Michel de Verteuil
Corpus Christi is an occasion for us to celebrate the sacrament of the Eucharist.
It should also be an occasion when we enter into the symbolism of this great sacrament, letting it teach us deep lessons about life, our relationship with God and with one another.
Meditation
on the readings for the feast will help us to celebrate the feast in both ways.
St Luke’s account of the miraculous feeding is very helpful as it is both a
teaching on the Eucharist and on Jesus’ way of relating with people.
The story is introduced in verse 11 by a brief summary of Jesus’
ministry: “talking about the kingdom” is a powerful expression referring to the
goal of his life.
Feel free to enter into the story of the feeding at whatever stage touches you.
Verses 12 to 14a set the stage for the miracle. Note the contrasting
responses of Jesus and the twelve.
Verses 14b to 16 describe the feeding. The gestures of Jesus are
reminiscent of the Eucharist, but are highly significant in themselves.
So, too, verse 17 is symbolical both of the Eucharist and of life.
Prayer reflection
Lord, we thank you for the Holy Eucharist.
Every Sunday, all over the world, people sit down in their church communities.
The priest takes the bread and wine,
raises his eyes to heaven and says the blessing over them,
then he breaks the bread and distributes it among the crowd.
We all get as much nourishment as we want,
and when we are finished the remains of the bread
is collected and reverently stored.
Lord, many in our country are being fed
with nourishment that is unworthy of their humanity.
We pray that those of us to whom you have given the priceless gift of education
may be like Jesus in our society, making the crowds welcome,
talking to them about the glorious kingdom you have prepared for us,
curing all those who need to be healed.
“The poor must recover their hope.” … Pope John Paul II in Haiti,
1982
Lord, we pray that in every country your Church may be the presence of Jesus,
curing the poor of the terrible disease of despair,
speaking to them about the kingdom you are establishing in the world.
“The world has enough for every man’s need, but not enough for every man’s
greed.” ..Gandhi
Lord, often
today we see pictures of hungry people,
– mothers with ghostly babies at their breasts,
– children with swollen bellies,
– long lines of people outside food stores.
Like the disciples of Jesus, we say,
“Why can’t they go to villages and farms round about them to find lodging and
food?”
Now and then the thought comes to us
that we should give them something to eat ourselves,
but we quickly dismiss that as impractical. We find all kinds of excuses:
– we are in a lonely place here;
– we have no more than five loaves and two fish;
– are we to go ourselves and buy food for all these people?
Lord, your solution is really quite simple:
sit people down in small communities;
take whatever five loaves and two fish you have;
raise your eyes to heaven and say the blessing over them;
break the bread and hand it around to be distributed among the crowd.
Not only would all eat as much as they want,
but when the remaining scraps are collected, we will fill many baskets.
Lord, it is an extraordinary thing:
if we complain about the little we have, we never have enough;
but if we take what we have, raise our eyes to heaven and say the blessing over
it,
we have as much as we want, and even twelve baskets of scraps left over.
“People come to us looking for the bread of compassion and we give them the
stone of advice.” …A modern psychologist
Lord, so long as we look on people as objects of our attention,
saying to ourselves that when late afternoon comes
we will send them away to the villages and farms round about to find lodging
and food,
and that we don’t have to give them something to eat
from the five loaves and two fish we have,
we will never be true followers of Jesus.
Lord, have mercy.
******************************************
Thomas O’Loughlin,
Introduction to the Celebration
Since the very first days of the church — before St Paul had set out on his
journeys or any of the gospels were written — our brothers and sisters have
been gathering every week for this sacred meal. But when we routinely do
anything, we often lose sight of just how wonderful it is.
So
today we are reflecting on just how wonderful it is to be called by the Lord to
gather in his presence, to be his guests at his table, and to eat and drink
from his wonderful bounty. In this banquet we become one with Christ, and are
transformed into being his Body, and his Blood flows in all our veins giving us
the strength to be his witnesses in the world and the life that never ends.
Gospel Note
From the beginning the Eucharist was understood within the pattern of Christ’s
meals/feedings, so already when this story was incorporated by Luke into his
text, it had Eucharistic significance: his meal is one of miraculous abundance
for all.
Homily Notes
1. The whole point of today is to cause us to
reflect that we encounter the mystery of Christ in events which belong
simultaneously to this world and to the world to come. As Jesus Christ is the
sacrament between the mystery of God and our humanity, so he has left us the
sacraments, above all this meal, as the means by which we encounter, here and
now, the future banquet of heaven.
The
Eucharist is the ‘mystical meal’ (the language of the eastern churches), and
the sacrum convivium … pignus futurae gloriae (Aquinas). Thus sacraments are
something that are best understood through experiencing them, rather than
hearing lectures upon them. So rather than try to deepen some mental awareness
about the Eucharist with a homily, enhance the actual quality of the
celebration. Here is an action plan:
2.
(Step A) If you live in an area where drinking from the cup is not
standard (e.g. Ireland), then introduce it today.
(Step B) If you live where communion ‘under both species’ is normal
(most English-speaking countries) then procure some of the very large breads
that allow for a genuine fraction. The key to the symbolism of the Eucharistic
meal is not bread as a generic substance, but a single loaf of bread. This has
simultaneously the notion of scattered grains gathered into a unity – one loaf
– and the notion of each person having a share (literally: participating) in
that loaf which is Christ.
(Step
C) If you are actually doing in the liturgy what we say we do
(breaking the loaf, drinking the cup) then arrange for the congregation to
stand around the table, become actual ‘circumstantes’, for the Liturgy of the
Eucharist. The normal arrangement is that of a sanctuary which is akin to the
teacher’s part of the classroom or the stage in a theatre, and those in the
audience / class area watch on and answer invitations to speak. Yet we are
always talking about being ‘gathered around the Lord’s table’ – so give people
the actual liturgical experience.
3. The experience of the liturgy should act as a pointer,
through faith, from what happens here to another reality. When the liturgy is
celebrated in a minimalist, token fashion it is its own undoing. Then what
actually happens (you go into a pew, listen to words, see the altar up there,
walk up to communion, taste a little round pre-cut wafer that does not seem
like bread, and then move off) must first point to what should happen here (look
at the liturgy’s formulae), before, it can point beyond this dimension to the
mystery. When your liturgy demands this double pointing (we got away with it
pre-1965 in Latin for the linguistic inaccessibility was a mystical screen, an
iconostasis, which made just being there enough), it sends out a signal that it
is just a ritual of words. And when the Eucharist appears to be just that, then
people vote with the feet – and they are doing so!
****************************
3. Sean
GoanL
Gospel
You
might expect that on a feast to commemorate the Eucharist we would be reading a
text describing the last supper. However, since the last days of Jesus life
were vividly recalled during Holy Week, we are now invited to reflect upon the
meaning of the events and that is why today we are considering the miracle
of the loaves and fishes. This was a highly symbolic act on the part of
Jesus because, not only does it echo the Old Testament miracle of the manna in
the wilderness, it also indicates Jesus’ desire to nourish his followers as
they journey with him on the road of faith. The Eucharist is precisely that,
and every time we gather for it we recognise that we are pilgrims in need of
the sustenance that only God can give.
Reflection
When
Jesus said ‘do this in memory of me it is clear that he was not only referring
to his actions relating to the bread and wine. He was asking his followers to
live out this symbol of his life giving love. This is made very clear in the
fourth gospel where, instead of the Passover meal, John reports that Jesus
knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples and afterwards told them that
they must do the same.
The Eucharist as a sacrifice and meal involves us not simply in a prayerful
ritual but also commits us to a way of relating to each other. If we are truly
devoted to the Lord’s presence in Holy Communion then we will also be truly
devoted to his presence in the community, especially in those who are most in
need.
