The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi Sunday)

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In two brief sentences, St. Paul summarizes the key elements of his theology of Holy Eucharist. He does this in response to the Corinthians’ mishandling of the Sacrament, how they make light of the Lord’s Table and used it as a means to exclude other members of the Church, thereby profaning Christ’s body.

The key word found in this passage is the Greek word koinonia, which can be translated as either “fellowship,” or “participation” (we encountered this same word in last weeks’ epistle reading). Both of these translations capture different aspects of what this word means in the context of the Eucharist. If we understand koinonia here as “fellowship,” we can interpret this as an affirmation of the fact that all who partake of the Eucharist are united into one body, the Church. As Paul teaches later in the same epistle:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”  (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)

On the other hand, if we understand koinonia here as “participation,” then we can interpret this passage as an affirmation of the Real Presence. Paul here is saying that when we receive the Eucharist, we are partaking in the body and blood of Christ. This interpretation is supported by his affirmation later in the epistle that those who fail to recognize Christ’s body when partaking of the Eucharist have received unworthily:

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

Both of these senses are true, and they both capture the two main elements of the Sacrament: When we receive Holy Communion, we are both partaking of the body and blood of Christ, and in the process, being united together into His mystical body.

J. Luis Dizon