June 3, 2018 Corpus Christi - The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

June 3, 2018 Corpus Christi - The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Click to hear Audio Homily
Click to hear song "Ave Verum Corpus"
Click to hear song "I Am the Bread of Life"

Have you ever gone to a place where you had no interest or desire to be whatsoever? I remember the European trip my family took when I was a college student where we went into numerous churches, cathedrals and basilicas. As a lapsed Catholic and a self-professed atheist at that time, I could not handle going into yet another church because it was repetitive - they all looked alike- and boring. My heart was hard like a rock, closed to receiving any graces. Even after we had visited the basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy and stood by the great saint’s grave, I had the thought, “I hope we don’t go into another church like that.”  It reminds me of what my 11-year old nephew Pio told to his mother on their family pilgrimage to Fatima and Spain last year, “Mom, if we’re going on another trip like this in the future where we go into so many churches, I want to stay home.”

As Catholics we know by faith that the Holy Eucharist we receive at Mass is the true body and blood of Christ. Consider for a moment: when I receive the body and blood of Christ, do I know that I’m receiving an amazing gift of grace that will continue to transform me, or has receiving the eucharist become so routine that I’m not touched at all?  As with all relationships when we become too familiar with someone, there is a risk of taking the person for granted or of not putting forth the effort to keep the spark alive. Take for example in marriage, when after being married for a year, did the newness wears off and the daily routine sets in; do you look at your spouse like when you were dating? How disappointed would your spouse be if you went away for a weekend without so much as a phone call? The same can happen to our attitude of heart toward Jesus in the Eucharist. Do we take for granted that Jesus is always there for us, and presume that Jesus won’t care if we neglect to come to him at weekend mass? When we choose attractive or exciting things of this world over encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, are we missing an opportunity to grow in our love for him? As with any relationship, after staying away awhile from Jesus--either from not engaging in prayer or receiving Eucharist--our love and affection for Our Lord cools and becomes distant. The spark is no longer there. Similar risks exist for priests. When a priest falls in love with the worldly allurements and stops praying or reading scriptures, then celebrating Mass becomes routine and burdensome. Celebrating Sacraments no longer gives the priest any joy.  

At the Last Supper as Our Lord broke the bread and gave a cup of wine to his disciples, he said, "Take it; this is my body...This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” At each mass we represent and relive the Last Supper and Our Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross. As we hear these words each time, what can we do to keep them from becoming so familiar that they don’t mean anything to us? Perhaps we could use our imagination to place ourselves at the table with the Apostles at the Last Supper or stand next to Blessed Mother at Calvary before crucified Christ. Perhaps we could recall all the gifts we received and remember that we received them because of the love of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can also learn about and contemplate Eucharistic miracles that Our Lord has given us over the centuries to help us to marvel the gift of the Eucharist.

I recently had a conversation with someone who went on a tour of Italy. The person described going into a beautiful cathedral in the city of Orvieto. He took photos of the interior and came out thinking that it was pretty but not particularly exceptional. I asked him if he saw the display of Eucharistic miracle in that cathedral which occured in the year 1263. He said he didn’t know such event happened in that cathedral, and he was so disappointed in missing the treasure of that cathedral. In 1263, a visiting priest stopped in a church not far from the Cathedral of Orvieto to celebrate mass. The priest had begun to doubt that the Eucharist was truly the Body and Blood of Christ. Right before the “Lamb of God,” he broke the host as the ritual prescribes, and astonishingly the host in his hands began to bleed over his hands and on the corporal. The people beholding the miracle in front of their eyes, started to shriek. Unable to hide this phenomenon, the priest interrupted the Mass and went to the Cathedral where Pope Urban IV was in residence. After the Pope completed an investigation of the blood stained corporal, he declared it a Eucharistic miracle and displayed the miraculous blood stained corporal in one of the chapels at the Cathedral of Orvieto. The Pope instituted a new feast Corpus Christi (the one we’re celebrating today) and commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas to compose Eucharistic prayers and hymns to commemorate this special feast. St. Thomas wrote the opening prayer we prayed at the beginning of mass and five beautiful hymns for this feast day, including the Lauda Sion, Panis Angelicus, O Salutaris Hostia, Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, and Adoro Te Devote.

Just as the priest involved in the Eucharistic miracle of Orvieto was amazed at the wondrous grace happening before his eyes, we need to keep our sense of wonder alive as we enter into the celebration of the Eucharist. Before Mass, we need time to settle down and clear our minds of to-do’s, sports scores, and daily routine, so that our minds and hearts will be fully open to the graces available. During Mass we should be grateful for what God has done for us and for our families. The Psalmist wrote,  “How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD.” We embrace the cup of salvation--that is, trials and sufferings of daily life--remembering that we have been baptized into His passion and death. Whether facing good or bad moments, we utter blessings and thanksgiving in our prayers. The Eucharist received should then be lived out in our lives in helping others, bringing Jesus’ Good News to our co-workers, and spending time in prayer, perhaps in front of the Blessed Sacrament at our adoration chapel. When we make Jesus in the Eucharist our center of our lives daily, then we will keep the spark in our relationship with Our Lord.