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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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Body and Blood of
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Body and Blood of Christ - A Cycle - John 6:51-58
Two soldier friends served together in Iraq.
One was a dull fellow. The other was sharp. Yet, there was a chemistry
that made them inseparable. The slow one was wounded. His friend gave
his blood. When the wounded fellow learned whose blood had saved his
life, he said to his companion, "I feel like a new man."
Something similar should take place each time
we receive the Eucharist. We drag ourselves into the Liturgy looking
for a spiritual transfusion, a pick-me-up, a refueling. We need an
adrenaline rocket that will jump start us and get us through the next
six days.
Does any mother's child here still wonder why
the Church
urges us to receive the Eucharist daily? It tells us, "Meet Jesus in
the AM Eucharist and walk with Him throughout the day." Like the
soldier who began this homily, we should feel like a new person.
Receive the Eucharist well and the chances are good that you take on
yourself characteristics of Jesus. That is going first class.
A clever 3rd century Egyptian, Clement of
Alexandria, compares the union of ourselves with Jesus in the Eucharist
to two pieces of wax being fused together. If we were not blood
relations with Him before Communion, we should be after it.
He and we should become family. If we really
give the process a second effort, we can just about put Him down in our
wallet IDs as next of kin. "In case of accident, call Jesus. He is
immediate family." Talk about thoroughbred bloodlines!
The Eucharist is the Gospel made Sacrament; Christ
is both baker and bread. Not by any accident does He use the oldest
known and most nourishing food to give us Himself. (Unknown)
The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ goes
back to
1261 which was a good year for us. Why? Thomas Aquinas was a professor
at the University of Paris. Pope Urban IV had a sharp eye for
superstars. He asked the master Dominican theologian to write a Mass
for the feast. Some good things happily do not disappear into dusty
library shelves. We are still using that Mass formula 700 years after
its birth. This was one professor of theology who was able to pen
lyrical prose.
Fra Thomas of Aquin saluted the Eucharist as
"tantum sacramentum," which translates comfortably into "so awesome a
sacrament." This professor addresses Jesus with these lush words, "In
this sacrament, you are both shepherd and pasture."
Another man, who knew Paris well, was the 20th
century Nobel prize laureate Francois Mauriac. He wrote, "The Eucharist
is what is most real in the world."
Just think of it God in a bit of bread comes to
bring morning into the darkness of our bellies. (Hilda Prescott)
Do notice how clever the Church is. It
situates today's
feast immediately after the celebration of last Sunday's Feast of the
Trinity and the Pentecost the week before that. No matter how you
approach these feasts, the Pentecost and the Trinity both honor an
invisible God. Not so the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ! The
Nazarene is eminently seeable and embraceable. He is warmth personified.
To paraphrase Ignatius of Antioch, in the Eucharist
we not only put our arms around Jesus but more importantly He squeezes
us. He takes our breath away. You cannot get any closer than that.
A boy was critically ill. Only his nine year old
brother had his blood type. He volunteered. As he watched the blood
leaving his body, he asked the doctor, "How soon before I die?" He was
reassured he would live. No one gave that assurance to Christ when He
gave His rare blood type to us. Yet, He gave it willingly.
The best use of life is to spend it for something
that outlasts it. (William James)
A woman showed her biography to friends. It
had only three pages. The first page was black. That she said
represented her sins. The second page was red and it signified the
blood Christ shed for her sins. The third was white. This last page was
herself after being cleansed by the Eucharist. (William Barclay)
Each of us has the first two pages of that
biography. The third only is added when we receive Jesus as our personal
Saviour. Today at this Liturgy is as good a time as any to add that
third page. Think about it.
Introduce others to the Eucharist. The world thirsts
for grace in ways it does not recognize. (Philip Yancey)
Little wonder that in a recent year, 150,000
Americans were baptized as Catholics or received into the full
communion of the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil alone.
Increase that number.
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Body and Blood of
Christ
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The Body and Blood of Christ
Today we focus in on the Eucharist.This is the Solemnity of the
Body and Blood of Christ.