********************************************
4. Donal Neary S.J.
Sacrifice and gift
Many people have memories of the Corpus Christ procession
when the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was brought around the parish.
All groups in the parish were represented. Children scattered petals before the
host and houses were decorated. The meaning of the feast was to bring the Lord
into the streets of his people and to appreciate the gift he gives us of
himself in the Eucharist. This procession still takes part in many places.
On
Holy Thursday we also celebrate the Eucharist, but in another way It is more of
the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. We unite ourselves with his offering that
brought him to death, and look forward to the resurrection when the risen Lord
would be present in many ways among people, including in the form and shape of
bread and wine. On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the emphasis is
more on gift than on sacrifice.
The Eucharist as Gift
This is what he wishes to leave us as a gift forever. It is the way he could
give himself forever in a very close way, so that this is his gift of ‘food for
the journey’
We need this gift. We need to know certainly that God is close with us in life,
and the Eucharist at Mass gives us this certainty. We need to know that God is
really present in our lives, and we know this in the real presence of the
Eucharist.
Lord in this Eucharist today I welcome you into my life;
help me to live like you and love like you. Amen.
******
THE WORD: Taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven, Jesus said the blessing over them, broke them, and
gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
Luke 9: 11-17Today’s celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord originated
in the Diocese of Liege in 1246 as the feast of Corpus Christi. In the
reforms of Vatican II, the feast was joined with that of the Precious Blood
(July 1) to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We
celebrate today the Christ’s gift of the Eucharist, the source and summit of
our life together as the Church.
Today’s Gospel is Luke’s account of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with five
loaves of bread and two pieces of fish (the only one of Jesus’ miracles
recounted in all four Gospels). As he does throughout Luke’s Gospel,
Jesus performs a miracle out of his deep sense of compassion for the suffering
and needy – but, first, Jesus asks the Twelve to gather up whatever they can
from the community; with these few, shared gifts Jesus creates a community of
thanksgiving, a community of Eucharist.
HOMILY POINTS:
A sacrament, St. Augustine said, is the visible sign of God’s invisible grace.
The gifts we give to one another are sacramental when they manifest the love
and mercy of God; they are Eucharistic when they transform us into a community
bound by that love.
In our sharing of the body of Christ, we are called to become the
body of Christ for one another: to make the limitless, complete love of Christ
reality for all.
Christ calls us to be both guests and waiters at his table. We come here
with our struggles and doubts and pains and sorrows to be fed and nourished; at
the same time, the Eucharist should impel us to become Eucharist for others --
to make the limitless, complete love of Christ real for all in our own acts of
charity and kindness.A PBJ blessed and broken for you
While the kids are getting dressed for school, Mom is in the kitchen making
their lunches. Katie likes her sandwiches cut in quarters; Bobby prefers
strawberry jam. As she packs the sandwiches, she smiles, imagining the
delighted look on their faces when they open the dessert treats she places in the
bag. What she is doing is a sacrament – not the miracle of
transubstantiation, but certainly parallel to it, moving in the same direction.
If she could give her love to her children to consume again and again,
like the loaves and fishes going endlessly into their mouths and stomachs, she
would do it in an instant.
A few days before Christmas, the kids take over the kitchen to make Christmas
cookies. Mom is there too, more to protect her kitchen than to
supervise. Truth be told, the cookies that result are anything but
spectacular – the reindeer-shaped cookies look more like fat cocker spaniels,
the Santa cookies bear no ready resemblance to the jolly old elf, and the red
and green sparkles are piled on rather than sprinkled. But the kids have a
ball – and are making memories that they will remember long after they
celebrate this same messy sacrament with their own children.
Her heart is breaking for her friend and all that she and her family have had
to endure: the diagnosis, the difficult surgery, the chemotherapy, the unknown
future. All she can do for her is pray – and make lasagna. And so
she does. Two or three times a week she takes her turn making some hot
dish for her friend and her family. The food that she and the other
friends prepare is nothing less than sacrament – compassion and concern made
real in cheese and meat sauce.
[Suggested from a story by Andre Dubus.]
A sacrament, St. Augustine said, is the visible sign of God's invisible
grace. The gifts we give to one another are sacramental when they
manifest the love and mercy of God; they are Eucharistic when they transform us
into a community bound by that love. Today's feast of the Body and Blood
of the Christ celebrates Christ's gift of the Eucharist, the source and summit
of our life together as his Church. In our sharing of the body of Christ,
may we become the body of Christ for one another – to make the limitless,
complete love of Christ real for all.
*****
The first reading from the book of Proverbs extols the
creative power of God in the wonders of the Universe. As we contemplate God's
handiwork ranging from sky to sea, we can't help but reaffirm our faith in
God's power. We become especially aware of his presence in our lives as we
sometimes are confronted by disorder and chaos; when we are caught up in
disasters and accidents and yet miraculously saved. What is said of the wisdom
of God could be applicable to us as well. "When he established the heavens
I was there ... I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing
in his inhabited world." We may doubt it but we are always in the mind of
God. He is the Creator-God, the Father-God, who delights in us, His children.
The Wonder of Wonders
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken
blind and deaf for a few days sometime during his adult life. Darkness would
make him more appreciative of sight. Silence would teach him the joys of
sounds. Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see.
Recently I asked my friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods,
what she had seen. "Nothing in particular," she replied. How was it
possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing
of note? I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere
touch. I feel the delicate design of a leaf, I pass my hands lovingly about the
smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I
touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of
awaking nature after winter's sleep. Sometimes if I am fortunate, I place my
hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy shake of a bird in full song.
Helen Keller in 'A Source Book of Inspiration'
In today's gospel Jesus tells his disciples in one of his final discourses that
he had come to reveal the Father, this was his mission and the purpose of his
life. He had come from the Father and he was going back to the Father, but he
had much more to reveal and say to them. All that he wished to say to them
would be revealed only when they received his Spirit. It was through the Spirit
that they would understand the Father and the Son of God. The special way in
which God the Holy Spirit gave glory to God the Son, seems to have been his
revealing him as the Son of the Father, who had appeared as the Son of man.
From the gospels we know that though Peter acknowledged Jesus as the 'Son of
God' he did not understand what he was saying. So did the centurion, who at the
crucifixion acknowledged and said, "Truly, this was the son of God."
In our own lives, though we claim that Jesus is our Saviour and Lord, we do not
understand the implications or the consequences. Only when we are enlightened
by the Spirit will we truly know and acknowledge that Jesus is Saviour and
Lord.
The voice of God speaking…
Walker Percy, in 'Lost in the Cosmos' muses ironically about
the strange fate of post moderns, who spend millions trying to get chimps to
talk and billions on space stations attentively listening for an
extraterrestrial blip that might speak to us. At the same time these very
people have no time to listen to one another and still less time to hear
anything that God has to say to them. Percy ends his 'Lost in the Cosmos' with
a fantasy that spaceship earth is indeed addressed by an extraterrestrial
being. A persistent signal questions us: "Repeat. Do you read? Do you
read? Are you in trouble? How did you get in trouble? If you are in trouble
have you sought help? If you did, did help come? If it did, did you accept it?
What is the character of your consciousness? Are you conscious? Do you have a
self? Do you know who you are? Do you know what you are doing? Do you love? Do
you know how to love? Are you loved? Do you hate? Do you read me? Come back.
Repeat. Come back. Come back. Come back..."
Anonymous
How to attain wisdom
A young man asked Socrates how he could get wisdom. Socrates replied,
"Come with me." He took the lad to a river, pushed his head under
water, held it there until he was gasping for air, and then released his head.
