℟. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Heb 9:11-15

The blood of Christ will cleanse our consciences.

A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came as high priest
   of the good things that have come to be,
   passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle
   not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,
   he entered once for all into the sanctuary,
   not with the blood of goats and calves
   but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls
   and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes
   can sanctify those who are defiled
   so that their flesh is cleansed,
   how much more will the blood of Christ,
   who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
   cleanse our consciences from dead works
   to worship the living God.
For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:
   since a death has taken place for deliverance
   from transgressions under the first covenant,
   those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel
Jn 6:51

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

This is my body. This is my blood.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
   when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,
   his disciples said to him,
   “Where do you want us to go
   and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
   “Go into the city and a man will meet you,
   carrying a jar of water.
Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
   ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
   where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city,
   and found it just as he had told them;
   and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating,
   he took bread, said the blessing,
   broke it, and gave it to them, and said,
   “Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,
   and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
   “This is my blood of the covenant,
   which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you,
   I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
   until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn,
   they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

This Gospel presents us with Jesus and his disciples celebrating his last Passover meal with them. It is noteworthy that this passage begins with a detailed account of this event: “On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb.” This indicates that this celebration which had great importance for the Jews was to find its fulfilment in Christ, the Lamb without blemish which was to be sacrificed for the salvation of all people. Christ, through his mission and his passion, is the yeast for a full life.

What stands out in this account is the free and generous offering that Christ makes when he offered himself. Through this complete offering of Christ, the covenant between God and man reaches its summit. The Jewish celebration of their liberation from Egypt and the covenant on Mount Sinai reach their fulfilment through the distinct words of Christ: “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.” Contrary to the Old Covenant, sealed by the blood of animals, the New Covenant came to pass through the body and blood of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

This is not an act of humiliation. Actually, this offering sheds light on the profound love of God. On this kenosis, St Athanasius says, “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God”—participate in God’s life. This total offering of Christ gives a new dignity to each person. It is not a remembrance. It is an experience. Christ says: “this is my body … this is the blood of the covenant.” Christ speaks in the present: in actual fact. This presence will remain until the end of time. This sacrifice takes place through the unconditional love that God has for humanity. Salvation is given to us through the body and blood of Christ.

The solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ reminds us of our unity through the Eucharist. As Christ gathered his disciples around the table, and later mystically he unites them through his body and blood. This is what God does through Christ each time the faithful meet to celebrate the Eucharist. Through the faithful’s sacramental participation in the Eucharist, they are transformed interiorly by being perfectly united with God. The Eucharist unites the faithful in love built upon the perfect love between the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.

As Pope Francis said in one of his homilies on Corpus Christi, the faithful “nourished by Him, we are included in a journey which admits no division. Christ present in our midst, in the sign of the bread and wine, demands that the power of love overcome every laceration, and at the same time that it also become communion with the poorest, support for the weak, fraternal attention to those who have difficulty in bearing the weight of daily life, and are in danger of losing their faith” (4 June 2015).

Prayer

Lord, help me to recognise and appreciate the great love you have for me. So great is your love that you gave your Son totally for me because your love is absolute and perfect.

Lord, help me to appreciate the beauty of the body that you gave me, even when I remember that the salvation of humanity did not happen magically, but even though it is a mystery, this salvation was given us through the Body and Blood of your Son, true God and true Man.

Lord, help me to be a gift to those around me. Above all, help me pass on to those around me that which I received from you through your grace. In a world that is increasingly thirsty for what is of value and endures.

 

Ara l-Qari tal-Ħdud li għaddew