The origin of the feast is attributed to the devotion of Saint Juliana of Liege, France (1193-1258). She felt the Blessed Sacrament deserved reverence and recognition. When we celebrate the Last Supper on Holy Thursday we commemorate triple realities namely Eucharist, priesthood, and ministry of service. Overall, the Holy Week liturgy overshadows the primacy of the Eucharist. Saint Juliana received a vision to promote reverence to the Eucharist. The first Corpus Christi was celebrated in 1246 in the diocese of Liege, France. It was providential for the former archbishop of Liege becoming pope Urban IV to give Corpus Christi the universal platform in the Church on September 8, 1264. Saint Thomas Aquinas, the marvelous doctor, shared her sentiments and faith in the Eucharist; he left us poetic lines that the Church cherishes to this day in the hymn “Tatum ergo sacramentum”.

The story of Moses that we have heard from the first reading teaches us that God entered into a covenant with Israel. The blood of sacrificed animals show the severity of this alliance, with blood understood as a symbol of life and a sign of total commitment on the part of the people to God. The Epistle to the Hebrews points out the superlative value of the priesthood of Jesus Christ that obtains us eternal redemption because he entered the sanctuary with his own blood. The Jewish high priest used to enter the sanctuary in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifice for the people and for himself with the blood of animals. Christ entering the sanctuary means offering himself as sacrifice for human redemption once for all ages. In short, the second reading invites us to appreciate the dimension of the Eucharist as Atonement. As such, the blood of Christ wipes away our sins and makes us adopted children of God.

From the Letter to Hebrews 2: 14- 17 “14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” (NIV). Hence, the Eucharist is a sacrament of healing.

The Gospel places the Passover of the Israelites as the context in which the Last Supper of Christ took place. This context shows the correlation between the Last Supper of the Israelites in Egypt and the one of Jesus Christ with his disciples in Jerusalem in their significance. During the Last Supper Jesus presents himself as the High Priest and the sacrificial victim; he presides over the Passover meal and surprisingly he gives his flesh and blood under the visible species of bread and wine to his disciples as an everlasting covenant. He transformed the supper into a sacrificial ceremony.The disciples ate and drank of it. They shared in the body and blood of Jesus that atoned for their sins. Their sharing in the body and blood of Jesus made them sharers in the eternal inheritance, as sons and daughters of God. Saint John the Evangelist has clear expression in the verses below:

“So Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him to life on the last day, 55because my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever.`` 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.” John 6: 52 – 59.

Beloved, see how blessed we are as we partake of the precious body and blood of our Lord in the Eucharist. We are thankful to Jesus for the gift of himself to us and for us. We are truly thankful when we become aware of how blessed we are. The body and blood of Christ give us life to live in a manner pleasing to God our Father. That is why the Eucharist is said to be the source and summit of the Christian life. For Christ present in the Eucharist comes to encounter us and unite with us. In sharing the one body and blood of Christ, we are transformed into a community. In the Eucharist, Christ embarks with us on his mission of bringing the Good News to the whole world. The dismissal at the Eucharist celebration reminds of this mission.

Let us pray that Christ may open our eyes of faith to see him present in the Eucharist that gathers us, be thankful to him and accept to set out on the mission every day of our lives.