“The
Body of Christ.”We have heard the priest, deacon or Eucharistic
Minister say that to us ever since we first started receiving
communion.But what exactly does it mean? It means more than
flesh and blood, bones and sinews, veins and arteries.After all,
when the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, became
flesh, but he didn’t simply become five to six feet of sheer matter,
organic chemicals.He became a person.He was like us in
all things but sin, as the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer proclaims.
When
Jesus walked the roads of Palestine, he was not a Middle Eastern robot,
triggered by a remote control located in heaven.Jesus was a real
human being.He learned by experience how to shape an idea, how
to talk in Aramaic.He learned by living when anger was justified
and when it was not justified.He wept over the Holy City
Jerusalem that had become anything but holy.He wept over the
death of his friend, Lazarus.He knew what it was like to become
hungry and tired, to be called a madman by his relatives, to have no
place to rest his head.And when he died, he did not pass away
serenely with caring relatives praying as he drifted off into
heaven.He died in agony, one so terrible that the mere thought
of it changed his sweat to blood the night before.
Simply enough, when we say “the Body of Christ,” we mean a human being,
intelligent, sensitive emotional and loving.When we say “the
Body of Christ,” we mean someone so like us that for at least thirty
years his own townspeople saw nothing special about him.That
“body” came out of a mother’s body, “grew in wisdom and years,”
preached his Father’s word and died on the cross, all for one
reason.Never in his thirty-three years of life was there ever a
moment when he could not have declared, “This Body is given for you.”
That
is what the Incarnation of the Son of God, Christmas, is about.
Jesus’ body and his blood are given for you, and given for me.
But why? St. Paul says the answer is easy: “He loved me and gave
himself up for me.”He loves you and gives himself up for
you.He loved us so much that he was willing to be born as we are
born, grow as we grow, die as we will die, although with a far greater
agony than we would ever wish on anyone.Jesus loves us so much
when he left us, he left his risen body with us under the appearance of
bread and wine.This is the body that we celebrate today, the
sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, Jesus Christ, hidden
indeed but remarkably real, for in the Eucharist we receive the Lord,
body and blood, soul and divinity.
The
Body and Blood are given for us.He is there and will be there
till there is no more time in the world.But why?Pope Pius
XII, the Pope of the 1940's and 50's put it this way: When we receive
worthily, we are what we receive.We are transformed into
Christ.
This
is the love that we cannot fathom, “his body is given up for us, from
Bethlehem to Calvary, from a stable to a cross, his body is for us.
Even now, in high heaven or in a host, his body is for us.
“The
Body of Christ,” “Amen.”“The Blood of Christ.”
“Amen.”Jesus, the One from the Father, enters our bodies in the
Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The
mission of the Christian, the reason for our being, yours and mine, is
to make the presence of Christ a reality to the world. We cannot do
this on our own.Life is too complicated.We are too
complicated.I pods and X games, computers of every shape and
size, cell phones that have removed peace from our lives, cars and
bars, we are hostages to the society we have created.We run
around with no time.How can we bring the Gospel, the Good News,
to the world?The Good News can only flow through us when we
become the one we are proclaiming. That is why he gave his body and
blood for us.We are transformed into Christ because the world
needs its Savior.
We
have got to fight against the spiritual laziness that relegates the
Eucharist to a sacramental, as though taking communion is on the same
level as making the sign of the cross with Holy Water.We have to
prepare to receive the Lord, not just in the prayers we say moments
before Mass but in the life we lead the week before Mass.We have
to celebrate the Presence within us, not just in the pews after
communion but in the way we treat others, with the Kindness of the
Lord.
We
have to be mystics in a concrete world, for we have received the
mystical to sanctify the world.
May
the Eucharistic Gift, the Body and Blood of Christ, continue to feed us
and lead us.
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
Body and Blood of
Christ
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Who May Receive Communion?
(May 25, 2008)
Bottom line: While we cannot judge another person's soul, still we
recognize that those involved in certain actions should not come
forward for Communion.
You may have heard about bishops admonishing certain politicians not to
receive Communion. In this instance the politicians had taken public
stands promoting abortion. Since one is Democrat and the other
Republican, clearly the bishops are not acting in a partisan manner.
Still, the bishops' action surprised some people. What business, they
ask, do the bishops have telling someone they should not receive
Communion?
