50 Blood Donations - And The Feast Of Corpus Christi

The other day, I made my 50th donation to the blood bank. To my surprise, the staff gave me a gold pin and a certificate and took my photo for the “heroes” board and made a big fuss of me. I felt like a right superhero for the hour I was there. (Then I went back into traffic and became an ordinary person in the world again.)

I made that donation the day after the Feast of Corpus Christi, when we celebrate the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus. For me, donating plasma in order to save lives takes place in a sanitized clinic, with signed forms and machines and friendly staff, followed by a milkshake and a sausage roll in the refreshments area.

Contrast that with Jesus, when he donated his lifeblood to save lives: he experienced a complete lack of comfort being crucified outside on a hill, all alone except for the vicious soldiers and bystanders cruelly mocking him and his love for the human family he was pouring out his blood to save.

Well, here’s one recipient of Jesus’ life-saving donation that will be thanking him from the bottom of my well-regulated heart (they check that when you donate blood). I’m hoping you will join me in offering Jesus some signs of the fuss we want to make of him for his self-donation of love: a “certificate of gratitude” in choosing to thank him in prayer today for the gift of eternal life, a “gold pin” in the reverence with which we approach the gift of the Eucharist, and a “photo” in the way we imitate his generous service of others. He’s our real hero!

Rosie Drum