The commemoration of Corpus Christi
TODAY is Sunday the
23rd of June 2019 and the
4th Sunday of the month.
On this day the Catholic
Church commemorates the
Solemnity of the Most Holy
Body and Blood of Christ.
In Latin today is Corpus
Christi Sunday.
The Psalm for the day is, “You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.”
This Sunday’s 1st Reading is from Genesis 14:18-20. It says:
Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth! And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands.
And Abram gave him a tenth part of everything.
The 2nd Reading for today is from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
This is the tradition of the Lord that I received, and, that, in my turn, I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in memory of me.” In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, he said, “This cup is the new Covenant, in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he comes.
Meanwhile, this Sunday’s Gospel is from Luke 9:11b17. It says:
But the crowd heard of this and caught up with him. So he welcomed them, and began speaking about the kingdom of God, curing those who needed healing.
The day was drawing to a close, and the Twelve drew near to tell him, “Send the crowd away, and let them go into the villages and farms around, to find lodging and food, for we are here in a lonely place.” But Jesus replied, “You, yourselves, give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for all this crowd?” for there were about five thousand men. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
So they made all of them sit down. Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, and, raising his eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them; he broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. They ate and everyone had enough; and when they gathered up what was left, twelve baskets were filled with broken pieces.
READ: Jesus multiplies the bread and fish available at hand. The disciples distribute them to the hungry crowd. For days, the people have been following him to hear his words. Now before dismissing them, Jesus shows concern to their bodily need. It is a bad religion to take care only of the spirit. Justice must be given to the whole person.
REFLECT: The gospel prefigures the Holy Eucha
rist which Jesus institutes at the Last Supper. Generations of Christians celebrate the Eucharist to perpetuate the memory of Jesus. Jesus asks his ministers to distribute spiritual food to the crowd. How do you treat the body and blood of Christ? Do you receive holy communion?
NB: Our profuse thanks to the Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc., publisher of the book 2019 Bible Diary from where we are sourcing the Word of God that we are sharing with our fellow faithful though this space every Sunday throughout the year.