Actually, the bishops were acting out of a long tradition. St. Paul
told the Corinthians to examine themselves carefully before receiving
Communion. Otherwise instead of receiving a blessing they might bring
condemnation upon themselves. And St. Paul identified at least one
person who should not be part of the Church's communion. St. Paul was
not acting on his own. Jesus practiced a similar tough love.
Part of our problem - at least in the United States - is that we have
lost the sense of coherence between Communion and the rest of ones
life. I would like to mention this Sunday that other acts also exclude
a person from Communion. For example, a couple living together without
sacramental marriage should not come forward for Communion. If someone
has missed Sunday Mass without a sufficient reason, they should not
receive Communion until they have gone to confession. At their annual
meeting, the American bishops published a document titled "'Happy Are
Those Who Are Called to His Supper': On Preparing to Receive Christ
Worthily in the Eucharist." It gives specific guidance on who may
receive Communion and when a person should refrain.
The bishops were careful to stress that you and I should not set
ourselves as judges of those who come forward for Communion. For
example, a couple may not be in a sacramental marriage, but they may
have made a special pledge to live as brother and sister. That would
between them and their pastor. If one does have a concern about whether
someone else should refrain from Communion, the first thing to do is to
pray. Maybe you are not the right one to approach that other person.
Maybe God will sense someone else on account of your prayer. And maybe
he will open a door for you to gently guide the other person. It would
be a great act of love.
In today's Sequence, St. Thomas mentions that some receive Communion
for salvation, others to their damnation. The greatest thing you can do
for another person is to be an instrument setting them on the path to
salvation. That is what the bishops were doing when they admonished
Catholic politicians who are promoting abortion. We are not here to
make people into Democrats or Republicans. We are here to help people
become saints. Someday the Republicans and Democrats will be as long
forgotten as the Whigs and the Know Nothings. But the saints will shine
like unquenchable stars.
This Sunday we celebrate the great gift of Communion. Let's humbly ask
the Lord that we may receive him in a way that will lead to salvation.
**********
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Body and Blood of
Christ
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Background:
Today’s passage is part of what is often called Jesus' “priestly
prayer” because he is picture as praying for his apostles, the first
priests. While it is legitimate to see the prayer in this fashion, it
is a narrow interpretation, much too narrow for John’s intent which was
to reassure all those in the community for which he was writing and not
only its leaders. The apostles in this story represent the whole
community, everyone who is embraced by the love of Jesus and therefore
by the love of God. Jesus prays to the Father to take care of each one
of his followers, to protect them from evil, to perfect them in
goodness, to promote their growth in grace. The Irish blessing
summarizes exactly the meaning of this prayer: “Until we meet again,
may God hold you all in the palm of his hand.”
Story:
Once upon a time Mollie Whuppi discovered she had a real problem
with the girls basketball team at Mother Mary High School. Mollie, as
everyone knows, was class president, student body president, captain of
the volleyball, basketball, and chess team, prefect of the sodality
(they still had one at her school) and had the best grades in her
class. The president of the high school often said that she was
delighted that Mollie permitted her to remain in office. To which
Mollie goes, “like REALLY!” Well Mollie did make mistakes. As her boy
friend Joe goes, “she’s like occasionally in error, but NEVER in
doubt.” WELL, the problem on the team was the poor kids that never
played – the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth players on a team which had
only nine really good players. Well, pretty good. So since the games
were always close these other players never got in. And when Mother
Mary would win close games against schools like Lord Jesus high and all
the crowd went wild and hugged those who had played, they ignored the
tenth and eleventh and twelfth players. These young women were good
sports and never complained, but one day Mollie noticed how silent and
sad they were down at the end of the bench. So she goes to the coach,
we have to do something about them. The coach didn’t understand (often
times they don’t, you know). If those girls played, they’d lose. Well,
Mollie wanted to win as much as anyone (maybe a tad more). But she
didn’t like those sad faces on people she liked a lot. So what did
Mollie do? She organized a party at her house for all the basketball
team (Absolutely no BOYS permitted) and praised the tenth, eleventh,
and twelfth players for their hard work and good sports-personship, and
gave each of them a totally neat blouse she had found at the mall.
There was a lot of weeping and hugging. And no more long faces. And
Mollie goes to Joe, like we really have to take care totally of
everyone!
