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Exploring the word

06 Jun 2021 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle B

Ritual is a peculiar activity to engage in, truth be told. It is rarely organic; it does not spring wholly from instinct but must be chosen, interpreted, and imbued with significance. Religious ritual often includes antique words, symbols, and gestures that require conscious deliberation and participation to appreciate fully. Our lack of preparedness for an engagement with ritual is at least part of the reason why our relationship to the sacraments can be a bit of a blur. If we don’t actively consider what we’re doing, we might well wonder why we’re doing it. When Baptism happens to you as a baby, it tends to slide off your radar of significant events. First Communion comes later, when you have a chance to incorporate the moment at the so-called age of reason, along with Reconciliation, which remains an intermittent if not sidelined affair for many. Participation in the sacramental life of the church becomes more personal at Confirmation, when you finally have to make the commitment for yourself—however coerced you may feel by the process. Matrimony and Holy Orders can seem like the most “serious” of the sacraments, because the immediate consequences are immense. Regrettably, some Catholics may not soberly reflect on the meaning of their sacramental choices until they approach the Anointing of the Sick, when mortal vulnerability makes an encounter with the Sacred seem more necessary—and plausible. Unpacking ritual We might wonder: What did folks think on the day when Moses slaughtered some bulls and splashed half of the blood on a stone table and sprinkled the rest on them? Neighboring cultures used blood sacrifice to make their point to the gods or to themselves, so the ritual didn’t come from left field. Blood was serious—blood meant life or death. The altar represented God’s realm, and so the people were bound to God in their mutual reception of the blood. Moses called this action a covenant. Somewhere between the words of God and the blood of animals, a promise was solemnly contracted. Blood covenant was a messy business. It is hard to imagine the hours of janitorial duty that early priests must have put in mopping up the shrines and temples. Yet the human participants got off easy compared with the sacrificial animals that gave their lives in the stead of the nation. We can almost hear the weariness in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews—the writer surely a priest convert to the Christian perspective—as he describes the cycle of ritual killings. Finally, he says, one sacrifice has been made to end all sacrifice. Christ the high priest has inaugurated a new covenant. Somewhere between the words of the Last Supper and the passion of the cross, God has fulfilled the promise that humanity could not keep. An invitation “Take it,” Jesus says simply in Mark’s rendering of the event. “It” is the offering of his own body, his life, no small thing. Jesus doesn’t waste a lot of words explaining what he means or persuading us of the merits of his offer. For three years, the argument has been made in teaching, preaching, healing, casting out demons, and forgiving sins. All of this saving activity by any other name is now literally placed into our hands—if we want it. Take it, Jesus says, and hands over his life symbolically as food. Did the disciples understand that they were in the presence of a ritual being born, like those folks in the time of Moses? Did they perceive that tearing off a chunk of the bread was their assent to a great and fateful participation in divine life? They might have if they had our advantage: a keen awareness of the sacramental life. How did they arrive at this meal? The same way we come to it: by following the fellow with the water jar. Baptism leads to Eucharist just as membership leads to fellowship. We enter the guest room by responding to the invitation. The room is already prepared, but we can’t get there if we don’t go by way of the water. We also have the advantage of hearing, in quick succession, Moses’ words about the blood of the covenant echoed by Jesus. The disciples may not have been awake enough to make the connections that night, but we cannot afford to make the same mistake. What they received fresh is by now an ancient ritual of words and gestures and shared life. Take it, or don’t take it, but don’t close your eyes to what it is. Applying the word The Body and the Blood What is our Eucharist? It is a nourishing meal of bread and wine to which we are invited by virtue of our Baptism. It is a reminder of the ancient Passover from slavery to freedom, from sin and death to victory over both. It is a sign of the communion of the whole church, each one of us to the other in Christ. It is the memory of a sacrifice made in flesh and blood. It is the life of Christ made present and tangible right now in our midst. It is the love of God for the human race poured out. But our Eucharist is also a ritual of decision, to participate or not in the life of God handed to us in the Body and Blood of Christ. Take it, Jesus said. But do not take it lightly or thoughtlessly or as an antique ritual that requires no further obligation. Take it as solemnly as the people did who stood before Moses and allowed themselves to be marked by blood and incorporated into a covenant that held the power of life and death over their heads. Maybe one advantage the ancients have over us is that they stood close enough to the altar to be splashed by blood they wore home, reminding them of the seriousness of their commitment. Our decision to take the life of Christ into ourselves is more sobering still. Related scripture links Covenant stories: Gen. 9:9-17; 15:1-21; Exod. 19:1-8; 2 Sam. 7:8-16; Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 34:23-31; Isa. 7:10-15; 49:15; 55:3 Water and blood: Rom. 6:3-4; 1 John 5:6-8 Supper discernment: 1 Cor. 11:23-29 Christian life as sacrifice: Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 2:17; 4:18 Catechism links Eucharist: CCC 737; 790; 1000; 1088; 1099; 1113-1121; 1210-1211; 1322-1405

Authors Alice Camille

Ritual sacraments blood covenant Eucharist

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Take Five for Faith Daily

Wednesday
January 29

Provide a strong foundation

During Catholic Schools Week we remember and are thankful for the fact that the tradition of Catholic schools remains the same: “A Catholic education is an education for life.” A Catholic education, whether on Sundays or five days a week, provides the foundation and the tools young people need to grow into faithful followers of Christ. The patron saint of teachers, John Baptist de la Salle, put it best: “Enter to learn, leave to serve.” Support your local Catholic schools!

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