Homily: June 11, 2023, Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (corpus christi)

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 "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."

Instituted by Jesus Himself and taught by the Church, the consecrated host is the real body of Christ, the consecrated wine is the real blood of Christ, and His flesh and blood are true food that nourishes us for eternal life.

Can you believe this?

This is one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus to accept, it is impossible to agree to eating another human person’s flesh and drinking his blood to sustain our life for eternity. Even harder for us to believe that the wafer host used at Mass becomes the real body, because our eyes cannot see any difference in the elements after consecration.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, a liturgical solemnity to emphasize and celebrate the real presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. Precisely because it is hard to believe and accept.

God knows. He understands.

Throughout the centuries, He has performed hundreds of Eucharistic miracles in which the consecrated wine was turned into real blood, and the consecrated bread became real flesh.

Science can help.

The oldest recorded Eucharistic miracle happened in AD 750 in Lanciano, Italy and its relic is still available to be seen and still uncorrupted, unchanged more than a thousand two hundreds since. I was very fortunate to spend an hour in adoration of this relic.

Independent scientists have studied this miracle and done numerous tests on its relics over the years. They have also compared the results with some of the Eucharistic miracles in recent years which took place in different parts of the world.

The comparative results from the various miracles confirmed these similarities: the flesh was from the heart tissue apparently taken when the person was still alive, it showed signs of extreme physical trauma before death, all the blood were from blood group is AB+; the DNA showed the specimen are from the same person, a man who lived in the Middle East, even though the specimens from the miracles were thousands of years apart.

Another fascinating discovery is that there were no Y chromosomes in the samples, that means the person was conceived without the male contributor. The samples continue to remain fresh and uncorrupted all throughout the testing period and over time, till today. There are more scientific results which were observed, tested and documented but unexplainable.

God knows. God understands.

The miracles have shown us that the Holy Eucharist is indeed real flesh, when God needs to show the world this truth. But at other times, the real flesh is hidden from our eyes so that we are able to consume it.

Then there is Alexandrina Maria da Costa who lived solely on the Holy Eucharist for thirteen years, unable to receive any other nourishment or drink.

This shows that the Holy Eucharist is real food which can sustain our lives but again, which science cannot explain how this is possible.

Can you believe?

When we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving the complete heart of Jesus. The heart which loves us sinners and suffered tremendously for us. And because we receive the body of Christ, we will live forever.

As we approach the Eucharist, let us open our hearts to receive the love that Jesus offers us. Let us remember that in this sacred moment, we are truly receiving the very heart of our Savior - a heart that beats with boundless love for us. 

If you still have doubts, pray and ask Jesus to help you in your unbelief. May we be transformed and thus carry the love of Christ into the world, becoming vessels of his grace and ambassadors of his love to all those we encounter. 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours. Amen.


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