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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Homily: Corpus Christi (Year A)

Guest Author · June 22, 2014

ODAY’S FEAST honoring the Body and Blood of our Lord is a good example of what the now Blessed John Cardinal Newman would call a legitimate “Development of Doctrine.” When Our Lord first gave the promise of the Eucharist as described in the sixth Chapter of St. John’s Gospel, or when our Lord so simply said at the Last supper as He took the bread and wine and said, “This is my Body”, “This is my Blood”, possibly not even He and certainly not his audience were envisioning Eucharistic processions or what we know as Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. These are all what Cardinal Newman would call legitimate development of doctrine or teachings.

The Old Testament: Spiritual writers and Biblical scholars have found many things in the Old Testament that prefigured events or happenings that would take place in New Testament times. And one of the most common of these was the manna or special food that God provided for his chosen people during their long journey through the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land. It was called ‘Manhu’ or ‘manna’ which literally was the Hebrew expression for ‘what is this.’ It was a flaky substance that fell every day for the people to eat, provided by God. New Testament writers and saints later on saw this as a prefigure of the Eucharist which Jesus gave us. That’s the reason why the First reading was chosen for today. Moses reminded the people how God took care of them. Needless to say how much more fortunate we are to have the Eucharist, the very flesh and blood of our Lord, for our daily sustenance if we only so desire.

Second Reading: In the second reading St. Paul uses the Eucharist as a reason why Christians should have unity among themselves. After all they are sharing in the same Body which is Christ. We do know from other sources that the Christians at Corinth were having problems at the time.

The Gospel: In some respects St. John’s presentation of Jesus’ promise of the Eucharist is one of the best proofs we have for Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. From Jesus’ presentation we certainly gather that Jesus really meant what He said, even if that meant losing some of his followers. It may come as a surprise for some to hear that St. John does not give an account of the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper as such. We can only conjecture as to the reason why. He mentions the washing of the disciples’ feet, the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, and then the long discourse which takes up three Chapters. After that they leave for the garden of Gethsemane.

The Sequence: At the beginning of this homily I mentioned the term “’the Development of Doctrine”. I see this teaching so fittingly exemplified in our teaching and belief in regard to the Eucharist. On the one hand we believe Jesus is God. On the other hand we believe that the Bread and wine when consecrated by a duly authorized minister becomes God. Therefore they too become worthy to be adored. Yes, it takes faith. In some respects one can’t be ‘argued’ into believing. I don’t know how many parishes or churches will opt to read or sing the sequence for today. Perhaps its meaning is too much above the average Catholic. I choose to read it here today, hoping that some at least will derive some benefit. If you have a prayer-book that has St. Thomas Aquinas’ prayer and Hymn the Adoro Te, I suggest you read and meditate on it today. Its presentation is perhaps simpler and easier to understand. All any of us can do on a day like this is say: “Lord, increase the Faith of all who believe in You.”


We hope you enjoyed this homily by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

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