Corpus Christi

Gn 14:18-20
Ps 110:1,2,3,4  
1 Cor 11:23-26
Lk 9:11b-17

There is a popular saying that the definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi or the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  A special day dedicated to the Eucharist – a celebration that is being celebrated every day and at every moment throughout the world.  Today is also the anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. I can say that at over 448 Masses since my ordination I have neither gone insane nor have I had a "different result" after celebrating each Mass.  At every Mass, the Eucharist – Jesus’ gift of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – is made present to us.  It is the same result and its effect in our lives cannot be measured, but we know that it is profound, especially when we open ourselves to Him.

Since the beginning, God has been preparing the world to receive Christ in a very special way.  We hear from the book of Genesis, [that’s the very first book in the Bible in case you brought yours] that this mysterious King of Salem, Melchizedek, offers bread and wine as a priest of God Most High. Hebrews 7:3 – cites this Melchizedek as without any ancestry – without beginning of days or end of life; effectively eternal and a prefiguring of the true high priest Jesus Christ.  He is a king too, the King of Salem.  Salem, Massachusetts? No, the King of Peace (Shalom).  What does Melchizedek offer? This sacrifice and offerings is on behalf of Abraham the father of the people Israel to God Most High.  He offers bread and Wine.  In scriptures, sacrifices usually involve something bloody and slaughtered, but this sacrifice is one of bread and wine, unbloody sacrifice.  Hmmm… does all of this sound familiar?

When Jesus was with the hungry multitude he tells His dear disciples, Give them some food yourselves.  They were fully aware that they are unable to do so and that clear limitations, what could they do they but turn to the Lord to seek help.  The human condition is quite often filled with the simple fact that we are not able to do what needs to be done.  It can be in our daily lives – not having enough time in the day, not having the strength to run that last errand, or just being frustrated that nothing is going your way.  It can be our spiritual lives – not finding that joy that everyone else around you has when they goto church, not seeing how one can sit and pray for five minutes let alone for an hour, or just being frustrated that all the praying you have been doing seems like it is just talking to a wall.  As Blessed Mother Teresa said, “We are called to be faithful not successful.”  So in that faith we turn to Him, “I can’t Lord, but you can.”  Ultimately, the greatest burden and curse that has plagued us is not the number hours of the day or how many years we have left to live, but that our relationship with God was separated by an infinite chasm of sin before Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem it.

What priests of old tried to do with animal sacrifices and sin offerings, Jesus did with His life.  You see when sacrifices and holocausts were offered back then, the meat was not just burned but a meal was shared as well – that peace was offered and a meal shared to recognize the renewed relationship.  We hear in our second reading St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."  What I find fascinating in this passage is this idea of “handing on”.  The Latin word tradere the word from which we get the words tradition, trade, and betray.  So when St. Paul was handing on to us what was handed on to him in this Holy TRADITION, Jesus was HANDING Himself over to be TRADED in our place – to face condemnation for our sins as He was BETRAYED by His friends.  This is a holy exchange: where He would die for us, offer Himself for us, so that we may have an everlasting offering to the Father – an offering that is offered day in and day out!

As a priest stands in the person of Christ – he not only attempts to imitate Him in virtue, but he must be the model of something that is particular to the identity of Jesus Christ: both a priest like Melchizedek and a victim – a sacrificial offering to God.  The priest that offers the sacrifice; and the victim that is being offered – a fragrant offering to the Lord.  Every time I hold the host in my hand as I say the words of Consecration: This is my Body – I offer myself with Christ.  As baptized members of the Body of Christ – all of you are called to offer yourself with me united in worship with Christ to God the Father; for why else would the nuns years ago drill into your heads to say “My Lord, and My God” every time the host is elevated?  Every time I hold the chalice in my hand as I say the words: This is my Blood – I take myself to the Garden of Gethsemane – remembering that our Lord desired that the Father would take the cup away, but ultimately offered Himself obediently to the Will of the Father: Not my will but Thine be done. Can these words be said without a tremble in your voice?  To say them means that I am willing to follow that Will to my death.  Every priest who is worth his salt should know that the offering that they offer in Mass is something incomprehensibly beautiful, mysterious, terrifying, and awesome at the same time.  As I reflect on this day – one year from my ordination, my first anniversary – I hope that I can continue to explore the depths of the Holy Eucharist.  It is truly incomprehensibly beautiful, mysterious, terrifying, and awesome.

It is not insane to do this same thing over and over again and expect a different result because we are always at a different place in our lives and the depths of God’s mystery and blessing is never exhausted.  Therefore I would propose that insanity in this context is to go to Mass day in and day out and NOT have a different result.  The Feast of Corpus Christi is not only a joyful celebration of our redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ but a reminder that the frequency and repetition of our celebration should not breed contempt but rather inspire us to unite ourselves more closely with Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ – both mystical and physically:  Mystically in the Church and physically in the Holy Eucharist.  "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.