Today in the Catholic church we celebrate the solemnity of the most holy body and blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. We celebrate Christ in the Eucharist because the Eucharist is the center of our faith, or as stated in the dogmatic Constitution on the church, Lumen Gentium, from the second Vatican council, the Eucharist is “The source and the summit of our Christian life.” We can see that during Mass our focus is on the Eucharist and the climax of the mass itself is during the transubstantiation and the actual reception of communion. We can look at other churches, at other Christians celebrations, and see the crescendo building in their services but they never actually reach a climax. There is a sense of being left hanging, of something not being resolved. That my brothers and sisters in Christ, is the Eucharist. The promises of Christ to us are realized in the Eucharist.

This is indeed a great celebration in the church because we celebrate the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, His real presence, in the Eucharist. 

But according to a Pew Research study published only a couple years ago, only 31% of Catholics professed believing in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Two-thirds of Catholics, according to the study, stated that they did not believe in the Real Presence, that they believed it to be symbolic. That’s like saying the person to your left and right do not believe in the real presence.

We, as Catholics, must understand what it is that we are receiving when we extend our hands or our tongues. We must understand not just what, but who we are receiving in that small piece of bread. If we do not believe this most important tenet of our faith, if we do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist-- body, blood, soul, and Divinity -- if we believe that it is just symbolic, then how much more of what the church teaches are we able to take as being symbolic? Is God's love for us symbolic? Is heaven and hell symbolic? Is eternity symbolic? Perhaps God himself is symbolic? If all of what we read, all of what we were taught, all of what we believe in, is able to be passed off as being nothing more than symbolism, where does that leave us? What is the purpose of all of this? What is our purpose?

Being a Catholic, being a Christian following Christ, is not an easy task.  At times during our faith walk, during our journey towards eternity, we may have doubts, we may experience disbelief. This is not uncommon.  In fact, it is part of the journey, to have doubts.

A religious sister in the 13 century, now St. Juliana, had had a great devotion to the blessed sacrament and had desired a feast in honor of it. She had had a vision of a full moon with a dark spot, which she believed was the missing feast for the Blessed Sacrament. She promoted the idea of the feast until it had reached the attention of Pope Urban IV.  Then iIn the year 1263, a German priest, Father Peter, had been making a pilgrimage to Rome when he stopped in a town to celebrate Mass.  Father Peter had been having doubts about the presence of Jesús in the Blessed Sacrament.  When he recited the prayer of consecration as he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, blood began seeping from the consecrated host and onto the altar and corporal.  This is known as the Eucharistic Miracle in Bolsena.  Both of these inspired Pope Urban IV, to create the feast. 

The belief of Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament, in the Eucharist, is as old as the Church itself. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in 105 AD, “I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ”. 

The belief in the Real Presence of Christ has inspired many men, women and children to defend this truth, at times unto death even.

St. Tarcisius, called the boy martyr of the Eucharist, a twelve year old boy in the third century had been chosen to secretly carry the Blessed Sacrament to those who were sick and imprisoned.  He was confronted on the way and beaten to death for not revealing what he carried in his hands, the hosts he had been charged with delivering. It is said that when his assassins opened his hands after killing him, there was nothing there.  The Hosts had vanished.

Closer to our times, we have the story of the chinese girl whom Archbishop Fulton Sheen said was one of his greatest inspirations. The story goes that in communist China, during the 50s, a Catholic Church had been vandalized by communists and 32 consecrated hosts had been thrown on the floor of the church.  The young catholic girl, having taken note of the hosts, would sneak into the guarded church each night, spend time in silent adoration, and would consume one of the hosts. On the 32nd day, after she had consumed the last consecrated host, she accidentally woke a sleeping guard and was beaten to death, martyred for her love of Christ, for her love of His Presence in the Eucharist.

The most beautiful stories of all have to be that of those who live for the Sacrament, like Blessed Imelda Lambertini, born in Italy in 1322.  Blessed Imelda had entered the convent at the tender age of nine, her life until that moment focused on prayer and in devotion to the Eucharistic presence of Our Lord at Mass and in the tabernacle.  Her greatest desire had been to receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist, but she had not yet come of age in which to make her first communion.  It is said that she would ask this one question often: “Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?”

During the celebration of the Lord’s ascension in 1333, gathered with the rest of her community, all had received communion except Blessed Imelda, who had only reached the age of 11.  The nuns were about to leave the church when they noticed what appeared to be a Host hovering above Blessed Imelda as she knelt praying before the tabernacle.  The priest saw this, took the Host from the air and presented it to her. She received her First Communion in that moment then knelt in prayer.  When some time had passed, a sister went to her and found that she had died, overwhelmed by receiving Jesús in the Eucharist.  She had entered into eternal communion with the Lord.  She is now recognized as the Patron of First Holy Communicants.

For two thousand years, people have lived and died defending the belief of the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The belief in the Real Presence of Jesús in the Eucharist -- body, blood, soul and divinity -- is what has kept the church alive.  The Real Presence is the very life of the church itself. Our life.

So as we prepare to receive Christ today in the sacred Host on this solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let us remember what it is.  Let us remember the words of St. Ignatius as we come forward for communion: “I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ.”  Let us remember that question of Blessed Imelda as we receive the Host today: “Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?”  And as we make our way back to our seats, let’s remember the words of Blessed Carlo Acutis: “The Eucharist is the highway to heaven.”

May the Lord bless you all.