Shikrot Mpwi – Sunday Synopsis
Fr. Justine John DYIKUK
Dear friends in Christ,
On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi: Year A (07 June 2026), I bring you greetings and God’s blessings!
Theme: Holy Eucharist: Our Food for the Eternal Journey!
Introduction
Friends in Christ, today the Church celebrates Corpus Christi Sunday – the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The feast of the Body of Christ, Corpus Christi, was introduced into the Church calendar in 1264. It is said that the vision of a glistening full moon, in which an Augustinian nun, Juliana of Liège, influenced the celebration. The moon she saw was perfect, but for some hollow dark spots which she was told represented the absence of a feast of the Eucharist. This led to the official pronouncement about the solemnity.
Review of the Readings
The first reading (Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a) recalls how the Lord fed the Israelites with manna in the desert. Moses reminds them that man must not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. He charges the people to remember God’s benevolence in their lives.
In the second reading (2 Cor. 10:16-17), St. Paul maintains that the cup and bread that we bless are a participation in the blood and body of Christ. He further states that although we are many, we are one in the body of Christ. The reading suggests that this oneness is contingent on the one bread and the one chalice that we share. He suggests that the oneness reflects the Church’s Catholicism and Universality.
In the gospel (John 6:51-58), Jesus reveals himself as the living bread that has come down from heaven. He assures us that anyone who eats this bread will live forever. Although the Jews murmured this teaching, He insists: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He also maintains that the bread he shall give is different from the one their fathers ate and died.
Takeaway Lessons
1. The reading of the Book of the Covenant to the people captured in the first reading just as the singing of the psalms in the gospel. This assures us of the crucial place of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist, reminding us that the Eucharist is the source and the summit of our lives and existence (Cf. SC, no 10 & LG, no. 11; CCC, no. 1324).
2. Corpus Christi Sunday urges us to reaffirm our belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist and the fact that he is present with us in body, soul, and divinity when we receive Holy Communion, assisting us in our daily struggles.
3. Since the blood of Christ replaces the blood of rams and bulls, we are encouraged to shun any fetish covenant that is contrary to our belief in the power of the Holy Mass.
4. It reminds those who are not yet communicants or those who have excommunicated themselves from Christ and the Church to approach pastors of souls for sacramental confession to be reunited in full communion (Cf. CCC, no.1415) through this spiritual meal for our journey.
5. As a Eucharistic people, Holy Mass ensures the unity of all God’s children, obliging us to work towards eradicating divisions in our society, mindful that although we are many, we are one in Christ (Cf. 2 Cor. 10:16-17).
Conclusion
We are called to desist from anything that desecrates the Holy Eucharist. Priests are charged to preserve the faith and pass it on while urging the faithful to pay homage to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament – Our reverence for Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist must be deep and profound. We are warned about the dangers of receiving the Eucharist in a state of sin. We pray that Christ, who comes to us as food for our journey, would inspire us to be truly a Eucharistic people. Happy Corpus Christi Sunday!
