It's Real - Homily Most Holy Body and Blood

Today we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi; solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The first thing that comes to my mind is that old southern gospel song: There is Power in the Blood.

Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood ; Would you be free from your passion and pride, There’s power in the blood, power in the blood; There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.

We as Catholics have the body and the blood. And we have the real presence of Jesus Christ in that body and blood.

Parents have faced this question - Why do I have to go to Mass? Many grown people ask the same question. For believers the answer is simple, to worship, give praise, and receive Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We come to mass to be with the risen Lord.

Since the very first mass, Catholics have recognized the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. When we say the Real Presence, it means that Christ is literally and wholly present—body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Holy Eucharist—under the appearance of bread and wine.

But many have found this teaching hard so they departed from it. In fact, many Christians say it is “unbiblical” and the bread and wine are just a symbol.

Jesus does not say it is a symbol. Jesus told his disciples: THIS BREAD IS MY BODY and THIS CUP, THIS WINE IS MY BLOOD. When he said that, many of his followers found this teaching hard and departed from him.

Even Catholics don’t understand the realness of the Eucharistic. A 2010 Pew study found 50% of Catholics didn't know the church's teaching on the real presence. Many believe it a symbol.

It is not just a symbol. Weak faith makes it easy to say. It is hard for those with a weak faith to grasp that a piece of unleavened bread is Jesus: Body, blood, soul and divinity.

Believers know the real presence and have celebrated this mystery throughout Christian history. Many have given their lives for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Believers have been martyred in concentration camps, communist prisons, and the Middle East. Even today, believers are martyred for Christ and the Eucharist. Tomorrow, it may be us.

Would we be willing to give our life for the reality of Jesus' presence in the bread and wine of the Eucharist? Through the priest’s prayers the mystery of transubstantiation takes place. Transubstantiation is Jesus' declaration, "This is my Body. This is my Blood." Our senses still tell us what we taste, smell, touch, and see is bread and wine; yet, the substance has changed. They become the body and blood of Christ.  

As each of us comes forward to receive the Holy Eucharist, we are invited to adore the real presence of Jesus Christ. Before we receive the minister holds up the host and says, "The Body of Christ."

Our adoration is the "Amen."  Amen - we believe it is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. In that moment, we are joined to Jesus as an offering to God.

To do this, we must be right in our hearts and in our lives. We should not receive communion if we live a life completely contrary to Jesus.

Many never notice their lives of contradiction. It is one thing to sin, recognize it, and repent. It is quite another to sin and rationalize it. "Well, everybody is doing it."  One is a sinner the other a hypocrite. There is a difference. The sinner struggles; the hypocrite judges. The sinner repents; the hypocrite rationalizes. The sinner confesses; the hypocrite gossips.

The world will try to weaken us. It calls us to be compassionate and accepting of sin. They rationalize it by saying even Jesus as He accepted the woman caught in adultery, But they forget his words of compassion to the woman. "Go and sin no more."

The Eucharist is more than a symbol. It is the sacramental sign of our faith. It is our faith the world is constantly fighting against.

The world can be successful in that fight, one example is how the world can weaken our faith every time we receive communion irreverently.

Today, many have abandoned communion on the tongue. So many, priest, deacons, religious persons, and lay people have all begun to reach out and grab the Blessed Sacrament. We reach and grab as if it were a Big Mac or a moon pie. (examples) Irreverence hardens our hearts.  

Sure, not everyone will receive communion on the tongue; but, think about the last time you were sick or weak (sin makes us that way) and someone who loved you fed you. Remember the intimacy and the love experienced in that act.

Yes, receiving in the hand is acceptable, but please remember the proper and reverent way: place your left hand on top of your right, forming a cross, a throne to receive your King. After you say "Amen" step to the side and reverently place the host on your tongue.

Why do I go to mass? For me the answer is quite simple, there is power, power, wonder working power of the body and the blood and the real presence of Jesus Christ.

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your lives and love one another. Amen.

Love, Trinity, and Fathers - Reflections Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Readings

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and Father’s Day.

If I asked a child to explain the Holy Trinity, it might give a great big story full of imagination. With that vivid imagination, a child might get close.

If I asked anyone reading this to explain the Holy Trinity, probably they could give me this answer: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God. Asked how to you explain three persons, yet, one God; and, the imagination dies. Our imagination is stuck in this world.

In our studies for the diaconate, we had all these big text books. Two or three for each class, but, the text book studying the Holy Trinity was less than  a  ½ inch thick.

Even there, the Holy Trinity was a mystery hard to tackle.

Jesus said “I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now.”

One description of the Trinity is Infinity, Immanence, and Intimacy (R. Rohr). Most will say it makes since as God the Father is infinity. Christ Jesus is immanence. And, the Holy Spirit is intimacy.

We’d be wrong. The early Fathers and great doctors of the Church had a different experience of the Trinity. Jesus told us the reality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Most Holy Trinity is that ALL truth is given to the other.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.

He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

That sharing of ALL truth comes from love. The truth and mystery of the Blessed Trinity is Love. That is why the reality of the Trinity is that all is given to the other.

That brings us to the ALL giving that is the truth of being a father. It is not just a truth for father but for every parent or those who desire to be parents.

Look at the reality that is family. It is a trinity of father, mother, and children. In the love of family all is given to the other.

Since this is Father’s Day, I will focus on fathers.

Using the description of family as a trinity of infinite, immanent, and intimate where all is given to the other look at the father’s role.

