Author: SHSS

Sunday, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. This celebration is also known as Corpus Christi. The Scripture readings for today suggest three basic points: the sacrifice offered by Christ in his Passion and Death, the redemption brought about by the sacrifice of Christ, and the abiding presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and in us, the Church.

The Eucharist as Self-Giving Love

The Eucharist is the sacrament in which we encounter Christ’s total self-giving to us. The Eucharist is a sacrament of Christ’s real presence with us. In his lifetime, Christ gave of himself constantly. We see the self-giving of Christ in his teaching, his compassion, his miracles, and his faithfulness to his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. His faithfulness to his mission ultimately brought him to his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. His faithfulness redeemed our unfaithfulness. His selflessness redeemed our selfishness. Christ’s total giving of himself on Calvary is made present to us in the Eucharist.

The Sacrifice Made Present

The Eucharist is a constant reminder of the great Redemption we have in the Death and Resurrection of Christ. At the celebration of the Eucharist, we believe that through the Holy Spirit, present in the Holy Orders of the priest, present in the community of the Church, and present in the memory of the Church, that sacrifice of Calvary is made present again for us in our time and space. We are not offering another sacrifice, but rather we make the sacrifice of Christ present again through the Holy Spirit. This great sacrifice is present to us sacramentally under the appearance of bread and wine.

We are Catholics who believe that the Risen Christ is really and truly present with us. The Eucharist is not a sign or symbol, but rather a real encounter between us and Christ. We meet the Lord in this sacrament. While we meet the Lord in the Eucharist, we are also in communion with all who are receiving Christ, thus making us the Body of Christ, or the Church.

The Body of Christ

In our society, which is growing in its appreciation of food and slowly coming to the realization that we are what we eat, the reception of the Eucharist transfigures us into the Body of Christ. This transformation of us into the Body of Christ makes us the Church, or the Mystical Body of Christ in the world. The Eucharist is amazing and awe inspiring. The Church celebrates the Eucharist, remembering Christ, every day except on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. On the days when we do not celebrate the Eucharist, there is a profound sense of absence felt by those who receive Communion every day.

A Call to Reverence

As you receive Holy Communion, do not take this sacrament for granted. Realize what you are doing and who it is you are encountering. Realize the price paid by Christ for your redemption. Know that you too are part of the Body of Christ in the world. This sacrament can and will change your life.

Pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Adoration and contemplation of Christ present with us gives us solace, consolation, and challenge. As we process through the streets of our neighborhood, may we today celebrate who we are: the Body of Christ in the world. May we also proclaim the Real Presence of Christ in this Most Holy of Sacraments.

Msgr. Guy A. Massie
Sunday, June 7, 2026

Sunday is Trinity Sunday. While the Easter Season ended with the celebration of Pentecost, today’s feast and next week’s feast of Corpus Christi are extensions of the Easter Season. It seems somewhat redundant that we have a feast celebrating the Holy Trinity, since every day and every liturgy celebrates God who is Trinity. Yet the feast brings into focus for us the great mysteries of God.

While we believe in one God, we believe in a God who is love. Love presupposes relationships. Our God is encountered through relationships. We believe in a God who is in relationship with us. We experience this great mystery of God through three distinct relationships. While the three relationships are divine, they are different yet united and indivisible, unique and distinct. Thus God is experienced as Creator or Father, Redeemer, Savior, Word of God, or Jesus the Son, and Sanctifier, Sustainer, or Divine Presence, the Holy Spirit.

God as Trinity

St. Augustine tells us that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are always in a relationship with God as the Trinity. This Triune relationship happens simultaneously, never separately. For example, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are in a relationship to the Trinity. The prayer is formed by Christ, the Word of God among us. The inspiration to pray is the Holy Spirit, and the prayer is addressed to the Father.

When we are reflecting on the sacred text, we are relating to the Trinity. The desire to reflect on Scripture comes from the Holy Spirit. The appropriation of the text to our lives comes from the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text we are reflecting upon may be about Jesus, a psalm, or even a text of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Word in the Old Testament or the New Testament is Jesus, who leads us to the Father. Notice the prayers at Mass. They are addressed to the Father, through the Word who is Jesus, and in unity with the Holy Spirit.

Created for Relationship

God is a mystery in whose image we are created. We are created in the image of the Trinity. We are created in the image of the God of relationships. It is only through our relationships that we come to be known to ourselves and that others experience us. The same is true for God. We know God in and through relationships with him and with others.

Each relationship and each person contains mystery. Mystery is experienced rather than understood or explained. God is experienced through the mystery of love. Love creates. Love gives of itself for the good of the beloved. Love is enduring and inspiring.

Msgr. Guy A. Massie
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
May 31, 2026