Corpus Christi
Gen 14: 18-20; 1 Cor 11: 23-26; Luke 9: 11b-17
Dc. Larry Brockman
When you come right down to it all of us are pretty needy, aren’t we? All of us are hurting in some way and looking for something to take that hurt away. If it isn’t the pressures of life- like our job, our marriages, our health, and our finances; then it’s concern over others- our parents, our kids, our friends. And the fact that all of us are meeting here at the hospital this morning is a testimony to the reality of those needs. We are hungry for a healing miracle in mind, body, or spirit; whether it comes to us as burst of inspiration or a special break or physical healing. We are all looking for relief from whatever it is that is troubling us.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that we are not so different from the people that lived 2000 years ago in that respect. Thousands of folks were following after Jesus. All of them were looking for something. Clearly, many of them were looking for a physical healing as the story tells. And, since they followed Jesus all day, they were hungry as well. A literal reading of the Gospel tells us that Jesus cured “those who needed to be cured” and fed five thousand men and their families. But there is more to it than that- something for us to take away as well as we contemplate our special needs and the role that God plays in our lives.
First of all, notice that Jesus is God. So, it is God who was meeting the needs of those thousands of people in the Gospel. Second, God, in the person of Jesus, was ever so close to all those people. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Almighty God would come down here today and sit right beside each one of us in this chapel, give us his full, undivided, and loving attention; and while having a meal with us, discuss our needs with us, vand heal us of our pain? Well, that’s precisely what Jesus had in mind, and you will have that experience in just a few minutes.
Let me explain. In the letter to the Corinthians, we hear about how the Eucharist was instituted at the last Supper. This was the earliest scripture account of this event, and arguably the most accurate. In it we hear how Jesus gave us His body and blood in the Eucharist as a gift. He told us to remember that whenever we offered the bread and wine through the priest, and consecrated it, then it became His body and blood; and that we should do that in memory of Him. That is such a special gift, one which we are called to ponder this morning on this feast of Corpus Christi, because it guarantees that we all have the same closeness, the same intimacy, with Jesus as those thousands who shared a meal with Jesus two thousand years ago.
Yes, when we receive the Eucharist, as we all will in just a few minutes, then God will be very close to us, ready and willing to help us just as he was ready and willing to help the thousands in the Gospel story. It will be as if Jesus were sitting here beside you sharing a meal with you, and listening to your concerns with a mind towards giving you the help that you need and relieving your pain.
There is, however a catch. We all have to put something into that meeting with Jesus during the Eucharist. Notice that thousands of folks followed Jesus in his day; but there were many more that did not. The people that were there believed in him, and were willing to follow after him all day long into a deserted place presumably without food and water. Their persistence and forbearance are symbolic of faith. So first off all, we have to believe in Jesus and have faith that he can help us.
But additionally, we have to believe in the reality of the Eucharist- that it really is Jesus that we will eat. Now I can talk to you about the real presence scientifically- pointing to the hundred odd Eucharistic Miracles that have been validated over the centuries, and about the scientific testing that has been done that shows that the bread and wine really did become flesh and blood in these incidents.
But what is important is that we believe it with our hearts more than our minds. What it boils down to is this: You can’t expect God to help you when you receive the Eucharist if you don’t believe that He is actually there.
Also, the whole Eucharistic process involves a sacrifice- the offering of the bread and wine by the priest at Mass. Symbolically, we are called upon to participate in that sacrifice. I think that is the point of our first reading. Notice that after the offering of the bread and wine by Melchizedek; and after the blessing, Abram tithes a tenth of everything he owns. That was a substantial sacrifice for Abram. Recall that this story occurs well before Moses and the Mosaic law. So Abram is not following the law; he is offering this sacrifice of his own free will. Likewise, we are called upon to participate in a sacrifice. Perhaps we need to give up something in our lives that is hurting us or those around us. Perhaps we need to give more of our time, talent or treasure to God and his plan for us; or perhaps we need to just give our worries over something to God- turning it over to God. But, we have an obligation to participate.
Lastly, we are called upon to trust. We need to trust that whatever it is that God gives us as a result of our sincere Communion with Him in the Eucharist, that it is for our own good.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is the Eucharist, and it is a tremendous gift. If we receive the Eucharist with faith, believe that Jesus is really there, and do our part, then God, who is so close to us in the Eucharist, will answer our prayer to take care of our deepest needs. You can trust in that.
Tags: Greatest Gift- the Eucharist; Sitting and Chatting with Jesus