Corpus Christi

June 27, 2011

Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14-16 + Psalm 147 + 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17 + John 6: 51-58

On the night before he died, Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed: “That they may be one even as we are one.” John 17,22

At the end of his mission and ministry, Jesus has gathered his most loved and trusted friends. He prays with them and over them. He promises them a share in his glory and the power of the Holy Spirit. His whole mission was about unity. He gathered to himself the lost, the sick, and the sinner. He challenged those who would push others aside and exclude them. Women and Samartins, Lepers and Tax Collectors, Sinners and Roman soldiers, all were included in the Kingdom he revealed. All that he said and all that he did had one purpose: to heal the brokennes of sin, restore the relationship between the creator and the created, and establish the same loving, life giving unity he experienced with his Father.

And so in these days following Pentecost, the universal church, looking back upon it all, remembering all that he said and did, and rejoicing in what he did after Pentecost, we celebrate two great feasts that stand out as examples of that unity: Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi (Today: The Body and Blood of Christ). The power of the Holy Spirit as Luke described it in Acts of the Apostels three weeks back on Pentecost brought together people from all over the earth. Luke names them by tribe and nation. On that First Day of the week, not only was the promise to send the Holy Spirit kept, but the prayer of Jesus was answered in the experienced unity of all those gathered in Jerusalem. They all heard one voice – one language, one message, and suddenly their difference no  longer mattered. They all heard and responded.

In the two weeks since Pentecost then, we have been led by the church to reflect first on the unity within God; the Holy Trinity. Last week it was a “God-Focused” Unity in which we can explore the power of love to unite the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now this week, the focus shifts to us, and to our unity: to the oneness we share because of the unity of Jesus and the Father by the power of the Spirit. The reminder, the symbol, the cause of that unity between us and with God is the Holy Eucharist. This Feast is about Unity: Communion. While it leads us to reflect upon the wonderful gift of the Christ’s Body and Blood, it takes us deeper into this mystery to reflect upon our Unity in Communion.

For us Roman Catholics, then this sacrament with all it’s deveopment in our understanding through history is still about one thing: unity. This is the sacrament of our incorporation; the sacrament that takes us into, binds us together with, and unites with the Body/Corpus – the body of the Faithful us much as the Body of the Savior. This sacarament for us is about unity with the Chruch. It is not a reward for coming to church, it is not something you get, take, or for that matter, receive. It is what we become here, one in faith, one in Christ, one in covenant. This is why we do not share this sacrament with those who are not one with us in faith or in creed. It is no judgement or condemnation about them. It is an affirmation of what this is and who we are as one church bound together with all other churches who share with us one faith, creed, and tradition. It is why we do not receive this Communion when we are out of communion because of sin, or a life style that is inconsistent with what we share together in values and in faith. To break covenant is to be out of communion. Being anywhere else when this community gathers around an altar to proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes in glory breaks the covenant.

What impoverised thinking is going on when someone walks down this aisle, accepts the Sacrament of Unity with us in Christ and then walks straight out the door?

Where is the power of this Sacrament in the lives of people who walk down this aisle, accept the Sacrament of Unity, without ever taking up any responsibility or share in the ministry and work of this community?

What is going on when people walk down this aisle and accept the the Sacrament of Unity who have not been here for three previous weeks nor anywhere else in universal communion for whatever flimsy excuse.

The Eucharist we receive and enshrine is never simply a meal or an object of adoration, but a memorial of a life given for others and a summons to seek the kind of communion with God and others that Paul proclaims today. You can’t have one without the other in Eucharist. It binds us to God, and it binds us to oneanother as Church.

The colorful and wonderful history of this feast began with great processions when the Eucharist was taken out of the church and carried throughout the whole town; taken to the places where people lived and worked as both a reminder that the presence of God is not confined to a church building, and a reminder that where ever people of faith living in communion are found, there also is found Christ the Lord.

This is our day of unity, our day of communion, our day to remember who we are and what we seek to become through this Sacrament: the Body and Blood of Christ; His real presence in this world. The whole language about eating flesh is not about eating biological tissue. It is simply and directly the most in your face kind of language to help and make us understand that this is real presence “in the flesh” is one way we put it in English. Not a symbol, a sign, or just a memory. It is as real as flesh and blood; and so shall we be when we accept the invitation to be one.

