The Body and Blood of Christ

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ 13So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” 15He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ 16So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ 23Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the* covenant, which is poured out for many. 25Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

This Sunday we celebrate the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine is a beautiful and wondrous tenet of our faith and one which most of you have learned about since you were very young. The Real Presence is a powerful and all-life sustaining truth that is worthy of many books, reflections and homilies.

But this time around I am going to focus on an aspect of the Real Presence that only since Vatican II has been really emphasized, and then not always emphasized well or consistently. The Church teaches that not only is Christ truly present in the consecrated bread and wine, he is also truly present in his Word and in his people. While his Word is treated with respect and honor, I don’t think we, as a Catholic people, have come to a place of full respect and honor for the other aspect of the Body of Christ, for the Real Presence of Christ in those who come and worship along side of us or for people we come in daily contact with whether they are Christian or not.

It is truly easier to believe that Christ is present in the consecrated bread and wine than it is to believe he is present in that person across the aisle who wounded us so badly or disagrees openly with our own opinions. It takes real faith to believe in Christ’s presence in a consecrated wafer but Wow! It takes immense faith to believe in his presence in someone we can’t stand or even in someone who hasn’t particularly offended us but doesn’t strike us as a very spiritual person or makes us uncomfortable.

When we are unaware of the Lord’s Real Presence in his people or when we avoid that somewhat uncomfortable aspect of our faith, preferring instead to focus on the consecrated elements, our faith life suffers. The reason it suffers is because unless we are serving one another and honoring and respecting each other as a true part of the Body of Christ, the flow of the Spirit through us gets plugged up. There may be a trickle of Life coming through because most of us do try to give what we can where we can but we miss about 98% of our opportunities to have the river of Christ’s blood, the blood of everlasting life, flow through us in a torrent of love.

Last week we looked at the Trinity and the spiritual principle of unconditional love evident in that circle. The Trinity flows in continuous fullness because it does not shut itself off in condemnation or avoidance of those outside of its flow. Jesus gave of himself without measure and we experience Trinitarian power when we enter into his unconditional love for us and move out to share that love with Christ’s body. If we keep it to ourselves, the flow dries up.

It is against the nature of Christ to withhold his love. He shares with us his very life in his Body and Blood and if we come away from Mass sometimes and wonder why we don’t feel more stimulated and spiritually empowered by our reception of his Body and Blood, it’s most likely because we’re receiving the gift but we’re not allowing it to flow out. It’s stagnating inside. The whole point of the Christian life is to keep the River of Life, the Blood of our Salvation, flowing in fullness and that fullness is not possible within the body of Christ if we have put conditions on our love and ministry, if we do not view the people around us as worthy of our love, service, honor and respect, especially those who, in our judgment, seem to deserve it the least.

Service. Ministry. These words can be quite uncomfortable for a busy mother or a working woman or a stressed out student. As soon as we hear those words we think of having to get involved in a committee or a group or giving up huge chunks of our time to go out and get involved in worthwhile causes or ministries. And to those of you whose hearts are seizing up with dread, I say “Fear not.” There are people whose personalities, energy levels and lifestyles make it possible for them to be involved in time consuming ministry but not everyone has the luxury of disposable time and energy to give in those ways.

Consider this story. This was shared by Michelle from our Mother’s group, a stay-at-home Mom who has a toddler and teenagers and a home business. She’s a woman who loves the Lord and seeks him with her whole heart – and she’s busy!

One day she was in town shopping and she came across a young mom with some very cranky small children. The mom was obviously overwhelmed and at the end of her rope. Michelle had brought some digestive biscuits with her for her toddler and she went to the young mom and asked, “Would it be all right with you if I gave your children a digestive?” The mom was utterly grateful. Michelle gave the kids some biscuits and they settled down and were happy.

Such a small incident but, you know, Michelle could have just had some critical thoughts about Mothers who can’t control their children and walked on by. Instead, she had the compassion of Jesus and in offering some children some inexpensive biscuits she offered a young mother the gift of empathy and a moment of peace. That’s so much like the Jesus I know. Michelle didn’t do this because she knew the mother was a fellow Christian. She had no idea if this mom had a faith life or not. Michelle also didn’t do this because she wanted the mom to know she was a Christian. This was just an act of pure love and mercy. Michelle shared this story because she wanted us to know that when she did this small act of mercy, she experienced deep joy. She allowed the Life of Christ, which she receives from the Eucharist, to flow out of her to a member of Christ’s Body. The joy she felt was God’s joy – joy in her open response to one of his needy ones and joy in having her participating with him in the circle of life. It doesn’t matter if the ones who are ministered to know him by name or not. They are his body, as Mother Theresa’s life would attest to.

I call this act of responding to a need in the present moment, ‘Ministry of the Moment’, the acronym for which is, strangely enough, “M.O.M.” If you can’t get involved in committees or causes or groups etc. you can be in involved in Ministry of the Moment. All it requires is an understanding of the full extent of the Body of Christ and an awareness that every moment may present an opportunity for you to let the power and life of Christ’s Body and Blood and the self giving love of the Trinity to flow through you. Every time you enter into this ministry with the intention of sharing the nature of Jesus with someone in front of you, you will unplug the spiritual dam inside a little more.

There are so many ways to honor and respect Christ’s Body. At Mass there are a multitude of opportunities. Offering a welcoming hello to someone who usually goes in and out without speaking to anyone. Touching or hugging someone who just lost a loved one or is battling illness or just looks lonely. Listening to people instead of talking about yourself – asking questions about them and really hearing the answers. Asking a stranger to sit with your group at coffee time. Complimenting someone. It’s simply a matter of being aware of the preciousness of the people around you and to being ready to see a need or a way of sharing Jesus’ love.

And here’s one more thing you can do to grow your awareness of the beauty of the whole Body of Christ. When you are kneeling or standing (depending on your parish) after communion and after you have given a word of deep thanks to the Lord for the gift of himself in the Eucharist, look at the individual people who are still proceeding up to receive. In your heart give thanks for these people who are also the Body of Christ. And if I could make a very bold suggestion, give the most thanks for the ones who, in your eyes, might seem to deserve it the least. Respect them and honor them. If you do this at every Mass and if you refuse to enter into judgment or condemnation or criticism while watching these people, your perception of Christ’s Body will eventually be radically changed. Believe me, there is transforming power in this act, for you and for the whole Body.

It’s a very M.O.M. thing to do.