Body and Blood of Christ ’26
Body and Blood from Bread and Wine. This is one of the most evolutionary and transformational movements in all of Christianity. We, as Catholics, adhere to the reality of this change, which conveys Jesus’ intention to give himself to us in a very real way. The Second Vatican Council documents tell us that in the Eucharist, the reality of Christ’s presence is manifest in four ways – the people gathered, the word of scripture proclaimed, the person of the priest, and the elements of bread and wine. The sacred convergence of these four constitutes the celebration of the Eucharist.
We focus a bit more on Christ’s Body and Blood this weekend. As Jesuit priest Tad Guzie says in his book Jesus and the Eucharist, “Jesus identified himself with bread and wine at the Last Supper.” Jesus then gives himself to us as He says, “TAKE THIS, all of you and eat it.” Take this – I am giving myself to you. I am giving you the reality of my presence, as in the Eucharist, we physically consume and spiritually connect with Christ who has risen from the dead. At the Last Supper, he had not yet risen from the dead. He has now, and this is our sacred encounter with the resurrected Jesus, a gift in the form of transformed bread and wine.
Perhaps you have heard me say at the beginning of Mass, “We gather for a sacred encounter with the risen Christ who gives himself to us as a gift, so with reverent gratitude let us continue in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I emphasize sacred encounter because it is a physical/spiritual connection that is more than a service or worship experience. We take Bread-Body and Wine-Blood into our bodies. His body enters our body and his blood runs through us, not in our veins but our souls. St. Paul tells us in Chapter 12 of his first letter to the Corinthians, “We are the Body of Christ.” And later, “YOU are the Body of Christ.” This is a human metaphor for perhaps our deepest identity.
As my friend Jack Shea says, “Jesus instituted the Eucharist not just to change bread and wine but to change you and me.” That is a big part of my motivation for us to BE MORE as a community, transformed by the same Holy Spirit that changes Bread and Wine. Through the transformative energy of the Holy Spirit these simple physical elements become More. So then can we.
As we continue to rally around Be More here at Holy Family, I want to remind all of you that just as bread and wine become more by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can BE MORE by the same Holy Spirit, individually and as a community. As some of the feedback from our Conversations in the Spirit tells us, we are strong in welcoming, hospitality, inclusion, and worship – but in every one of those ways and others we can be even MORE.
Just mentioning these two elements joined by the word AND, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ can be used as an example of other twin or partner words or conjunctions. I will reflect on several conjunctions this weekend as I celebrate 40 years of Priesthood and 70 years on earth.
The gift of Christ’s Body and Blood invites me to treasure experiences that I have shared with so many of you in life and in the priesthood:
Bread and Wine – Through dinners and drinks
Song and Dance – Moving to and singing so much good music with you
Courses and Courts – Playing so much golf and basketball with you
Winning and Losing – In athletics and life with you
Gift and Gratitude – Being grateful for the adventure of life that you have shared and given to me
Life and Priesthood – How these two have converged to the point where I do not separate them
As you might know, I have come to appreciate another couple of words inspired by our Cross of New Life; the classic gesture is Christ reaching out to us. I have come to appreciate something else in it. Simply put, gesture and gaze. In our cross, Christ is gesturing that the Kingdom of God is at hand, or it is here – Right Here – pointing to the altar, which is a metaphor for gathering, a metaphor for the Eucharist, a metaphor for our community, and a metaphor for our lives, and life certainly not confined to our church.
But his gaze is beyond the gesture, his vision is beyond his hand. This is a challenge for us to see and embrace that Christ’s vision for us is beyond what is here. It is MORE than what currently exists. So, the conjunction that emanates from this beautiful piece of art is The Kingdom is here, but it is also beyond here, into the MORE that lies ahead of us all.
One of my favorite lines from the Eucharist is, May the Body and Blood of Christ bring us to everlasting life. May I suggest that the statement is not only about eternity, but it is also about what is lasting in our lives, the conjunctive words that strike grace in your life, the kingdom that is here and yet to be fully manifest here, the MORE that God is calling us all to BE.
I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR CELEBRATING WITH ME THIS WEEKEND!