When the lad regained his composure, Socrates asked him, "What did you
desire most when you were under water?" "I wanted air", said the
lad. "Did you think of anything else" asked Socrates. "Are you
joking? How could I?" the lad remarked. Socrates smiled and said to him,
"You wanted air so badly, you could think of nothing else. In a similar
way if you want to attain wisdom earnestly, you will get it." - We attain
our spiritual desire, we attain God, if we desire Him above all things in life.
Francis Xavier in 'The world's best Inspiring Stories'
Do we see God? - It's a matter of perspective!
A shoe company in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, sent two of its top salesmen to an
African country to analyze its capital as a new market for shoes. The two men
stepped out of the plane and as they went around, they saw that almost every
person in sight was barefoot. One of the men was discouraged and sent a cable
back to his company: "No one here wears shoes. No chance of a new market.
Coming home." However, the other man saw the situation in a different
light and cabled: "No one here wears shoes. Great opportunity! Double my
first order!!
Daniel Sunderaj in 'Manna for the Soul'
Something happened that night
Henry Kissinger in his book Years of Upheaval narrates one
incident that took place the night before President Nixon resigned. Kissinger
was at home having dinner with his wife, Nancy, his children and columnist
Joseph Alsop, when Nixon phoned and asked him to come right away to the White
House. When Kissinger arrived, he found Nixon slouched in a brown chair. A thin
beam of light from a small reading lamp fell on a yellow pad in his lap. The
rest of the room was in shadows. The two talked about many things. Then about
midnight, Kissinger got up to leave. Nixon escorted him to the elevator.
Suddenly Nixon stepped just outside the door of the Lincoln bedroom. He asked
Kissinger to kneel in prayer with him. Nixon recalls that both knelt. Kissinger
does not recall if he knelt or not. He does recall, however, being "filled
with a deep sense of awe" and not knowing "what to pray for."
-The image of Kissinger kneeling in the darkness, filled with awe and not
knowing what to pray for is a good image of many of us as we consider today's
feast of the Holy Trinity. We too are filled with awe, but we don't know what
to pray for or how to pray to the Trinity. But it does not matter, for the
Spirit prays with us and in us and leads us to the Father.
Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies'
"There are cathedrals famous for their stained-glass windows. Such windows
looked at from the outside are not remarkable, but from inside -what a world of
colours we see! The mystery of the Trinity may have something similar about it.
It can be made into a cold abstract doctrine, instead of the glowing centre of
our life. We are so small and weak on this earth of ours, this cradle of clay
from which we look at the unreachable stars. But one day someone did come to
open up men's horizons. His manner of acting had a quiet strength, like the
light of a warm dawn overcoming darkness; his words had the power to lift men
up and give them back their strength. For all that, rather than draw the forces
of love he released to himself, he always directed them to his Father, from
whom he held his very being. Those who lived with him and heard his word could
not understand it straight off. When he disappeared from their sight, having
loved them as no one else had done, they found they were not abandoned. An
inner strength, his spirit guided them towards the complete truth of him whose
path they had shared for a time. It was like an ongoing unveiling of the
meaning of what he had said and done once for all - the discovery, as it were,
before their eyes, of the Christian meaning of history and salvation. "
Glenstal Bible Missal
The Spirit comes to set us free...When I was growing up in the country,
there was a man who used to come around from time to time buying hens. He would
buy a hen, tie her legs with a bit of string, and throw her into the back of
his donkey-drawn cart. One day he decided to give us local yokels a lesson in
hen psychology! He took a penknife out of his pocket, reached into the cart,
and snipped the twine tying the legs of one of the hens. I was convinced the
hen would fly away, but I discovered that the man knew more about hens than I
did! The hen was free, but she didn't know she was free, because all the other
hens around her were not free! He was convinced that the only time the hen
would fly away would be if he snipped the twine tying the legs of all the hens.
In that case they would all fly away. It is so easy for any of us to forget
that we are free, that we have the Spirit who leads us into all truth, and that
the Spirit will set us free.
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel truth'
The Three Hermits
Leo Tolstoy relates the folk-tale of 'The Three Hermits' current
among the Russian villagers. A bishop visited a lonely island where three holy
men were living for the salvation of their souls. All the three hermits were
very old, past hundred years. For the most part they lived in silence, and
spoke but little even to one another. "Tell me," said the Bishop,
"what do you do to save your souls, and how do you serve God on this
island?" The oldest one said, "We help each other and pray thus:
"Three are You, Three are we, have mercy on us." And when the old
hermit said this, all the three raised their eyes to heaven and repeated:
"Three are You, Three are we, have mercy on us." The Bishop smiled
and said, "You have evidently heard something about the Holy Spirit. But
you do not pray aright. I will teach you to pray." He proceeded to explain
to them how God had revealed himself as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He
then began to teach them how to pray the Our Father and made them repeat it
after him. But as the prayer progressed, they being old fumbled and could not
repeat it completely. As it was getting late the bishop took leave from them
and boarded ship but the old hermits followed him shouting, "We have
forgotten your teaching. As long as we kept repeating we remembered it but when
we stopped saying it for a time we have forgotten parts of it. Teach us
again." The Bishop crossed himself and leaning over the ship said, "Your
own prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you. Pray
for us sinners." And the Bishop bowed low before the old men; they turned
and went back across the sea. And a light shone until daybreak on the spot
where they were lost to sight.
John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies'
Binding Relationships
In America in the 1860's, when covered wagons were heading west, the leaders
always dreaded the fording of the River Platte. The current was so changeable
in the broad, muddy stream that not even experienced scouts could tell where
the pockets of quicksand and potholes lay. When an ox-team got stuck, the wagon
was usually overturned, dumping family and possessions into the river. The
difficulty was easily overcome. When a large number of wagons had arrived at
the river, the Oxen from all of them were hitched together in a long line to
pull each of the families across in turn. Even though one team in the long line
floundered, there were always enough on sure footing to keep the wagon on the
move.
Anonymous
Today’s reading alludes to the kinds of sacrifices the ancient Jews offered and
the use of blood. The blood used was a sign of the Israelites’ ‘covenant’, a
special word the Hebrews borrowed from others. As their neighbours used the word,
it was a pact or contract, between unequal parties, like the king and his
subjects, a landowner and his tenants; a pact freely entered into, binding
perpetually, and sealed in blood. Moses is referring to the pact and covenant
with God and this pact was sealed with a sacrifice, a religious act of worship
offered to God alone. Moses splashed the blood on the altar of sacrifice,
representing God and he splashed the remaining on the people, binding the two
together. The people would honour the pact by agreeing to keep the commandments
and being faithful to God, in return for his protection of them. Furthermore
the people identified with the sacrifice by eating a portion of the victim
being offered. Meal sharing was regarded as very sacred in antiquity. One did
not sit down to eat with the enemy. But, by eating, one signified acceptance
of, and respect for the person providing the meal.
Blood Brothers
Jesuit Ignacio Ellacuria of El Salvador, Franciscan Maximilian Kolbe of Poland,
Sr. Rani Maria and Australian missionary Graham Staines murdered in north
India, appear very diverse in their lifestyles, yet. little divided them in
death. All these are martyrs who shed their blood that others might live. They
represent modern ‘bodies of Christ’. Today, celebrating the feast of the body
and blood of Christ, we could reflect on the sacramental symbols of blood and
body and our Christian calling. -Some years ago, Jesuit philosophers of Satya
Nilayam in South India, formed a group called ‘Blood Brothers’ comprising of students
who were willing to regularly donate blood. Indeed, we are all truly ‘blood
brothers and sisters’ saved by the supreme sacrifice of our elder Blood
Brother, Jesus. Moreover, Martyrs like Ellacuria, Kolbe, Staines and Rani Maria
are but representatives of a long list of ‘blood brothers and sisters’ whose
life was truly Eucharistic. May the Corpus Christi called ‘Church’ be ever
willing to break itself and bleed in selfless service of society at large.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
In today’s gospel we have Mark’s account of the Last Supper. Most of the
gospel, the longest part, has to do with the preparation for the meal. This was
no haphazard, hurried, get-together. It was planned to the last detail. It was
a sacred event and deserved to be treated as such. This last meal was be
celebrated in peace, to savor the gift that was being offered. Jesus was
continuing something that had been going on as the Jews’ way of offering
worship and love to God and thanks for their deliverance since they left Egypt-
the Paschal meal. Mindful of the sacredness of that meal, Jesus was careful to
do in correct minute detail what had been prescribed. What He did in the Upper
Room was, first of all, an adaptation of the Passover of the past. The Passover
meal was also an anticipation of Jesus’ offering of himself and a commemoration
for the people of the future. In addition to being an adaptation of the past
and an anticipation of the future, what Jesus did at the Passover was important
for what he was doing now. “This is the blood of the covenant,” he said. He was
signing the covenant with his own blood which will be poured out for mankind.
