Homily

Sunday, May 25, 2008, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Year A
Assumption Grotto Parish, Detroit

The Prefiguration of the Eucharist in Isaac

(Note: How the Sacrifice of Isaac is a prefiguration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is a theme worthy of several tomes. Today's homily intends only to introduce a few concepts for the edification and piety of the saints of God.)

            On this great day of Corpus Christi, while our hearts burn with love for the Son of God, who has remained with us, Presence and Sacrifice, until the end of time, under the appearances of bread and wine, let us call to mind the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, composed around the year 1264, which we just sang in the Sequence: “In figures [the bread of Angels] was pre-signified, when Isaac was immolated… ” On these words will I now reflect.

            In manner of summary, let us remember the mysterious passage regarding the sacrifice of Isaac found in Genesis 22. Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah. God commanded Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen 22:2). He did so, exemplar of obedience to God, but before he consummated the sacrifice, an angel called to him and stopped him; he had passed the test of obedience, and Isaac lived. A ram, symbol of evil and sin, was destroyed, and not Isaac.

            All of this is a revelation of God and his plan of salvation, a preparation for the Paschal sacrifice of Christ, and a foretelling of the Eucharist. For the Eternal Father truly sacrificed his Only Begotten Son on the mountain of Calvary, and it was a sacrifice of obedience. Sin, as the ram, was destroyed, for the Son of God can never be destroyed or corrupted. This one sacrifice of Christ won redemption for all who would become sons of God by the Spirit in the waters of Baptism.

            The teachings which pertain to the Eucharist here are two: the Real Presence, and the Sacrifice. Isaac was a type, a figure, of the sacrificial lamb of God. In obedience he was offered up, he was sacrificed, but he lived during and after the sacrifice. So too in the Eucharist, Christ is sacrificed, and also he lives.

            For in the species of bread and wine there is the Son of God, offered continually to the Father through the Holy Spirit for our salvation. Therefore this bread is not ordinary bread: it lives, it saves, it purifies, it bestows, it sanctifies. The Eucharist has a true heart, the Sacred Heart, and we adore the humanity of the Lord. It is eaten by the flesh, and makes the body and soul holy and like to Christ. Ordinary bread can be found in men’s homes. This bread, who is a divine Person, comes down from heaven. In this world, where we find so much denial of the Real Presence, let us affirm it boldly: The Eucharistic species of bread and wine are the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ the Lord, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

            Meditate frequently on these two words, Presence and Sacrifice, when you pray your thanksgiving after communion, when you visit the tabernacle and when you attend adoration. In this way you will live a Eucharistic life, you will always be able to turn to the true God, your food, real presence, continual sacrifice, Son of the Virgin, Word made flesh, and obtain mercy for yourself and for the whole world. Amen.