Thought for the day
The Feast of Corpus Christi provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on what we “do” when we “do” Eucharist. Emphasis is on the “doing” because there is a risk of treating the feast as a doctrinal abstraction, focussing on Eucharistic Presence only. The wider context of 1 Corinthians 11 is essential reading, of course. In those days the Lord’s Supper was still part of a regular Greco-Roman “banquet” and it was really hard to set aside the social customs of the day! These included strict stratification of society, contradiction the vision of both Jesus and Paul. The teaching of St Paul can still speak: recognising the body means accepting all around us as our brothers and sisters, without distinction. The same Christ is present in the bread and in our neighbour. We cannot accept him in the sacrament and then not recognise him in the neighbour, especially the neighbour in need. Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ, is all of us and our prayer is that we may become what we receive. Amen.

Prayer
We open our hearts and lives to you, Holy Spirit: breathe a breath of new life into us all! Amen.

K O’Mahony OSA