CT - Catholic Telegraph

God’s covenant with His new chosen people

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (B), Exodus 24:3-8.

Pope Urban IV established the feast of Corpus Christi to be observed by the whole Western Church in 1264. This was apparently the first time that a Pope used his authority to insert a new feast into the universal liturgical calendar.

According to the current general law of the Church, Corpus Christi is a holy day of obligation to be observed on the Thursday after Pentecost week. However, because of local law in some parts of the world, including the United States, Corpus Christi is not observed as a holy day. When this is the case, it is observed on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday

The overture reading for Corpus Christi in Year B is taken from The Book of Exodus, that portion of the Old Testament that recounts the escape of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of their journey to the promised land. The reading is concerned with the establishment of the covenant between God and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, and it invites us to give thought to the Eucharist as the expression of the covenant between God and His new chosen people in Christ.

Moses has been on Mount Sinai in conversation with God. Now, as our reading begins, he comes down from the mountain to see to the ratification of the covenant, i.e., the agreement that God invited the people to enter with Him.

Moses tells the people what God expects of them. This would include the ten commandments and the other fundamental directive that Exodus gives in chapters twenty to twenty-three. The people agree to abide by these laws. Moses then makes sure that all of God’s commands will be known and preserved by writing them down. Then, at the foot of the mountain, he erects an altar which represents God and twelve stone shafts or slabs which represent the 12 tribes of Israel.

Now Moses carries out the formal act of ratification of the covenant. Having arranged for sacrifices to be carried out, he takes some of the blood from these sacrifices and pours it on the altar. The rest he sprinkles on the people after he has read them the terms of the agreement one more time and after they have agreed once more to abide by what God commanded.

In Old Testament times, blood was thought to be where life resided. Consequently, to share blood was to share life, to become one with the person or thing from which the blood came. When Moses poured the blood of the sacrifices on the altar (which represented God) and sprinkled it on the people it constituted a symbolic uniting between God and the people. God and Israel now form a single family. They share a communion of life. That communion of life would be expressed by Israel’s observance of the terms of the covenant.

This Exodus event served as a preparation and background for another covenant between God and His people, the covenant that Jesus proclaims in the gospel reading. Jesus gave His apostles a cup to drink from and said, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many."

This covenant is constituted on the one hand by Jesus’ pouring out of His own blood to the Father, i.e., by His life of service and dedication to the Father which finally brought Him to death on the cross. On the other side, our side, the covenant is completed when we share in Christ’s sacrifice by our participation in the Eucharist. We are united to the Father by sharing the blood of Christ. We participate in an identical life. We are bonded to the Father because we share the sacrifice that Jesus offered to the Father.

It is important to remember that this new covenant, like the former Sinai covenant, is not an affair of individuals. By the Sinai covenant, all the Israelites became the people of God. It wasn’t just one or two tribes, or a handful of the people. Likewise, when we participate in the Eucharist, we are involved in an act that involves the whole new people of God. The sacrifice of Christ that we share, the pouring out of His blood in obedience to the Father, is something that involves all the members of Christ, all of those who share and have shared and will share in His divine life. The celebration of the Eucharist and the reception of Holy Communion is never an individual matter between God and me. It always involves all those who participate in the covenant that was brought about by the shedding of Christ’s blood.

For reflection and discussion

What dimensions of unity do I find in the Eucharist?

What difference does Christ’s life make in my life?