A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Exodus 24:3-8, Hebrews 9:11-15, Mark 14:12-16, 22-26.
Through the Liturgy of the Catholic Mass, God Gives Us Himself (Solemnity of Corpus Christi)
The Holy Eucharist is the gift of Christ Jesus, who offers us His entire self – Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He does not withhold anything from us, but joins the Holy Spirit in uniting with us; dwelling in us. He does this so that their guiding presence can lead us to our true home and so that the Eternal Father can recognize Himself in the other two persons of the Holy Trinity when He looks at us. Therefore, we cannot separate Jesus’ promise in John 6:54, where he says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day,” from John 14:2, where He also says, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” Indeed, the way to our eternal mansion is the Holy Eucharist.
The First Reading for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi – Year B from Exodus 24:3-8 contains verses about the affirmation of the Decalogue and the ordinances God gave Moses in chapters twenty to twenty-three. A crucial part of the affirmation of the words and ordinances of the Lord is that the people consented unanimously on two separate occasions to what God had commanded them. First, the text states, “When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all replied with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has said.” This initial consent was probably a response to the awe and wonder of God’s authority, as well as a communal desire to be loyal to this God who liberated them from slavery in Egypt and, thereby, to be in a good relationship with Him.
The text continues, “Moses recorded all the words of the LORD.” This writing made the covenant terms more enduring than the spoken word; thereby, serving as a permanent document of the laws and commandments that the Israelites were obliged to follow. Then, “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 Moses took the blood and threw it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.” The ratification of God’s words and ordinances with the sacrificial blood of a young bull signifies three things: first, it shows that this ratification was a more deliberate and formal confirmation of the covenant; second, the people’s unanimous response for the second time indicates their understanding and acceptance of the specific responsibilities they were undertaking; third, this commitment to the spoken word and lasting written word of God with the sign of the blood of a young bull, foreshadows the future promise that will come through the living Word of God in Christ Jesus, who unites Himself with us through His Body and Blood shed on the Cross and that we partake of at the Holy Mass.
Our Second Reading from Hebrews 9:11-15 compares the high priesthood of Christ with the priests of the Old Covenant. Christ entered a more perfect tabernacle that was not man-made, unlike the Old Covenant priests. Christ’s New Covenant fulfills and surpasses the Old Testament sacrifices, such as the one in our First Reading, where Moses sealed the covenant with the blood of a young bull. While the high priests of the Old Covenant offered an animal sacrifice, Christ Jesus the High Priest offered himself as the final sacrifice, as the text says, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who are defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” As Catholics, we believe that this bond is strengthened by the belief that the Holy Eucharist is not just a symbol but is the real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, thus fulfilling the covenants of the Old Testament and giving those who receive His sacrifice in a worthy manner a share in the eternal life of Christ. This sacrament is the core of our prayer, contemplative, and active life and is the source and summit of our faith, reflecting the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the Cross for the salvation of humanity.
God approaches us so that we might approach Him. He comes to us through His Word, Christ Jesus, the living person, the Holy Eucharist, Christ Jesus’ real presence, and the spoken and inspired word of God that the Church tradition has handed down to us. We come to God our Father in the name of His Son and with the love of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This movement of Christ Jesus living in us so fully that the Father sees His Son, His perfect image in us, is a type of what happens at the moment of consecration during the Holy Mass, when the priest realizes that it is no longer him, but is Christ who is speaking as the “I” that we hear in today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 14:12-16, 22-26, saying, “While they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take this; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, thanked God, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He told them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be poured out for many.” What Christ accomplishes at the moment of consecration through the priest in the change of the substance of bread and wine into His Body and Blood by the power of His word is the same transformation He is working in us by the power of that same word. Indeed, the sign that we have become a continuation of His life on earth, His Corpus Christi among His people, is our close adherence to living the Beatitudes at every moment of our day. For, in giving us Himself, He gave us the greatest thing to share with others: His love and mercy. The prophet Hosea summarizes today’s readings for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the word he uttered from God, saying, “For it is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
This is just one way how the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
