Corpus Christi - “The God Who Stays”
My brothers and sisters in Christ, Today we celebrate the great feast of Corpus Christi, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the feast that brings us right back to the heart of our faith.
Jesus says to us in the Gospel: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
We live in a world full of noise… anxiety… loneliness… and uncertainty. People are searching, searching for peace, for meaning, for love, for hope. And the Eucharist is God’s answer to that search. At every Mass, Jesus comes to us not as a memory, not as a metaphor, but as Living Bread, given for the life of the world.
Let me begin with a little story. An Army chaplain was preparing a young family for their baby’s Baptism. Before the ceremony, he pulled the new father aside and asked: “Are you prepared for this solemn event?”
The soldier said, “I think so. We’ve got two hams, pickles, bread, cake, cookies…”
The chaplain stopped him.
“No, no. I mean, spiritually prepared!”
The soldier paused and said, “Well… do you think two cases of whiskey will be enough?”
We laugh because the father was thinking about the party while the chaplain was thinking about the sacrament. But if we’re honest, we often do the same. We feed our bodies, but forget the hunger of our souls.
In the first reading, Moses tells the Israelites: “Remember. Do not forget.” For forty years, God fed them with manna in the desert. But Moses knew that once they entered the Promised Land, the real danger would not be hunger. It would be forgetfulness.
The same danger exists today. We live in a world overflowing with information… but starving for meaning. We can become so busy that we forget God. Corpus Christi is God’s remedy for forgetfulness. Every Eucharist is God saying: “Remember who I am. Remember what I have done. Remember that I am still with you.”
The Eucharist is:
- A Sacrament — nourishing us with divine life.
- A Sacrifice — uniting us to Christ’s offering to the Father.
Every time we come to Holy Communion, we place our lives on the altar—our joys, our sorrows, our hopes, our fears, and unite them with Jesus. St. Thomas Aquinas called the Eucharist “the Sacrament of Love.” Because in the Eucharist, Jesus doesn’t just give us something. He gives us Himself.
In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that the Bread we break is a sharing in the Body of Christ… and the Cup we bless is a sharing in His Blood. Paul teaches something profound: The Eucharist is not only something we receive. It is something we become. Because there is one Bread… we who are many become one Body. The Eucharist unites us to Christ… and to one another. Jesus feeds us so that we may become bread for others—
bread for the poor,
bread for the lonely,
bread for the forgotten,
bread for the struggling.
Let me share a memory from my Confirmation preparation. Those classes were serious. We were taught deep reverence for the Eucharist. We fasted carefully. We prepared spiritually. I remember being on a retreat in the woods and chewing a blade of sweet grass without thinking. Afterwards, I panicked. I thought, “Oh no… I’ve broken the fast!” I even brought it to confession. Looking back, the issue was never the blade of grass. The lesson was reverence.
In my mother’s home, the same spirit was present. On Sundays, Communion came before breakfast. The Eucharist wasn’t squeezed into our schedule—our schedule was built around the Eucharist. Earlier generations may not have known all the theological terms.
But they knew this much: If this is truly Jesus, then nothing is more important.
A little boy once asked his mother after Mass: “Mom, if that’s really Jesus in the tabernacle, why don’t people seem more excited when they come into church?” She thought for a moment and said, “Maybe when people live beside a waterfall long enough… they stop hearing the water.” Sometimes we become so familiar with the greatest miracle in the world that we stop being amazed by it. Corpus Christi invites us to hear the waterfall again.
One of my favourite prayers after Communion comes from St. Padre Pio:
“Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak.”
“Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light.”
“Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life.”
Those simple words capture the heart of the Eucharist.
Jesus knew we would need more than good advice. He knew we would need His presence. The Eucharist is God’s answer to the deepest prayer of the human heart: “Lord, do not leave me alone.” And at every Eucharist, Jesus answers: “I am with you.” Not symbolically. Not metaphorically. Really and truly present.
As we come to the altar today, let us receive Jesus with reverence, gratitude, and love.
Let us spend time in thanksgiving after Communion, aware that the Lord of Heaven has chosen to dwell within us.
And perhaps our prayer today can be:
“Stay with me, Lord.”
Stay with me in my family.
Stay with me in my work.
Stay with me in my struggles.
Stay with me in my joys.
Stay with me when faith is easy.
Stay with me when faith is difficult.
Stay with me until the day when faith becomes sight.
For the One we receive today is the same Lord who promises: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” And having received Him, may we go forth to become what we receive the Body of Christ for the life of the world.
Amen.