Although Jesus is present in his Church in many ways, his presence in the Eucharist is special because this is where He is real, substantial, and complete.
Jesus taught that what was once bread and wine are not merely a symbol but are his true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The Church teaches that this occurs through a process called transubstantiation.
The Latin phrase for Body of Christ is Corpus Christi.
Beginning in France and extended to the Universal Church by Pope Urban VI in 1264, the sole purpose the Feast of Corpus Christi is to emphasize this real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist to Catholics every year.
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ was traditionally celebrated on the 60th day after Easter, a Thursday, but it is now usually celebrated on the following Sunday.
In 2022, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ marked the beginning of a 3-year National Eucharistic Revival intended to increase devotion and belief in the Eucharist.
God desires this feast:
We receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus:
Because Jesus told us:
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, took bread, and, after He had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.”
1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
Instituted by Jesus and handed down by the Apostles:
The New Testament Manna must be greater than the old manna:
It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, He wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since He was about to offer himself on the Cross to save us, He wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which He loved us “to the end,” even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence He remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us, and He remains under signs that express and communicate this love: The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet Him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1380
“If it’s a symbol, to hell with it.”:
The Word of God can change existing matter:
He always remains in the midst of his brothers and, as He promised, accompanies and guides them through his Spirit. His presence is now of another order. Indeed, “at the Last Supper, after having celebrated Passover with his disciples, as He passed from this world to his Father, Christ instituted this sacrament as a perpetual memory of his Passion. . ., the greatest of all miracles; to those whom his absence would have filled with sadness, He left this sacrament as an incomparable comfort “. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist in the Church, we remember the death of the Savior, we announce his Resurrection in anticipation of his coming. No sacrament is therefore more precious and greater than that of the Eucharist; by receiving communion we are incorporated into Christ. Our life is transformed and assumed by the Lord.
Pope John Paul II, Letter to the Bishop of Liege for the 750th Anniversary of the Corpus Domini Festival, 28 May 1996
Proof of a Eucharistic miracle from over 750 years ago:
Christ dwelling among us:
Celebrating the Eucharist at the tomb of Christ:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
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