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http://benedictine.stvincent.edu/archabbey/Weeklywords/Weeklywords.html
Body and Blood of
Christ
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May, 25, 2008
John 6: 51-58
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
The Body and Blood of Christ
Gospel Summary
When John records the words of Jesus that "the bread that I shall give
for the life of the world is my flesh," he is giving us his account of
the institution of the Eucharist, which is noticeably absent from its
normal location at the Last Supper. John's radical decision to move
this account from the Last Supper (chapter thirteen) to chapter six can
best be explained by his desire to provide no less than fifty verses of
introduction to this central sacrament. In this introduction, he spells
out in great detail the absolute necessity of faith for a fruitful
reception of the Eucharist. And when John speaks of faith, he always
means a personal decision to replicate in one's own life the
unselfishness of Jesus, which is also the primary meaning of the
Eucharist.
John then goes beyond the other gospels in spelling out the amazing
consequences of both receiving and living the Eucharist. For Jesus goes
on to say, "Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because
of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because
of me". This daring statement implies that the one who participates in
the Eucharist will begin to share the very life of God--the life that
courses between the Persons of the Trinity. Such a life laughs at death
and makes our earthly life seem to be little more than sleepwalking.
Life Implications
The gospel of John was written some sixty years after the resurrection
of Jesus and deals with problems that inevitably occur when a fresh,
new religion begins to settle into a routine of doctrine and ritual. In
this way, the fourth gospel anticipates the perennial problems of a
sacramental religion like Catholicism. And, of course, at the very
center of this religion is the sacrament of the Body and Blood of
Christ.
The problem is easily recognized. Jesus calls his followers to a
radical conversion from the natural but disastrous tendency to be
self-centered to a new kind of life where the concerns and needs of
others become a major factor in all one's decisions. Jesus himself
modeled this ideal by giving his life for us. Small wonder then that
the central sacrament of the Eucharist, representing his Body broken
and his Blood poured out for others, should be the very heart and soul
of Christian teaching and ritual.
Accordingly, the Christian church has surrounded this sacrament with
elaborate ceremony and has made it the subject of fine art and music
and poetry. The great danger is, of course, that we focus on these
externals and fail to live the message of the Eucharist about behaving
unselfishly. Unfortunately, it is quite possible to be very devout in
one's reverence for the Eucharist and still live in a way that is
self-centered, thoughtless and hardhearted. Today's splendid liturgy
should not be allowed to obscure the real meaning of the Eucharist,
which John sums up elsewhere with the words of Jesus, "This is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (15:12).
Finally, the invitation of Jesus to share through the Eucharist in the
very life of God is a wonderful challenge to enter into a mystical
union with God that promises to drive all fear and anxiety out of our
lives. It is infinitely consoling to realize that this is what God
wishes for us and that only our cooperation is required. Unselfish love
is difficult but the rewards are beyond imagining.
Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B.
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Body and Blood of
Christ
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YEAR A
Deut 8, 2-3. 14-16; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"Oh Sacrament most holy, oh Sacrament divine, all praise and all
thanksgiving be every moment thine."
We celebrate today the greatest gift our Lord has left us: His Body and
Blood in the Eucharist. Today after Mass we will adore our Lord, in
union with the Church everywhere, with the customary procession and
benediction for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or, in
Latin, "Corpus Christi". Our Holy Father Benedict in Rome has asked us
to celebrate this feast with care and correctness during this Year of
the Eucharist. The instructions of the Church are clear: a procession
is to be held on this day at the principal Mass of the parish church or
local community. In this way we witness publicly to our faith in Jesus
truly and substantially present in the Eucharist and invite all the
word to salvation in Him.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) we read:
“The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been
raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured
more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole
community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist." (CCC
1322).
The CCC quotes from the teachings of Vatican II when it says in
paragraph 1323: "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our
Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This
he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the
ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved
Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a
sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal
banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us.' "
The Church teaches that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the
Christian life." (CCC 1324) This means that, because Christ is really,
truly and substantially present in the Eucharist, we recognize that all
the graces we enjoy as Catholic Christians come from this great
Sacrament, and all we aspire to, the fullness of the life of God, is
contained in this Sacrament.