Given for you
A key event in the life of the Jews was their escape from Egypt and the
anniversary for this milestone became the most significant festival in their
religious calendar. It was steeped in traditional ritual requiring detailed
preparations. So when Jesus sent the disciples to prepare for their Passover
feast, it caused no surprise. But when he changed the traditional blessing over
the bread and wine in order to give us his Body and Blood, The disciples must
have been truly astounded and did not grasp the wonder of what he had done
until the fullness of the Spirit came upon them. The feast of Corpus Christi is
a reminder and a celebration of God’s gift of himself to us and a pledge of
eternal life and resurrection. This is our faith and our hope. Tom Clancy in ‘Living the Word’
‘Why’ is more important than ’how’
A modern theologian, Tad Guzie, in a book called Jesus and the Eucharist,
begins his explanation of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist with a
very simple but valuable distinction. He maintains that there are two questions
to be asked in order to get to the fullness of any reality: the empirical
question (what happened?) and the human question (What does it mean for human
beings?). “A young man places a rose on a patch of ground outside the city
limits on the third day of May every year.” “A middle-aged woman eats one
soft-boiled egg and one slice of protein-enriched bread, toasted and without
butter, for breakfast daily for twenty years.” These are clear statements about
actual realities but, they can be banal and uninteresting. When we learn that
the young man is placing the rose on the grave of his grandmother whose
birthday was May 3, a woman who took him in when his parents deserted him,
raised him by herself as a widow, then we see clearly why the human question is
far more important than the empirical question. When we learn the breakfast-eater
is a woman whom the doctors gave up on twenty years ago, a woman who has
disciplined herself to ear exactly what will keep her delicate health in
balance, a woman determined to continue her career as an activist social worker
and willing to made any sacrifice necessary to do so, a woman who would be dead
if she overate slightly then we see again why the question of meaning is
enormously more significant than the question of simple fact. -Jesus Christ is
really present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. This is a fact of faith.
But since the first great controversies of the ninth century about how Christ
is present, we seem to have placed far too much emphasis on figuring out the
fact and not really enough on its meaning.
Eugene Laeur in ‘Sunday Morning Insights’
Jesus is here
Sr. Briege McKenna tells a story that she witnessed in some Latin American
country. She was there to conduct a healing service, as part of a Mass. The
locale was unusual, in that it was in the midst of a city dump, where most of
these people lived, and from which they scraped and gathered whatever they
could to keep body and soul together. The altar was a large cardboard box, and
five priests concelebrated the Mass. Just before the consecration, a little
woman made her way to the front, carrying what looked like a bundle of rags.
She placed the package right there on the makeshift altar. Briege was shocked
to discover that the rags contained a tiny baby, and the baby was so badly
burned that there was a stench of burned and rotting flesh. She looked towards
the priest beside her, who assured her that he had no problem, and to allow the
baby remain there. At the consecration, there was a spontaneous outburst of
acclamation from the vast gathering, who had nothing of this world’s goods, but
who had living faith in the Eucharistic presence. ‘Viva Christo Rex! Viva
Christo Rex!’ they repeated again and again, and, in Briege’s mind, the
consecration seemed to go on forever. She had her eyes closed and she was
experiencing profound emotion in the midst of such an outburst of faith. When
things quietened down, she opened her eyes and, at once, she noticed that the
baby had been removed from the altar. A short distance away, the mother
held the baby, as tears rolled down her cheeks, and the people around her began
to look in her direction. Briege took a few steps forward and, to her
amazement, the child was totally healed, and all the signs of the burns had
disappeared. With a deep sense of awe, she asked the mother what had happened.
The mother looked at her, and without the slightest hesitation, or any great
sense of puzzlement, she simply whispered: ‘Jesus is here.’ These are the signs
… look around and see for yourselves…Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth!’
Sharing the meal for the last time
For all of us there comes a last time for doing the litany of familiar things
that we do always. There is the last time we see our family and friends; the
last time we write a letter, hear a name spoken share a family meal. Perhaps it
is a mercy that most of us don’t know when the last time arrives, that we are
never sure when our goodbyes have the accent of finality. Even the dying can
still hope that they will feel again the comfort of human touch, will hear the
blinds being drawn, will smell the promise of breakfast. There is always a
crazy hope that there will be another time.- In today’s Gospel Jesus prepares
for the last time with his friends: he knows that the final moments are upon
him. This is to be the last opportunity for him to share with his followers.
Preparations are carefully made; the last meal must be celebrated in peace, to
savour the gift that will be offered. The gift is a surprise. Jesus gives
himself. Literally. “Take it, this is my body… This is my blood…” The close association
that Jesus has had with his followers is about to come to an end. That
fellowship will be renewed in full only in the kingdom of God, when they will
all drink a new wine together. In the meantime, the followers of Jesus must
gather to share a simple memorial meal. Until the fullness of the kingdom the
sharing of that meal must satisfy their hunger for God, their longing for the
presence of Jesus. The meal of fellowship has to be enough for them. As it has
to be enough for us. Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’
The Blessing Cup
Leonardo da Vinci was 43 years old when the Duke of Milano asked him to paint
the Last Supper. He worked on it slowly and with meticulous care to detail. He
spent much time making the cup that Jesus held as beautiful as possible. After
three years he was ready to show it, and he called a friend to come and see it.
He said, “Look at it and give me your opinion.” The friend said, “It is
wonderful. The cup is so real I cannot take my eyes of it!” Immediately,
Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup. He exclaimed as he
did so: “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!” Christ must be the
primary focus of a Christian’s life.
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
Like our Lord who gave himself fully to others, may we live and love to
give!
****
For Kerala Muslim man, Catholic priest brings the gift of
life
Fr Sebastian (L), RASAD MUHAMMAD
Diagnosed with chronic kidney disease a year-and-a-half ago,
30-year-old Rasad Muhammad's hope of living had sunk with each passing day as a
donor remained elusive. Until last month, when his saviour appeared suddenly —
in the form of a Christian priest he had never met before.
February 25, 2013 was a unforgettable day for Rashad on
which he met Father Sebastian in a bus to the hospital. Rasad had boarded
a bus from Aluva to go to Kochi for his check-up. Fr Sebastian, who is
associated with the Catholic Goodness TV, and who was then not wearing his
cassock, was seated next to him.
"He looked very weak and burdened. He told me the story of his tragedy and
his desperate search for a kidney donor," Fr Sebastian said. "I was
seized of the pain of a life facing death. I made a cursory query about his
blood group, which matched mine."
For the priest from Idukki, the fortuitous match held special significance. It
signalled to him the end of his silent quest to practise what he had been
preaching.
"Inspired by the story of Fr Davis Chiramel, who had donated one of his
kidneys to a Hindu man in 2009, I had been longing to make the same sacrifice.
