Corpus Christi Celebrations In Trinidad and Tobago
As a child growing up, what I remembered most about Corpus Christi was that more often than not, it was a very rainy day and for some reason that I never really understood, it was a day when most Trinidadians and Tobagonians would find something to plant – mostly corn and peas. But now that I am older, I realise that there is so much more to this day; this holiday or maybe I should say this Holy Day.
Corpus Christi is Latin for “Body Of Christ”. It is a feast that celebrates that which sets the Catholic Church apart from all other Christian denominations – the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ.
In the gospel of St. John, Jesus says, “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Then after the Jews started arguing among themselves about what manner of man is this? How can he give us his own flesh to eat. Jesus continued, “I tell you solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him.” (John 6: 51-56)
Elsewhere in the Gospels, it is recorded that “as they were eating, he took some bread, and when he had said the blessing, he broke it and gave it to them. Take and eat,. This is my body. Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it, and he said to them, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Mat 26: 26-28, Mark 14: 22-24, Luke 22:19-20)
In all of the passages mentioned, care should be taken to note the deliberate pronouncement of Jesus. He never used the word “represents”. He said, “this is my body“, “this is my blood“, “I am the living bread“.
Many Christians take the same side as the Jews in John 6 when it comes to Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. Many do not believe that Jesus is present; body, blood, soul and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. Sad to say but many Catholics have also lost faith. No wonder why Jesus said that unless we became like a child, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. What He meant was not that we should return to the status of children or become childish; but rather that we should become childlike in our belief in Him. It is very instructive that the John 6 chapter, where the Jews were having great difficulty with Jesus’ proclamation to be the “Living Bread which has come down from heaven”, ends with Peter’s profession of faith, where he said, ” Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.” If we believe that He is the Holy One of God,; if we believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God; if can shout ALLELUIA! HE IS RISEN INDEED – Just as He said; if we believe that He is the same yesterday, today and forever, then why can we believe that because He loves us so much, he want us to live in Him and He in us, so He gave us His body and blood, the Living Bread which has come down from heaven.
“For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.” In the mid 1990s and the years that followed, there was a retreat that we had a lot of here in Trinidad and the Caribbean called “Youth 2000”. It was a retreat that centered around the Eucharist, with lots of adoration and worship. Now I have always been a Catholic, never missed weekend mass from since I was a child, but a couple experiences at this retreat took my knowledge of the Eucharist to another level. I have seen people healed during adoration of the Eucharist. I have seen people who were possessed by demons set free when they were brought before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I have seen all kinds of manifestations when the priest was taking Jesus around in the Blessed Sacrament that reminded me very much of Matthew 8: 28-34, when the two demoniacs spotted Jesus from the distance and shouted “What do you want with us, Son of God?” Now if Jesus was not present; body, blood, soul and divinity in the Blessed Sacrament, then why would demons flee at His approach.
Corpus Christi is the celebration of the oneness Jesus desires to have with us where we live in Him and He lives in us, and we are transformed from the inside to look more and more like Him. May He who sits upon the throne, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the one who desires to be one in and with us, and us in Him, grant us childlike faith that we may believe in His real presence in the Holy Eucharist, and allow that belief, that new faith to transform us.
