22 June 2025 (Sunday)
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ ‐ Solemnity.
The Body and Blood of Christ Solemnity.
Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:
First Reading : Genesis 14:18‐20
Responsive Psalm : Psalm 109(110):1‐4
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master: ‘Sit on my right: your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord will wield from Zion your sceptre of power: rule in the midst of all your foes.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. ‘You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
Second Reading : 1 Corinthians 11:23‐26
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
Gospel : Luke 9:11‐17
Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing. It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
For our reflection today:
This miracle a very important one, so much so that it is recounted by all the Evangelists, demonstrates the Messiah’s power and, at the same time, his compassion: Jesus has compassion for the people. Not only does that prodigious gesture endure as one of the great signs of Jesus’ public life, but it also foretells what will be, in the end, the memorial of his sacrifice, namely, the Eucharist, the sacrament of his Body and his Blood offered up for the salvation of the world. The Eucharist is the culmination of Jesus’ entire life, which was a single act of love toward the Father and brothers and sisters. There too, as with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus took the bread in his hands, raised a prayer of blessing to the Father, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples; and he did the same with the cup of wine. But in that moment, on the eve of his Passion, with that gesture, he wished to leave the Testament of his new and eternal Covenant, a perpetual memorial of the Paschal Mystery of his death and resurrection. The feast of Corpus Christi invites us to renew each year the wonder and joy of this wondrous gift of the Lord which is the Eucharist. Let us receive it with gratitude, not in a passive, habitual way. We should not grow accustomed to the Eucharist and go to Communion as a habit: no! Each time we approach the altar to receive the Eucharist, we must truly renew our “amen” to the Body of Christ. When the priest says “the Body of Christ”, we say “amen”: but let it be an “amen” that comes from the heart, a committed one. It is Jesus; it is Jesus who saved me; it is Jesus who comes to give me the strength to live. It is Jesus, the living Jesus. But we must not become accustomed: each time as if it were the first Communion. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 23 June 2019)
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