A Corpus Christi Thought to Start the Week Off Right
In the new calendar, it's the Feast of Corpus Christi. The traditional calendar observed Corpus Christi this past Thursday - as it had been observed for centuries. Again, we've got another of those "innovations" that our new calendar imposes for reasons quite mysterious - at least to this ordinary, everyday Catholic.
Setting aside when you're observing Corpus Christi, let's just focus on the feast itself. It's one of our most important. In fact, so important that Thomas Aquinas wrote the prayers (the Propers) that have been used to this day in the Mass for Corpus Christi. In addition, in honor of the Body of Christ, he wrote the Pange Lingua in 1264. The last two verses of the Pange Linqua - that begin with "Tantum Ergo" can be sung separately, and are during Benediction - a devotion that honors the Blessed Sacrament.
His understanding and devotion to the Body of Christ - Corpus Christi - was profound. More known by some for the power of his intellect, Aquinas himself held his love for Christ far above his writings.
What about us? Do we love Christ far above all else? Corpus Christi gives us a chance to ponder this. It presents us with the graces we need to see the Body of Christ as the greatest gift given to us by Our Lord. It comes right after Trinity Sunday, when we honor Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's proximity emphasizes its importance.
If we were appropriately recollected on Trinity Sunday, we recognized and expressed our deep desire to be united to the awesome Supreme Being we call God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We remembered that some day, by His grace, we will be eternally happy in the Presence of the Holy Trinity. But while we remain rooted to this earth, our desire for eternal happiness calls us to draw closer and closer to this same God, even as we live our ordinary lives day to day. The Holy Eucharist provides us with the means to do this most fully and intimately.
The Inner Life of the Soul explains this by connecting Trinity Sunday with Corpus Christi:
"In our heart of hearts our passionate longing is for union, for unity, for love. And following close upon Trinity Sunday...comes the feast of Corpus Christi, to show us how the desire of our hearts is to be obtained. The Blessed Sacrament unites us to the Blessed Trinity."
Do we have this passionate love, this desire to be united to Christ when we receive Holy Communion?
We've recently read of the revival of what were once common: processions on Corpus Christi, when the Body of Christ is reverently carried through the streets to be adored by all who gaze upon it. Would that these public devotions multiply and become as common as they once were!
Meanwhile, each of us can beg for the graces that flow from this glorious feast to ensure our own devotion to the Body of Christ, and our desire to be united to it.
"...Take all loves that have ever been, the love of Adam for Eve ere her beguiling tongue charmed him away from Paradise; the love of Jacob serving seven years for Rachel, years that seemed but days for the love he bore her; the love of Joseph for Mary, and of Mary for Joseph...The love of God for your soul and mine is deeper, tenderer, truer than all these. In the Blessed Sacrament, on this feast of Corpus Christi, He comes, Friend, Lover, Spouse, unto His own."
Setting aside when you're observing Corpus Christi, let's just focus on the feast itself. It's one of our most important. In fact, so important that Thomas Aquinas wrote the prayers (the Propers) that have been used to this day in the Mass for Corpus Christi. In addition, in honor of the Body of Christ, he wrote the Pange Lingua in 1264. The last two verses of the Pange Linqua - that begin with "Tantum Ergo" can be sung separately, and are during Benediction - a devotion that honors the Blessed Sacrament.
His understanding and devotion to the Body of Christ - Corpus Christi - was profound. More known by some for the power of his intellect, Aquinas himself held his love for Christ far above his writings.
What about us? Do we love Christ far above all else? Corpus Christi gives us a chance to ponder this. It presents us with the graces we need to see the Body of Christ as the greatest gift given to us by Our Lord. It comes right after Trinity Sunday, when we honor Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's proximity emphasizes its importance.
If we were appropriately recollected on Trinity Sunday, we recognized and expressed our deep desire to be united to the awesome Supreme Being we call God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We remembered that some day, by His grace, we will be eternally happy in the Presence of the Holy Trinity. But while we remain rooted to this earth, our desire for eternal happiness calls us to draw closer and closer to this same God, even as we live our ordinary lives day to day. The Holy Eucharist provides us with the means to do this most fully and intimately.
The Inner Life of the Soul explains this by connecting Trinity Sunday with Corpus Christi:
"In our heart of hearts our passionate longing is for union, for unity, for love. And following close upon Trinity Sunday...comes the feast of Corpus Christi, to show us how the desire of our hearts is to be obtained. The Blessed Sacrament unites us to the Blessed Trinity."
Do we have this passionate love, this desire to be united to Christ when we receive Holy Communion?
We've recently read of the revival of what were once common: processions on Corpus Christi, when the Body of Christ is reverently carried through the streets to be adored by all who gaze upon it. Would that these public devotions multiply and become as common as they once were!
Meanwhile, each of us can beg for the graces that flow from this glorious feast to ensure our own devotion to the Body of Christ, and our desire to be united to it.
"...Take all loves that have ever been, the love of Adam for Eve ere her beguiling tongue charmed him away from Paradise; the love of Jacob serving seven years for Rachel, years that seemed but days for the love he bore her; the love of Joseph for Mary, and of Mary for Joseph...The love of God for your soul and mine is deeper, tenderer, truer than all these. In the Blessed Sacrament, on this feast of Corpus Christi, He comes, Friend, Lover, Spouse, unto His own."
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!
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