Saturday, August 19, 2006
Of Things Divine: The Transforming Power of the Eucharist, Ordinary Time 20-B
Recently I received over the Internet the story of a woman arrested for road rage. It seems she was quite angry at the man driving in front of her. She was blowing her horn in an effort to get him to speed up. At the stop light, she rolled down her window and was shouting obscenities at the man, who must have been a saint for the way he controlled himself. A police officer pulled up behind her and watched her temperamental explosion, and when she stuck her hand out of the window toward the man’s car to give him a digital expression of her mind the policeman got out of his car and ordered the woman out of hers. He arrested her on the spot. After questioning her for a few hours at the precinct house, the office apologized to the woman for arresting her. He said, “I am sorry, ma’am, but with all the bumper stickers on the back of your car like ‘Jesus is my co-pilot’ and ‘I vote for Life’ and ‘Every human being is a child of God’ and ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ I would have sworn by your conduct that you had stolen that car.”
It’s sad, but true. Too often we make mistakes about what is important. For that poor woman the mistake was wearing her Christianity on her car and not in her heart.
A similar mistake occurs all too frequently with the way we think about meals. We make the mistake of thinking that the most important part of a meal is the food which sustains our bodies, but there is a deeper significance to meals than the dishes that are served. What really matters when we share a meal is not the food on the table but the chatter and fun shared while eating. That is what binds us together and refreshes our hearts and creates friendship and family.
It was no different for Jesus. At the last supper he shared with his apostles Jesus’ love and friendship overflowed as he showed the Twelve how to be brothers to one another. Every time we come together to celebrate the Eucharist we relive that event. We meet Jesus as both brother and Savior and receive the shared life of God in our gathering and our fellowship.
Today’s Gospel tells us clearly that Jesus offers us his Body and Blood as the necessary food for our journey through life. It is not just spiritual food. It is real food: his flesh, his blood. And, he warns of the consequences of not accepting the gift he offers. If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life within you.
We are reminded today of the closeness of the union into which Jesus calls us in every celebration of the Eucharist. It is a union which reaches its fulfillment in eternity. Jesus is offering us a life that will not grow old but will go on for ever. In the Eucharist, we are offered the life that Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and he offers it so that we might have life.
Jesus is not present on our altars simply for our adoration and admiration. Jesus is present so that we can be united with him perfectly. Our celebration and reception of the Eucharist can be an empty pageant, an empty ritual as I mentioned last week, if it is confined to one hour in church on Sunday and doesn’t flow into the rest of our lives. Unless we are very much a part of what we are doing and have our hearts set on drawing closer to Jesus and becoming more Christ-like we can end up leading a pagan’s life tinged with certain Christian practices. We could become that woman who proclaimed her Christianity in all the wrong ways.
Receiving the Eucharist is meaningless and profitless if we fail to live what we celebrate. We must take our religion out of the church with us and bring it into the marketplace, onto the playground, into our social gatherings. For instance, there is not much point in speaking about God’s love without making an effort to spread it.
At the end of Mass each week we are sent out into the world to serve the Lord Jesus where were we live and work and play as Christ-bearers living his life, making Jesus present in a world that would otherwise conceal him.
Today, we thank God in a special way for the great gift of his Son who is with us and leading us to the Father, both physically and spiritually. Every act, every word, every thought placed on the altar of Christ benefits our world. Without frequent returns to the Bread of Life, we are unable to keep the spirit of Christ alive in our hearts.
This week, do something positive for your faith. Think of a member of our parish who you don’t see at Mass, except rarely. Call that brother or sister in Christ and invite them to meet you at Mass next weekend. After all, you wouldn’t let your brothers and sisters starve to death, would you? The power of the Eucharist is not contained in letters from the pastor or in newsletters sent to members of the Church who have fallen into the pit of spiritual sloth. The power of the Eucharist is not even confined to this beautiful tabernacle. No, the power of the Eucharist resides in you who become living tabernacles sent into the world to proclaim the Good News by the way you live the life of Jesus every day.
So, at the end of Mass today, go and tell that non-practicing member of the Church just how much God loved you today at Mass and how He filled you with the Banquet of Life. Invite them to rediscover the joy of Mass.
And, invite your neighbors, too. There is always room for one more at Mass!
It’s sad, but true. Too often we make mistakes about what is important. For that poor woman the mistake was wearing her Christianity on her car and not in her heart.
A similar mistake occurs all too frequently with the way we think about meals. We make the mistake of thinking that the most important part of a meal is the food which sustains our bodies, but there is a deeper significance to meals than the dishes that are served. What really matters when we share a meal is not the food on the table but the chatter and fun shared while eating. That is what binds us together and refreshes our hearts and creates friendship and family.
It was no different for Jesus. At the last supper he shared with his apostles Jesus’ love and friendship overflowed as he showed the Twelve how to be brothers to one another. Every time we come together to celebrate the Eucharist we relive that event. We meet Jesus as both brother and Savior and receive the shared life of God in our gathering and our fellowship.
Today’s Gospel tells us clearly that Jesus offers us his Body and Blood as the necessary food for our journey through life. It is not just spiritual food. It is real food: his flesh, his blood. And, he warns of the consequences of not accepting the gift he offers. If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life within you.
We are reminded today of the closeness of the union into which Jesus calls us in every celebration of the Eucharist. It is a union which reaches its fulfillment in eternity. Jesus is offering us a life that will not grow old but will go on for ever. In the Eucharist, we are offered the life that Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and he offers it so that we might have life.
Jesus is not present on our altars simply for our adoration and admiration. Jesus is present so that we can be united with him perfectly. Our celebration and reception of the Eucharist can be an empty pageant, an empty ritual as I mentioned last week, if it is confined to one hour in church on Sunday and doesn’t flow into the rest of our lives. Unless we are very much a part of what we are doing and have our hearts set on drawing closer to Jesus and becoming more Christ-like we can end up leading a pagan’s life tinged with certain Christian practices. We could become that woman who proclaimed her Christianity in all the wrong ways.
Receiving the Eucharist is meaningless and profitless if we fail to live what we celebrate. We must take our religion out of the church with us and bring it into the marketplace, onto the playground, into our social gatherings. For instance, there is not much point in speaking about God’s love without making an effort to spread it.
At the end of Mass each week we are sent out into the world to serve the Lord Jesus where were we live and work and play as Christ-bearers living his life, making Jesus present in a world that would otherwise conceal him.
Today, we thank God in a special way for the great gift of his Son who is with us and leading us to the Father, both physically and spiritually. Every act, every word, every thought placed on the altar of Christ benefits our world. Without frequent returns to the Bread of Life, we are unable to keep the spirit of Christ alive in our hearts.
This week, do something positive for your faith. Think of a member of our parish who you don’t see at Mass, except rarely. Call that brother or sister in Christ and invite them to meet you at Mass next weekend. After all, you wouldn’t let your brothers and sisters starve to death, would you? The power of the Eucharist is not contained in letters from the pastor or in newsletters sent to members of the Church who have fallen into the pit of spiritual sloth. The power of the Eucharist is not even confined to this beautiful tabernacle. No, the power of the Eucharist resides in you who become living tabernacles sent into the world to proclaim the Good News by the way you live the life of Jesus every day.
So, at the end of Mass today, go and tell that non-practicing member of the Church just how much God loved you today at Mass and how He filled you with the Banquet of Life. Invite them to rediscover the joy of Mass.
And, invite your neighbors, too. There is always room for one more at Mass!
