Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi - Cycle B

 The Son, came to us, as the incarnated Theos-Logos (John 1:1, 14), through the body of Mary, the Immaculate Conception, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35), for the Father in heaven loved us. The Son, who was incarnated in Mary’s womb, came out of his mother’s womb in the human flesh of Jesus (Luke 2:1-7). He grew up with wisdom and statue in favor of both God and men (Luke 2:52). When he was 30, the Son was baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist, in the Jordan River (Luke 3:23). At his baptism, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and rested on him (Mark 1:10), and the Father in heaven proclaimed, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”(Mark 1:11).

Jesus the Son was anointed with the Holy Spirit by the Father, upon being baptized with water by John the Baptist. Thus, he was full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) as he embarked on his public ministry – sowing seeds for the Kingdom of God.

When the time of his threefold glorification drew near to complete his public ministry on earth, Jesus the Son hosted Passover Seder dinner in the Cenacle of the house of Mary, whose son is John Mark. It was the night before his death. At this memorial supper, the Lord’s Supper, Jesus the Son, took bread, said blessing, and broke it, and gave its pieces to his disciples at the table, saying, “Take it; this is my body”(Mark 14:22). Then, he took a chalice and gave thanks to the Father, and pass it on to the disciples, saying, “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 (Mark 14:24-25). And, this is how Jesus the Son instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

In celebrating Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi (The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Solemnidad del Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo), following Dominica Sanctissimae Trinitatis (Holy Trinity Sunday), which follows  Dominica Pentecostes (Pentecost Sunday), on Cycle B, the Gospel Reading (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26), reminds us Jesus offered his body in the species of Passover matzah bread (unleavened bread), which symbolizes freedom (Exodus 12:39) , and his blood in Passover wine, which is consumed in four cups, recalling God’s fourfold promises of liberation (Exodus 6:6-8). This Passover liberation-to-freedom context is very important to appreciate Corporis et Sanguinis Christi in Eucharistiae Sacramentum.

The Gospel Reading (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26) clearly indicates that Jesus the Son intentionally connect his body and blood to Passover, which commemorate how gracious God the Father redeemed His beloved Israelites from slavery in Egypt into freedom in Canaan. It is because Jesus the Son was sent by the Father. And, Jesus the Son came to this world to redeem those who are lost to sins (Matthew 18:11). For God the Father to redeem the Israelites from the slavery into freedom, as remembered in Passover, a year-old male unblemished lamb had to be sacrificed as korban Pesach (Exodus 12:5). And, while the flesh of the lamb is lasted and eaten along with matzo (plural of matzah) (Exodus 12:8), the blood of this lamb shields the Israelites from God’s wrath on Egypt – letting it pass over them safely (Exodus 12:7,12-13).

John the Baptist regarded Jesus the Son as the Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi (the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world)(John 1:29). Indeed, Jesus offered his body and blood up on the Cross for our redemption (John 19:31-37; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 10:10). Thus, eating the body of Jesus the Son in the species of Passover matzah bread corresponds to eating the roasted korban Pesach lamb during Passover Seder dinner, while drinking his blood in the species of Passover Seder wine assures safety in our liberation, marking ourselves with his blood from within.

The connection of the flesh of korban Pesach lamb to matzah to be broken into matzo to be consumed, along with his blood (Mark 14:22-24) is reflected in Jesus invitation to eat his flesh as the Living Bread of Life and to drink his blood for eternal life (John 6:51-58). And, the body of Jesus the Son, along with his blood, is the food that endure for eternal life, in contrast to food that perishes and gives no eternal life (John 6:27). This is what makes the Corporis et Sanguinis Christi different from Passover matzo bread and wine, as these do not endure for eternal life. The Corporis et Sanguinis Christi not only redeem us from slavery to sin but also to give us eternal life.

In the first portion of today’s Gospel Reading (Mark 14:12-16), it was obvious that Jesus had prearranged Passover Seder dinner. The house that he prearranged for the dinner is believed to be the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, who is believed to have penned the Gospel of Mark. And, the large furnished room is known as Coenaculum Sion – Cenacle of Zion (Jerusalem).

There is a good reason why the Son was sent to us as the incarnated Theos-Logos, and it was to offer himself – his body and blood – as the food and drink not only to for us to be redeemed from slavery to sins but also to be entitled to eternal life, reflecting Passover, through which God the Father redeemed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

The First Reading (Exodus 24:3-8) further implicate that the blood of Christ reflects the blood of the covenant between God the Father and the Israelites. It means that we are bound to live the words of Jesus the Son, just as God’s covenant with the Israelites was to keep them to act in accordance with His words (Exodus 24:3). It was Jesus himself to link his blood to the covenant (Mark 14:24), which is about forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). And the blood of Christ is for the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:21).  The blood of Christ is the blood of the covenant on forgiveness of sin (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22), because it is the blood of the Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi (the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world)(John 1:29).

In the Second Reading (Hebrews 9:11-15), the blood of Christ is further elaborated. It cleanses our conscience through the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). Therefore, Christ the Son is the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrew 9:15). It is so because he is the high priests, who offered not animals, as in the old covenant but himself to establish the new covenant – though honoring the necessity of blood for forgiveness, remission from sins, as in the old covenant (Leviticus 17:11).

Therefore, the chalice with the blood of Christ for the new covenant, is the cup of salvation, as sung in the refrain of today’s Responsorial Psalm (116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18). Taking up this cup of salvation also means to return to God and remain faithful to Him as His loyal servants.

Jesus the Son, the Christ, came to us, incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus, as the mediator of this salvific and redemptive new covenant that is everlasting, through his blood, while offering his body as the food that endure for eternal life for freedom from sin.  His body and blood are the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, because Jesus the Son established this Sacrament by giving thanks to God (Mark 14:23). Just as the Passover Seder is the memorial dinner of thanksgiving to God for redeeming into freedom, the Eucharist literally means “giving thanks”( eucharistia /eukharistia)(Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1328). Jesus established the Sacrament of the Eucharist, offering his body and blood, as the mediator of the new covenant, in this Passover thanksgiving context.

We are so grateful for our privilege given by Jesus the Son to take the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ, so that not only we are redeemed into freedom from sin but to remain loyal as his servants, observing his commandments under the new covenant. This is made possible to us only through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), the Holy Spirit, which is poured upon bread and wine on the alter, by epiclesis, to transubstantiate into the Corporis et Sanguinis Christi in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.