Introduction
Corpus Christi, the solemn feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, is celebrated with majesty: a golden monstrance carried under a regal canopy, incense rising in thick plumes, and the faithful kneeling in adoration. It is a day to honour the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
But it should be a day that unsettles us. Do we honour the equally real presence of Jesus outside the Eucharist?
Kneeling in Adoration (and in Apology)
We kneel before the Blessed Sacrament. But have we knelt in apology before the bruised, bloodied, and broken bodies of this world?
Have we knelt before the Palestinians bombed to pieces, or to rape victims still waiting to be believed? Have we stooped to touch the wounds of lepers cast out, Dalits despised, prisoners forgotten?
The feast of Corpus Christi cannot only be about sacramental reverence; it must be about sacramental recognition. If we kneel before the consecrated host but not before the desecrated bodies of our brothers and sisters, then we have missed the full scandal of the Incarnation.
The Body of Christ in the Least
The Catechism teaches that the Church is the Body of Christ. Jesus Himself tells us: “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” So when bodies are violated, by war, by rape, by caste, by neglect, it is a Eucharistic sacrilege.
The blood of the innocents cries out from the ground like Abel’s and mingles with the blood we claim to worship on the altar. Those of us who have ears, do we hear?
Corporal Worship, Corporal Works
It is easier to kneel in solemn chapels than in prison cells or refugee camps. But Jesus never gave us the option to choose.
The word Corpus in Corpus Christi means Body, the body of Christ in the Eucharist. This word should call to mind the corporal in Corporal Works of Mercy, the bodily acts through which we honour Christ in others. The feast and the works are inseparable. To celebrate one without living the other is a sacrilege in itself.
He calls us to kneel in reverence before Him in the Eucharist and then to stand and go wash the feet of the weary. To clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, heal the wounded, and feed the hungry. This is the extension of liturgy into life, the taking of the Mass to the masses.
The Body Within Reach
How can we claim to love the Lord whom we cannot see, if we do not love the flesh-and-blood neighbour whom we can see?
The bruised face of a refugee child. The scarred arm of an abused woman. The calloused hands of a forgotten worker. These, too, are the Body of Christ.
In the Anima Christi, we pray, “Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.” The truth is, we are not separated from Him. The Body of Christ is within reach: on the altar, and in the streets. We also pray, “Passion of Christ, strengthen me.” Let that Passion strengthen us to bind the wounds of His broken body here on earth. Let the Body and Blood of Christ help us hear those crying out, “O Good Jesus, hear me!”, and become the answer to their prayer.
Give Them Something to Eat
Jesus gives us His flesh as food, but He also turns to the disciples and says, “You give them something to eat.” The Eucharist is not a one-way transaction of spiritual consumption. It is a call to mutual self-gift. We are not just recipients; we are meant to be givers. We must stop taking without ever giving, being fed without ever feeding, attending Mass without becoming it. The Bread of Life we receive must become the bread we break for others.
Conclusion
Corpus Christi induces awe. But let it also induce conversion. Let us kneel, yes, in adoration, in repentance, and in mercy. Before the Eucharist, and before the bodies crying out for dignity.
Jesus said, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” Let us echo those words not just with our lips, but with our lives. Let us give up our bodies in service to the bodies that need it most, remembering that what we fail to do to the least of these brothers and sisters of ours, we fail to do to Him.
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