The Feast of Corpus Christi 2026 is celebrated with processions in Galway and Loughrea.
“The red candle that burns in every one of our churches is a sign that this is sacred ground.”
Bishop Michael
I would like to tell you a story about the Missouri born Astronaut, Mike Hopkins who grew up in a Methodist Family. Graduating with a master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1992, he joined the United States Air Force and became a test pilot. In 2009, Mike was selected by NASA to train as an Astronaut. He was part of the 2013 mission to the International Space Station where he spent six months from September to March orbiting the earth. It was to be the first of two missions he undertook into space. The year before his 2013 space mission, Mike decided that he wanted to become a Catholic. He entered the discernment and preparation program and was received into the Catholic Church a few months before he was to depart for space.
One of the areas of Catholic Faith that gave him a profound sense of the presence of Jesus and from which he drew great spiritual nourishment was when he went to Mass and received the Eucharist. A baby Catholic in all respects, he pondered on how he would miss this aspect of his newfound faith during his mission to space. Speaking with his local priest and with the permission of his Bishop, he trained as a Eucharistic Minister and was allowed to bring with him pyx with six hosts. Mike speaks of how, while in space, he would retreat to his private quarters to pray and receive communion. At that moment, he explains how he felt the powerful reality of Jesus present with him, Jesus nourishing him, Jesus directing him and Jesus giving him the courage for the many dangerous tasks that he had to undertake. Mike is often referred to as the Astronaut who took the Eucharist to space.
Today is the Feast of what we call in Latin Corpus Christi or in English the Body of Christ. It is in a sense the Feast of the Mass, the Feast of the Eucharist. As such, it puts before us the core Catholic belief – that in and through the actions of the Priest, ordinary bread and wine become the nourishing presence of Jesus with us and for us on the journey of life. Whenever we do this in memory of him the risen Jesus is really present among us. As Jesus explains in the Gospel – the Eucharist is that “bread come down from heaven”. That bread, which brings life and the fullness of life in its wake. In the Eucharist, Jesus continues to walk with us, on earth, in space … wherever we find ourselves. In the Eucharist, we continue to walk with Jesus. We savor his friendship and receive his healing. In the process, our lives are greatly enriched.
In each and every church, our altars are consecrated in the service of this great mystery. Our church walls, anointed with the sacred Oil of Chrism, setting them apart as sacred dwelling places for this divine gift. After Mass, we reserve the Eucharist in our tabernacles. The red candle that burns in every one of our churches is a sign that this is sacred ground. Here in this place the risen Jesus dwells – here in this place God himself is truly present. Today’s feast reminds us of this fact and it is an important reminder indeed.
Perhaps, it is a case that the Eucharist is so much part and parcel of our Catholic lives that we have become very familiar with it. Perhaps it is a symptom of a cultural shift where the secular gradually encroaches on and even dominates the sacred. I don’t know -but I suspect we could do with this annual reminder of the sacred realities of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and the sacredness of our church buildings … those places we consecrate and set apart as his special dwelling place. Perhaps it is time to examine our reverence when it comes to gathering in our churches. At times, they seem to be more multipurpose spaces where anything at all can take place instead of the sacred spaces that they in fact are … consecrated for holy things and holy things alone.
Perhaps it is a time to examine our behaviors in church and see if they are in keeping with the sacredness of the place. Perhaps it is a time to look at how we approach our participation in the Mass. Perhaps it is time to revisit how we prepare for and receive Holy Communion. For in that moment, we stand before not only a piece of bread. In and through that bread, we stand before the very real and transforming presence of the risen Jesus himself. We hear proclaimed, “The Body of Christ”. We reply in an act of faith “Amen!” – “So be it”. Yes I believe that Jesus is here. Yes I believe that he is present, ready to walk with me and I am ready to walk with him for the rest of that day, for the rest of that week.
Mike is now retired as an astronaut. He is still a Catholic. He is still scientist of the highest level. Still a man of Faith. He still recognises the mystery of God, the wonderfulness of his creation and the life giving mystery of the presence of the Risen Jesus each time we celebrate Mass, each time we enter a church, each time we are privileged enough to receive the Blessed Eucharist on our journey of life. Amen