Somewhere, I hoped, I would meet the deserving person. What mattered to me most
was that the decision would save a life. I realised that the person seated
beside me in the bus was the most deserving person,'' he said.
The following day, they went to the hospital to start the procedure for
donation and transplant. The tests have been positive. "A few counseling
sessions and a final nod from the medical board remain. In all probability, the
transplant will take place within a month," said the priest.
****
ILLUSTRATIONS: (Courtesy to Fr. Tony Kadavil and others)
1: “I would like to say Mass.” Dominic Tang, the
courageous Chinese archbishop, was imprisoned for twenty-one years for nothing
more than his loyalty to Christ and Christ’s one, true Church. After he had
spent five years of solitary confinement in a windowless, damp cell, he was
told by his jailers that he could leave it for a few hours to do whatever he
wanted. Five years of solitary confinement and he had a couple of hours to do
what he wanted! What would it be? A hot shower? A change of clothes? Certainly,
a long walk outside? A chance to call or write to family? What would it be? the
jailer asked him. “I would like to say Mass,” replied Archbishop Tang. [Msgr.
Timothy M. Dolan, Priests of the Third Millennium (2000), p.
216]. The Vietnamese Jesuit, Joseph Nguyen-Cong Doan, who spent nine years in
labor camps in Vietnam, relates how he was finally able to say Mass when a
fellow priest-prisoner shared some of his own smuggled supplies. “That night,
when the other prisoners were asleep, lying on the floor of my cell, I
celebrated Mass with tears of joy. My altar was my blanket, my prison clothes
my vestments. But I felt myself at the heart of humanity and of the whole of
creation.” (Ibid., p. 224). Today’s feast of the Most Holy Body and
Blood of Jesus constantly calls us beyond ourselves to sacrificial love for
others.
2: The greatest work of art in St. Peter’s Basilica: One of
the seminarians who gives tours of St. Peter’s told me of an interesting
incident. He was leading a group of Japanese tourists who knew absolutely
nothing of our Faith. With particular care, he explained the great masterpieces
of art, sculpture and architecture. He finally concluded at the Blessed
Sacrament Chapel, trying his best to explain quickly what it was. As the group
dispersed, an elderly man, who had been particularly attentive stayed behind,
and said, “Pardon me. Would you explain again this ‘Blessed Sacrament?’” Our
student did, after which the man exclaimed, “Ah, if this is so, what is in this
chapel is a greater work of art than anything else in this basilica.” (Msgr.
Timothy M Dolan in Priests of the Third Millennium, 2000 p.
226). Today’s feast of Corpus Christi is intended to make us
value and appreciate the worth of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
3: Communion on the moon: The Lord’s Supper
ensures that we can remember Jesus from any place. Apollo 11 landed on the moon
on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most remember astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first words
as he stepped onto the moon’s surface: “That’s one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.” But few know about the first meal eaten on the
moon. Dennis Fisher reports that Buzz Aldrin, the NASA Astronaut had taken
aboard the spacecraft a tiny pyx provided by his Catholic pastor. Aldrin sent a
radio broadcast to Earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of the day
and give thanks. Then, blacking out the broadcast for privacy, Aldrin read, “I
am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruit.” Then, silently, he gave thanks for their successful journey to the
moon and received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist surrendering moon to Jesus. Next,
he descended on the moon and walked on it with Neil Armstrong. (Dan Gulley:
“Communion on the Moon”: Our Daily Bread: June/July/August 2007).
His actions remind us that in the Lord’s Supper, God’s children can share the
life of Jesus from any place on Earth — and even from the moon. God is
everywhere, and our worship should reflect this reality. In Psalm 139 we are
told that wherever we go, God is intimately present with us. Buzz Aldrin
celebrated that experience on the surface of the moon. Thousands of miles from
earth, he took time to commune with the One who created, redeemed, and
established fellowship with him. (Dennis Fisher)
4. “Do you think two cases of whiskey are enough?” There was to be a Baptismal party for the new baby of a soldier and his wife at their home on an Army base. Before the ceremony the chaplain took the new father aside. “Are you prepared for this solemn event?” he asked. “I guess so,” replied the soldier. “I’ve got two hams, pickles, bread, cake, cookies……” “No, no!” interrupted the chaplain. “I mean spiritually prepared!” “Well, I don’t know,” said the soldier thoughtfully. “Do you think two cases of whiskey are enough?” Beyond all that we hunger for is the hunger for spiritual nourishment. Sometimes people aren’t even aware that this exists. But Jesus realized this hunger and instituted the Holy Eucharist to feed our starving souls. (Harold Buetow in “God Still Speaks: Listen!”)
32 -Additional anecdotes
1) “All we really need in our convent is the Tabernacle.” The former archbishop of San Francisco, John Quinn, loves to tell the story of the arrival of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity to open their house in the city. Poor Archbishop Quinn had gone to great efforts to make sure that their convent was, while hardly opulent, quite comfortable. He recalls how Mother Teresa arrived and immediately ordered the carpets removed, the telephones, except for one, pulled out of the wall, the beds, except for the mattresses taken away, and on and on. Explained Mother Teresa to the baffled archbishop, “All we really need in our convent is the tabernacle” (Msgr. Timothy M. Dolan in Priests of the Third Millennium, 2000 p. 218). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
2) The Eucharistic piety that converted St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton: Two hundred years ago, a beautiful, young, Episcopalian woman accompanied
her husband, a merchant, to Italy, leaving four of their five children at home
with family members. They had sailed for Italy, hoping that the change in
climate might help her husband, whose failing business had eventually affected
his health adversely. Tragically, he died in Liverno. The grieving young woman
was warmly received by an Italian family, business acquaintances of her
deceased husband. She stayed with them for three months before she could
arrange to return to America. The young widow was very impressed by the
Catholic faith of her host family, especially their devotion to the Holy
Eucharist: their frequent attendance at Mass, the reverence with which they
received Holy Communion, the awe they showed toward the Blessed Sacrament on feast
days when the Eucharist was carried in procession. She found her broken heart
healed by a hunger for this mysterious presence of the Lord, and, upon
returning home, requested instruction in Catholic Faith. Soon after being
received into the Church, she described her first reception of the Lord in the
Eucharist as the happiest moment of her life. It was in St. Peter’s Square on
September 14, 1975, that Blessed Paul VI canonized this woman, Elizabeth Ann
Seton, as the first native-born saint of the Unites States. The Eucharist for
her was a sign and cause of union with God and the Church. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
5) “Jesus Christ gave a lasting memorial”: One of his Catholic disciples asked the controversial godman Osho Rajneesh about the difference between Buddha the founder of Buddhism and Jesus Christ. He told a story to distinguish between Buddha and Christ. When Buddha was on his deathbed, his disciple Anand asked him for a memorial and Buddha gave him a Jasmine flower. But as the flower dried up, the memory of Buddha also dwindled. Jesus Christ, however, instituted a lasting memorial without anybody’s asking for it by offering to God his Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine and commanding his disciples to share his Divinity by repeating the ceremony. So Jesus continues to live in his followers while Buddha lives only in history books. On this feast, as on Holy Thursday, we reflect on the importance of the institution of the Holy Eucharist and priesthood. [Osho Rajneesh claimed that he was another incarnation of God who attained “enlightenment” at 29 when he was a professor of Hindu philosophy in Jabalpur University in India. He had thousands of followers for his controversial “liberation through sex theology,” based on Hindu, Buddhist and Christian theology]. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
6) Precious gift: We are all familiar with the
situation of the little boy who wants to give his father a birthday present but
does not have any money to buy one. His father, realizing his son is too young
to make any money, slips him five bucks so that he can do some shopping the
next time they are in town. The big day comes, and the little boy proudly
presents his father with a beautifully wrapped, birthday gift. He is so very
happy and proud of himself. So is his father – proud and happy to have such a
loving son. God gave us his Son so that we could give him back as a gift and
become once again his sons and daughters. Jesus Christ was placed in our hands
so that we could have a gift, the best of gifts. During each Eucharistic
celebration, we give this precious gift back to God the Father. (Fr. Jack
Dorsel). Today we celebrate the feast of the Eucharist. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
