Sunday Homily 6-26-11, Corpus Christi
Readings: Deuteronomy 8, 2-16; Psalm 147, Praise the Lord, Jerusalem; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58
Intro to Readings
Our first reading today is from the Book of Deuteronomy, last week it was from the Book of Exodus. These books are part of what is known as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. They are also referred to as the Torah, or the Five Books of Moses. They are considered the most important books in Jewish tradition and are the most quoted in the New Testament. The first four books describe the creation of the world right down to the time when the Israelites are paused at the Jordan River, before they cross over into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy, the last of these books, is best described as three big sermons of Moses. Our reading today is from the second sermon and in it we have Moses reminding the people of all the great things that Yahweh did for them, by saving them from the Pharaoh, and leading them thru the desert, even though that last piece took 40 years! They could have used a GPS! The reading today has two short pieces to it and will sound repetitious. The reason is that the book was compiled over hundreds of years and from many sources and in those days, consistency was not as important as making sure that tradition was included!
Body and Blood of Christ – Homily
Today our focus is really on what happened on Holy Thursday, at the Last Supper. The church has chosen to have us focus on that event today, now that we are past all of the events of Easter. What did happen at that Last Supper? It was “the event” which seems somehow to have defined the early community after the death of Jesus. For some reason, that meal, and really many of the meals with Jesus, took on significance beyond the normal meaning. For people in that part of the world then, a meal was an expression of hospitality. And we ourselves know that sometimes meals can take on a special significance, whether it is due to the circumstances of the meal, or who we're dining with.
For the early community the events of that Last Supper took on huge significance. We first hear about it in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, where we find the very familiar phrases, which we still hear today in our Eucharist. “While they were at supper he took bread and broke it, gave it to them and said, take and eat, this is my body”. That bread and that wine is what united and defined the early church, and it is still today how we are defined. Nowhere is the cross the focus of the early community, it is the meal.
We know that food is nourishment for our bodies. The food we eat, gives us energy to go out and do things. In taking the bread and wine and giving it to us at the Last Supper, he changed the whole value of the food. The community was to continue His presence in the world by seeing this bread and wine as Jesus. And by eating and drinking this bread and wine, as Paul puts it, Jesus was in Paul and living thru Paul. Like wise, by the action we go thru here each Sunday we are inviting Jesus into our lives and then going out and spreading the Good News. The effects of Jesus in us, “it is no longer I but Christ who lives in me”, says Paul to the Corinthians.
If we reflect that for the Jews, the first covenant with Yahweh was sealed with the Ten Commandments. This new covenant was sealed by Christ’s death and resurrection, but symbolized in the meal. By eating the bread and drinking the wine, Jesus enters into our lives. The question now is “what effect that has on our lives”? For the early Christians it caused others to say of them, “see how they love”. There are consequences to what we do here; we need to see our participation in this meal, as in some way remaining with us as we go about our lives for the week ahead. We say that the bread and wine are changed, what we can also say is that, by our participation, we too are changed.
But the effects of eating the bread and drinking the wine involve our active participation, Jesus is not going to take over our lives, we need to welcome Him into our lives. This is not an invasion but an extension of hospitality. As we share the bread and wine today, let us make sure that we are open to welcoming and living our lives as a people of God, allowing God to be present in His kingdom here on earth.
Picture 1: Tony beginning Mass
Picture 2: Offertory, Erin & Chuck
Pciture 3: Cole, the son of Erin & Chuck, with his grandmom, Diane
Picture 4: Shonda slipping away from weekend duty with Kent Messer and Jon Waldron
Picture 5: Anniversaries Brunch