Homily, Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ
From The Pastor
The celebration of the Holy Eucharist is the central action of our Catholic life that conveys to us the living presence of the Lord Jesus. The themes of the Eucharist are common and well known to active Catholics. On this feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, how do we honor the Lord as well as enrich our faith in the reception of this wonderful Sacrament?
To know what the Eucharist is and how to participate in Mass is not enough. Simply knowing and practicing becomes routine, and the mystery and power of this sacred moment can be dulled. The Eucharist is a living relationship initiated and offered by God through the Lord Jesus. As God offers himself to us in the person of Christ, our response is one of living faith with a personal commitment to surrender ourselves into what God is giving us.
In the offering of the Body and Blood of Jesus on the Cross as the definitive act of our redemption, God creates a new and final covenant to all who will believe and accept the truth of what is offered. The Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is the culmination of a long history preparing believers to realize and accept the ultimate gift of God himself in the person of the Lord Jesus. All that precedes the sacrifice of Jesus prepares the believer to realize the mystery God has prepared through generations as he forms a people as his own.
As early as Abraham obeying God in offering the sacrifice of his son Isaac, God prepares us for the sacrifice of his Son for the sake of all. Isaac is spared, as the obedience of Abraham is honored as trustworthy faith. As Moses leads the Israelites out if slavery through the desert, God provides manna, bread from heaven, to sustain them. Hearing their cries for food and water, God confirms his fidelity by providing all they need that they might grow confident in his provident care. As the Jewish people offered blood sacrifices of bulls and goats and lambs in worship of God, for the forgiveness of sin, and ritual purity, God perfects their sacrifice with the blood of the Lamb of God. The blood of the flesh of animals failed to engage the hearts of the people in the worship of the living God. This early covenant is perfected and fulfilled in the Blood of Jesus to establish a new relationship with God that calls for the giving of our hearts and all that we are to God who freely gives himself for our sake.
Jesus is the fabric and the food that sustains our lives in God and God’s life in us. How do we make this more personal as we celebrate this wonderful feast?
The Body of Christ can be thought of in three ways. First, Jesus in his personal body/self. The man Jesus whom we acclaim as Christ. Second, Jesus in the host consecrated at Mass from simple bread and wine. Thirdly, we ourselves are the Body of Christ, the living Body of believers who profess and give witness to Jesus in the world. Personally consider each of these in your life.
Consider your faith in Jesus. What is your favorite image of the Lord? What attracts you to Jesus? His patient and personal love for others? His mercy? His miraculous power to heal, forgive, restore, and welcome the broken and the lost? What in Jesus makes you love him? How does Jesus feed you and secure you with hope despite the troubles that you encounter?
What does the Mass mean to you? How do you think about the Eucharist as you prepare to receive the Lord in Holy Communion? Is the Real Presence of Jesus real for you? Do you accept and believe that Jesus is present in his person and his life given us in this Sacrament? Think back to Holy Week. Did you share in the Mass of the Last Supper? How did you feel about receiving Holy Communion on Good Friday after we read the Passion of the Lord and reflected on his Crucifixion?
What does the Body of Christ mean to you and do you consider yourself an active part of it? The Eucharist is never singular. It is always in communion with others as we share as a community of believers the Body and Blood of Jesus. How do you see yourself as a Eucharistic person? How does your love, generosity, friendship, service, charity, or self-giving feed and enrich the lives of others? Do you feel Jesus in your life in an active way?
The Eucharist is the food of love. It comes as a direct and personal promise of Jesus himself. Jesus promises to be with us always. This is most true in the sacrifice of the Mass. When we receive the Eucharist, it becomes most itself when we share ourselves with others in love, mindful of the Lord who so dearly loves us. See you at the table. Let your love become food for others.
Father John Esper
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