Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

I think this feast needs to be seen together with the feast of the Word of God which occurs on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Blessed Sacrament does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in relationship with the other presences of Christ in the Mass: people, Word, priest and Blessed Sacrament. When we adore the Blessed Sacrament outside of the Mass we prolong that moment in the Mass when the priest elevates the consecrated Host and the chalice containing the Precious Blood. We acknowledge that Christ is present to us in this mystery in an enduring and substantial way. We contemplate not bread or wine but rather Emmanuel - God with us. It is not only the crucified Lord but the whole of our Lord, glorified in the resurrection, who is made present to us under the form of bread and wine. To this end not only the consecrated Host is holy but also the priest, the Word and the people. Parishioners are encouraged to adore the Blessed Sacrament as well as honour Christ in all the other ways that he is present to us. This means to love one another and forgive each other for our faults: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Pt 2: 9-10)