This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of CORPUS CHRISTI. For the reader who does not know, these words are Latin and mean THE BODY OF CHRIST.

    At the very heart of our Catholic Faith is the teaching that in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we have Jesus Himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

    Contrary to what SOME people teach and/or believe, the Holy Eucharist in NOT a symbol of the Body and Blood of Jesus, but truly IS Jesus, Himself. Never adopt the idea that the Eucharist is only a symbol. This is heresy at its peak.

    Once I heard someone say: “We are not cannibals. We don’t eat the Flesh of Christ.”

    My response: It is true - we are not cannibals, for cannibals eat dead meat. We consume the living Christ, because He told us: “Take and eat... Take and drink.” Jesus also said: “I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven; if any one eats of this Bread, he will live for ever; ... he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life and ... abides in Me, and I in him.” (John 6:51, 54, 56).

    At the Last Supper Jesus did not say: This is a SYMBOL of My Body; this is a SYMBOL of My Blood. He said: “This IS My Body; this IS My Blood.

    What a gift we have in the Catholic Church! This Sacrament is at the very HEART of our religion. For anyone to lose faith in this teaching is to lose the very HEART of the Faith. How can they survive spiritually without this HEART of our religion? I believe their Faith will eventually die altogether, if they pursue this avenue.

    We must also remember that the Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love. St. Thomas Acquinas wrote that “love desires union.” This is true. It is why a man and woman marry because they want to be as close to one another as they can be.

    It is true for God, as well! He wants us to be as close to Him as we possibly can be, and He instituted this Sacrament to bring us to that reality. What great love God has for us! What great fruits come from the reception of this Sacrament.

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church reads: “Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant’s union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ." (Paragraph 1416)

    “The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion each time they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.” (Paragraph1417)

    Because Jesus IS truly present, Catholics must never receive Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin or they will commit another mortal sin called a sacrilege. As the Catechism states: “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance." (Paragraph 1414)

    This Sunday, let’s receive Jesus with the purest heart possible and may He bless you abundantly!

    God bless you!

Sister Mary Lucy Astuto

June 23-25, 2000
volume 11, no. 112
Sr. Lucy's GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER column

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