Father Brent Thayer, associate pastor of St. Joseph Church in Madison, led a eucharistic procession around the church campus after the 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 7. Photo by Katie Peterson
On Sunday, June 7, parishes across the Diocese of Nashville celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, with eucharistic processions throughout church campuses, including the Cathedral of the Incarnation, St. Edward Church, Christ the King Church, and St. Joseph Church in Madison.
On Corpus Christi Sunday, the Church gives public witness to the belief of the real presence of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist.
Corpus Christi “is a feast day that allows us to rejoice in that particular truth but also encourages us to pay special attention and special worship to Christ as He is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.” said Father John Hammond, rector of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, and judicial vicar and vicar general for the Diocese of Nashville, in an article about Corpus Christi published on Nashville Catholic.
“Corpus Christi is an interesting feast day because a few feast days at this time of year celebrate doctrinal truths like Trinity Sunday, for example,” Father Hammond said. “Most of the feasts of the Church celebrate events in the life of the Lord or the lives of the saints whereas this feast celebrates this great fundamental truth of the true presence of the body and blood of our Lord in the Eucharist.”
Dozens participate in a Corpus Christi procession at St. Joseph Church in Madison. Photo by Katie Peterson
As the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession, the Church follows Jesus not only inside the walls of our churches, but into the world He came to save. Corpus Christi reminds the faithful that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, the center of the Church’s life, and the gift that sends us out on mission.
“The Holy Eucharist is one of our greatest gifts. The Lord promised at the end of the Gospel of Matthew to remain with us always, and this is one of, if not the main, and most powerful way that He does that,” Father Hammond concluded. “He really is substantially present, body, blood, soul, and divinity. He really is with us always.
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Father John Raphael, pastor of Christ the King Church, leads a eucharistic procession after the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 7, at the church. Photo by Chris Musacchio
“We have an opportunity to have an intense experience with the Lord every time we even attend Mass, and certainly when we receive Holy Communion, but also when we participate in Eucharistic worship through adoration or processions or praying in the presence of the tabernacle,” he said. “It’s truly an incredible gift that the Lord gives us.”
A reading from the Gospel according to John 6:51-58:
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
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Father John Raphael places the Blessed Sacrament on an outdoor altar for veneration during a eucharistic procession at Christ the King in honor of the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday, June 7. Photo by Chris Musacchio
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”