Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
Corpus Christi 2025
22 June 2025
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Today the Church celebrates one of the greatest mysteries of our faith, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. We gather to honour the real, abiding presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But we must also ask a deeper question that echoes through our hearts every Sunday: Are we truly participating in the Eucharist, or merely present?
The Scriptures today offer us a path into that question.
Saint Paul tells the Corinthians what he himself received: that on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you.” Paul then adds, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
We do not just receive a gift; we proclaim a mystery.
And in the Gospel from Luke, we hear the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. A miracle of abundance, yes, but more than that, a sign pointing forward to the Eucharist. Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives. This is the shape of every Mass. And it is the shape of Christ’s love for us.
But are we entering into it? Are we being changed by it?
Saint Jerome, a man who devoted his life to Scripture, offers us a striking insight. He writes: “For me, the Gospel is the Body of Christ… Christ’s body and blood are really the word of Scripture, God’s teaching… If a crumb falls to the ground, we are troubled. Yet when God’s Word and Christ’s flesh and blood are being poured into our ears and we pay no heed, what great peril should we not feel?”
These are uncomfortable words, but holy words. They confront a temptation we all face: to reduce our participation at Mass to outward actions, to routine. But Jerome reminds us: the Eucharist is not only on the altar. It is also proclaimed in the Word. It is Christ speaking, teaching, nourishing us.
At every Mass, the Church proclaims: Christ is present: in the Word, in the Sacrament, in the Priest, and in the People gathered in faith.
Let us reflect on these four presences, so that we may enter the liturgy not as spectators, but as participants in a holy mystery.
1. Christ in the Word
How do we hear the readings at Mass? Are we attentive? Do we prepare our hearts to be changed?
Saint Jerome says the Word is Christ’s body being poured into our ears. This is not just poetry, it is theology. Jesus, the eternal Word made flesh, comes to us when Scripture is proclaimed. When the Gospel is read, Christ speaks. When we listen with faith, He feeds our souls. If we revere the consecrated Host, should we not also revere the Gospel?
2. Christ in the Sacrament
Here we are at the heart of today’s feast. The Eucharist is not a symbol. It is not merely a memorial. It is the real presence of Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus fed the people until they were satisfied. In the Eucharist, He does even more: Jesus gives Himself.
Saint Paul says: “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death.” This is not a private act. It is communion with Christ’s sacrifice. And it is a call to become what we receive: His Body in the world.
3. Christ in the Priest
The priest is not acting on his own authority. He is ordained to stand in persona Christi, in the person of Christ. When he says, “This is my Body,” it is Christ who speaks. This mystery humbles the priest and invites the people to pray for him. Without the priest, there is no Eucharist. And without the Eucharist, there is no Church.
4. Christ in the People
Finally, the Lord is present in you, the baptized, gathered in faith. The Church teaches that when we come together for Mass, Christ is in our midst. This presence calls us not only to revere the Eucharist but also to revere each other. We are the Body of Christ. What we receive at the altar, we are called to become.
As Saint Augustine taught: “Be what you see; receive what you are.”
A Eucharistic Life: The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council insisted on “fully conscious and active participation” in the liturgical celebration. This does not mean just singing or standing at the right times. It means letting the Mass shape our hearts and lives. It means bringing our sorrows, our hopes, our sins, our gratitude, and laying them on the altar, in the bread and wine, which through the power of the Holy Spirit become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
To participate in the Eucharist is to say: “Lord, I give you my life. Make me new.”
Going Forth: At the end of Mass, we are told: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” We are not dismissed from worship; we are sent to continue it.
What we receive must be lived. We carry Christ into the world: in our service, in our witness, in our compassion, in our truth.
Saint Jerome’s warning rings clear: Reverence for the Eucharist begins with how we listen to the Word. And participation in the Eucharist means allowing ourselves to be transformed by Christ’s presence in the Word, the Sacrament, the Priest, and one another.
So, each time we come to this altar, we do so with reverent hearts and open ears. Let us listen deeply, receive humbly, and live boldly. For at this great feast the Lord Jesus is truly present, and in this sacred mystery, heaven truly touches earth. Amen.