Corpus Christi: People And Sacrament

To the Editor,

Most everyone would know that the word “corpus” stands for body and its Latin root has been carried over into the English language, intact.

For a Christian, the term “Corpus Christi” refers both to the people of God (Paul’s letters to the churches at Ephesus and Colossae) and to the sacrament and/or liturgy of Holy Eucharist. This author’s opinion, biased as it may be, is that the Catholic tradition (including the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Old Catholic, Polish Catholic, and an assortment of other communions bearing the name Corpus) has best handed down the fullest expression of Corpus Christi in its biblical, sacramental aspect.

Not long ago, Catholics from each of the above persuasions celebrated the liturgical feast of Corpus Christi with a procession, usually commencing from a church to a series of altar stations and accompanied by song and prayer. The focus of said ceremony was a golden metal container, called a Monstrance, which held and displayed a large host (consecrated bread, i.e., the sacramental Body of Christ). Sometimes, these processions would take place on the main street of a town. While the latter has, recently, been limited to religious groups with a European or Latin American background, these paraliturgical ceremonies have proven both meaningful and inspiring to participants and passers-by.

During the past few weeks, Father Rajah Boes, formerly of Newtown, was beautifully photographed in the News Times, celebrating First Holy Communion with young parishioners of St Edward parish, in New Fairfield. It was a joyous and solemn witness of faith for that whole community. Such is a valid expression of the term “Corpus Christi.” Both people of God and the sacramental presence of Jesus were there. The only difficulty was the caption, alongside the picture, which gave an inaccurate comment about the meaning of the “Eucharist” in Roman Catholic theology.

What Roman Catholics, as well as all of the other listed Catholic communities, believe is that the bread and wine which are consecrated at the altar table within a sacred rite become the sacramental body and blood of Jesus, the Christ. Visibly, the elements continue to manifest the same appearance which they held prior to the consecration – such are called the “accidents” of bread and wine as they are seen, felt, or tasted. But we (all the above) firmly believe that what, now, is present, “in substance,” both on the altar and that which we receive from the priest, deacon, or Eucharistic minister, is nothing less than the Sacramental Body and Blood of the Lord. (As Mad Comics once quipped, back in the early 70s, “that’s why Catholics believe in miracles.”) Thus, churches speak of “The Divine Liturgies,” “The Sacrifice of the Mass,” or “Holy Eucharist.”

There are many theologians and would-be-theologians who attempted, over the centuries, to explain a kind of formula for said transformation and they came up with the words “transubstantiation,” transfinalization,” and “transignification.” These were a few of the philosophical theories on what was supposed to have happened as a result of the words of consecration by the priest. Explanations by theologians of Reform Churches (not sharing a similar belief in the “real presence”) have included “impanation” and “companation” with an emphasis on the “memorial” aspect of the Lord’s Supper.

I would contend that, while statements of faith might be appropriate and helpful to the credal formulae of individual religious traditions, believers should not get so caught up in the philosophical explanations of what’s happening as to lose sight of the main focus of all faith, namely, our relations with the Lord, himself, and all of his people. After all, who could begin to define the work of an infinite God? Once we attempt to nail down or define how something happens, we begin to take control (Adam/Eve, Tower of Babel, “Hoc est enim Corpus Meum” – hocus pocus? Magic.) Describe? Yes! Define? No!

A suggested prayer for our community: to look deeply into what Jesus did and said in the Sacred Scriptures, regarding this sacred meal; to continue the dialogue on a local level, already taking place on other levels among our “separated” religious communities; to seek our One God’s direction away from disunity back to the “Sacrament of Unity.”

The Rev. Leo McIlrath

Corpus Christi: a catholic community

13 Sugarloaf Road, Sandy Hook                                   May 31, 2000