Solemnity of Corpus Christi (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) Solemnity of Corpus Christi (B), June 10, 2012

Liturgical readings

Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm 116
Hebrews 9:11-15
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

"He took bread and gave it to them; He likewise took a cup and passed it to them."

The passage from the book of Exodus presents the person of Moses offering sacrifices to Yahweh in behalf of the people Israel. The sacrifices involved the use of animals; their blood was splashed on the altar as part of the ritual. Now proceeding to the New Testament, the passage from Mark's gospel presents the Person of Jesus offering His very Self as a sacrifice for the redemption of the new Israel. As Moses used animals in the rite, Jesus used bread to signify His Body, and wine to signify His Blood in the Last Supper rite. The sacrifices offered by Moses and the priests of the Old Testament sealed the covenant between Yahweh and the 12 tribes of Israel. The sacrifice of Jesus' Body and Blood in the New Testament sealed the covenant between the God and the new Israel - signified by the 12 apostles.

The Last Supper marked the institution of the Eucharist in our history as children of God. The meal of bread and wine was an act of the Lord's mercy toward us. The Father provides us not only physical food from creation, but He provides us more important and real food - His very Son - to give life to our souls and spirit. The Eucharist calls us to elevate our minds and hearts to what is above, and to leave behind for awhile secular concerns that can weigh our minds, hearts, and souls down to earth. Examining closely the gospel passage, one will find that the Last Supper was held in an "upstairs room" - symbolic of what God wants of His children. Jesus calls us in the Eucharist to lift our sights and our hopes also to a spiritual level, besides temporal concerns.

Whenever one attends the Sunday Eucharist, let it be a reminder of the important sacrifice the Father had done to save us from earthly bondage to sins committed in the rush for power, money and sex. He has saved us, is saving us, and will always save us through the once-for-all sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, at Calvary. As the priest or bishop in the Sunday Eucharist elevates the bread and the wine during the consecration, we are invited to respond to the call to elevate our minds and hearts to this mystery of God's mercy. It is God's grace that ultimately lifts and elevates our spirit and souls to what is noble in us, what is best in us and what would influence us and others towards the greater good. For when we receive Christ Himself in communion, all are called to bring the spirit of Jesus to others: in word and deed.

Feasts and Memorials of Saints for the Month of June

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Four Marian Dogmas in the Catholic Church

Marian Dogmas in the Catholic Church

Introduction

According to "The New Concise Catholic Dictionary" by Reynolds R. Ekstrom, the term dogma is defined as "an infallible and solemnly recognized doctrine of the universal Catholic community". The term dogma was originally derived from the Greek language from a Greek word meaning "that which one thinks to be true". During the apostolic period, the term was used to distinguish Christian belief from non-Christian belief. At the time of the Middle Ages, especially among the "scholastics", the term was not used anymore. One of the "scholastics" - specifically from the "high scholasticism" school of theology - St. Thomas Aquinas was said to have preferred the use of the term "article of faith" to refer to any dogmatic reality. Today, in contemporary age, the term dogma is often interchangeably used with the word doctrine. Those specializing in theology say there is really a difference between dogma and doctrine and that the terms must be used carefully in formal presentations: either verbal or written. According to these scholars the difference is: dogmas relate the truth of God's revelation, while doctrines teach how a particular dogma may be understood [The New Dictionary of Theology, by editors Komonchak, Collins and Lane].

Marian dogmas

The truth about the person of Mary is given through the dogmas of: 1 her divine motherhood (Theotokos), 2 her perpetual virginity, 3 her Immaculate conception, and 4 her assumption. These revealed truths on Mary celebrate the dignity of her "giving birth to her Creator" and all the implications that accompany this special honor. The abovementioned dogmas will be treated and defined individually in the following paragraphs.

The Motherhood of God, "Theotokos"

This was the first Marian dogma. It proclaims Mary as truly the Mother of God the Son made man. This truth was officially declared in the early ecumenical council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. That council declared and proclaimed thus: "the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God since according to the flesh she brought forth the Word of God made flesh". This truth on the Motherhood of Mary is celebrated by all Catholics all over the world in the Eucharistic liturgy of the Church every 1st of January.

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

Several centuries later after the declaration of "Theotokos" in the Council of Ephesus, the Church then defined the dogma of Mary's perpetual virginity. It was at the Lateran Council in 649 A.D. which declared that: "She [Mary] conceived without seed, of the Holy Spirit...and without injury brought him [Jesus] forth...and after birth preserved her virginity inviolate".

The Immaculate Conception

It was only a thousand years later when the Church declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. This dogma reveals the truth that: "The Most Holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin". This declaration was made during the pontificate of Pope Pius IX, in the document "Ineffabilis Deus", 1854 A.D. This dogma confirms centuries of Catholic belief that Mary who was greeted by the angel Gabriel as "full of grace" (Luke 1:28), really entered into salvation history and human civilization as without stain of original sin.

The Assumption of Mary

Just a few decades after the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the dogma of the Assumption of Mary was also defined by the Church. According to the document of Pope Pius XII, "Munificentissimus Deus" (1950 A.D.), "Mary, the immaculate perpetually Virgin Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven". This dogma is related to the truth that since the victory of Christ won over the effects of sin, like death and corruption, Mary intimately shared in the privilege of not suffering death and corruption that came from the Evil One and his seed.

Conclusion

Although these dogmas of the Blessed Mother of God reveal to us the great privilege and gift of grace Mary has received from God by virtue of her great humility and obedience to His will, we are also called to rightfully place her role as that of pointing to the central figure of Christ her Son. The centrality of Christ and the bible was foremost in the most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, Vatican II. This downplayed devotion to Mary [and the saints]. However, though Marian devotion has decreased after that, popular piety and the cult of prayer to Mary has recovered strength on its own. A good and concrete sign of this revival is the increasing numbers of pilgrims every year in the great Marian shrines such as in: Aparecida, Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, and Czestochowa.