THE
P RTAL
July 2017
Page 9
The Precious Blood
of Our Lord
Jesus Christ
Fr Julian Green contemplates Our Lord’s Precious Blood
O
ne of the places in Europe which I have desired to visit for some time, but still have not managed, is
Bruges. While there is a lot about Belgium that perturbs me deeply – not least the availability of assisted
suicide to children, even against the wishes of their parents – I feel very drawn to the city of Bruges for its
devotion to the Precious Blood.
The sumptuously decorated twelfth century Basilica
houses the famous relic of the Precious Blood, a piece
of cloth soaked in blood said to be the Precious Blood
of Christ, stored in a crystal reliquary. The relic, which
is taken in procession through the city’s streets on the
Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, is a reminder of the
reality of the blood which Christ shed for us. As such,
it is not a competitor to, nor a distraction from, the
Precious Blood which is made present, is offered and
received in the Holy Eucharist.
The priesthood of Jesus Christ is greater than the
priesthood which came before. While the priests in
the Temple in Jerusalem offered dumb animals, Jesus
Christ offered the greatest sacrifice possible - himself.
In Jesus, priesthood and victimhood come together as
one. Anyone who wishes to become a priest of Jesus
Christ has to be prepared to accept not only a share in
his priesthood, but also a share in his victimhood.
The priests who, through the Sacrament of Holy
Order, are made one with Jesus so as to become
sharers in his priesthood of mediation between God
and Man have to be ready to offer their whole lives in
the service of Christ. A professionalised priesthood is
no priesthood.
This month of July is traditionally dedicated to the
Precious Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In the older calendar of the Roman Rite, the first of
July is the feast of the Precious Blood. While this feast
day did not survive the liturgical reforms, being united
to the feast of Corpus Christi, to form the hybrid feast
The priesthood isn’t the accumulation of pastoral
of Corpus et Sanguis Christi, the devotional calendar tactics and well-rounded liturgical training. It is about
still maintains the link.
the complete and utter immolation of self on the altar
with the sacrifice we hold in our hands. This is not the
The deeply Eucharistic aspect of the devotion same as the self-immolation of the suicide bomber,
to the Precious Blood leads us to contemplate the who brings only misery and pain and suffering to
reality of Christ’s priesthood. Jesus shed his Blood in others, and annihilation to himself.
fulfilment of all the types or foreshadowings in the Old
Testament. As The Venerable Fulton Sheen would say,
This ‘martyrdom’ of the priesthood is the
there is a scarlet thread which runs throughout the preparedness to allow one’s life to be placed upon the
Old Testament, starting with the slaying of animals to altar of the Cross, so that by losing one’s life, one may
provide clothing for our sinful first parents, through the bring new life to others. But it is not only the ordained
offering of a lamb by Abel, to the thousands of lambs priesthood which shares in this priesthood of Christ.
slaughtered to satisfy the need to feel the forgiveness
of sins from God in the Temple worship in Jerusalem.
All the baptised share in this one priesthood. We are
all called to offer ourselv es to the Father: to become an
All of these sacrifices and offerings of animals had no oblation pleasing in his sight.
intrinsic value to take away sins. They lasted for a time,
but only as a way of pointing towards and sharing in
May this month of the Precious Blood remind us all
the fruits of the offering of the one true Lamb of God, of the call to allow the Precious Blood that we receive
who would be offered once and for all on the Cross. sacramentally, to become a lived reality, in handing
Once the reality has come, there is no longer any need over our lives together with Christ, in the service of
of the shadow, the prefiguring, the foretaste.
God and in the service of the world.