CORPUS  CHRISTI… 

BODY  OF  CHRIST….  AMEN 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Corpus Christi… Body of Christ …. Amen.”

Today we’re celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi – which – as you know – means – simply and profoundly, “Body of Christ!”

Amen.

THREE QUESTIONS

First Question: When you say, “Amen!” – after coming down the aisle  - as  you receive the Body of Christ - at the moment before Holy Communion  – Union with Christ - what do you mean by that, “Amen”?

Second Question: After Mass today – with the Gold Monstrance in hand – with the Bread of Life – Christ – in the center  of that  monstrance – monstrance from the Latin word “monstrare” - to show – as in the word, “demonstration” - we’re going to walk out the front door of this church – walk down Duke of Gloucester Street  – go in through the brown wooden gates – which is along - the long red brick wall of St. Mary’s Gardens - process through the back gardens and lawn – go around the Carroll House – go through some of the parking lot - and around some cars that may be stuck  – depending on the bridge down below – being opened or closed -  and then we’ll march back into the church – well as all this is happening – what are your  thoughts about  Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ? [By the way that’s a  138  word sentence.]

Third Question: If someone who has no religion – or no Catholic background -  saw the procession today – or walked into the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel down below -  which is open almost all the year – and saw the Gold Monstrance with something white inside the center glass – and asked you what  this was all about, what would some of your  answers be?

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel from part of the 6^th Chapter of the Gospel of John – addresses these questions.

Recommendation – from time to time – read over and over and over again the 6^th Chapter of the Gospel of John.

Read it at home – read it in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel – read it here in this church or any church.

If you’re scared of death, read just the first sentence in today’s gospel – John 6: 51:  “I am the living bread that came down from heaven ; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

For me that’s as good as – and I connect it with – the bumper  sticker and poster size John 3:16 – that appears over and over again – especially at sporting events:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”

Isn’t this the core reason why we come to Mass?  Isn’t this the core reason why some people come back to church after dropping out? I’ve often heard people say,  “I missed going to communion.” Don't we come here to connect with Christ - the New Moses who will take us across the desert of life - as we heard about in today's first reading from Deuteronomy [8:2-3, 14b-16a] We don't have to do life alone. Don't we want to be in communion and in community with others?

CONTROVERSIES

As you know there are controversies when it comes to coming to communion – and to me – the controversies say so much. To me it means people know the sacredness of the Body of Christ. They know it’s not just a piece of bread. They know, “Christ is here!”

On a day like today – and from time to time – I always remember the sermon example I heard a half dozen different Redemptorists tell through the years.

It was a Corpus Christi or Forty Hours  procession in Puerto Rico and a priest was walking down the street with the monstrance – with Christ, the Bread of Life, in the center. A tourist on the sidewalk asked in English, “What’s going on?”

Someone – who knew English -  near him in the crowd - on the sidewalk -answered, “Oh that’s Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, going by.”

And the man, having heard of Jesus Christ, but never having heard of the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, in the Bread, said, “You mean – you believe – that – that is Jesus – who lived 2000 years ago – that he is in that white bread – in that gold thing?”

“Yes,” the local Catholic  said.

At that the tourist  - stunned – surprised – said, “If I believed - that is Jesus Christ – I would fall on my knees – right here on this street - and never get up again.”

Pope Francis – in the past  few days – said out loud – that Mafia folks in Calabria who kill and do atrocious things to others – excommunicate themselves from the Church. Here’s how the news report put it: “Pope Francis journeyed Saturday to the heart of Italy's biggest crime syndicate, met the father of a 3-year-old boy slain in the region's drug war, and declared that all mobsters are automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.”

I hope he has a bullet proof white cassock.

There’s one more take on the issue of who or who shouldn’t be going to communion. 

Whatever your take on this issue is – the fact that people have strong opinions on all this – tells me that we’re dealing with more than ordinary bread here.

I heard another sermon a good 40 years ago – that changed my whole way of looking at life and the Body of Christ. A priest said: “Some people have so much respect for Communion – the Body of Christ – but so little respect for the Body of Christ – all the people around us. Then he quoted Saint Paul’s great speech about all of us being members of the Body of Christ – First Corinthians 12: 12-31.

Ever since then I have sensed the presence of Christ in everyone – that we’re all in the Body of Christ.  Sometimes I forget that; sometimes others forget that. Sometimes I don’t act like that – that is, as a member of his Body; sometimes others don’t.

Does Pope Francis see the Mafia folks as the Body of Christ?

The newspaper accounts of the story I just mentioned said that Pope Francis went to a prison down there in Southern Calabria – to visit the father of the 3 year old boy who was killed. The story gets intriguing when one hears that the boy was in a car with his grandfather and  the grandfather’s girlfriend while the boy's father was in prison for drug trafficking. The boy, the grandfather and the girlfriend were all shot and killed and the car was torched.

I think of Matthew 25:36  – when Jesus said, “I was in prison … and you  visited me.” That's what Pope Francis was doing by going to visit someone in prison - besides challenging those making money off drugs. 

I think of the Church having changed wonderfully when having funeral Masses for those who have committed suicide. If ever a family needed a Mass – to me it’s then.

I think of the Church readdressing at present  the Reception of Communion for so many folks whose lives have been broken by divorce and other disasters.

Let me add a personal twist in all this. I go crazy – whenever I come to the part of the consecration of the Mass and the words now are “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”

Since the 1970’s – most of my life as a priest – the words were “for all”. I understand the German Catholic Church has blocked that “for many” and kept “for all”.  I know some priests still say, “for all”.

I’ve heard theologians say, “for many” in the Latin – means “for all”.

I’ve never been able to find out who forced these changes on us – and I’m glad I hear more and more voices – asking that we straighten out this new English translation of the Roman Missal. I go with what the book says because I also know there are people who get upset when priests change words that aren't in the book.

But this one little change hits at my gut – because I’m a Redemptorist  and our motto is, “Copiosa apud eum redemption” – which has often been translated from the Latin as, “With Him there is Copious or Fullness of Redemption." And we understand that means "for all.” Our motto comes from Psalm 130.

CONCLUSION

Ooops. Enough.

I’m here to speak as one member of the Body of Christ.

I’m urging you today to reflect deeply on what your “Amen” means – when you say, “Amen” when you come down the aisle to receive the Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ. Amen.