Homily Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Year B
Homily Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Reading 1: God has revealed to Moses the conditions of
the covenant that he will enter into with his Chosen People. These conditions
are the Commandments and their ramifications. These conditions reflect a way of
life God was calling the people to exhibit. Their response: “We will do
everything that the Lord has told us.” Yes. Amen. We accept and dedicate
ourselves to this way of life.
In those days covenants were sealed with the sign of
blood. The blood was a symbol of the life of the animal sacrificed. So Moses
makes a sacrifice to God and uses the blood of the sacrificial animal to ratify
and seal the agreement between God and his people. Underlying this action is
the realization that if either party breaks this covenant, the other can take
its life.
Moses splashed the blood on the altar, which represented
God. He again reads the commands of God to the people. They again say “All that
the Lord has said, we will do and heed.” Then he sprinkled the blood on them.
When we were baptized into Christ, we entered into a
covenant with God. That covenant was sealed not with the blood of animals, but
with the blood of Christ on the cross.
We were saved and freed from our sins. Each time we celebrated the
Eucharist, we renew that covenant again in the blood of Christ. In that
renewal, we are saying to God: “We will do everything that the Lord has told
us.”
Reading 2: The author of the Letter to the Hebrews
reminds us of the greater significance of the Blood of Christ, shed upon the
Cross than the blood of goats and bulls offered in the Old Testament. First of
all, we recognize that God chose to become man, so that his blood as the
God-Man may be the perfect sacrifice to the Father. The blood of the animals
signified external purification not the internal reconciliation from sin and
its effects.
The blood of Jesus offered on the cross for our redemption
purifies our conscience from sin. The first purification takes place in
baptism. But like the Old Testament people we have broken our baptismal
covenant by not observing the commands of the Lord and not living a way of
holiness because of sin. Through the sacrament of Reconciliation our sins are
once more forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus, through his
blood.
In the receiving of the Body and Blood of Jesus in
Eucharist, we say the words: “Say the word and my soul shall be healed.” The
blood of Christ in the Eucharist does not take away those sins which separate
us from God but those that have cooled our relationship with him.
Gospel: The Last Supper was a Passover Meal connecting
the observant Jew with the Exodus event. There God spared his people from the
scourged of death of the first-born and delivered them from the bonds of slavery.
The people on their part were to slaughter an unblemished lamb, sprinkle its
blood on the doorposts and lintels of their home. Then they were to eat its
roasted flesh. Thus, they were saved by God through the sign of the lamb’s
blood.
Every year at the Passover, They would remind
themselves through the ritual Passover meal what God had done and was doing for
them. Through this meal they would renew their covenant with God.
Knowing that he was the new, definitive Passover Lamb,
in the midst of the annual celebration, Jesus dramatically said: “Take this
bread and eat of it for it is my Body.” He was the new Passover Lamb who
through his death on the cross will deliver all from sin and save them from
eternal death. Then he said: “Take this cup for it is the blood of the new
covenant” which he was establishing with us. “Do this is memory of me.” The Jews celebrated this meal annually. We
celebrate it weekly and even daily in thanksgiving for what God has done for us.
Our offering and our consuming of the Body and Blood of Jesus is a renewal of
our covenant. Yes, we will do all that the Lord has told us to do.
Jesus gives us his Body and Blood as a sign and gift
of his love that we may eat and not die spiritually. It also is a sign of the
perfect sacrifice pleasing to God. It is also a sign of his continual presence
with us. But this sign is a mystery that can only be embraced in faith because
of who Jesus is. In faith, it reminds us that we are called to intimate union
with Jesus, a union that will be eternalized when we are with God, sharing his
divine life in glory.
Our response is to live faithfully our covenant
commitment by doing what he has commanded us out of love and gratitude.
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