Bishop Anthony Randazzo has called for the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ to be a chance for people to participate more effectively in the Eucharist and liturgical celebration of the Mass.
In a letter to clergy and the people of Broken Bay, Bishop Anthony said it was important for people to more actively taken part in the Mass, "receiving" the word and not merely being passive witnesses to the liturgy.
"Each Sunday, we gather at the altar as one Body in Christ, drawn into the divine mystery where heaven touches earth. We hear the Word proclaimed, we offer our prayers, and we receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ," he said. "Yet amid the sacredness of the liturgy, a question stirs our hearts: Are we truly participating in the Eucharist, or merely present?"
The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, known more commonly as Corpus Christi, celebrates the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Pope Urban IV established the Solemnity, proposed to him by Saint Thomas Aquinas, to create a feast focused on the Holy Eucharist, emphasising the joy of it being the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. It became a point of protest during the Protestant Reformation, when many protestant churches suppressed the celebration.
In many parts of the world, it has become a marker of the Christian faith and a chance to publicly profess the Catholic faith. Processions of the Blessed Sacrament often take place in towns or parishes, with parishioners singing hymns while following the priest holding the Eucharist in a monstrance.
The Solemnity has also become a time to remind people of the reality of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, with a substantial number of Catholics not believing in the doctrine. A 2019 Pew Research poll found 37 per cent of regular Mass attending Catholics believed the bread and wine were only symbols.
Throughout his letter for the Solemnity, Bishop Anthony reflects on Sacred Scripture, the writings of Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine, and documents from the Second Vatican Council, which all invite the faithful into a deeper participation in the Eucharist, both within the context of the Mass and outside the Church.
"If we are truly nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ, both in Word and Sacrament, we are sent forth to live Eucharistic lives. We become, as Saint Augustine says, what we receive: the Body of Christ in the world," he said.
"The same reverence and attentiveness we show at Mass shapes our daily lives, in how we think, how we speak, how we serve, how we love, how we forgive."
Read Bishop Anthony's letter to the clergy and people of Broken Bay, in preparation for the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Year of Hope, 2025 in full here.