Receiving What We Believe
Becoming What We Receive
Genesis 14:18-20; 1Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9: 11b-17
There’s a story about a religious man who stood on top of a roof during a great flood. A man came by in a boat and said "Get in, get in!" But the religious man replied, " No I have faith in God. He will grant me a miracle."
Later the water was up to the man’s waist and another boat comes by and the man was told once again to get in. But once again he responded that he had faith in God and that God will give him a miracle. Later, with the water now at about chest high, another boat comes to rescue him, and a third time he turns down the offer, again because he believes God will grant him a miracle.
Finally, with the water chin high, a helicopter throws down a ladder and from the helicopter someone yells for him to hop on. But, true to form, now mumbling with the water in his mouth, he again turns down the offer of help for the faith of God.
Well, the man dies and arrives at the gates of heaven with broken faith and says to St. Peter, “I thought God would grand me a miracle and I was let down." St. Peter chuckles and responds, "I don't know what you're complaining about, we sent you three boats and a helicopter!"
Miracles! When we recognize the miracles around us, we are acknowledging a mystery so profound that it is totally beyond human understanding, and it is a reality so wonderful that words can never even come close to explaining it. And so, there comes a point at which reason, speculation and theological discussion must necessarily come to an end, leaving one to simply stand in wonder.
Today we celebrate a miracle, a wonder that cannot be explained, dissected, categorized or disproved by the world of science, because it exists in the realm of faith. As a matter of fact, it is one of the chief doctrines of our faith: the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist - body, blood, soul and divinity. Not just a sign, not a mere symbol, not a representation, not simply a meal of fellowship. It is nothing less than the presence of the same Christ who was born in Bethlehem, the same Christ who walked along the Sea of Galilee and taught the Apostles, the same Christ who died for our sins on the cross. A Protestant Minister once remarked, “If I believed what you Catholics do about the Eucharist, I wouldn’t simply kneel, I would fall flat on my face.”
Today’s feast of Corpus Christi celebrates and reminds us that Jesus Christ is truly present to His people under the guise of bread and wine. In our first reading today, St. Paul recalls for us the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper. There surrounded by His Apostles, He took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
Since that moment almost 2000 years ago, believers have gathered around the altar to speak His words - "This is my Body. This is my Blood." These words spoken over gifts of bread and wine become a reality. For Jesus is truly and really present each time we celebrate the Eucharist, each time we gather to proclaim his death and rising until he comes again.
But the emphasis that we place in the Eucharist must not solely be on the transformation of the elements of bread and wine but also on the transformation of the people who receive it. He wants to make us humble as he was humble in the manger, fill us with power as he was filled at his Baptism, transform us as he was transformed on Mt. Tabor, help us bear suffering as he did on the cross, and unite us with one another as we will all be united at the second coming. We are called to be the hands and feet, the mouth and the heart of Christ in our world today. We are invited to make Him present to the world in the same way He makes Himself present to us in Eucharist. As St. Augustine once said: Believe what you receive. Receive what you believe. Become what you receive.
For we, His People, are the Body of Christ in the world today. We continue His mission in our world. It is not enough to gaze upon the Body of Christ. It is not enough to receive the Body of Christ; we are invited to become the Body of Christ. For what He did with bread, Jesus also does with our lives: He took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and gave the bread.
And Jesus takes us – He claims us as His own in Baptism.
Jesus blesses us – Just start counting your blessings and you’ll soon see what I mean.
Jesus breaks us – The trials, the sufferings, the school of hard knocks form us.
And Jesus gives us – He gives us to one another that we might love and serve.
Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower, our patroness, once said these beautiful words: "Our Lord does not come down from heaven every day just to remain in the tabernacle. He looks for another tabernacle, the tabernacle of our souls." As I look out from the ambo this evening, I see the Church. Yes, I see our newly renovated sanctuary, the beauty of our altar and Baptismal font, the stained glass windows and statues. But I also see you. For the Church is not just a beautiful building, but you, God's beautiful people. You need to know that before many people will ever walk into the physical building we call our church, they walk into your lived Christian lives, lives nourished on the Eucharist. When they do, will they find the fruit of the Bread of Life, or just the stale bread of the world? The Eucharist should make us like the Christ whom we receive: patient, kind, loving, sacrificial, and desiring to live our lives doing the will of our heavenly Father. That is why we first receive Him in the Church, and then take Him out into the world, to do what He did, to heal, to nourish, to forgive, to heal.
"Body of Christ. Amen." "Blood of Christ. Amen." As we approach the altar during Communion we will hear these words repeated again and again. But these are more than just words. They speak reality to us. The Body of Christ; the Blood of Christ are food and drink for us. They are nourishment and strength for the journey. They speak of our unity with Jesus and our unity with one another. They speak the reality of Him whom we receive - the Body of Christ; and also of whom we are - the Body of Christ.
I don’t pretend to understand this gift of the body and blood of Christ any more than I understand how God is three in one. I don’t understand it, I simply accept it and welcome this hidden God, this marvelous gift, with awe and delight and wonder. I wonder at the goodness of God in giving me this gift. I wonder at his mercy when he can offer his body and blood to a sinner. I wonder at his power in making himself present daily on the altar to millions of Christians in every country throughout the world. But most of all, I stand in wonder because the Eucharist is proof that God never wants to leave us alone. The Eucharist is Christ within us, nourishing us; Christ closer to us than our own skin; Christ feeling our joy and our sorrow; Christ knowing our needs before we can express them; Christ building up our faith life, our spiritual life, our eternal life; Christ, on the Cross, offering himself up for each one of us. To paraphrase Ignatius of Antioch, in the Eucharist we not only put our arms around Jesus, but more importantly, He squeezes us with a hug. He just about takes our breath away. And isn’t that truly something to wonder at!
