The Body and Blood of Christ

Here is a homily excerpt from Deacon Cummings on the Feast of Corpus Cristi: His word over bread, "This my body," and his word over wine, "This my blood, the blood of the covenant." Body and blood make the living person. In inviting us to eat his body and drink his blood, the Lord Jesus invites us to become, by graceful participation, his living presence in the world, invites us to become Eucharist for the world. But more. In associating us with "(his) blood, the blood of the covenant," Jesus links us to his sacrificial death. Sacrifice is self-donation, self-gift for another to the point of laying down one's life. Sacrifice is the rhythm of the life of the Trinity, utter self-donation for the Other. Being Eucharist for the world is very costly. If the celebration of the Holy Trinity last Sunday speaks our intimacy in the Communion that is God, the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ shows us the way and tells us the cost.