The Solemnity of Corpus Christi

On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Latin phrase for “The Body of Christ”), we spend the day giving special veneration to Our Lord presenting Himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood. Traditionally celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, we will be celebrating it this upcoming Sunday, June 2.

You may notice that the image above—of St. Paschal Baylon venerating Christ in the Eucharist—is unfinished. Why meditate on an image which, apparently, isn’t completed?

Because it is an image of ourselves, individually and as a Church.

Even in humble beginnings there is beauty—for example, notice the beautiful detail in St. Paschal’s face, or the beginnings of radiance upon the angel holding the Blessed Sacrament. So also with ourselves: as we come to honor the Lord, we bring our meager best to His service, and He elevates it.

But we’re all works-in-progress. Just as this drawing of devotion has only just begun, so have we—individually and collectively—only begun to grasp the beauty of Our Lord in the Eucharist. We all have the amazing potential to love Him even more.

We in the Church in the United States have been asked to undertake a National Eucharistic Revival. This is an opportunity to find, renew, and increase our knowledge and love for the Blessed Sacrament, and by it participate in the renewal of the whole Church in our struggling world.

On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, let us ask Christ to reveal Himself in the Eucharist, and enable us to see even the sketched outlines of His glory!

Der hl. Pasqual Baylon, die Eucharistie verehrend
by Anton Raphael Mengs.
Albertina, Austria - Public Domain.