The feast of Corpus Christi is a time to celebrate the solemnity of the body and blood of Christ but as Bishop Michael G. Duca pointed out during his homily June 19 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge the day also offers an opportunity to be a powerful witness of the Catholic faith.
The bishop said the traditional Corpus Christi procession that follows the Mass allows for the body of Christ to be taken out of the building and out into the public. The procession at the cathedral following the 10:30 a.m. Mass wound around the block before returning for benediction.
Bishop Duca also pointed out that making the Eucharist public should happen every time one attends Mass through their heart.
“We should receive the Lord in our hearts,” he said. “You are bringing that spirit of Christ into the world so it can be to form the world through Christ.”
The Mass also marked the beginning of a three-year, nationwide Eucharistic Revival, a time the bishop said is an “opportunity that we hope to make available in order that we spark a deeper relationship with our Lord.”
“We might spark a deeper understanding of the theology of what is really happening at the altar,” he said. “We turn our hearts to Christ at the altar. He is present with us.”
Bishop Duca said the Eucharist is the summit and source of one’s faith, saying it is through the body of Christ where Catholics are informed, where they are fed.
“Here we come into contact with the very act of our salvation because we believe in the sacrifice of the Mass,” the bishop said. “The gift of bread and wine is symbolic of the gift we should be offering.
“We are offering our will to God, to turn away from sin and turn to toward the Lord. It is symbolic of taking what we receive into the world and sanctify the world.”
Through the Eucharist, Bishop Duca said each Catholic is called to build a personal relationship with Christ and to strip away one’s human wants and desires.
“It is God who puts things in right order for us and always in the order of love. And not just with individuals, love with the poor. Love with our families. Love of creation, it puts our love of material things in the right order.”
“Love for justice, love for peace and all those things we should be willing to be like Christ and make sacrifices to make those things happen,” he said. “Building bridges instead of walls. Being forgiven and not unforgiving. Turn away from the pleasures of sin and free ourselves and to be free daughters and sons. That happens when we come to the altar of the Lord.”
He admitted some people attend Mass out of obligation or to hear a good sermon or inspiring music. He said those things are important because they foster one’s prayer and lift a person’s mind and heart in prayer.
“But they are not the real reason we come,” he said “We come to hear the word of God. Christ is present in the word. We come to receive him from the altar.
“Here we are formed, here we are fed. Here we come into contact with the very act of our salvation because we believe the sacrifice of the Mass.”
He said attending Mass is important because of one’s love of God and God’s love for that person.
“It’s relational, not obligational, not legal. Not for show. But for the relationship with the Lord I have in the Eucharist,” the bishop said.
Bishop Duca noted representatives from many church parishes in the Diocese of Baton Rouge were present. He said for those who are unfamiliar with a Corpus Christi procession, the day offered great insight. His hope is they took that knowledge back to their home parishes and in the future processions will begin to take place throughout the diocese.
“Let us pray that we will grow in the next three years together in a deep devotion and love of God through his son Jesus Christ,” he said. “And we will be fed from this altar, inspired to come together as one and the grace we take it out in the world.”