Body and
Blood of Christ A 2023
Today we celebrate
the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – the Feast of Corpus Christi. We celebrate the Mystery of the Eucharist.
May we
ponder in faith and in awe the mystery that we celebrate.
Today as we receive
Communion, as we receive the host in our hands at Communion, we are holding the
Body of Christ. We are holding Jesus who
taught us his parables of love and forgiveness for one and all. We are holding in our hands Jesus who walked
on the water. We are holding in our
hands Jesus who died on the cross to save us from our sins.
What a
profound privilege we have to receive the Body and Blood of Christ!
Regrettably,
is it not true, we too easily take for granted this mystery of the Eucharist.
Sad to say,
it is easy to neglect spiritual food.
It’s too easy to skip daily prayer and the weekly celebration of the
Eucharist. We often don’t seem any worse
for the wear and tear. But over the long
haul, we can get out of touch with our deepest spiritual hungers.
The thing of
it is with spiritual hungers; we can be spiritually hungry without being in
touch with our deep hunger. As the great
St. Augustine, you have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are
restless until they rest in thee.
Far from
being a pit stop for fast food and entertainment in the journey of life, the
gift of the Body and Blood of Christ is the necessary sustenance for the
spiritual growth of each member of the community and for the community itself.
As we
reflect on the mystery of the Sunday Eucharist, we are reflecting on the
central prayer of our faith tradition.
We are part of a tradition that is nearly 2000 years old. The Sunday Eucharist is our participation in
the paschal mystery of Christ Jesus. The
Sunday Eucharist satisfies the deepest hungers of the human heart.
As the
congregation approaches the altar and receives communion, it is as if the
Church is filling up with Christ. We are
not only in union with Christ, but we are also in communion with all those who
receive him. The Eucharist is a
community affair, not simply Jesus and me.
We are not only in union with Christ; we are in communion with all those
who receive Christ. This is the meaning
of Church. The Church is a people of God
who are in union with Christ in the mystery of the Eucharist. We are also a people in communion with all
those who receive Christ Jesus in the Eucharist.
There are
some who want us to judge whether a person is worthy or eligible to receive
Communion. I am clearly not in that lane. I believe that none of us are worthy to
receive Communion and so we pray before receiving Communion: Lord, I am not worthy that you should come
under my roof but say but the word and my soul shall be healed.” This is a profound truth that it is the love
and mercy of Jesus that enables us to approach the altar.
As Pope
Francis, the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect; it is medicine for the
sick.
The
Eucharist is our bond of communion with Christ who cleanses us our sins and
unites in marvelous communion with God and gives our dignity to be God’s
beloved sons and daughters. Further, the
Eucharist binds us together with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ
Jesus. We are called to be the Body of
Christ – the bearers of hope and love to people who are sick in body and
spirit.
The Mass is
our greatest prayer; we gather to give thanks to the Lord our God. Yet it is what we do outside the Mass that
also determines the genuineness of the offering we make at the altar each
Sunday. By our mutual love and by our
concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of
Christ. Go in peace glorifying the Lord
by our lives in all that we say and do this day and every day.
As a
Eucharistic community, we gather with an attitude of gratitude. We gather to give, to give thanks to the Lord
our God. We give thanks because we have
been fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord with a food that enables to
live as Jesus lives, to love as Jesus loves, to forgive as Jesus forgives. Amen
Have a
Blessed Day.
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