Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L.
Bishop of Scranton
HOMILY
Corpus Christi Sunday – June 26, 2011
Today as a Church, we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus – Corpus Christi Sunday: a day that also causes us to pause and remember a moment in history of God’s relationship with his people – the Last Supper. In St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we are reminded of Jesus’ command to do what he did the night before he died. “This bread is my body, which is for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me.”
There is a difference, however, in our “remembering.” When we remember most events in life, they touch our hearts and minds profoundly but they remain in the past. When we remember what Jesus did at the Last Supper, however, a memory, through the power God, becomes real and present to us. “This IS my body, broken for you. This IS my blood poured forth for you.”
In the gift of the Eucharist, which we celebrate today and every day that we gather around the Lord’s Table, we are given nothing less than the very presence and life of Jesus. And we discover in the gift of the Eucharist the essence of who we are and what we are called to be as Christians.
In the simple gifts of bread and wine, we see Jesus and his gift of selfless love; a love for his creation that was so intense that he gave his life on the cross in order to give us the means to approach God in our brokenness and to find the way to salvation.
Today’s feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord is a reminder to us not to take this gift for granted; not to see it as a routine element of our worship – but to maintain a sense of wonder and awe at the gift of God’s presence – here – in the midst of our broken world; here – in the midst of our fragile lives; here – in this parish community.
“Do this in remembrance of me!” When God’s people assemble in faith as we do today, we are called to recreate the ritual meal of the Last Supper. But to simply recreate a ritual? Is that all that the Lord commands us to do? When he speaks of the Eucharist, St. Augustine says: “Become the mystery you celebrate.” Become the broken Christ whose life was poured forth for those that he loved. Indeed, reflecting upon the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Pope Benedict XVI also spoke of St. Augustine. He stated that the saint helps us to understand the dynamics of the Eucharist. The Holy Father referred to a kind of vision that Augustine had, in which Jesus said to him: “I am the food of the mature. … You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me.” In short, Jesus challenges us in the Eucharist to live in love and unity with one another.
In today’s second reading, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian community and he addresses an emerging problem in that Church. There was conflict among the members. Some twisted the words of Jesus in order to justify their own immoral behavior. Some felt that they were superior to others and they failed to share from their bounty with those who were less fortunate. Some even went hungry in the midst of the ritual that the Lord asked them to remember.
In response to their behavior, St. Paul says to those who fail to get along and respect one another – remember this: You who share the same bread and cup receive the same Christ in the Eucharist – and as such, you become ONE.
You become one with your husband/wife; one with your child; one with the neighbor you find intolerable; one with the person of color or ethnic background that you’d rather not accept; one with the poor.
Eucharist reminds me that we not only receive Christ but are called to something more. Early in his pontificate, Pope John Paul II wrote to the bishops of the world about the gift of the Eucharist. As he spoke of the sublime gift of God found in the sacramental presence of Jesus that we honor and receive this day, he also said this:
“The authentic sense of the Eucharist is that it becomes the school of active love for my neighbor. If authentically received, Eucharist MUST make us grow in awareness of one another.”
As we celebrate this great gift and revel in the mystery of God’s presence in our midst, may we also remember to embrace the total experience and command of the Lord Jesus at the Last Supper: TO RECEIVE CHRIST AND THEN TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST for one another.
