“This is my body. This is my blood.” We hear this at every mass whether you are here at St. Hubert in Langley or you are in Nigeria. It is the same body same blood offered to us by God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
The Eucharistic feast is one that most Catholics struggle with because our words come short in explaining this gift of Jesus’s body and blood, this human yet divine gift offered to us by God. It is what we need to be in union with, to have a relationship with Jesus Christ who by God’s love for us, suffered on a wooden cross, crucified for us and died for us.
Yet we still struggle with this doctrine of our faith, this Eucharist which is the reason we are here or at least it should be the main reason we are here at mass! Jesus said, “This is my Body, This is my Blood.”
If God can become man, If Jesus can be truly God and truly man, then surely Jesus can give us Himself as a present reality in the Holy Mass. Always we are brought to this point: Do I believe that God has taken on our humanity and become one of us in the person of Jesus Christ, becoming flesh and blood?
The first reading today from Exodus speaks about blood and the pouring and sprinkling of the altar and the people. Our ancestors saw blood as a sign of life, as a way of commitment as a way of bonding.
The second reading today from the Letter to the Hebrews points out the obvious: human blood or blood of animals is only temporary. The blood of Christ, however is forever. Jesus is God and man and His sacrifice of His own life for us carries eternal and complete consequences for all of us.
The gospel today from Mark gives the account of the Last Supper and the words of Jesus; “This is my Body! This is my Blood.” And as I said at the beginning is said during every mass around the world.
So, I Have always wanted to see the upper room. I have always wanted to see the places where Jesus was present. That brings to mind a short story I read while I was discerning what to say in this homily.
An American priest named Fr. Frank Ramsberger was touring the Holy Land. He especially wanted to study the places where Jesus lived, worked, suffered, died and rose from the dead. He became good friends with a young boy Named Josef, the brown faced son of an Arab shepherd. The boy served at Fr. Frank’s masses and taught Fr. Frank some of the difficult Arabic words.
As the priest was about to leave for other parts of the Holy Land, he told Josef: “Not many boys and girls have the privilege of living in the land where Jesus lived. You know that God’s Son, as a boy and as a man, walked these roads and breathed this air. Doesn’t that help you to love him more?”
Josef gave this very thoughtful answer; “You don’t have to live here to love the Lord, because now He lives in every part of the world. Every land now is the Holy Land. Wherever we are, we are in the land of Jesus.”
Have you ever thought of this; that Langley or where you live is part of the Holy Land? Jesus lives right here, right now and He presents Himself to us here in the Eucharist, through His body and blood.
This is what we think of on this feast of His Body and Blood, formally called Corpus Christi, when we recall that Holy Thursday when Jesus first spoke the words, “This is my Body! This is my Blood.”
This right here is the Holy Land. Langley is the Holy Land. This is Bethlehem; Jesus is born right here in every Holy Mass. This is Nazareth; Jesus grows up right here in our lives. Jesus works miracles right here; spiritual miracles.
He heals us of the leprosy of sin. He heals spiritual cripples so they can walk in His ways. He gives sight to those who cannot see the things of the Spirit. Christ forgives sins right here in that confessional.
This is Cana. Jesus is present in every marriage in our church. He attended funerals in His homeland. He is right here when we bury our beloved dead. This is the temple at Jerusalem. Christ teaches right here through his priests, deacons, through his religious Ed teachers and coordinators, and through the parents of His children.
Jesus was present in the villages, churches, streets, fields, lakes and hills and in homes in the Holy Land. He is present in our homes as well and wherever we go.
However, the most important place where He lives in the present, once received at mass, is in us.
During my formation to become a deacon in 2006, we received an assignment that I feel fits this most Holy celebration. We were tasked with imagining ourselves in that upper room when Jesus appeared to his
Apostles. How would we feel, what would we realize? This is what I came up with.
“I am in the upper room. I am dressed in a burlap garment. Beads of sweat slowly cascade down my face only to meet my sandaled and dusty feet. Every step I take dust from the floor of bamboo woven reeds fog them. I am pacing, wondering what to do next. The room is dark with only gray and black images. The darkened images represent uncertainty, loneliness, fear, abandonment.
Suddenly Jesus appears! The once darkened images become bright and full of color. I see Jesus’ hands and feet, the nail holes that are the remnant of His suffering for my sins. I feel ashamed and a tear traverses down my cheek only to be caught by Him. The uncertainty is now belief, the loneliness now joy, the fear is now hope, and the abandonment is now forgiveness, mercy and love.”
Today, most of you will receive the body and blood of Jesus come down from heaven for us. Let us choose to become what we consume. When we come to receive Him, let Him hear you proclaim it by saying a resounding Amen! By some responses, one has to wonder if there might be a thought of “am I going to miss the start of the game”, or what am I going to prepare for dinner tonight, or where am I going to play today or am I going to play on my electronic games?
Don’t be complacent. What would have happened if Jesus was complacent? Think about t.
This Feast is not just a ritual on our church calendar, This Feast is an invitation to encounter the real presence of Jesus Christ not just on the altar but also in our hearts, minds and souls. Then we will have accepted this most holy gift in us, Jesus’ divine presence to give strength to offer Him to a world waiting to be born anew.
On this Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, let us ask the Lord to come and take up residence within us. Let us receive, adore, and become Eucharist for others!