SacredSpace102fm : 10th June 2012

9 Jun 2012

10th June 2012 - Corpus Christi

On this weeks programme, we are joined by Fr Frank Duhig to reflect on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus, more often known as Corpus Christi. We have our regular reflection on the gospel of the Sunday, some local notices and saints of the week.

This weeks programme is available via podcast here.

Corpus Christi (The Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ)

Fr Frank Duhig joins us on this weeks programme to give us a short reflection on Corpus Christi and a short discussion about our modern relationship with the Mass and the Eucharist.

Scripture tells us of the history of God's self giving of Himself to us down through the ages which culminated in the ultimate giving of his Son. This Self-giving is at the heart of the relationship between God and ourselves. The Eucharist is the ultimate reminder of that self-giving which Jesus completed on the cross.

The concept of love as self giving was first set out with the coming of Jesus and the gift of the Eucharist extends that self giving of Jesus to all people for all time. And the Eucharist also gives us the greatest possible way of giving thanks for that gift.

Salvador Dali (1955): Sacrament of the Last Supper

The Eucharist ask us to give ourselves to others in the way as Jesus gave himself to us; selflessly and openly. It is not an easy command to obey, it is a very had thing to do. In the Eucharist Jesus gives us a model and reminder how we can give ourselves to others.

Fr Frank's reflection on the Eucharist and our relationship with it in Communities/Communions of Love is extracted from the programme podcast and is available here.

Other reflections on Corpus Christi:

Gospel - Mark 14: 12-16; 22-26

This weeks gospel is Mark's account of the Last Supper. The Passover is the celebration of the relationship between God and his Chosen People. For Christians, we understand that the relationship was put on a new level with Jesus sacrifice of love on the cross and the fact that he makes that gift available to us across time and space on the altar.

The gospel is a familiar one and needs to be reflected on line by line, perhaps taking as a point of reflection the questions posed in the passage. Do we make time to "break bread" with the Lord? Do we make space for our companion on the journey of life? When we meet a friend, we have the chat, exchange the news and gossip and catch up on life in general. Our conversations with Jesus should be almost like that, speaking heart to heart, sharing our inner most thoughts and worries with one who can understand and share them with us.

The gift of the Eucharist is a reminder like last weeks feast of the Holy Trinity that we are called to enter into communion with each other and with God. It is an impossibility to be a solitary christian. To be christian is to be in community with God and with our neighbours. Whilst we may have our disagreements with the institutional church we must remember that it is not a mausoleum for saints but a hospital for sinners needing healing and support from fellow sinners struggling and walking along the pilgrim path the God. As we journey on that path, today's feast reminds us of the great gift, the heavenly bread, the food of angels that Jesus has given to us to be broken and shared amongst a broken and fractured christian community. By such sharing we are brought into communion with Jesus through the fracture of his heart on the cross and into communion with each other.

Other reflections on this weeks gospel: