\u00c2\u00a0May 25, 2008<\/p>\n
Corpus Christi<\/p>\n
Dt 8: 2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10: 16-17; John 6: 51-58\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dc. Larry Brockman<\/p>\n
Over 700 years ago, something strange happened near Krakow, Poland.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 For 3 nights, a bright, pulsing flood of light was seen for miles shining out of a swamp near a small church.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Today, we wouldn’t think anything of it- just a floodlight.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But there were no floodlights in the 14th century, and the people were scared.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 After 3 days of praying and fasting, the Bishop led a procession into the swamp. They found the source of the light. They found a monstrance with consecrated hosts in it. The monstrance had been stolen from the small church by thieves for its gold, but it was discarded when they found out it was not real gold.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a miracle attributed to the Eucharist.\u00c2\u00a0 So, the Bishop built the Church of Corpus Christi there- the feast we celebrate today.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is but one of a string of documented Eucharistic miracles recorded over 20 centuries.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Some of these miracles include actual physical evidence that the host or wine was turned to real flesh and real blood:\u00c2\u00a0 hosts that have begun to bleed; hosts that have turned into flesh;\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 and hosts that have been miraculously preserved in the midst of devastating fires.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of this evidence is on display in Italy today.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of you have visited these places and know that what I say is true.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But like some of the people who actually saw the miracles Jesus worked,\u00c2\u00a0 there is still doubt- doubt, skepticism, and cynicism about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.<\/p>\n
Now, in the wake of Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States in which he encouraged us to dialog with other Christians; and in this year of Evangelization, when we are encouraged to help others to embrace our faith, it is especially important for you to understand what it means to be a Catholic.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
You need that so that you can defend your faith, and spread it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what it means to evangelize.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 You have heard it said that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian Faith.\u00c2\u00a0 The Catechism puts it very well:\u00c2\u00a0 “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0And, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (#1374).\u00c2\u00a0 The Real Presence in the Eucharist is one of the main areas that defines what it means to be a Catholic.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s one of those things that makes us Catholics so different from other Christians\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 because they have the Bible- the Word of God; but we have the Bible AND the Eucharist, and that makes a big difference.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
How can you make that difference evident in our society?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 First, you need to understand that it is a mystery; then you need to believe in that mystery; and finally you need to live like that mystery has meaning. \u00c2\u00a0That’s one way you can fulfill your role as an evangelizer.<\/p>\n
Did you know that the root meaning of the word “Sacrament” is “mystery”?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, that is what the Eucharist is- a sacrament, which is by definition, a mystery. \u00c2\u00a0In this modernistic era that we live in, that is a hard pill for people to swallow.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We are taught that natural processes are the only things that really can be.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Everything has an explanation- we just have to study it long enough to unravel the explanation.\u00c2\u00a0 And so, society tells us that miracles and mysteries can be solved by science. And yet, as scientists have found, the ultimate explanations that explain the mysteries they solve- like DNA chains in Biology or the origin of the Big Bang-\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Lead to another layer of yet unsolved mysteries. \u00c2\u00a0So they keep plugging along in an endless chain of discovery. But consider this: If a mystery is solved, it is no longer a mystery.\u00c2\u00a0 The Eucharist simply is, and always will be, a mystery.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why it is a Sacrament.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second, you have to believe in the mystery of the Eucharist. \u00c2\u00a0Believing means accepting things in your heart that you cannot explain- it’s what we call our faith.\u00c2\u00a0 Faith is believing in things without proof.\u00c2\u00a0 I can think of no better reason to believe in the real presence then the fact that Jesus told us so.\u00c2\u00a0 No less than 6 SIX times in just seven verses, Jesus says that his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink in today’s Gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 How does this miracle happen, the Real Presence in the Eucharist?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It happens at consecration during Mass,\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 When the Priest acts in the name of Jesus Christ to do, in remembrance of what Jesus did at the Last Supper.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus said “This is my body”, and “This is my blood”.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t say it was a symbol; the Eucharist is not a symbol- that is too shallow.\u00c2\u00a0 It is the actual incarnation of God become man, Jesus.\u00c2\u00a0 And it is there for all of us over all time, not just for those who knew him 2000 years ago. \u00c2\u00a0It is food from heaven, a food just as real as the manna talked about in the first reading.\u00c2\u00a0 We can see and feel and taste it. \u00c2\u00a0That’s what we need, not something symbolic of a spiritual presence; but rather, a real presence physically that brings with it spiritual gifts which we call God’s grace. \u00c2\u00a0Grace is what we all need to live out our call to be like Jesus.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of nourishment in a conventional earthly sense for our bodies, like the manna of the Old Testament, it is a nourishment of our whole selves- if you believe, really believe in the power of the Eucharist.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are many ways you can demonstrate you really believe.\u00c2\u00a0 One way is reverence- a reverence that broadcasts a proper attitude- little things like proper dress, respectful silence, and attention when you receive.\u00c2\u00a0 A second way is joyful participation- participating in the singing and procession, and participation in perpetual adoration.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s that participation that Paul addresses when he asks the rhetorical questions in the second reading.\u00c2\u00a0 And a third way is consistent testimony with conviction to all who ask you about your faith.\u00c2\u00a0 All of you have the opportunity to do that- to give testimony.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of a smile and silence, tell them you believe and why.\u00c2\u00a0 Jesus tells us that all are saved who believe in him and don’t deny him.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As a Catholic, you have a special gift among Christians. You have Jesus with you each time you receive the Eucharist.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t deny Him, proclaim Him as a member of the Body of Christ.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0May 25, 2008 Corpus Christi Dt 8: 2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10: 16-17; John 6: 51-58\u00c2\u00a0 Dc. Larry Brockman Over 700 years ago, something strange happened near Krakow, Poland.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 For 3 nights, a bright, pulsing flood of light was seen for miles shining out of a swamp near a small church.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Today, we wouldn’t think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}