A Treasure that Gives Life (Corpus Christi Sunday A)

After almost three hours of exhausting walk to a far-flung barrio chapel, I and Alfonso, who graciously carried my things throughout the long trek, were at last met by the community.  There were only fifteen of them waiting to celebrate the Eucharist as we arrived!  While we rested, still catching our breath, Alfonso couldn’t hide his disappointment and asked me why must we travel on foot that far for only fifteen people.  Before I could offer a consoling answer, I was handed a pitcher of fresh Buko juice which I mercilessly gobbled down to the dregs.  After such a refreshing treat, I told Alfonso, “I know the answer to your question: The longer the walk, the sweeter the Buko juice becomes.”

In a more serious note, I wish to reflect on the question as we celebrate today the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  The celebration, I believe, lends itself to our quest for meaning as regards our true Eucharistic piety.  My answer to Alfonso should have been: “Because the Eucharist is a treasure.  We have to go out of our way, cross the same river for over ten times under the scorching sun, brave the perils of the jungle, and pant for air to survive because we are up for a treasure—the pearl of great prize—long held by the Christian communities for generations.”

Pope John Paul II, in his spiritual reflection Ecclesia de Eucharistia, presents the Eucharist as our treasure as he says: “The treasure of the Eucharist... impels us towards the goal of full sharing with all our brothers and sisters to whom we are joined by our common baptism. But if this treasure is not to be squandered, we need to respect the demands which derive from its being the sacrament of communion in faith and in apostolic succession. By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift.”

Source of communion as Brethren. In other words, the Pope reminds us of the greatness of the gift of the Eucharist and calls us to safeguard it as our treasure because it is in the Eucharist that we derive our life as Christian communities.  It is in the celebration of the Eucharist that we live out our communion as brothers and sisters in Christ sharing in the one and the same baptism as attested to by the second reading, 1 Cor. 10: 16-17—“We, many though we are, are one body for we all partake in one loaf.” In my pastoral experience, I can attest to the fact that the more a community gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, the more they burst with life with more and more people participating in the communal life and celebrating the diversity of their gifts as one community of faith.

Source of eternal life for Christ’s disciples. The Eucharist is a treasure because it is the source of the life of Christ’s disciples. The Body and Blood of Christ, in the humble signs of bread and wine, give life to those who receive them.  Our first reading (Dt. 8: 2-3, 14-16) reminds us that God’s people were fed with manna, a food unknown to them, in order to show them that man lives not by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord (v. 3).  In the same vein, the Gospel of John (Jn. 6: 51-52) instructs us that it is Jesus who is the living bread that comes down from heaven.  The real manna of everlasting life. “He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal (v. 54).

Source of perfect union with Christ.  The Eucharist is a treasure because it makes possible the unique experience of “mutual indwelling” of Christ and the disciple in each other.  It is through the reception of the body and blood of Christ that we experience Christ living in us and us living in Christ. “The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (v. 56). We can say therefore that through our participation in the Eucharist we attain life eternal. And this eternal life is not so much about the length of life (and one which we shall have in the hereafter) as it is about the quality of life that we possess in the here and now. We speak of the life of Christ in us. It is divine life throbbing in us, impelling us to live as Christ lived—a life of love. 

No wonder then, that a priest takes all the troubles in going to the far-off communities in order to share this treasure to them. No wonder then, I was often told, that our overseas Filipino workers hunger for the Eucharistic celebration in foreign lands where they are deprived of this treasure.  They are there to “eke out a living.” But only the Eucharist can grant them true life—the life with Christ.

As we celebrate, then, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ today, let us approach the altar and feed on Christ in the signs of bread and wine turned to his body and blood. As we approach, let our hearts well up with gratitude for being so blessed as to receive this great gift of the source of eternal life. As we receive the Lord, let us do it with an interior devotion that shows how we truly treasure Jesus Christ who gives life by living in us.

Then, in silence, we pray for all Christians in foreign lands who are deprived of this great treasure—they may be your father or mother, husband or wife, brother or sister, or your friend. Pray also for all priests consecrated primarily for the celebration of the Eucharist, that they may draw their own life from it—from the treasure that gives life.