8) Another Eucharistic miracle: A famous Eucharistic miracle that of Lanciano, also in Italy, which took place in the year 700. A monk who feared he was losing his vocation was celebrating Mass, and during the consecration the host turned into flesh and the wine turned into blood Despite the fact that the miracle took place almost 1300 years ago, you may still see the flesh in a monstrance which is exposed every day and the blood in a glass chalice. (The glass chalice is beneath the monstrance on the right.) I also had the privilege of seeing that Eucharistic miracle during my time in Italy. The blood has congealed and is now in five clots in the glass chalice. In 1971 and 1981 a hospital laboratory tested the flesh and blood and discovered that the flesh is myocardium, which is heart muscular tissue, so we could say it is the heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart, and the blood is of the blood group AB. In 1978 NASA scientists tested the blood on the Turin Shroud and interestingly also discovered that it is of the blood group AB. (The Sudarium, Face Cloth of Christ, in John 20:6 is also of the blood group AB.) Despite the fact that human flesh and blood should not have remained preserved for 1300 years, the hospital lab tests found no trace of any preservatives. One final interesting point about the five blood clots in the chalice is that when you weigh one of them, it is the same weight as all five together, two of them together weigh the same as all five. In fact no matter what way you combine the blood clots individually or in a group to weigh them, they always weigh the same. (This shows that the full Jesus is present in a particle of the Eucharist no matter how small.) These are two Eucharistic miracles I have seen and which have been authenticated by the Church after investigation. (Fr. Tommy Lane). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
9) Blood Brothers: Jesuit Ignacio Ellacuria
of El Salvador, Franciscan Maximilian Kolbe of Poland, Sr. Rani Maria an
Australian missionary and Graham Staines murdered in north India, appear very
diverse in their lifestyles, yet little divided them in death. All these are
martyrs who shed their blood that others might live. They represent modern
‘bodies of Christ.’ Today, celebrating the feast of the Body and Blood of
Christ, we could reflect on the sacramental symbols of Blood and Body and our
Christian calling. -Some years ago, Jesuit philosophers of Satya Nilayam in
South India, formed a group called ‘Blood Brothers’ comprised of students who
were willing to donate blood regularly. Indeed, we are all truly ‘Blood
brothers and sisters,’ saved by the supreme sacrifice of our elder Blood
Brother, Jesus. Moreover, Martyrs like Ellacuria, Kolbe, Staines and Rani Maria
are but representatives of a long list of ‘Blood brothers and sisters’ whose
life was truly Eucharistic. May the Corpus Christi called “Church” be ever
willing to break itself and bleed in selfless service of society at large.
(Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
10) The Blessing Cup: Leonardo da Vinci was 43 years old when the Duke of Milan asked him to paint the Last Supper. He worked on it slowly and with meticulous attention to detail. He spent much time making the cup that Jesus held as beautiful as possible. After three years he was ready to show it, and he called a friend to come and see it. He said, “Look at it and give me your opinion.” The friend said, “It is wonderful. The cup is so real I cannot take my eyes of it!” Immediately, Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup. He exclaimed as he did so: “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!” Christ must be the primary focus of a Christian’s life. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
11) “Are you guys Dominicans?” Fr. Denis likes to tell a story about an American paratrooper in World War II who got entangled in a tree and couldn’t get down. He was terribly afraid that he had come down behind enemy lines and would be killed. Then two men dressed in civilian clothes came by so the GI quickly called out, “Can you tell me where I am?” “Indeed, we can,” said one – “You are up in a tree.” There was a long pause, and then the paratrooper asked suspiciously, “Are you guys Dominicans?” “Yes, but how could you tell?” The GI replied, “I knew because what you say is perfectly true – but it doesn’t help me to get out of this tree!” Likewise, to describe Catholic belief about the Holy Eucharist by saying that it is the Body and Blood of Christ is true, but not very helpful unless we are convinced of this truth, appreciate this great gift and experience it in our lives. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
12) St. Padre Pio’s prayer of thanksgiving after Mass.
“Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.
Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I
am without fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I
am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow
You.
Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and
always be in Your company.
Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to
be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late, the day is
coming to a close, and life passes; death, judgment, eternity approach. It is
necessary to renew my strength. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
13) The Mass is Heaven on earth! Scott Hahn
was a Protestant minister, who had for twenty years studied the Book of
Revelation. He admits that, in trying to study Revelation, he felt like a
person standing before a locked door, searching for the right key on a
keychain. There was no key that fitted, until he linked the Book of Revelation
to the Mass. And that, in his opinion, is the right key. His experience
thereafter was so inspiring that a year later, he asked to be received into
full communion with the Catholic Church. This in a nutshell, is his thesis: The
key to understanding the Book of Revelation is the Mass. Stated differently;
the Mass is the only way a Christian can truly make sense of the Book of
Revelation. Today, Dr. Scott Hahn, a happily married man and father of six
children, is a Professor of Theology and Scripture in a University and the Director
of the Institute of Applied Biblical Studies. -Scott Hahn is candid and
realistic when he observes that, for most Catholics, the Sunday Mass is
anything but Heavenly. In fact, he frankly adds, it’s often an uncomfortable
hour, punctuated by babies screaming, bland hymns sung off-key, meandering and
pointless homilies, and people dressed as if they were going to a party, picnic
or football game. Yet, this is his conviction: “When we go to Mass every
Sunday, we go to Heaven. And this is true of every Mass we attend, regardless
of the quality of the music or the fervour of the preacher. The Mass -and I
mean every single Mass -is Heaven on earth.”
(James Valladares in Your Words Are Spirit, and They Are Life;
quoted by Fr. Botelho.) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
14) Body of Christ? Sometime ago I was in Washington, D.C. in the National Shrine. A dozen or so pilgrims came out of the grandiose basilica. They had participated in a Mass, they had received Holy Communion, forming with Him, his Body and Blood. I saw them, and I even saw a blind man who had received Communion with them. They came out of the Church together with him. He walked among them tapping the pavement in front of himself with his stick. He did not see them since he was blind but he must have been aware of them all talking excitedly, feeling a bit lost in a strange place. They did not see him, either, though they were not blind. He ended up in the midst of them. Someone stepped on his cane, bending it, while he was pushed on. They left him alone trying to straighten his cane. They had all been to Holy Communion together in Jesus, who said of all of them: “This is my Body, this is my Blood!” Yet, when it came to everyday life, that reality got lost, the Body did not seem to have been formed. They were not really in communion. They did not really form His Body, our Body. Did they? Do we? (Joseph G. Donders in Praying and Preaching the Sunday Gospel; quoted by Fr. Botelho). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
15) What are they hungry for? An American priest was invited to take part in a youth rally in Canada. About 700 young people were camping out in a large park for the weekend. Their program included workshops on such topics as dating, sexual morality, drugs, peer pressure and meditation. The organizers felt that the least popular workshop would be the one on meditation. They were in for a big surprise. It was the best attended workshop of the weekend. At one point in that workshop, the priest giving it sensed a profound presence of the Holy Spirit and invited the 200 participants to pray together. The response was amazing. Afterwards the priest said, “It was one of the most moving experiences in all my years of priestly ministry.” Then alluding to the image in today’s Gospel he said: “There’s a whole mountain-side full of young people out there who want to eat, but there’s no one to feed them. There’s a whole mountain-side full of young people out there who want to pray but there’s no one to teach them.” The priest’s remark merely paraphrases what Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel. (Quoted by Fr. Botelho) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
16) Source of Christian heroism: I’d like to
begin this Corpus Christi homily with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi. He asked a
question regarding Fr. Damien: “The political and journalistic world can boast
of very few heroes who compare with Father Damien of Molokai. The Catholic Church,
on the contrary, counts by the thousands those who after the example of Damien.
have devoted themselves to the victims of leprosy. It is worthwhile to look for
the sources of such heroism.” That’s a great question: What is the source of
the heroism of people like St. Damien Veuster of Molokai and his successor, St.