June 12, 2011

Acts 2: 1-11 + Psalm 104 + 1 Corinthians 12: 3-7, 12-13 + John 20: 19-23

Hundreds of years ago, Saint Ambrose stood up in the ambo in the great Cathedral of Milan and said: “Remember that you have received … the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and godliness, the spirit of holy fear. Preserve what you have received. God has sealed you; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has given you the guarantee of the Spirit in your heart.” How I wish he were today to say it again. Perhaps the power, the dignity, the sanctity, and the influence of the man who baptized Saint Augustine could convince you of this truth.

There is something terribly wrong in the experience of our faith and the living witness of our faith when these gifts go unnoticed, unused, and either forgotten or ignored. Ambrose says, “Remember that you have received…” Paul writes to the Corinthians affirming “that we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” Then the experience reported in Acts of the Apostles does not suggest that only the the people in that upper room possessed the Spirit. Everyone who heard them was filled with the Spirit is the suggestion Luke proposes. So, I am wondering what is it with us?

The whole purpose and focus for the life of Jesus Christ was to give, send, and fill us with the same Spirit he shared with His Father. If we believe that, where is the evidence, and why are truly spirit-filled people so remarkable, exceptional, and rare?

I am beginning to think that the root of this question lies in a serious misunderstanding of what is going on here today. A show of hands, which I will not request might prove my thought. Too many think that Pentecost is a celebration of an historical event. Too many people think that Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles. Too many people think that Pentecost is the “birthday of the church”. Well, I would like to push you just a little further and a little deeper than those shallow ideas.

We have to become what we celebrate. We have to wake up, stir up, build up the Spirit we have been given. Throughout the ages of life in that Spirit there are certain signs of that Spirit which we have begun to call “gifts.” We have them. When are we going to start to use them and enjoy, or rejoice in the consequences of a Spirit lived life? John and Luke both put before us something to think about. Luke in his typical dramatic way has a big show: wind and fire. John in his more subtle way simply has Jesus breath on the disciples and speak of gifts he leaves us: peace and forgiveness.

A Spirit filled people will be using these gifts, and the use of them will bring about more wonderful things and a more wonder-filled life than we could ever have imagined.

But look at us. We don’t treasure wisdom. The wise among us are often looked down upon and ridiculed by this age. Wisdom rarely makes money. It does not sell stuff, and is rarely rewarded. If given the choice of being wise or clever, most people would, in their hearts, rather be clever and call it “being smart.” There are not many people in this world who are understanding. Now there are many who want to be understood, but they are not willing to realize that to be understood by another you first have to be understanding. It is a quality of compassion always found in the wise.

This gift sometimes called “fear of the Lord” is really about respect. It’s in short supply in this age. A lot of people want it, but they don’t give it; and it’s not always about respect between people. There is something else deeper in this gift that has to do with respect for life and respect for this planet and all created things.

Courage too is a gift not in great supply. While we may and should admire the courage of many who respond to the call of defense, their service might not be needed had some courage been exercised earlier on the part of decision makers in the face of  injustice. Courage is not always about power and might. The courage to speak up and stand up when something is wrong is sign of the Spirit. The courage to use one’s life to make a difference in the lives of others, to do something different, to dream of more than a fast car, big house, and big investments is in short supply. The Vocation crises in our church bears witness to the fact that this gift is going unused.

The Strength that the Holy Spirit brings has nothing to do with the strength of the economy, how much you can lift, or how much influence you can throw around. It has to do with the ability to sway human hearts and persevere in times of trial.

If Peace and Forgiveness are what the risen Christ breaths into us, where is it? How can it be that there is still after all these years since he did the breathing we are still at war, still find families and friends, tribes, races, and nations hostile and hateful? Does the gift of Forgiveness not work, or has it simply not been used? We might wonder about that.

If this is truly the Birthday of the Church, then there are a lot of Birthday presents to be opened and enjoyed. I suspect our problem lies in the fact that we keep on waiting for something to come that has already been given, waiting for something to happen that we have failed to do ourselves. Since that “first day of the week” which is a code message for “the beginning” every generation has both the privilege and the responsibility to acknowledge and accept the gift of the Spirit so that the peace and forgiveness left by Jesus can be available to all. To celebrate this feast, we must be makers of peace and forgivers, wise, courageous, strong, respectful, and holy.

We must become what we celebrate.