Solemnity
This weekend, the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. This feast was established in 1264 by Pope Urban IV and confirmed by Pope Clement V in 1312 at the Council of Vienne.
In the gospel reading, we proclaim the account of the Last Supper found in the Gospel of Mark. Using the narrative of the Last Supper harkens back to Holy Thursday, when the Church recalled Christ’s institution of the Eucharist and began our journey with Christ through the Triduum: his Passion and Death and the glory of his Resurrection.
But this weekend, in celebrating Christ’s Body and Blood, we have been freed from the sadness and pain that comes on Good Friday. Instead, we bask in the glow of Easter joy and the promises of the Resurrection! As we come to the Eucharist this weekend, let us remind ourselves that Christ accompanies us always, nourishes us, and calls us into a deeper relationship with God and with one another as the Body of Christ in our own time. The Eucharist is a treasure beyond all comparison.