corpus christi

What makes a sacrifice a sacrifice?  St. Thomas Aquinas said that a sacrifice requires two things.  First there is the oblation, and second there is the immolation.  These are the two points which I would like to reflect with you today on this feast of the Corpus Christi – the feast of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross which we make present daily on our altars in the sacrifice of the mass.  The two requirements for a sacrifice – there must be oblation and in that oblation there must be immolation.

First – oblation.  What is oblation?  Oblation is a gift and a gift is something that is freely given.  It is not something coerced, there is no intimidation involved, no bullying.  It may be asked but it is not and could not be demanded or required.  It is something freely given, it is volunteered, it may be given quite reluctantly at first but in the end it is surrendered.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross on Calvary was a sacrifice because Jesus made a gift of himself.  Jesus was not simply killed.  If he was killed, if he died, it was because he voluntarily offered his life in obedience to the will of the Father.  So a sacrifice requires an oblation, a gift freely given.

But what is the second requirement?  What is immolation?  Immolation means transformation.  It means that a change must occur.  The oblation must be transformed from one state to another. 

Jesus’ oblation, his free offering of himself was immolation – he was alive, now he is dead; he was full of vitality, now one can only see a lifeless body.  Immolation – a transformation has occurred.  A sacrifice has indeed happened.

Today and every Sunday we celebrate the sacrifice of the mass.  It is not a repetition of the sacrifice of Jesus.  Rather we make present the sacrifice of our Lord so that we can join our own sacrifices to that of our Lord, so that he can make our sacrifices holy.

And so we ask, when we come to church to celebrate the sacrifice of the Lord, do we bring with us the sacrifices which we have made for the Lord? 

Sacrifices first of all are oblations – they are gifts freely given.  It is not coerced.  It is volunteered.  It may be asked, it may be demanded but in the end it is something surrendered willingly. 

But this is not yet sacrifice because a gift freely given is to be accompanied by immolation – transformation and change – life to death, pleasure to pain, convenience to inconvenience, relaxation to tension and tiredness,  from having to losing, from something to nothing.  Something is changed.

Without being asked, you walked the extra mile even if the road becomes rough and the going becomes tough.  Without the promise of compensation, you gave the best part of yourself, even if it remained unnoticed, unrecognized and unrewarded.  Without threats and coercion, you came to help and alleviate even if it involved tiredness, probably pain, and sorrow and even sometimes regret.  May we celebrate the corpus christi, the sacrifice of Jesus not just at this hour but every hour, not just in this place but wherever we are.