Feast of Corpus Christi - Year A

On the feast of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ), the faithful are invited to return to the event that had already been commemorated at the beginning of the Easter Triduum within Holy Week. On the Thursday of Holy Week, the Last Supper is remembered, the event in which Jesus gave his body and his blood on the eve of his Passion and Crucifixion. According to the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the meal was the Passover evening meal: a meal in which the Jews remember the exodus from Egypt and the passage from slavery to freedom. In the 13th century, the Church fixed another feast in which the giving of the body and the blood of Christ are celebrated, a feast that comes at the conclusion of the major feasts of the Christian calendar - after Easter and Pentecost.

Among the most important verbs that are attributed to God in his relationship with the human person are the verbs "to feed" and "to satisfy". As a father, God takes care of us and from the time of the creation of the world he feeds us from his goodness. During the days in the Wilderness, for a period of forty years, the people of Israel lived from the bread the God gave them in a place where there was nothing to eat. He fed and satisfied his people. The challenge when they entered the Land of their fathers, a Land flowing with milk and honey, was not to forget that all the good of the Land comes from God the Creator, the Deliverer of Israel. The danger is to forget his goodness and take the fruit of the Land for granted. Therefore, Deuteronomy repeats a foundational expression: "you shall eat and be satisfied":

Deuteronomy 6:11-12: "you shall eat and be satisfied. Beware lest you forget..."

Deuteronomy 8:10: you shall eat and be satisfied and bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given to you".

Deuteronomy 11:15-16: "you shall east and be satisfied. Beware lest your hearts be seduced".

Every time we eat we must bless our Father in heaven, who feeds us and satisfies us from every good thing. In addition, we are called to remember, according to the formulation in the same book of Deuteronomy, that man does not live on bread alone but rather "by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Therefore, when he gives us bread of heaven, holy bread, his word which was in the beginning, his only son, who said: "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35), our thanksgiving is multiplied.

The readings for the feast, as always, help us understand its meaning. The first reading, from the Book of Deuteronomy (8:2-3.14-16) reminds us of the bread that God provided in the Wilderness. This bread must be the basis of an attitude of awareness of God's providence and of thanksgiving.

The second reading, from Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (10:16-17), describes the unity of the community that results from eating the one bread and drinking from the one cup.

Finally, in the Gospel (John 6:51-58), we hear Jesus proclaiming the decisive words that define his gift to those who believe in him: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh" (John 6:51).