“O Sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us.” This phrase, written by St. Thomas Aquinas, is inscribed in Latin on the lower rim of the dome of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Situated directly below the dome is the altar. Above the altar hangs a 13-foot- tall crucifix, suspended from the baldachin, a circular iron band which is suspended from the dome by aircraft cables.

One June 18, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we recall the “sacred banquet in which Christ is received.” We give thanks and praise to God that Jesus Christ “offered himself as a victim for our deliverance and taught us to make this offering in his memory.” (Preface of the Most Holy Eucharist I) We recall that the “principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.” (Catechism, No. 1391)

When we are united with Christ, heaven is united with earth; a “marriage” takes place between God and man. Therein lies the significance of the baldachin above the altar where the sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. The baldachin hangs over the altar in a similar way that a baldachin or canopy may hang over a marriage bed shared by husband and wife. (In a Jewish wedding, the groom receives the bride under a baldachin.) The Church is the bride of Christ. When the Eucharist is celebrated, our spousal relationship with Christ is renewed.

“Our soul is filled with grace,” as St. Thomas would say. Moreover: “What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism.” (Catechism, No. 1392)

The Eucharist not only unites us with Christ in this world, but also points us to the eternal union or “marriage” with God which awaits us in heaven. As St. Thomas says: “A pledge of the life to come is given to us.” “Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage in this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.” (Catechism, No. 1419)

During my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, our group had the privilege of celebrating the Eucharist in many holy places. For example, Mass was offered in Nazareth, at the place where the Blessed Mother conceived Jesus in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit; in Jerusalem in the tomb of our Lord at Calvary. We prayed in the “upper room” where Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist with his apostles.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II also visited the “upper room” and later wrote of it in his annual “Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday”: “To the gifts of this singular presence [the Eucharist], which brings him to us in his supreme sacrifice and makes him our bread, Jesus, in the Upper Room, associated a specific duty of the Apostles and their successors. From that time on, to be an apostle of Christ, as are the Bishops and priests sharing in their mission, has involved being able to act ‘in persona Christi Capitis.’ This happens above all whenever the sacrificial meal of the Body and Blood of the Lord is celebrated. For then the priest as it were lends Christ his own face and voice: ‘Do this in memory of me.’” (Lk 22:19)

As we celebrate the solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord on June 18, we give thanks for the three priests who will be ordained that day for service to the Diocese of Sacramento. We pray that God may bless them abundantly and that they may be faithful and holy priests. Moreover, we thank God for the six permanent deacons ordained on June 10 and the seven transitional deacons ordained on May 29. May God bless these men abundantly that they may “believe what [they] read, teach what [they] believe, and practice what [they] teach.” (Rite of Ordination of Deacons, No. 210).

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