The Feast of Corpus Christi

The Commemoration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect

O GOD, who in a wonderful Sacrament hast ordained unto us a Memory of thy Passion, grant us, we beseech thee, so to worship the sacred mysteries of thy Body and Blood, that we may ever know within ourselves the fruits of thy redemption. Who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

John 6:55-58

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

We in the ACC do believe the words of our Lord Jesus when He said, "This is my body . . . This is my blood". This is simply what we would call the 'Real Presence'. We hold that the bread and wine which we offer become the Christ's ". . . body, which is broken for you", and "this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt 26:28). Christ's own words (not mine, the celebrant) join these material things to the sacrifice he made on the cross! They are his body broken, and his blood shed for the remission of sins.

Some attempt to explain the mystery from the world view of a pre-Christian pagan philosopher (Aristotle), asserting a dogma referred to as 'Transubstantiation'. You may hold that view, but it is only a mental hook on which to hang the core belief in the Real Presence of the Body and Blood. We do not hold it as dogma.

Others attempt to hedge Christ's words, adding 'this is a token of my body . . . a token of my blood', 'this represents my body . . . my blood'. This is adding words to scripture, and is based more in an ultra-protestant desire to differentiate themselves from the Roman Catholics than it is in any desire to be faithful to scripture, for scripture, as we see above, is clear.

Still others attempt to preserve the Real Presence by asserting that the Body and the Blood are 'present with' the elements of bread and wine. Again, this hedges the straightforward words of Christ.

Why is this so hard? Folks I know, even some I consider to be close friends, declare that we must accept the words of Genesis chapter 1 as an account of a literal 6 24-hour days of creation, because that's what it says. (My own understanding of that account may surprise you, but that's a rabbit I will chase another day.) No metaphor or symbolic language of any kind is allowed! And yet, the simple words of Christ recorded in the Gospels and in Paul's epistle quoted above are clear enough, yet these same folks insist on interpreting the words symbolically.

Let us receive the words of our Lord as spoken: "This is my body broken . . . this is my blood shed". Let us be thankful that he feeds us with New Testament Manna, His own body, with "meat indeed, and . . . drink indeed"!

There is so much more, but I will leave a deeper treatment of the sacrament for later.

God's peace be with you and all your houses!