Marianne Cope? We get the answer this Sunday. In today’s readings, St. Paul
tells how Jesus took bread and said, “This is my Body that is for you,” and
with the chalice of wine, “This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood.” Then St.
Paul concludes, “As often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, you
proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” When we receive Communion – the
Body and Blood of Jesus – we mystically enter his death and Resurrection. That
should give us strength – strength to spend our lives in service. Now, you and
I are not St. Damien or St. Marianne, but the Eucharist calls us – like them –
to give our lives for others. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
17) “What kind of joke is this?” A priest I
heard of, if he sees people leave early, stops them and reminds them that only
one person left the Last Supper early! Well, I am not going to do that, but I
am tempted to do what St. Philip Neri did: He saw someone leaving church right
after Communion and he sent servers with candles and bells to accompany the
man. The guy stormed back into the church and confronted the priest. “What kind
of joke is this?” he demanded. St. Philip Neri said, “It’s no joke. The rules
of the liturgy say the Blessed Sacrament should be treated with reverence. You
left the Church immediately with no prayer of thanksgiving. You were carrying
the Blessed Sacrament within you. So, I asked the boys to accompany you to
honor Him.” After Communion, you and I are tabernacles – the physical presence
of Jesus continues in us for a brief time. That’s why we have the Communion
hymn, a time of silence, the Communion Prayer – and even the announcements – to
build up the Body of Christ in practical ways. I encourage you to use well the
time after Communion to say thanks, to express your gratitude. (Fr. Phil Bloom)
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
18) “Body of Christ” A modern tourist in
cities like Paris and Rome, and particularly the latter, cannot but be struck
by the extraordinary number of Churches and their close proximity to each
other. They all derive from the devotion to Corpus Christi which originated in
the twelfth century and whose feast we celebrate today. It began in the city of
Liege in northern France, under Bishop Robert Thourotte of Liege, persuaded by
St. Juliana of Cornillion. Urban IV in 1264 extended the feast to the Universal
Church. After Urban’s death, October 2, 1264, the feast was restricted to
certain areas of France, Germany Hungary and northern Italy, but in 1317 Pope
John XXII (served August 7, 1316 through December 4, 1334), reintroduced the
Feast to the Universal Church (Instruction by Pope Benedict XVI at the General
audience celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, November 17, 2010).
By the fifteenth century Corpus Christi had become the
principal feast of the Church almost everywhere. Every city, town and village
held its Corpus Christi procession. In some places it became the social event
on the calendar. Months were spent preparing for it. Guilds competed with each
other to provide the most colourful contribution. Cities like Paris had their
timber-built houses arranged in narrow streets, where humans and animals lived
closely together in squalor. In such a world, it was little wonder that the
Corpus Christi devotion had such enormous appeal. What greater protection could
they ask for than the Body of Christ, carried in procession through their
streets to inoculate them against all such infections?
After well over a thousand years of Christianity, the Real
Presence, Christ’s continuing presence in the consecrated Bread, came to
dominate the devotional life of the people. New devotions were developed such
as visits to, and Exposition and Benediction of, the Blessed Sacrament. The
idea that no place was too good to house the Body of Christ, led to the
building of larger and more ornate churches. It became the age of the great
Cathedrals, like Notre Dame and Chartres. Changes were introduced into the Mass
itself to reflect this new devotion; in particular, the elevation was
introduced after the consecration. For medieval Christians, there were real and
down-to-earth reasons why the Body and Blood of Christ should be raised.
Blindness was a common affliction then and people believed that looking at the
Body of Christ was the best protection against it. Bowing to popular pressure,
the Church permitted it. The elevation of the chalice was an after-thought
because the Church feared that the people might believe Jesus was present in
only one species. This background helps to explain the close proximity of
Churches in cities like Paris and Rome. Elevations were much in demand and
people rushed from one church to another just to watch the elevation. Such
Eucharistic devotions dominated religious practice right down to the Second
Vatican Council. There the Church wisely decided that the Mass needed to be
restored as the center of Eucharistic devotion and, perhaps unwittingly, the
other forms were downgraded. Within a generation, visits, Benedictions,
Expositions and Corpus Christi processions had virtually disappeared. The Bread
remained; the circuses had gone. And we are the poorer for it. (Rev. Liam
Swords) Biblical IE. (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
19) History of the feast: In 1246, Bishop Robert
Thourotte of the Belgian diocese of Liège, at the suggestion of St. Juliana of
Mont Cornillion (also in Belgium), convened a synod and instituted the
celebration of the feast. From Liège, the celebration began to spread, and, on
September 8, 1264, Pope Urban IV issued the papal bull Transiturus, which
established the Feast of Corpus Christi as a universal feast of the Church, to
be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. At the request of Pope
Urban IV, St. Thomas Aquinas composed the office (the official prayers of the
Church) for the feast. This office is widely considered one of the most
beautiful in the traditional Roman Breviary (the official prayer book of the
Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours), and it is the source of the famous
Eucharistic hymns “Pange Lingua Gloriosi” and “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum.” For
centuries after the celebration was extended to the universal Church, the feast
was also celebrated with a Eucharistic procession, in which the Sacred Host was
carried throughout the town, accompanied by hymns and litanies. The faithful
would venerate the Body of Christ as the procession passed by. In recent years,
this practice has almost disappeared, though some parishes still hold a brief
procession around the outside of the parish church. While the Feast of Corpus
Christi is one of the ten Holy Days of Obligation in the Latin Rite of the
Catholic Church, in some countries, including the United States, the feast has
been transferred to the following Sunday. (Fr. Hoisington). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
20) Pope Benedict’s preference for receiving Holy
Communion on tongue: “I am not opposed in principle to Communion in
the hand; I have both administered and received Communion in this way myself.
The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive Communion
on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an
exclamation point. One important reason is that there is a great danger of
superficiality precisely in the kinds of Mass events we hold at Saint Peter’s,
both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after
receiving Communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of
souvenir. In this context, where people think that everyone is just
automatically supposed to receive Communion — everyone else is going up, so I
will, too—I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something
quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our
knees! Pay attention! This is not just some social ritual in which we can take
part if we want to.” (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
21) Visiting the Tabernacle (with a quotation from St
Peter Julian Eymard): This is why Catholics still practice the ancient
tradition of making frequent visits to the Eucharist throughout the day. Even
in big cities today, when you go into a Catholic Church, you can almost always
find someone kneeling before the altar where the Tabernacle is kept. The red
candle burning near the tabernacle, the sanctuary, or Presence, lamp, is a
constant reminder that Christ is truly present there, and his love is burning
for us. This is also why Catholics still have the tradition of making the sign
of the cross when they drive by a Catholic Church. Even if we don’t have time
to stop and make a visit to our Lord, to thank him for his blessings and tell
him all our needs and sorrows, by making the sign of the cross we show our
faith in and appreciation for his constant, miraculous presence. St Peter
Julian Eymard [AYE-mard], who lived in France in the 1800s, beautifully
explained how Christ’s constant presence in the Eucharist shows, without a
doubt, that Jesus’ love for us, even for the most hardened sinner, has no
limits. Speaking of Jesus in the Eucharist, St Peter says: “He loves, He hopes,
He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on
being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him,
might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years
rather than keep him waiting one instant.” (E-Priest). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/).
