As the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Fr. Edmund Power reflects on the theme: “Waybread on Life’s Journey”.
By Fr. Edmund Power, OSB
In most of the English-speaking world the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, commonly known as Corpus Christi, is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.
A feast only of the second millennium (created in the 13th century), it is in fact a devotional extension of the primary feast of the Eucharist, Maundy Thursday; the latter inserts the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ firmly within the context of the Paschal Triduum.
The Gospel today is from John 6, in which Jesus declares, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” The Church, however, invites us to begin our reflection in the experience of the Exodus.
Quite apart from being the definitive event in the history of Israel, that difficult journey across sands and rocks, across threatening waters but with moments of respite and consolation, is an image that foreshadows our journey through life, both as the community of believers and as individuals who seek the face of God.
The first reading, though short, offers a constellation of lights that form a sort of guide to life’s journey. There are seven of them: the first is that we should be constantly on the road: “remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you.” There must be no stopping: the “deadly sleep” of which the monastic father John Cassian speaks, must never dull the desire of the heart.
The second is that the journey is always within the framework and solidarity of companions: Moses addresses the people collectively. They will walk and support each other. This reminds us that the Eucharist is the sacrament of community that derives from and also forms us as the Body of Christ.
The third is desire, the energy that pushes us forward: “he humbled you and let you hunger.” The hunger and thirst are what give an edge to the desire, and open us to the Eucharist.
The fourth is the tribulation or suffering that we face, “the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions,” which may serve to deepen our desire for what the Lord will bestow on us.
The fifth is the nourishment that he provides: “he fed you with manna.”
The sixth is word, in particular God’s word: “man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord,” reminding us of the interweaving relationship between word and Eucharist.
The seventh and last is hope: we travel without fear because the Lord “brought you water out of the flinty rock.” The most unpromising terrain can generate life.
In the Church’s tradition, the last communion received by a dying person was called “viaticum”, literally “what is necessary for the journey”.
But in fact every communion we receive is a viaticum: the essential nourishment on the path to the fullness of life. And that viaticum is the One who declares in today’s Gospel, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven;” not just the bread, however, but also “the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6).
