I’m currently in the midst of a wedding marathon. Last weekend, I had the joy of concelebrating the wedding of my friends Ellie and Otis in Dublin at St. Brigid Church. It was such a gift to see them exchange vows and start their new married life together. Just yesterday, I had the great privilege of celebrating the wedding Mass of Colton and Josie at Sacred Heart. Again, a day filled with joy. The church was packed, the aisle decorated with beautiful streaming white fabric and strewn with flowers dropped by the cutest little flower girl, a baby who was chewing on the handle of the basket with the flowers and being assisted by her mom. Then came the moment. Colton and Josie came up before the altar, before God and all of the gathered witnesses, and exchanged their vows. I can only imagine the love and joy coursing through their hearts as they spoke those words to each other, giving themselves to each other in the marriage covenant and inviting Christ to seal that covenant by His own grace. My heart was bursting with joy as I witnessed that moment. Next weekend, I will gather with Sophia and Gauge and their family and friends to witness them enter the covenant of the Sacrament of Marriage. I truly can’t wait.
It is so appropriate that we gather in this season of weddings to celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the feast where we are invited to ponder the awesome gift of Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity given to us in the Holy Eucharist. We all know intuitively that the best gifts in life are the more personal gifts. And there is nothing more personal than giving yourself to someone else. This is what happens in the marriage covenant, and what has happened over and over throughout the history of the Church since Jesus celebrated that first Eucharist at the Last Supper and commanded us to do this in memory of Him.
There is something that captures your heart when you watch couples exchanging the gift of themselves in marriage. That mutual self-giving of marriage is something woven throughout the entire Bible. On the very first pages of the scriptures we see God give Eve to Adam so that the two might be joined in the one-flesh union of marriage as the first couple. This original covenant of marriage between them, blessed by God, then leads to further covenants. Even in spite of our failure, God continues to make covenants with our ever expanding human family through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally, in the fullness of time, through Jesus. Covenants have always had that spousal character of self giving. The covenants stand as markers that over and over, God has given Himself to us and invited us, with His grace, to give ourselves to Him. The final pages of the Bible show another wedding scene, where the Bride, which is the Church, is presented as a spotless offering to her Husband, Jesus the Lamb of God, now reigning in Heaven.
So this reality of total self gift is the story of humanity and God. We have not always given ourselves faithfully to Him, but He has been unswervingly faithful in giving Himself to us. Now that we live in the time of the new and everlasting covenant, whereby God has permanently offered us the means to be united to Him, we have a banquet whereby that covenant is nourished. Think about the words of St. Paul that we heard in the second reading today. These writings are some of the earliest in the New Testament, predating even some of the Gospels themselves. The first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians is thought by scholars to have been written sometime around 53-57 A.D., in the first decades after Jesus’ resurrection. And what do we see Paul saying? That he is passing on that gift of Jesus at the Last Supper, what we still do at every Mass! St. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that the Eucharist is that covenantal gift coming from the ultimate Spouse, the Lord Jesus. He reminds them and us: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”
We proclaim Jesus’ death by eating the Bread of Life and drinking the cup of His Blood at every Mass because by consuming this gift of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, we give ourselves back to Jesus who poured out everything for us on the Cross! Today is a day where we take time to praise Jesus for the fact that He is our perfect spouse who has given everything to us as his Bride, the Church. This Feast that we participate in at every Mass is a wedding Feast, one where once again we are renewed in that marriage covenant that Jesus sealed by giving everything for us!
On this altar, Jesus presents all of Himself to us: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and invites us to cooperate with His grace by giving ourselves back to Him in receiving Him. This is why we take so much care in preparing to receive this great gift as Catholics. Just as I worked with Josie and Colton for months in preparation for their marriage yesterday, so there is preparation for each and every person who desires to receive the ultimate spouse in this feast! What a Precious Gift we have to be able to receive our Heavenly Spouse at this altar at Mass! As we hear at every Mass: “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” Thank you, Jesus, for your great generosity in giving Yourself to us!
So let us remember to always walk in the power of this spousal self-gift. Jesus wants to nourish and strengthen us so that just as the grace of marriage blesses and strengthens earthly spouses, so we will be blessed and strengthened by the gift of our Bridegroom, Jesus, Whom we receive.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for sending us your beloved Son to give us Himself in the Eucharist. Jesus thank you for the matchless gift of your Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Help us to always live by the power of this Heavenly Food which is You. Holy Spirit, give us the eyes to see Jesus giving us Himself in the Eucharist. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +