Homily for the Week of June 22, 2014

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ A 2014

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a

 Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

         Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Today we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Once called simply Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), this feast also celebrates what the Eucharist makes us become: the Church itself is called the Body of Christ. Communion means community. The world of nature gives us many examples of what it is to be connected to one another. Recently I read about the giant sequoias of California.

         Giant sequoias are among the oldest living organisms on earth. “The President” in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park in California, is thought to be the oldest. Its verified age is 3,200 years of age. It is amazing to stand next to a living thing that not only was alive when Jesus was living, but was also alive during the age of King David and the prophets. To touch this ancient, living thing is to be awestruck by history. To stand next to it is to feel very, very small.

         This sequoia tree is 247 feet tall.  We might assume that its tremendous height would mean that its root system must be equally deep in order to keep the tree upright. Surprisingly the roots of giant sequoias are only a foot or so deep, but they spread over more than an acre of land.  And each giant tree’s roots intertwine with those of surrounding trees. With the roots being locked together, the forces of nature cannot topple them.

         This feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus was created in the Middle Ages when diseases and unrest were everywhere. Starvation was a fact of life. Life was harsh and short. People did not see God as loving. Instead, they saw God as judge and punisher. Even today many think of God and religion in the same way.

         People were so afraid of Jesus that the Church had to tell people that they must receive communion at least during the Easter season. This does not mean that people avoided Church or Mass. To the contrary, kneeling in supplication before the Blessed Sacrament was important enough that it led to our practices of Exposition, Adoration and Benediction. This was when the elevation of the Body and Blood after the consecration was added to the Mass. Although fearful of God, people still wanted to see what they worshiped. Over time, fear of Jesus the Judge slipped away to once again worshiping Him by receiving holy Communion in the Mass.

         When Jesus speaks of His body and blood, He is not referring to merely the physical parts of the human body. The idea of the “body and blood” is that they contain the very being of the person, the person’s essence.

         John’s Gospel refers to the manna in the desert and compares Jesus’ giving His body and blood as food and drink to God’s giving the gift of manna to the Israelites. Jesus is saying clearly that He is giving us himself and doing so in a very real way: “My body is real food and my blood real drink.”

         We might jump ahead to the story of the Road to Emmaus where the friends of Jesus and Jesus meet each other. Jesus takes great pains to structure his story around “the Meal.” The disciples did not recognized Jesus until they ate with Him. This propelled the two disciples to rejoin the community of faith, the place where the meal was regularly eaten. It was this very special meal that held the community together and gave them their identity. It was inconceivable for a follower of Christ to miss the meal. To miss the meal was to miss Christ!

         Being hungry does not always mean that we want something to eat or drink.  We have many hungers. We hunger for joy. We hunger for security. We hunger for friends. We hunger to be accepted. We hunger for love. We hunger for family.  We hunger for goodness. We hunger for God. We also hunger that we will have all we need. Jesus knew hunger.  His father and mother had very little.  He probably went without a meal. So he says to us today: whoever eats this bread will live forever.

         The Middle Eastern meal in Jesus’ day involved placing bowls of food in the middle of a circle of guests, and everyone would use bread to dip from the same bowls. To accomplish this, guests sat close to the food so it could be reached. 

         A few minutes ago I mentioned the giant sequoias.  They stand because their broad root systems are entangled with those of the other trees in the forest. These other trees are like their community. The meal that Jesus told us to celebrate faithfully entangles each of us with a community of faith. It is this community, the Church, which enables us to stand. Alone, we will topple, but as long as we are entangled within the Body of Christ, no force of culture or sin can knock us down.