"He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire." 
St. Ignatius of  Antioch

So often we need to be reminded of the centrality of Jesus in our lives, as Lord and Savior. When all is said and done, nothing is more important and has a greater consequence than centering our lives on Jesus. When we loose this focus, our lives seem to be out of order. When we return to this focus, then things, though not perfect, make sense. Because of our fallen nature we tend to stray from the truth. Thus, we need to be reminded again, as Jesus did to Peter. His question "Do you love me," was to refocus Peter's commitment to him, so that he could truly follow him. "Who do you say I am" is not an idle question. 

 

Homily: Feast of Corpus Christi Year C

 

Reading 1: We know very little about the person Melchizedek. He was King of Jerusalem and priest of God. He recognized that Abraham was a man of God and that God was with Abraham. For it was God who enabled Abram to defeat his enemies. May God be blessed! Abram, in his turn, gave a tithe of what he had taken from his enemies in thanksgiving.

 

What are we here for? We have come to recognize what God has done for us in our lives. He brought us to salvation through the death and resurrection of his Son. We come to give thanks. We have come to acknowledge the blessings we have received this past week and to give thanks. We have come to offer our tithe as part of that thanksgiving, knowing that God enabled us to so work and earn a living. For this we return thanks to God through the gifts of bread and wine. These will be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

 

Reading 2: Paul was not at the Last Supper but the Lord in revelation showed him what he did and wanted done. The specific insight Paul adds is the statement: “As often as you eat the bread and drink the cup you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

 

Two Things: This is not a remembrance of a past event but a participation, of being present, making present Jesus’ death on the cross and all that it means in this moment and place for us. We are just as present at the Last Supper and on Calgary as were the Apostles and the women. Different times and different people but the same reality, the offering of Jesus to the Father for our salvation. To do this in remembrance of Jesus is not re-acting but making present the same event which will always be a present event because Jesus is the same Yesterday, today and forever.

 

The second point is that as we celebrate in the present moment the mystery of Jesus’ death and life, we are anticipating his coming again in glory. Jesus lives and we shall live eternally because of this Eucharistic gift to the Father.

 

Gospel: Three action are present. First, Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, revealing God’s plan and message. Second, he cured those who were sick. This confirmed his word. Third, he gave them a foretaste, a foreshadowing of the great event to come, the Eucharistic banquet. He did this by taking care of their present hunger through the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish, enough to feed five thousand with twelve large baskets of left overs.

 

The teaching, the healing and the feeding were a preparation for the Paschal mystery of love: the gift of his Body and Blood, the gift of salvation through his death on the cross, the gift of eternal life through his resurrection.

 

The Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted as a public witness of Jesus’ victory over our greatest enemy, death. “At its very heart, the Eucharist is the answer to the question of death, for it is the encounter with that love which is stronger than death. Corpus Christi is the response to this central Eucharistic mystery.”

 

Like Abraham, who is blessed by Melchizedek, we are blessed to hear God’s word, to be given the bread of life and the cup of salvation as our offering. In response, we are to act on the Word of God, to offer with Jesus ourselves to the Father and to become more like Christ as we share his divine life.

 "A man who governs his passions is master of the world. We must either rule them or be ruled by them. It is better to be the hammer than the anvil." St. Dominic

It is hard but not impossible to govern our passions. How often people prefer to be hammered by their passions into a type of slavery than to choose with grace to master the passions. The reason we fail many times is that we make the passions the center of our lives, to which we bow down in worship as to an idol. What would happen if we make Jesus the center of our lives, bowing down only to him? Our passions will remain, but they would lose their power over us. This will not happen quickly, since the dominance of the passions has taken place over a long period of time. But if we persist in focusing on Jesus, even if we fall short at times, then this focus will become stronger and remain longer. 

 "You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility." St. Moses the Black

Jesus' humility was a stumbling block for Satan. This was one of the areas he kept attacking Jesus in. The ultimate act of humility for Jesus was his embracing death by crucifixion. Where Satan thought he had finally defeated Jesus, the Lord in fact defeated his creature. By imitating Christ' humility, we put on the armor that will help us overcome the onslaught of the enemy. Our focus is not ourselves or our powers but on God and his powers to deliver us, as long as we trust in him and remain firm in him.

 Feast of Corpus Christi  Year C

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. 

· Notice Jesus confirmed his teaching by healing those in need. There seems to be two different processes used by Jesus. He taught and then he would perform some extraordinary sign to confirm the teaching; or he exercised one of the gifts of the Spirit and then gave a teaching to verify what he did.

As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." 

· Though they were concerned about the needs of the people, the Twelve did not realize that Jesus had a greater concern for them. They are approaching a problem from the human perspective. Jesus wants to teach them that the same problem needs to be approached from God’s perspective. Do we see how we do the same thing?

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." 

· In saying what he said, Jesus was testing the disciples to see how they would respond. Even though they had seen many miracles and even though they knew Jesus was a man of God, they still responded humanly. Do we act any differently?

· They had not yet gotten to the point of asking what God would want them to do in this situation.

Now the men there numbered about five thousand. 

· The number is significant since it indicates the extent of the miracle that Jesus would bring about. It is not a matter of stretching what is at hand but of a true miraculous multiplication of the little that is there.

Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. 

· There is a sense of confidence shown by Jesus.

· These are the ritual actions that Jesus will used at the Last Supper when he instituted the Eucharist.

· This miracle is a foreshadowing of the greater miracle of changing bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

· Imagine yourself there. What would be your reaction first to know that Jesus performed a miracle to feed the crowd and second that there was this abundance even when all had been satisfied?

· What does it say about God’s love for the people?

· When Jesus shares his own Body and Blood with you, what does it say about his love for you?

 "Every drop of kindness has a ripple effect. You never know how far reaching each ripple might be." St. Joseph the Hesychast

An act of kindness is an act of love. That is why Jesus made love a commandment and a way of life for his disciples. We see this played out in the ministry of Jesus. Each time he performed a miracle, word went out and people would bring their sick to him. How often we have heard of examples of kindness and love done to strangers, who in turned reciprocated with greater love to others. We don't know the effects of each act of love. Only God does. He will reveal these to us in eternity. Our need is to love and let its effects be measured and directed by God. 

 "To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything he has given us--and he has give us everything." Thomas Merton

So often we take things for granted. We experience and enjoy many things, as if they were due to us. The simple things like the air in our lungs, the intricate functions of every part of our body, the food we eat and the water we drink--all are gifts of God's bountiful love for us. The psalms reflect the right response to the wonders of God's loving blessings, gifts and deeds. What would we be, if God had not created and sustained us in existence? Who would we be, if God had not redeemed us and shared his divine life with us? Everything from God is a gift of his love. How can we respond? St. Therese of Avila stated it well: "Love is responded to with love." And this love is a reflection and and expression of our gratitude to our Beloved. Take time now to express your gratitude and make it part of your everyday.