Reflection by Rt Rev Thomas Neylon VG
Auxiliary Bishop in Liverpool
Whenever I hear the words ‘Corpus Christi’ I recall the priest moving along the communion rail in St Oswald’s, Warrington and the procession on the Sunday nearest the feast. The Knights of St Columba marshalled us from the school with the smell of incense in the air, as we crossed the field into the grounds of Bruche Hall, the home of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, for Benediction. The Blessed Sacrament was carried in the monstrance by the priest. Kneeling on the grass we sang ‘O Salutaris’ and ‘Tantum Ergo’ and bowed our heads as the priest blessed us with the Sacred Host. I believe that the Host was the same Jesus who moved among the people of Galilee, trod the road to calvary under the Cross, revealed himself as the risen Lord to Mary and the disciples, and gives himself to us at Mass with the promise of eternal life.
Today, I think of those who go to Mass, those who receive the Body of Christ at home or in hospital bearing illness and infirmity, those who approach the Church searching for truth and life, seeing something of the eternal in the sacraments and the lives of those who call themselves Catholics. The Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament, reaches out beyond the tabernacle and the church, through the lives of those who believe in him, to those who hunger and thirst in so many ways.