Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood - Year C

Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood - Year C (pdf)

Spiritual Reflection

“This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 1 Cor 11:24-25

The prayer of awaiting the Eucharist is the supplication that allows you to be constantly immersed in the graces of Redemption and cleansed of the leprosy of unfaithfulness. All of your illnesses are nothing in the face of God’s mercy, which overflows into your heart when you beg for it. “In my misfortune I called, the LORD heard and saved me from all distress” (Ps 34:7). . .

Christ cannot leave the prayer of a person who hungers for the Eucharist and humbly awaits the fruits of Holy Mass unanswered. We can be sure that torrents of graces will be poured upon such a person and that he will be cleansed from his leprosy; for such a person responds to the Lord’s bidding: “…ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” ( Lk 11:9). This is why saints do not need to go to Purgatory, and the gates of Heaven are immediately opened before them.

Nothing compares to the purifying and healing action of the Eucharist. There is no other cure like it for our spiritual diseases. When you await the fruits of the Holy Mass you are already purified to a certain extent because you meet with the Eucharistic Christ through faith and hope.

When you pray in the morning and in the evening, during adoration and during meditation, and during your prayer immediately before the Holy Mass, you can always ask God for the grace to await the Eucharist. In fact, nothing is more important than being open to the grace of Redemption. This holds true for you and for all of those for whom you pray.

At the beginning of the day, during your morning prayer, you can entrust yourself to Jesus, through Mary. During this time, you may ask Mary herself to immerse you in the Redemptive Sacrifice of her son. If you see that you lack good will and you do not want to live by the Eucharist, ask Mary to await the Holy Mass in you, ask her to thirst and quest for the Lord in you, and ask her to live with a hunger for God according to the example of her Son. Ask her to pray for mercy for you and for all those you entrust to God. If you do not ask for her intercession, then how can she help you? She does not want to take away your freedom.

The Mother of God is the one who knows best how desperately you need to live by awaiting the Holy Mass. She also knows how you damage your relationship with God by lacking this attitude. The more often you ask to be immersed in the Most Holy sacrifice, the more you will be opened to the action of grace and the more you will be obedient to God’s will. This, in turn, will make you a more effective instrument in the Lord’s hands; you will become a sign of hope for a world immersed in sin. S. C. Biela, Open Wide the Door to Christ, pp. 74; 76-77.

References from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"135

1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life."136 "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."137

1325 "The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God's action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit."138 Questions for Reflection
1. In the events of my daily life, how do I recognize my need for the Holy Eucharist? How do I approach the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – with hunger and desire – or routine and lukewarmness?
2. How is God present in situations of weak will or helplessness? What is His invitation?
3. How can Mary, who lived out the Eucharistic mystery, help my attitude and dispositions so that I may receive the fruits of this Blessed Sacrament?

Prayer after Sharing: Thank you, God, for allowing me to see the truth about my weaknesses and how it calls upon the abyss of your merciful Love.