“Because God is present in the Sacrament, we have the duty to render
all praise, adoration and reverence to Him. The Church has faithfully
celebrated the Eucharist from the beginning according to the Lord's
command, in particular each Sunday, the day of His Resurrection. As
early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr
for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration, when
he wrote to a pagan emperor to explain Christian worship, around the
year 155. They have stayed the same until our own day.” (CCC 1345).
During this Year of the Eucharist we are exhorted by our Holy Father
Benedict to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi with particular care.
He mentioned that the correctness of our celebration is important. This
means that we should look with attention to the liturgical directives,
whether the rubrics for the Mass of Corpus Christi or the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal to know what particular actions or
preparations are required for a worthy offering of this or any other
liturgical celebration.
The lay faithful are called upon to assist their pastors in the
preparation and celebration of liturgies so that they may be truly
expressive of the people of God. Each minister undertakes his own
proper role for the good of all. Whether helping to carry the canopy
over the Blessed Sacrament in the procession, publicizing the event,
preparing flowers or music, or acting in the roles of acolyte or
cantor. There is plenty to be done to insure that the Lord may be
glorified and his people be blessed with a spirit of joy. The recently
Confirmed and First Communicants can be invited to participate in
special garb. The acolytes of the parish can all participate dressed in
their own liturgical vesture. As well, special music can be prepared
and practiced with the people so that all will be able to actively
participate. The deacons and priests of the parish should all be
invited to join the procession.
Let us take our faith in the Eucharistic Lord to the streets and spread
the joy of salvation in the Lord, who said, “I will be with you
always”.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy" -Father Cusick
(Copy with permission only.) www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Body and Blood of
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Corpus Christi
The inauguration of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated first and foremost
on Maundy Thursday in its natural place the night before Jesus died on
the Cross. But because that celebration takes place very much in the
context of the sadness of the events of Christ’s passion and death, the
Church gives us this second feast in the course of the year to help us
to get to explore more fully the Eucharist, the commemoration of the
Last Supper.
Two Sundays ago we celebrated Pentecost and last Sunday we celebrated
the feast of the Blessed Trinity and now we commemorate the Blessed
Eucharist. There is a certain logic in this sequence of celebrations.
Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church and on the Feast of the Blessed
Trinity we look at the very nature of God himself. Today in the Feast
of Corpus Christi we examine how God continues to make himself present
to his Church, how he sustains and nourishes us. And he achieves all
this principally through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
On the night before he died Jesus gave his disciples a Last Supper. It
was a meal with a difference. It was a meal during which, and through
which, he showed them the very depths of his love.
He gave them special instructions both by word and example; the example
being the washing of feet. And then, as we know, he took the bread,
blessed and broke it and said: this is my body which is given up for
you. Do this as a memorial of me. And then he hid the same with the
wine.
By these actions Jesus brought into focus, and in a mysterious way
actually made present, the events which were to happen on the following
three days.
And through our following out of Jesus’ command, and doing this in
memory of him, in an extraordinary way those same events are made
present here on this altar, and in this Church and in our hearts.
The Last Supper wasn’t an event that was sprung on the apostles out of
the blue. And to prove this we only have to look at today’s Gospel
reading. Jesus takes the five loaves and the two fish and manages to
feed five thousand people.
The incident was clearly meant to be a foreshadowing on the Last Supper
since all the essential elements are present: He took the bread, said
the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to the people. What could be
more Eucharistic than that?
And all had their fill! Here in the celebration of the
Eucharist—whether it be on a high day with hundreds of people, all the
ceremony, altar servers, choirs, bells and smells or quietly and in a
very subdued manner with just a few people on what you might call a
‘low day’—we encounter the Lord Most High and he gives us real
nourishment for our souls. So much nourishment that it would take a
lifetime to begin to appreciate.
“Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the Kingdom of
God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.”
You might think that this first verse of our text today is simply an
introductory scene-setting phrase, but it too is loaded with meaning.
Jesus was talking to the crowds about the Kingdom of God and curing
those who needed healing.
Besides the actual Liturgy of the Eucharist we begin each mass with the
equally important Liturgy of the Word in which, just as in that opening
sentence, we are made welcome, we share the scriptures and we talk
together about the Kingdom of God.
