Photo courtesy of Fr. Paul McKane.
The
prayers of the Church for Corpus Christi, as written in the
Sacramentary used by the priest at the altar, are simple and clear, as
befits public prayer. It is good to see that the heavy hand of abstract
doctrinal expression has not been used on Corpus Christi, as it was used
on last week’s feast of the Most Blessed Trinity. The prayers of the
divine office for Corpus Christi, and the Sequence which we can pray on
this day, were written by perhaps the most brilliant mind the Catholic
Church ever produced: St. Thomas Aquinas. What is evident is that as
intelligent and learned as St. Thomas was, he communicated the truth of
the faith in simple language in his preaching and in public prayer.
Indeed, his prayers come from the heart, and are intended to speak to
and for all of the faithful. The Preface appearing in the new
Sacramentary for the Holy Trinity, heard last week tried to teach
doctrines, rather than open us up to the Mystery we call God. Prayer is
far greater than doctrine, for it is an act of love.
Note that for today’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the prayers offered do not employ the language of technical theology, and we are spared lessons about “transubstantiation” and “confecting the Sacrament,” and so on. Rather, we hear beautiful and rich prayers that are wise, not intellectualistic: “Grant, O Lord, that we may delight for all eternity in that share in your divine life, which is foreshadowed by our reception of your precious Body and Blood.” Well done! Every faithful Catholic, and other Christians as well, can pray these words from the heart, because they are truthful and genuine prayer, rather an attempt at “doctrinal purity.” Implicitly, this prayer speaks a highly important truth: That the goal of the Eucharistic celebration is nothing less than “sharing in Your divine life.”
Note that for today’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the prayers offered do not employ the language of technical theology, and we are spared lessons about “transubstantiation” and “confecting the Sacrament,” and so on. Rather, we hear beautiful and rich prayers that are wise, not intellectualistic: “Grant, O Lord, that we may delight for all eternity in that share in your divine life, which is foreshadowed by our reception of your precious Body and Blood.” Well done! Every faithful Catholic, and other Christians as well, can pray these words from the heart, because they are truthful and genuine prayer, rather an attempt at “doctrinal purity.” Implicitly, this prayer speaks a highly important truth: That the goal of the Eucharistic celebration is nothing less than “sharing in Your divine life.”
The gift
of the Eucharist is priceless, in part because it keeps before the eyes
of faith the profound truth that “I AM with you always, even to the end
of the ages.” The Eucharist reminds the faithful visibly that the same
God fully present in Jesus Christ is present here and now in his
consecrated Body and Blood, and in the faithful who come to commune with
the living God and with one another in love and truth. The Eucharist
continues the divine act of “Incarnation,” of God-becoming-flesh. All of
this, and more, is expressed in today’s opening prayer: “Lord God, who
in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion,
grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and
Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your
redemption. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.” Come, let us share the
feast.