To a child, a father’s love must be infinite. The father is powerful, the protector, and the provider giving all to his family. The child looks to the father and loves without reservation. Fathers should love the child without end; but, many fathers are in love with self or the world more than their family. They forget the importance of a child’s need for a father’s infinite love in a child’s life.

To a child, the father’s love must be immanent. The father should hold a position in the family that is permanent, pervading, and sustaining. The father should be in every aspect of the child’s life. This is where many fail. Career, money, possessions, and ego become the important things in the father’s life and the father becomes less immanent in the child’s life.

To a child, a father’s love must be intimate, close, and familiar. It is a love that must be found in the love for a child but also love for the family, and the mother. It is the reason of a Godly marriage. It is to strengthen familial love. That is the intimate, close and familiar love a child needs. Because the father has answered the world, where he is the most important, the intimate love a child needs from a loving father is lost.

The world is broken. People can’t understand the trinity. People don’t understand how important love is to those around us; especially to our children.

We say we are Christians; but, God knows us. And, Jesus knows us. God knows we are a hard hearted people. It is our hard hearts that make it hard to give others the love they need; even our children.

The hard heart the world has given us stifles an imagining of the love that is the Holy Trinity and tramples an imagining of the love we should have for each other. But by the Holy Spirit, we are to know peace with God through Jesus Christ. God, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) the blessed Trinity wants to soften the affliction of our hard hearts.

St. Paul writes: “Knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

Happy Father’s Day.

Be good, be holy, and preach the gospel by the way you lives and love one another especially our children. Amen.

A Gift of Tongues or A Gift of Love - Reflection Pentecost Sunday - C

Readings

Many years ago, I asked a friend who went to a charismatic Church if he received the Holy Spirit. When he said “yes”, I asked what it was like.

He said during the service, the preacher could see those about to be touched by the Holy Spirit. Calling them to the front of the congregation, the preacher would lay his hands upon them.

My friend told me then you hear a sound like a strong driving wind and feel like you are on fire. The Holy Spirit seizes you. Some fall to the floor and others dance in ecstasy; but, all called speak in tongues.

Was this a real experience of the Holy Spirit? I don’t know; but, the gift of tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Speaking in tongues is what most thinks of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit.

But St. Paul writes: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

These gifts of the Holy Spirit are the Church.

This celebration of Pentecost is not the celebration of speaking in tongues but the celebration of the creation of the Church. The Church that began when Christ appeared in the midst of the apostles in the upper room to breathe on them and said receive the Holy Spirit.

It is the same Church that is today the presence of Christ and his love in the world.

Love is the one true gift of the Holy Spirit that each and every one of us should realize. It is the love in you that is the Holy Spirit in you.

Love is the presence of God within you, the Holy Spirit. It is uncreated grace.

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

"Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.”

The problem is in this world many don’t want God to love them. That is a freedom that God has given everyone.

But, still, no matter if you are a sinner or a saint, God cannot love you more than God already loves you right now. No matter if you are a sinner or a saint, God cannot love you any less than that he loves you right now. Yet, it is for each of us to realize God’s love for us, through Jesus Christ, and to receive the Holy Spirit; the presence of God within us. 

Jesus told the apostles, “The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything.”

The Holy Spirit is not conjured up to bring magical gifts like party games.  The Holy Spirit is God within us every day. It is the God’s love that we bring to the world. 

That is the gift given to the Church.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Be good, be holy and preach the Gospel by the way you live and love, filled by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Love of His Goodbye - Reflection Ascension Sunday

Readings

This weekend, my family celebrated the marriage of my niece at a reception held in honor of the newlywed couple. As family came together, I saw love that is family. I saw those who have experienced love in a real and broken world.

Earlier in the week, I had asked my grandson if he knew what love is and he gave me a good answer for 5 year old. “Love is I love my mommy and my brother and you pop. “

Since we were talking about telling the truth, I explained that love was a forever truth. I explained to love someone is a promise of always wanting and giving what is good for another person. It was always important to tell the truth because telling a fib was not giving what is good.

I explained that my love for him is the promise of wanting and giving all I have that is good to him and his brother. Loving him is also the promise of wanting and giving all that is good to his mother and his grandmother and his great-grandparents.

I finished with the fact that love is keeping that promise to one another. That is the way Jesus’ loved us.

At the reception, I thought about this talk with my grandson and how hard love is to really give; because in the real everyday life where we exist face to face with other persons, there is always going to be the fact of our frailties and failures in this world.   

Even for love, they present obstacles in every relationship. Frailties and failures in us that are obstacles placed in relationships. These are things like resistance, disappointment, and irritation or a fear of not being understood or valued. It is the wound that springs from our humanity. It is the wound in our ability to love one another that the world rubs salt into.

I hope that Elliot and Callie’s love is a promise of wanting and giving all that is good. Living in this world, I hope it is a love that is forgiving, true, and truthful.

That promise of wanting and giving all that is good is Jesus’ love for us.

He gave us that in the love of his good bye.

The love of these words, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you….”  A promise made wanting and giving all that is good,  the Holy Spirit, the power from on high; God within us.

And in that good bye, the apostles loved. They promised all that is good for him by giving him homage, returning to Jerusalem with great joy, and continually praising God.”

At his time in our world when the idea of love has become scandalous, and  the world puts forth the concept that abortion is love and somehow acceptable to God, we must love. Realize as believers, we have been given power from on high: the Holy Spirit, God within us.

Give him homage and with great joy continually praise God. With that power from on high love one another in the promise of wanting and giving all I have that is good.

People of God, why are you standing there looking at the sky?

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live and love one another. Amen.