Body and Blood of Christ 2024
Exodus 24: 3-8; Psalm 115 (116); Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
Many many moons ago, during my days at university, I recall the chaplain, the late Fr. Richard Incledon, commenting that a lady had come to him after Mass, seeking reassurance that the chaplaincy really was a Catholic church. Her unease was created, not by any liturgical oddities, but by observing that practically everybody went to communion. Apparently, this was not the norm in her own parish.
If that lady were still around, and were to come to Mass at Hyning, she might ask a similar question. Again, this would not arise from liturgical deviations, but because so many people receive the Precious Blood. (By the way, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE never say “Take the wine”. We do not take wine: we receive the Precious Blood.) From my experience of parishes, I have been surprised how few people in them receive from the chalice.
Of course, there is no obligation to receive from the chalice. We know that Jesus Christ is received whole and entire, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity under either species—either under the appearances of bread or under the appearances of wine—which incidentally makes a nonsense of an instruction received some years ago from some half-baked Roman congregation that, at a concelebration, priests who have consumed the Sacred Host and move forward to receive from the chalice at the altar, should genuflect before receiving. As my father pointed out to me when I was a small boy, once I have received the Host, I am a walking tabernacle. Consequently, if I then genuflect to the tabernacle (or to the chalice) it is as if Jesus is genuflecting to Jesus.
As soon as we receive the Host, we receive Jesus fully, but to receive Him also under the appearances of wine makes the sign complete, and it is how Jesus first administered His Body and Blood. Therefore, it is appropriate both to eat and to drink, and it is sad that the opportunity was denied to the laity for so many centuries.
In recent weeks, I have been surprised to discover that many parishes have still not restored the chalice to the laity in the wake of the pandemic. No lay person is obliged to receive from the chalice, but they have the right to decide for themselves, and I am puzzled by the ongoing delay in many parishes.
This issue is particularly striking this year, when the readings focus particularly on the Blood. The Book of Exodus quotes Moses as saying “This is the Blood of the Covenant” as he throws the blood of the sacrificed animals towards the people. Jesus takes up Moses’ terminology at the Last Supper: “This is MY blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many”. Here we have the New Covenant, foretold by Jeremiah, sealed in the Blood, not of bulls or goats, but in the Blood of Jesus, made present and offered to us.
Similarly, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews focuses on the Blood of Christ, which he specifically identifies as belonging to a New Covenant. Jesus, he tells us, took His own poured out Blood into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of the Father, and that Blood is given to us.
Even today’s Psalm focuses on a Cup of Salvation, which is linked to a sacrificial death. It is evident that all the Readings today, in Year B of the three year cycle, have been chosen to emphasise the importance of the Blood of Christ, both in this Feast, and in our Eucharistic lives. Yes, of course that Blood is present when we receive the Host, but its presence—His presence—is made more obvious when we obey His injunction to eat and drink.
Our reception of Jesus brings us into communion not only with Him, but with one another, as we not only receive the Body and Blood of Jesus but become what we receive. We are part of the Body of Christ, brought into the Communion of Saints, united with the whole Church, not only throughout the world, but also throughout the ages, one body with Our Lady and with all the saints, and with all who share today in the Body and Blood of Christ in every corner of the world.
That communion is made visible in the congregation gathered here at the altar, as we represent the whole Body of Christ. Consequently, we are privileged today to welcome Rachael into full communion with the Catholic Church, one Body with Jesus, one Body with us, and with the whole Communion of Saints. Let us take a moment to reflect on this awesome union and Communion, which we have the privilege to receive, and to which we have the privilege to belong.
