Reflections on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 3, 2018. Year B
READINGS
Ex 24:3–8
Heb 9:11–15
Mk 14:12–16, 22–26
The mass is both sacrifice and banquet. The celebration of Corpus Christi this year views the eucharist in terms of covenant, with special emphasis on its sacrificial character. In the reading from Exodus, the covenant between Yahweh and his people is formally concluded with sacrifice and a bonding blood ritual. Mark’s gospel today finds Jesus in the upper room celebrating his final Passover with the disciples. In memorializing the new covenant in ritual, his words over the cup are a distinct echo of those of Moses in finalizing the Sinai covenant. In the reading from Hebrews, Christ is high priest and mediator of the new covenant. In his own blood, he has cleansed our conscience and given us access to God.
FIRST READING — Ex 24:3–8
The solemn ritual of covenant making is recorded in this final chapter of the book of the covenant (Ex 19–24). Moses first seeks the consent of the people to the covenant terms, spoken of as “words”, referring to the decalogue, and the “ordinances”, the remaining covenant laws (v8). With consent given, Moses gives the law permanence in consigning it to writing. On the following day, he erects both the alter and memorial pillars (v4). The latter were large erect stones which memorialized important religious events or which were used for cultic purposes (Gen 28:18). Because of their origins in pagan circles, they were later excluded by Israelite law (Lev 26:1).
The essential sacrificial act resided in the use of the blood as carried out by Moses in the narrative. The actual slaughter, an act of death, was necessary as the means of obtaining the blood but was not seen as a priestly act. The priest’s function lay in the blood rites (vv5f; Lev 1:3ff; 13:1ff). The blood ritual follows the reading of the covenant norms and the consent of the people. The covenant bond is established with part of the blood, the sign of life, sprinkled on the alter, which symbolized Yahweh, and part on the people. Rite and words are combined in Moses’ solemn pronouncement, which will be modified and carried forward into New Testament covenant texts (v8; Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20).
RESPONSORIAL PSALM — Ps 116
In thanksgiving for his being saved from mortal danger and loss of life (vv3f), the psalmist gives cultic expression to his gratitude. The cup of salvation (v13) is perhaps the container used for libations that poured out rather than consumed as an act of gratitude to God (Num 15:5, 7, 10). The death of the good is “costly” in God’s eyes, and therefore not desired (v15). The temple exerts a magnetic pull over the grateful psalmist (v19); there he will offer sacrifice and invoke God’s name (v17), as well as fulfill his promises before the assembly (v18). For the Christian reader, the reference in the psalm to the “cup of salvation” has eucharistic implications.
SECOND READING — Heb 9:11–15
Like the high priest on the day of Atonement, Jesus, the harbinger of good things to come, has now entered the heavenly sanctuary to perform the rite of purification (v11). The “perfect tabernacle” (v11) is the heavenly sanctuary which Christ enters with his resurrection-exaltation (4:14; 9:24). As belonging to another realm, this heavenly tent is not a human artifact, that is, not of the created order. Unlike the earthly priest, who made repeated atonement, Christ enters once and for all in a definitive act of reconciliation (10:11f). Moreover, his offering was in sharp contrast to the preceding; the blood of animals is replaced by the blood of the high priest himself (v12). The “heifer’s ashes” (v13) are mixed with water and used as a lustration to purify those who had become defiled (Num 19:9, 14–21).
THIRD READING — Mk 14:12–16, 22–26
Mark views the final supper as a Passover meal, celebrated on the evening of 15 Nisan; he is followed in this by the other synoptics. For John it is a farewell supper, celebrated on 14 Nisan, the day before the feast (Jn 18:28; 19:14). Both chronologies have strong theological concerns. In Mark and the synoptics there is the clear intention to unite the meal on the eve of Jesus’ death with Passover, the great feast of deliverance and salvation. The feast, beginning in the evening, would then continue until dusk the following day, enveloping the whole of Christ’s passion.
Jesus’ knowledge of the place and the particulars (vv13ff) parallels his earlier prediction prior to the entry into Jerusalem (11:1–6). It casts a supernatural aura over the emerging events of this final week.
The institution of the eucharist in a Passover setting underscores its sacrificial character. The formula (vv22ff), unrelated to the Passover ritual, is inserted into the narrative and is easily excised, reflecting its original liturgical setting in the life of the early church. The eucharistic formula of Mark and Matthew (26:26–29) are largely the same ; Luke (22:15–20) and Paul (1 Cor 11:23ff) reflect a slightly different tradition. The body to be eaten and the blood to be drunk anticipate the death of Jesus on the following day. this will inaugurate the new covenant (Jer 31:31–34), with a clear allusion made to the first covenant (v24; Ex 24:8). This presentation of the death of Jesus is real, that is, a living symbol. It is also placed in an end-time setting. The death of Jesus will inaugurate the reign of God at which time Jesus will participate in the eschatological banquet (v25).