And then there is the aspect of healing; it is in the context of
healing the sick that Jesus feeds the Five Thousand. He heals not only
their bodies but also their souls.
The very word salvation means healing, but not at any superficial level
for the healing that Jesus brings, the healing we find in the
Eucharist, is actually a profound experience of salvation. It permeates
every part of our being.
Yesterday we celebrated the First Communion of ten young children; they
received Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament for the very first time.
It was a great day for them and for their families and indeed for the
whole parish. We take this opportunity to congratulate them and to
assure them of our prayers for a full and faithful Christian life.
We have been speaking about what a profound mystery the mass is and we
know that huge books have been written on the theology of the
Eucharist, we are aware that there are theologians who have worked on
the subject for whole careers and not yet exhausted its depths.
Yet the Church has determined that by the age of seven our young people
have the capability to understand what it is that they are receiving.
This is because the basics are simple. Through the intercession of
Christ the bread and wine are transformed into his body and blood. At
the mass we are united with the Last Supper and here on this altar just
as there in the Upper Room we receive the body and blood of Christ in
the form of bread and wine.
You can go into the metaphysics of it if you like, but it is not
necessary. The Lord who commanded the wind and the waves, who made
water into wine, who by his word healed the paralytic, this same Lord
offers us his body and blood under the form of these simple elements.
Let us praise and thank God for this great gift which enables us to be
united with Christ’s work of redemption in a real and most intimate
way. And let us celebrate this Eucharist in his memory and come to
communion with him as we share his Body and Blood.
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Body and Blood of
Christ |
Feast of Corpus Christi, Cycle A
Readings: Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17; John 6:
51-58
To See and To Embrace God
Introduction
In California we find the giant redwoods, the sequoias. Over 3,000
years ago, when David (1085-1015 B.C.) was King, a thousand years
before Christ, the sequoias already were rooted in the soil of
California.
Standing hundreds of feet tall, we’d think roots of the redwoods must
go deep into the ground. Not so. The roots of each tree are so shallow
they could not support the tree’s height. Only because the roots of
many trees are intertwined with each other can any one tree keep
standing. Should the trees around one redwood be cut down, the lone
standing giant sequoia soon would topple over.
The Church, the Body of Christ
As Christians, we are as intertwined with each other as are the roots
of the redwoods. Gathered as brothers and sisters in Christ, we form
the Body of Christ. As the church, our lives as Christians intertwine
with each other.
We know how families connect with our parish church. Here we were
baptized; and here at church we baptize our sons and daughters. One
child wore the same baptismal gown worn by his mother and her
grandmother. Each baptized in the same baptismal font.
Our First Communion, that was here at our parish church. Photos to be
looked at again and again over the years. The boys, white shirt and
tie. The girls in white dresses. Each child holding a candle. A beaming
smile to celebrate receiving First Holy Communion.
We were married here at our parish church. Youngsters in love, we vowed
to love each other, to have and to hold, till death do we part. Mom
cried that day. Both moms.
When family members died, our parish church offered love. We wake our
loved ones in our church. Here, in front of the altar.
We know, our lives as Catholics intertwine with our parish church.
A second way we intertwine with each other, our roles at Mass. A priest
leads us in prayer at Mass. But, Mass is not a spectator sport.
Parishioners lead us in song or arrange our flowers. The sacristan, a
parishioner, prepares our gifts of bread and wine. A Minister of
Hospitality seats us. After Mass, other parishioners have the coffee
and donuts ready so we can enjoy each other’s company.
A third way we are intertwined with other members of our parish church,
to teach and to witness to our faith. We minister to one another in
marriage preparation to discuss Christian married life with a
prospective bride and groom, or we minister as catechists for baptismal
preparation. Our parishioners teach our Catholic faith to our children,
and to each other in Bible study classes.
Fourth, should one of us get sick, another parishioner, a Minister to
the Sick, brings Holy Communion, prays with the sick person. We care
for each other.
Everything that Christ did, we do, the church does. As members of the
Body of Christ, we are intertwined with each other. We share our faith
with each other, we show love and concern for each other, we join
together to praise God in prayer.
