June 18, 2017

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14-16; 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17; John 6: 51-58 When we are going on a trip by car, we make sure all our bags are packed with everything we need, but most especially we make sure that the car is safe and ready for the trip. We are the ones who make sure that everything we need is OK. We rely on ourselves; then we set out. Our life is a journey to the Lord. It encompasses the time from birth to death. There are many stops along the way with numerous religious celebrations: Baptism, 1st Eucharist, 1st Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. How often do we realize the importance of these sacraments in our journey? Do we look at the celebration part or do we see that these are ‘outside signs instituted by Christ to give grace?’ Do we realize that we need them all the time? Do we realize that these are God helping us? Do we realize that it is not about our strength and know-how getting us through our journey but God’s grace? Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. How often have we come to the Eucharist as observers? How often have we come in need? How often do we reflect on how the Lord has filled us, strengthened us and set us on our way to continue our journey with His love? We need to be reminded that it is all about God helping us, God’s grace. The readings bring focus to this today. Moses is talking to the tribes of Israel assembled on the shores of the Jordan River. They have been traveling for forty years. They have had numerous encounters with God. Many of them were based on their own whims and not trusting in God and wanting to do it their own way. Did they realize that God loved them? Not very often. Now Moses is reviewing for them God’s constant presence and love. He is reminding them that just because they have arrived at the Promised Land, this does not lessen their total dependence on God. If they neglected their relationship with God and think they can make it on their own, they run the risk of losing the wonderful gifts God provides for them. For the past forty years God has tested them. He constantly forgave them, but they fell back into their evil ways. The first generation failed the test, they refused to accept the ways of God. Now the second generation has hopefully learned from their ancestor’s failures and are ready to see that God is love. God has created them out of love and saved them from the horrors of Egypt and the desert. God has chosen them to be His Own. The same is true for us, God has chosen us to be His own. Moses states it succinctly: “Remember…how God has directed all your journeying in the desert…He let your be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Do not forget the Lord your God…” God is a God who cares for me every minute of the day and helps me, do I let Him? Paul spells out the meaning of the Eucharist to the Corinthian community that struggled with living the life of Christ. They were surrounded by Gentile cultures and their former religious practices. Paul reminds them that the Eucharist binds them to Christ by saying when the community of faith drinks from the one cup that holds the blood of Christ they belong to the one Lord. When the community of faith partakes of the one bread, which is the body of Christ, this too means that they belong to the one Lord. This is the only religion whose believers realize that are part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). John shares Jesus’ words: “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.” When we see Jesus saying I AM, He is referring to Exodus 3:14 when Moses asked God for His name. It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. It is difficult to translate but most agree that the most comfortable translation is “ I am who I am.” THE JEWISH PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THAT WHEN JESUS USED I AM, HE WAS SAYING HE IS GOD. A closer reflection on Jesus’ quote offers a deeper understanding of what happened when He miraculously fed five thousand with a few loaves and two fish. Also we can see this is the same God who fed the Israelites with manna in the desert (Exodus 16). The people who heard Jesus today could not and would not grasp what Jesus is telling them. It makes no sense to them. They want to hear what they want, they don't care if it is God telling them something else, they stay within themselves. What Jesus is saying that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood actually enters into a divine relationship with Him. This is the food, this is the bonding of the relationship that leads us into eternal life. • Do I realize that it is this important to receive Jesus into my life in the Eucharist? • Do we realize that God promises us each day strength for our journey? This strength comes in His love, His care, the Sacraments especially in the Eucharist? • Do we realize that God is guiding us on our journey through all the bumps and side roads and dangerous intersections that come up? • Do we realize that life is about God’s love and care but it is also about the crosses that appear so often and distract us? Do we realize that these crosses are like the Israelite’s crosses in their journey in the desert? Do we realize that Jesus told us the He will help us carry our crosses if we let Him? Do I let Him or do I feel I can handle everything on my own? • Do we realize that one of the many ways that the devil tempts us is to put doubt into our minds about what Jesus has told us repeatedly in His life and teachings? • Do I realize that the Eucharist is my strength for the journey? Jesus filling me with Himself enables me to live my life in His love and to be His love to those He places in my life today. And by responding to each person in love is the journey Jesus needs each of us to be on. Sunday Homily Helps states very simply: “a) We need the spiritual food of the Eucharist to successfully complete our life journey. b) We need to trust in the Lord’s care for us in our spiritual hunger. c) But we are not to be self-centered regarding this food. d) It is given to strengthen us so that we, in turn, can reach out to others in their needs.” Sacred Space 2017 states: “In Hebrew, the expressions ‘flesh and blood’ means the whole being. The reality of Christ’s presence at the Eucharist is beyond our comprehension. We are asked not to understand it but to experience it. Jesus leads me to appreciate the closeness to which He calls me. Eat, live, and abide are words that belong to the home. Jesus invites me to bring anything in my life that is unsettled or out of place, that it may find its home in Him.”