Sunday, June 26, 2011

Homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year A Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16/ Psalm 148/ 1 Corinthians 10:16-17/ John 6:51-58

THEME: The Eucharist, the hope of our pilgrimage
The Eucharist is our source of strength as we make our pilgrimage to heaven. The theme of manna runs like a thread through the Old Testament lesson, the Psalm and the gospel. This can be related to the idea of the Church as the pilgrim people of God for whom the Holy Communion is indeed a viaticum as the manna was for the Israelites.
In the First reading, Moses warns the Israelites not to forget God in their moments of prosperity. He tells them “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you will keep his commandments” (Deuteronomy 8:2). It is true that when one prospers, one easily forgets the source of his prosperity. The Psalmist is right when he says, “In his riches, man lacks wisdom; he is like a beast that are destroyed”.
Gratitude they say is the least of all the virtues; however, ingratitude is the greatest of all the vices. The Israelites throughout the exodus did not remain steadfast in their worship of God. Whenever they are prospering, they easily forget God but in their moment of trials they remember God. “ He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:4).
Moses reminds them that they ponder anew what the Almighty God has done for them in the past and show gratitude to God. “ … then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 8:14).
Moses’s admonition goes to all Christians. We too are on a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages are wrought with challenges. Let us learn to show gratitude to God when he blesses us and in our moments of sorrows or difficulties, let us learn to be patience and trust in His providence. “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).
St. Paul in the Second reading brings out vividly the social dimension of the Eucharist. He reminds every Christian to be of one mind as regards the Worship of God. He realised that in the Corinthian community, there were many who partook of the Eucharist and at the same time partook of food offered to idols. He used the Lord’s Supper as an illustration. When the believer partakes of the cup and loaf at the Lord’ table, he is, in a spiritual way, having fellowship with the Body and Blood of Christ. By remembering Christ’s death, the believer enters into a communion with the Risen Lord.

The same is true for us too. “ The blessing cup that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ…because there is one bread we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). You cannot serve two masters. Christians wake up to this reality. Your dignity lies in your total submission of your will to God. Do not throw away this precious gift to dogs.
In the Gospel reading just as God provided for the Israelites by sending them manna to keep them alive, God has also sent down Jesus who becomes the bread that sustains us. While the Israelites died after eating the manna, Jesus gives us his body as food so that we can have life and have it abundantly.
This week I ask you to examine your personal and social relationship with Jesus and his body, the church. Are you aware that when we take part in the Eucharist, it is a life giving experience? This is because Jesus Says, “… whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).
Today, many are grumbling, like the Jews in Jesus’ time about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Just as Jesus never got tired of their grumbling but reiterated his point again and again “… Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53), the Church has never ceased to amaze the world of her belief in the real presence. Each year, we celebrate Corpus Christi in hope that we will be reminded of these great mysteries and great realities of our religious and spiritual lives. So much has been given to us.
St. Thomas Aquinas once said “No sacrament contributes more to our salvation than this; for it purges away our sins, increases our virtues, and nourishes our minds with an abundance of all the spiritual gifts.” In the face of the difficulties the Church is experiencing in recent times, it is only an appreciation of this sacrament that can renew the Church. Let us take consolation in the Words of Pope Benedict XVI that “Truth is stronger than lies; love is stronger than hatred, God is stronger than all the adverse forces.” Indeed, the Eucharist is the hope of a world of fragile peace and empty promises.
In sum, in his message for World Mission in April 2004, Blessed Pope John Paul II said without mincing words that “In order to evangelize the world, we need experts in celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Holy Eucharist.” This is the reason why l doff my heart out to Parishes who have adopted the seventy-two (72) hour adoration. May those who have eyes to see bend low in his sacramental presence. Once we come to know the Lord this way and His presence comes to be an experience, the doctrine will become a living reality and no longer an abstract reality. As Jesus is brought along the streets in our dioceses or in our parishes, let us adore him and thank him for all that he has done for us; we ask him for whatever healing we need especially that he will open the eyes of our minds and hearts so that we can see him in the Holy Eucharist. He is waiting for you.

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