VESSELS OF GOD - A: SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI

First Reading: Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a (11 June 2023)

“Moses said to the people; ‘Remember how for forty years now the Lord, you God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments” (Deut 8:2-3).

The solemnity of Corpus Christi comes right after the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. It demonstrates that one person of this Triune God, i.e., Jesus, possesses two natures, viz., divine and human. The latter is an issue that was heavily contested in Roman times, especially at the height of Gnosticism. A Gnostic way of thinking promotes that the bodily component of a human person is evil while its spiritual part is good and can lead one to salvation.

The corporeal dimension of a human person is emphasized by the Johannine evangelist as stipulated explicitly in the Prologue: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:14). This passage manifests that the human body can also be sanctified, especially when it is made a vessel of God. Furthermore, Jesus introduced himself to the crowd as the “living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (6:51). By and large, from the perspective of the Johannine author, both the spirit and the body can be simultaneously sanctified.

In the Old Testament, Moses was presented as the Israelites’ intercessor to God (Deut 8:1). He would regularly ask God to provide the Israelites with their basic needs, such as quail and manna (Exo 16:4-15). Moreover, mindful of his promise to Abraham and his descendant in making them a great nation (Gen 15:2-21), God sent several judges (i.e., military leaders) to fight their cause and lead them to the land of their patrimony. Essentially, God gave the Israelites both bread and victory, which brought them unity and pride as one community. In all of these happenings, Moses was employed to act as God’s vessel of graces, a human conduit through which divine promises are realized. Even though Moses is only a human person, he was made God’s official envoy to the Israelites, communicating God’s wonder, values, and ideals.

In fact, he reminded God’s people, saying, “Do not forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery” (Deut 8:14).

Today’s feast of Corpus Christi asserts that Jesus is a vessel of God as well. Yet, he is no ordinary vessel because he is God himself. This assertion finds resonance in the belief in the Real Presence of God on the species of bread and wine in any part and time in the world. Accordingly, this Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist signifies that Jesus is perpetually available to those who wish to behold and partake of the sacred species. When one participates in this sacrament, one becomes a vessel of God, too, by bringing God’s sanctifying presence everywhere he/she goes.

As God’s sacred vessels here on earth, we are likewise called to be bearers of God’s goodness by partaking in the Holy Eucharist regularly. In so doing, we become true to our Christian mission of living God’s values in our day-to-day living.

In the final analysis, we as God’s vessels are called to spread to the whole world this goodness and message so that more and more people can avail of God’s loving presence, love, and protection.

- Rex Fortes, CM