Phil
- Jun 6, 2021
- 9 min read

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS ET SANGUIS CHRISTI

✠ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are the Body of Christ.

In the one spirit we all became part of the one body.

When we have brought discord rather than union to Christ’s body;

where what we do has divided people rather than united them;

let us come to the Lord in sorrow…,.

I confess to almighty God

and to you, my brothers and sisters,

that I have greatly sinned,

in my thoughts and in my words,

in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

through my fault,

through my most grievous fault;

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,

all the Angels and Saints,

and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord our God.

May almighty God have mercy on us, ✠ forgive us our sins,

and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

The Gloria

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you, we bless you, we adore you,

we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,

Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

you take away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us;

you take away the sins of the world,

receive our prayer;

you are seated at the right hand of the Father,

have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High,

Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,

in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Collect

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries

of your Body and Blood, that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Reading: Hebrews chapter 9, verses 11-15

Now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, which is better than the one made by men’s hands because it is not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness of their outward lives; how much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do our service to the living God. He brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.

Gospel Acclamation: John 6:51

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,

says the Lord. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. Alleluia!

Gospel of Mark, chapter 14, verses 12-16,22-26

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, his disciples said to Jesus,

‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat

the Passover?’ So, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,

Go into the city and you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water.

follow him, and say to the owner of the house which he enters,

“The Master says: Where is my dining room in which I can eat the Passover

with my disciples?” He will show you a large upper room furnished

with couches, all prepared. Make the preparations for us there.’

The disciples set out and went to the city and found everything

as he had told them and prepared the Passover.

And as they were eating he took some bread,

and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them.

‘Take it,’ he said, ‘this is my body.’

Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks

he gave it to them, and all drank from it, and he said to them,

‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant,

which is to be poured out for many.

I tell you solemnly, I shall not drink any more wine

until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God.’

After psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.

HOMILY – Through the Window….

Carlo Carretto – who for ten years lived an hermit’s life in the Sahara,

a life of prayer, silence and work, whilst there he wrote his “Letters from the Desert”

A priest would visit him from time to time, and leave in a Tabernacle for him The Blessed Sacrament. From this he derived great comfort, but it was also a good focus for thoughtful meditation and prayer.

“To find oneself confronted by a piece of bread,

and then to be told that this is the presence of Jesus,

involves an act of faith: reason is inadequate.”

“This Bread - it is Jesus himself, Son of God and Son of Mary,

Jesus of Bethlehem, of Nazareth, of the Last Supper,

Jesus of Calvary, Jesus of the Resurrection;

Jesus – the same yesterday, today and the same for ever.”

Jesus, the Bread – the Window, that opens on to the invisible God”.

For Carlo Carretto, the Blessed Sacrament

was a window through which he could see Jesus.

He spent much time in every day in front of that window,

gazing on heaven itself, and adoringly looking at Jesus,

the One who took flesh in order to become visible for you;

who became the Eucharist in order to gain entrance to your everyday life

and stay with you as long as possible,

as He did with Carlo Carretto.

Mother Teresa also had the greatest devotion to Jesus

in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

She maintained that the charitable work

undertaken by herself and the sisters

was grounded in Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,

as they gazed in adoration each morning through the window of the monstrance at the Jesus they would also see through the windows of the souls

of the poor, sick, maimed and dying people Jesus called them to serve.

When placed in the Monstrance at the end of Mass today,

Jesus Himself will have a window through which to bless us.

"This is My Body .... This is My Blood."

At that moment, heaven and earth become one in this bread and wine,

which are God become food for His world, food for us.

In return, we must open the window of the soul to Him,

so that we might see Him more clearly,

and that He might revive our tired souls

with the freshness of the Holy Spirit,

inspiring us to see more clearly

the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar,

as well as in the tabernacle of streets and doorways.

Open it with compassion for those who have less

lift the latch of forgiveness to those who you find difficult,

and let Him see more clearly into what is going on in your life.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Only Begotten Son of God,

born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

he suffered death and was buried,

and rose again on the third day

in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead

and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins

and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Prayer of the Faithful (Bidding Prayers)

We pray to the Lord.

Lord, listen to the prayers of your people,

gathered at your table.

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Here, where we celebrate how Christ gave us his body

to be our spiritual food,

listen as we pray for his body the Church,

spread throughout the world …

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Here, where we recognize the presence of Christ,

who takes away the sin of the world,

listen as we pray for that world

and for its peoples for whom his blood was shed …

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Here, where we come together as Christ gathered with his friends

to give us this meal of holy fellowship,

listen as we pray for all whom you have given us,

our friends and all whose lives are joined with ours …

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Here, where we remember the night of Christ’s agony and trial,

listen as we pray for all who share his sufferings

through fear or pain or distress of many kinds …

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Here, where we join our praises with the whole company of heaven,

listen as we pray for all who have trusted Christ’s promise

to raise up on the last day those who eat his flesh and drink his blood …

In faith we pray:

we pray to you our God.

Lord, satisfy our hunger with the food that lasts,

the bread of God which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world,

Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.

May we accept this day at your hand, O Lord, as a gift to be treasured, a life to be enjoyed, a trust to be kept, and a hope to be fulfilled; and all for your glory.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give him thanks and praise.

You are indeed Holy and to be glorified, O God,

who loves us, and is with us on the journey of life. Blessed indeed is your Son,

present in our midst when we are gathered by his love and when, as once for the disciples, so now for us, he opens the Scriptures and breaks the bread.

At the Saviour’s command

and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,

graciously grant peace in our days,

that, by the help of your mercy,

we may be always free from sin

and safe from all distress,

as we await the blessed hope

and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

For the kingdom,

the power and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

grant us peace.

Lord, I so wish to prepare well for this time. I so want to make all of me ready and attentive and available to you. Please help me clarify and purify my intentions. I have so many contradictory desires. My activity seems to be so full of busyness and running after stuff

that doesn't really seem to matter or last. I know that if I give you my heart whatever I do will follow my new heart. May all that I am today, all that I try to do today, may all my encounters, reflections, even the frustrations and failings all place my life in your hands. Lord, my life is in your hands. Take me and use me to your glory.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures-- I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father.

Charles de Foucauld.

THE ANGELUS

The angel of the Lord brought tidings unto Mary. And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary. Holy Mary.

And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us.

Hail Mary. Holy Mary.

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts, that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his Cross and Passion we may be brought unto the glory of his Resurrection; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.