22) Saints’ favorite food: Throughout the
history of the Church, God has made the power of the Eucharist clear in many
ways. For example, some of the saints have gone for long periods of their lives
in which their only food was the Eucharist. I know it sounds hard to believe.
If there were only one or two cases, it would be reasonable to be skeptical.
But it actually happens every couple generations, as if God wants to make sure
we don’t forget what’s really going on in the Eucharist. In the 1300’s, St.
Catherine of Siena often went for months at a time living solely on the Holy
Eucharist. In the 1400s, St. Nicholas of Flue, Switzerland’s great native
saint, spent the last 19 years of his life as a hermit. He would give spiritual
advice all day and pray all night. For those 19 years, he was unable to eat any
food. The Holy Eucharist was his only nourishment. In April 2004, Pope John
Paul II beatified Blessed Alejandrina Maria da Costa, a Portuguese peasant
girl. Paralyzed at age 14, she spent her life offering her sufferings and
prayers to God for the conversion of sinners. She died in 1955, at age 51. For
the last 13 years of her life, Alejandrina ate and drank nothing except her
daily Holy Communion. Since she lived in the age of modern science, she given
countless medical studies, none of which found a natural explanation.
(E-Priest). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
23) St. Juliana Falconieri’s Miraculous Final Communion: All
the saints realize how much we need this divine nourishment. St Juliana
Falconieri [fahl-cone-YAIR-ee] had a particularly passionate devotion to this
truth of our faith. Juliana lived in Florence, Italy, in the early Renaissance.
When she was 14, her mother began arranging a marriage for her. As soon as she
found out, she objected, explaining that she wanted to consecrate her life to
Christ. At first her mother resisted, but Juliana’s vocation was undeniable,
and eventually she took the habit as a Third Order Servite. Later, she helped
start a new Order of Servite nuns, dedicated to prayer and serving the sick.
Throughout the long, hard years of foundation, she received Holy Communion
three times a week – much more often than was normal for those times. But in
her later years, chronic sickness made her unable to consume anything solid.
Even while on her deathbed, frequent fits of vomiting made it impossible for
her to receive Communion. But when she knew her last hour had come, she was
inflamed with a desire to receive Holy Communion one last time. So, she asked
the priest to lay a corporal (the white cloth put on top of the altar for the
liturgy of the Eucharist) on her chest and place the consecrated host on top of
it. No sooner had the Eucharist been laid over her heart than it disappeared,
being miraculously consumed directly into her body. She died soon after, and as
they were preparing the body for burial, they found the sign of the cross that
had been on the host emblazoned on her skin. Ever since, the Servites have kept
an image of a shining host on the left front side of their habits. The
Eucharist is food from heaven, given to us by Christ to bring us to heaven.
(E-Priest). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
27) Retelling the Story: On a hill near
Cape Town, South Africa, just below the famed Table Mountain, a gun is fired
every day at noon. The hill is known as Signal Hill. The firing of the gun once
served a beautiful purpose. It signaled that a ship, on its way to or from
India, had arrived in the harbour with a cargo of goods, and was in need of
supplies of food and fresh water. A beautiful exchange resulted. There was
receiving and giving. But that was a long time ago. The purpose no longer
exists. Yet the gun is still fired dutifully every day. However, the firing is
now little more than an empty ritual. Once it had a beautiful meaning. Now the
meaning has gone out of it. Most of the local people ignore it. Visitors are
told, ‘If you hear a loud bang at mid-day, don’t worry. It’s only the gun going
off.’ However, the ritual still has one thing going for it. Most people know
the story behind it. If that story were to be lost, then the ritual would
become poorer still. The Eucharist celebrates a wonderful event – the gift
which Jesus made of his life on our behalf. Every time we celebrate the
Eucharist, we tell that story again. But like anything that is repeated over
and over again, there is a danger that it may become just a ritual. (Flor
McCarthy in New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies‘; quoted by Fr.
Kayala). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
28) God Always Comes...Once upon a time there was a Rabbi. Whenever he wanted God’s presence, he went to a special place in the woods, lit a fire, said some prayers, and did a dance. Then God would appear to him. When he died, his disciple did the same. If he wanted God’s presence, he went to the same spot in the woods, lit the fire, and said the same prayers, but nobody had taught him the dance. It still worked. God appeared. When he died, his disciple carried on the tradition. If he wanted God’s presence, he went to the same spot in the woods and lit the fire, but he didn’t know the prayers, nor the dance, but it still worked. God came. Then he died. He also had a disciple. Whenever he wanted God’s presence, he too went to the same place in the woods, but nobody had taught him how to light the fire or say the prayers or do the dance, but it still worked, God appeared. In the end, he died, but he too had a pupil. One day this pupil wanted God’s presence. So, he searched for the place in the woods, but couldn’t find it. And he didn’t know how to light the fire or say the prayers or do the dance. All he knew was how to tell the story. But it worked. He discovered that whenever he told the story of how the others had found God, God would appear. In essence, this story explains how the sacred ritual, liturgy, works. (Ronald Rolheiser in In Exile; quoted by Fr. Kayala). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
29) Jesus, Bread of Life: Brennan Manning, an
American Franciscan priest, tells this story of his mother, a lady in her
mid-seventies in Brooklyn. Mrs. Manning’s day centered on her daily Eucharist.
Because she began her voluntary stint at a drug detoxification center each
morning at 7.30 AM, the only Mass she could attend was at 5.30 AM. Across the
road from her lived a very successful lawyer, mid-thirties, married with two
children. The man had no religion and was particularly critical of daily
Churchgoers. Driving home from a late party at 5 am one January morning, the
roads glassy with ice, he said to his wife: “I bet that old hag won’t be out
this morning”, referring to Mrs. Manning. But to his shock, there she was on
hands and knees negotiating the hill up to the church. He went home, tried to
sleep, but could not. Around 9 am he rose, went to the local presbytery and
asked to see a priest. “Padre,” he said, “I am not one of yours. I have no
religion. But could you tell me what you have there that can make an old woman
crawl on hands and knees on an icy morning?” Thus, began his conversion along
with his wife and family. Mrs. Manning was one of those people who never
studied deep religious books, never knew the big theological words, but she
knew what it is to meet Jesus in Holy Communion. Jesus Christ is the bread of
life. What more could we want? (Sylvester O’Flynn in The Good News of
Mark’s Year; quoted by Fr. Kayala). (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
30) Film -‘Eat Drink Man Woman’ A retired
master chef, affectionately called Uncle Chu, lives with his three daughters
and has lost his sense of taste. He is a widower of sixteen years and enjoys
cooking for his family. There is a crisis at the restaurant where he worked,
and he is called back to supervise a major banquet before it becomes a
disaster. He saves the day but will not return to work full-time. Eat
Drink Man Woman is a story of a family and its strained relationships. The
recurring images of food and cooking give it a sensual texture that brings the
emotional issues down to earth. It also celebrates the exquisite nature of food
and love that goes into its preparation. Those who sit at the Taipei table at
the special meal respect the daughter and her new husband, who is a Christian,
and she leads them in a prayer of blessing. These are people, like people
everywhere, who are seeking their place in the kingdom of God. The Chu family
lives amid tension and their relationships are at various times estranged.
They, like so many families the world over, are like the crowds in the Gospel
because they need healing. The numerous cooking and eating sequences of the
film remind us that food is a blessing. Jesus blessed food and while he gave
only loaves and fish to feed the crowds, “they all ate and were satisfied.”
(Peter Malone in ‘Lights, Camera, Faith!;’quoted by Fr. Botelho.)(http://frtonyshomilies.com/)