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Faith Matters: Meaning behind the Catholic celebration of Corpus Christi is love
Celebration established by Pope Urban IV in 1264 and explained by theologian Thomas Aquinas provides insight into the Christian faith
By Gerard Bergie Contributing Columnist
Saturday, June 17, 2023
In my Roman Catholic faith tradition, we have recently celebrated an important feast entitled “The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ,” traditionally known as the Feast of Corpus Christi.
It was established by Pope Urban IV and made a universal feast of the church in 1264. Its origins can be traced back much earlier to Christ.
In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking to the crowds immediately after the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. He states the following: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:51)
We are told that the crowds ask, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52)
Jesus responds with even greater precision, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” (John 6:53-55).
We are told that after this exchange, many who had been following Jesus left him because they believed this teaching was too difficult to accept (John 6:60).
Those who were no longer following Jesus could not accept the fact he wanted them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. They could not understand what he was saying to them. What he was asking seemed unthinkable.
When Pope Urban established the feast of Corpus Christi, he asked a great theologian of the time to assist him in preparing particular prayers and hymns for the feast. His name was Thomas Aquinas, and he is considered one of the greatest theologians of the Catholic Church.
In his Commentary on the Gospel of John (No. 992) he offers a profound insight regarding how we are to interpret the words of Jesus that some of the crowd found so difficult to accept. He makes the distinction between material food and spiritual food.
St. Thomas states that when we eat material food, what we eat becomes part of us. In spiritual food, we become part of what we eat. When we consume the Body and Blood of Christ, we become one with him. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). Jesus was giving a spiritual meaning rather than a material meaning to his words.
St. Thomas Aquinas stresses this spiritual meaning does not imply that the bread and wine do not become the body and blood of Christ. He is truly present; however, it is spiritual rather than material. Spiritual eating is simply being united to Christ in faith and love.
For this great saint, love is at the heart of understanding the words of Jesus and the mystery of the Eucharist. He has stated that the Eucharist is the “sacrament of love” that unites us to Christ. It brings hope and healing (Summa, III, 75, c.).
He also believes the Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life. The reason is that when we eat his body and drink his blood, we are spiritually united to Christ who fills us with supernatural life (Summa, III, 3, c.).
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, there is a one-word response to the question “how can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The answer is “love.”
This is the true meaning of the feast of Corpus Christi.