Yesterday evening, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on the square in front of Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, then presided at the Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

In his homily, the Pope recalled how the Solemnity of Corpus Christi "originated in a specific historical and cultural context. It came into being with the precise aim of openly reaffirming the People of God's faith in Jesus Christ, living and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist."

Consequently, "Corpus Christi is a reprise of the mystery of Holy Thursday, almost an act of obedience to Jesus' invitation to 'proclaim from the housetops' what He passed on in secret. The Apostles received the gift of the Eucharist from the Lord in the intimacy of the Last Supper, but the gift was intended for everyone, for the whole world. This is why it is openly proclaimed and exposed, so that everyone has the chance of meeting 'Jesus Who passes.' ... This is the perpetual and living heritage that Jesus left us in the Sacrament of His Body and His Blood."

"Benedict XVI continued: "This is a mystery that is beyond our understanding, and we should not be surprised if even today many people struggle to accept the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... The Eucharist remains a 'sign of contradiction,' and it cannot be otherwise, because a God Who becomes flesh and sacrifices Himself for the life of the world throws human wisdom into crisis."

Yet, "for each generation of Christians the Eucharist is the indispensable nourishment that sustains them as they cross the desert of this world, made barren by ideological and economic systems that fail to promote life; ... a world dominated by the logic of power and possession rather than by the logic of service and of love; a world in which the culture of violence and death often triumph. But Jesus comes out to meet us and gives us assurances: He Himself is 'the bread of life'."

The Holy Father then went on to consider the Gospel of St. Luke and its account of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. "It contains," he said, "an explicit invitation for each individual to make his or her own contribution. The five fish and the two loaves represent our contribution, poor but necessary, which He transforms into a gift of love for everyone. ... The Eucharist is, then, a call to sanctity and to the giving of self to others, because 'each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of the world'."

Benedict XVI concluded his homily be recalling that at the end of the Mass he would "symbolically carry the Lord Jesus along the streets and through the neighborhoods of Rome. Thus we will, so to speak, immerse Him in our daily lives, so that He may walk where we walk. ... We walk the paths of the world knowing He is next to us, supported by the hope of one day seeing Him face to face in the definitive meeting."

Following Mass, the Pope presided at a Eucharistic procession that passed along Rome's Via Merulana to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Along the way, thousands of faithful prayed and sang, accompanying the Blessed Sacrament. An open vehicle transported the Sacrament in a mostrance, before which the Holy Father knelt in prayer.

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By Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Catholics don’t just go to church on Sunday, like other Christians. They go to Mass. Christmas, New Years, weddings, funerals. It seems that we just can’t seem to do anything important without this ceremony which some regard as a sacrifice and others as a fellowship meal and still others as “the real presence.”

So which is it–sacrifice, supper, or “real presence” and why the fixation upon it?

Like most things in the New Testament, it is really impossible to understand this fully without some serious knowledge of what we now call the Old Testament.

When I first read the account of Moses asking Pharaoh to “let my people go,” I thought that Moses was using a God-sanction ruse when he told Pharaoh that the reason he wanted to take the people and their flocks out of Egypt was that they could offer a sacrifice to their God in the desert.

But that was indeed the real reason after all. God liberated them from slavery to Pharaoh so that they could be free to enter into an exclusive, intimate relationship with Himself, a covenant. He gave them the law that would be the condition of this covenant on Mt. Sinai, and, after they said “I do,” they sealed the deal through a rather strange ritual. It was strange, by the way, even for them. Oh, sacrifice was normal enough. You offer the best animals you have to God. Sometimes you poured out their blood to God, then burned the entire animal. Other times you offered a perfect animal to God as atonement for sin, with the blood and fat going to God and the choicest portions going to feed the priests, God’s representatives. Most often, though, the blood and fat went to God, and the rest of the animal was solemnly eaten by those offering the sacrifice (often called a “Peace Offering”) in a special thanksgiving meal, a sign of communion with God, who was considered to be present at the meal (Ex 18:12). For after all, what more universal sign of sharing a common life is there than taking a meal together?

But the sacrifice to seal the first covenant was different. Half of the blood of the sacrificed animals was poured out to God at the base of the altar. The other half was sprinkled upon the people. Blood equaled life in the mind of the ancient Israelites, and it was forbidden to consume blood, since all life belonged to God. Here Israel and God are bound by a blood ceremony, becoming intimate kin, a family. Then Moses and the elders further celebrated their new blood relationship with God by eating the sacrificed animals in God’s presence, on the Holy Mountain (that’s what Ex 24:11 means–after seeing God, they could still eat and drink).

In the New Covenant, God takes things a step further. The liberation is not just from the drudgery of Pharaoh’s building projects, but from sin, Satan, and even death. To win this prize, God the Son becomes man and offers his body as the ultimate sacrifice that takes away sin and creates a degree of fellowship between God and man hitherto inconceivable. Not only is his blood poured out at the base of the altar of the cross, as an offering of his life to the Father, but it is given to his disciples to drink, under the sacramental form of wine. This is a symbol that actually is what it symbolizes, and transmits what it contains–the immortal life of the God-man, which binds us to God like nothing else ever could, and empowers us to be like him, live like him, indeed become him. You are what you eat. The Body and blood of Christ are given as our food that we may become the Body of Christ and his very life coursing through our veins.

Real presence? Fellowship Meal? Sacrifice? Yes, absolutely. All three, or none at all.

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. is director of the Crossroads Initiative, an apostolate of Catholic renewal and evangelization, and owner of www.wellnesspays.net, an international multi-level marketing company offering distinctive wellness and anti-aging products. For more of his articles and resources, visit The Crossroads Initiative.