Life Giving Nourishment
But, without nourishment, roots swivel up, the trees die. To feed us,
we have the Body and Blood of Christ, we have the word of God to
sustain us.
Our readings tell us in no uncertain terms that the Body and Blood of
Christ feeds us, gives us life. "Amen, amen," Jesus said, "unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have
life within you." To be alive, we must eat the Body of Christ, for his
"flesh is true food," and drink from the cup, for his "blood is true
drink."
Christ meant what he said. His words were not about symbols, he did not
speak in metaphor. His instructions were a direct violation of Jewish
Law (Leviticus 17:14). In commanding what the Law prohibited, Christ
gave himself, a way for us to be alive in God. He meant what he said.
His "flesh is true food," his "blood is true drink."
Equal in importance to the Body and Blood of Christ, we have the word
of God to nourish us. We hear today from Deuteronomy, "not by bread
alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth
of the Lord." The prophet Amos (8:11) tells us that God will send a
famine on the country, a "famine for hearing Yahweh's word." Do we not
have that famine today? Our headlines report war and violence and acts
of terror. The evening news reports children being kidnaped and
murdered. Does not the world hunger for the word of God, for words of
love?
When the prophet Jeremiah (15:16) heard the word of God, he "devoured
them." Jeremiah called God’s word his "delight and the joy of [his]
heart." As we meditate on the words of Jesus, we realize, God’s word is
true nourishment, Christ becomes our intimate friend.
Our nourishment comes from God himself. By the Body and Blood of
Christ, we take true food and true drink. In hearing the word of God,
we nourish our souls until we become one with Christ.
Our Response, Our Obligations
How do we respond? Our lives intertwine to form the Body of Christ,
nourished by God’s word and by Eucharist, out of reverence to God we
must respond.
A first obligation is to recognize Christ’s presence in each and every
person. Jesus said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains
in me and I in him." By receiving Holy Communion, we become Christ-like.
The third century theologian, Clement of Alexandria, said that when we
unite ourselves with Christ in the Eucharist we fuse together like two
pieces of wax. Brothers and sisters of Jesus, by Holy Communion we
become blood relatives. Christ is our kin! And so is everyone who
receives the Body and Blood of Christ. Our obligation, to recognize
each other as relatives, family with Jesus.
A second obligation, to participate in Mass. Most Catholics are pretty
good at responding to the prayers of the Mass. The celebrant says,
"Peace be with you;" we respond, "And also with you." A non-Catholic
visitor to Mass listened in amazement to the dialogue between the
celebrant and the people at Mass. We answer by second nature.
But, our obligation goes further. When the word is proclaimed, we
should sit erect, in an alert position, ears tuned to listen. This is
God himself speaking to us. Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:16),
"All scripture is inspired by God." Any teacher knows, when the
students slump in their seats, their attention wavers. We are obliged
to be good students. To listen and to learn.
Good participation at Mass includes being silent at times and singing
out at other times. In silence, we pause to appreciate being in God’s
presence. Or, when we sing, we are to sing with full voice. As the
saying goes, God tunes it up. We don’t have to worry about our singing
voice. Only that we sing.
A third obligation, never forget, is to receive Holy Communion. To
actually eat the "real food" and to drink the "real drink." Just
getting to Mass is not enough. Only grave mortal sin should keep us
from Holy Communion. But, if we have committed some awful sin, why have
we not gone to confession before coming to Mass?
So important is receiving Holy Communion, in our Gospel today, Jesus
tells us we must eat his flesh and drink his blood. If we missed such a
clear directive, we’ve failed to listen carefully to the word being
proclaimed at this Mass.
Nourished by God, our lives intertwined as Christians, we have
obligations. We respond by looking for Christ in each other, by
participating fully in Mass. But these responses are not possible
without receiving Holy Communion. At each Mass, we are obliged to eat
the Body of Christ and to drink his Blood.
Conclusion
Today we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ.
Last Sunday, we had Trinity Sunday, and the week before we celebrated
Pentecost. Both Pentecost and Trinity honor an invisible and
untouchable God.
Today’s feast is different. Jesus is here, to see and to embrace. To
celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi is to celebrate Christ among us.
In response, we say, "Thank you, Jesus."
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
the author.
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