Sunday, 6 June 2010

Reflections on Corpus Christi


A Catholic Bishop was speaking with a learned man who was a non-believer. The man asked, 'How is it possible for the host to be transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ?' The Bishop thought for a while and replied, 'Do we eat food everyday? These food are digested and transformed into our body and blood, is it not? God is capable of even greater things. Why then is it not possible for this to be transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?'

The man asked again, 'How can the whole of Jesus be present in the little piece of host?' The Bishop pondered for a moment and said, 'The scenery before us is beautiful, is it not? The whole horizon and the vast plains in front of us.' The man nodded in agreement. 'The scene before us is captured in our eyeball, such a small receptacle of the human body. How then is it not, for a God who is capable of greater things, to make present the whole Jesus in the little host?'

The man pondered and asked again, 'Tell me how then, is it possible for the same Jesus to be present in all the hosts all over the world, at the same time.' The Bishop thought for a moment and replied with a smile, 'You have seen a mirror? It captures the image of whatever it reflects. If you throw it on the ground, it will shatter into little pieces. Each piece will also reflect the same image at the same time won't they.'

The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ which we receive every mass is so often taken for granted. My prayer is that this day and everytime we receive this sacrament of love, we may ponder more deeply the great gift that our Lord has given to us, to be present with us not only spiritual, but also physically.

No comments: