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Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord—Corpus Christi
Link to today's readings
Exodus 24:3-8 + Psalm 116:12-18 + Hebrews 9:11-15 + Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Click here to listen to today's homily
Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Mustang, Oklahoma
During the Easter Season, which we concluded 2 weeks ago on Pentecost Sunday, each Mass began with the Sprinkling Rite with the holy water. The Sprinkling Rite is a very concrete way of remembering our baptism and rejoicing in the new life given to us by the Risen Lord.
Moses also uses a Sprinkling Rite to seal the covenant between God and the people of Israel—sprinkling the people with blood. Now you would recoil in horror if I started walking round the Church sprinkling everyone with blood, but such an action might wake us up to the gift given. For the central mystery of baptism is the saving death of the Lord, who shed his blood, who gave his life, that we might live. In the waters of baptism, we are joined to the dying of Christ in order to rise with him to new life as an adopted child of God. We literally become a new creation, washed clean in the blood of Christ.
Understanding baptism better helps us pierce the mystery of the Eucharist. The blood of Christ saves us. The saving death of the Lord Jesus is the font of every Eucharistic celebration. We taste the saving power of our baptism as we drink from the cup at the Eucharist, for the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins. As we drink his blood which he poured out for us, we are washed clean, renewed, recreated.
On the cross, the Lord Jesus transforms the curse of suffering into a blessing leading to glory. The Lord transforms the curse of death by dying in order that we might live. The cup of Jesus, filled with his life, poured out for us and for all people, and our cup, filled with our life, have become one cup. What the cup of salvation holds is the life of Christ and our life, blended into one life.
Many people feel cursed—cursed by God with illnesses, losses, handicaps, and misfortunes. They believe their cup does not carry any blessings at all. But Jesus took upon himself the suffering of the entire world and lifted it up on the cross, not as a curse, but as a blessing. Jesus lifts up the cup of blessings—it is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant, the cup that unites us with God and with one another in a community of love.
Jesus died for us that we may live. He poured out his blood for us that we might have new life. He gave himself away for us so that we can live in community. He became for us food and drink so that we can be fed for everlasting life. So our suffering can no longer be viewed as divine punishment, Jesus, by his suffering love, transforms all suffering into a way to new life.
The weekly celebration of the Eucharist, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, makes us more conscious that what we live every day is united to Jesus’ dying and rising. The cup of our sorrows and joys is an integral part of the great mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We drink from the cup of Jesus’ saving love and realize that his love renews us, washes us clean. “The Blood of Christ.” “Amen.”
Sharing in the blood of Christ calls us into the same kind of generous self-giving, the same kind of loving. The death asked of us by this kind of loving enables us to give and share more life. It is the kind of loving that parents reveal to us in the ordinary day-to-day sacrifices they make for their families.
The sacrifices of love that parents make for their children is what bridges the gaps of life and makes whole the lives of good people everywhere. Dying to selfishness, parents know the best gift they can give their children is the gift of self, by being attentive and available. This is the day-in and day-out hard work of love—there is nothing glamorous about this kind of Christ-like loving. For a father or mother who has worked hard all day to provide for their family it can be even harder work to be responsive to a child when they as a parent are tired and just want to be left alone. But parents who model their lives on Christ and his saving sacrifice know that it is not fame or wealth that makes a difference in the world of a child, but simply constant loving attention.
All of us who drink from the cup of salvation are called to pour out our lives in love others more generously and joyfully each day. The death asked of us by this kind of loving enables us to give and share more life.
What response can we possibly make for the glorious gift of the Lord’s life poured out for us in love? A life of gratitude. A continual offering of thanks. A life that IS EUCHARIST. Lifting our cup to life means taking all we have ever lived and bringing it to the present moment as a gift for others.
When we lift our cup to life, we must dare to say: “I am grateful for all that has happened to me and led me to this moment.”
This gratitude which embraces all of our past is what makes our life a true gift for others. Why? Because this gratitude erases bitterness, resentments, regret, and revenge. Because this gratitude erases all jealousies and rivalries and makes us one with Christ in one another. Lifting up the cup of our life joined to Christ transforms our past into a fruitful gift for the future, and makes our life, all of it, into a life that gives life.
Exodus 24:3-8 + Psalm 116:12-18 + Hebrews 9:11-15 + Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Click here to listen to today's homily
Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Mustang, Oklahoma
Moses also uses a Sprinkling Rite to seal the covenant between God and the people of Israel—sprinkling the people with blood. Now you would recoil in horror if I started walking round the Church sprinkling everyone with blood, but such an action might wake us up to the gift given. For the central mystery of baptism is the saving death of the Lord, who shed his blood, who gave his life, that we might live. In the waters of baptism, we are joined to the dying of Christ in order to rise with him to new life as an adopted child of God. We literally become a new creation, washed clean in the blood of Christ.
Understanding baptism better helps us pierce the mystery of the Eucharist. The blood of Christ saves us. The saving death of the Lord Jesus is the font of every Eucharistic celebration. We taste the saving power of our baptism as we drink from the cup at the Eucharist, for the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins. As we drink his blood which he poured out for us, we are washed clean, renewed, recreated.
On the cross, the Lord Jesus transforms the curse of suffering into a blessing leading to glory. The Lord transforms the curse of death by dying in order that we might live. The cup of Jesus, filled with his life, poured out for us and for all people, and our cup, filled with our life, have become one cup. What the cup of salvation holds is the life of Christ and our life, blended into one life.
Many people feel cursed—cursed by God with illnesses, losses, handicaps, and misfortunes. They believe their cup does not carry any blessings at all. But Jesus took upon himself the suffering of the entire world and lifted it up on the cross, not as a curse, but as a blessing. Jesus lifts up the cup of blessings—it is the cup of the new and everlasting covenant, the cup that unites us with God and with one another in a community of love.
Jesus died for us that we may live. He poured out his blood for us that we might have new life. He gave himself away for us so that we can live in community. He became for us food and drink so that we can be fed for everlasting life. So our suffering can no longer be viewed as divine punishment, Jesus, by his suffering love, transforms all suffering into a way to new life.
The weekly celebration of the Eucharist, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, makes us more conscious that what we live every day is united to Jesus’ dying and rising. The cup of our sorrows and joys is an integral part of the great mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We drink from the cup of Jesus’ saving love and realize that his love renews us, washes us clean. “The Blood of Christ.” “Amen.”
Sharing in the blood of Christ calls us into the same kind of generous self-giving, the same kind of loving. The death asked of us by this kind of loving enables us to give and share more life. It is the kind of loving that parents reveal to us in the ordinary day-to-day sacrifices they make for their families.
The sacrifices of love that parents make for their children is what bridges the gaps of life and makes whole the lives of good people everywhere. Dying to selfishness, parents know the best gift they can give their children is the gift of self, by being attentive and available. This is the day-in and day-out hard work of love—there is nothing glamorous about this kind of Christ-like loving. For a father or mother who has worked hard all day to provide for their family it can be even harder work to be responsive to a child when they as a parent are tired and just want to be left alone. But parents who model their lives on Christ and his saving sacrifice know that it is not fame or wealth that makes a difference in the world of a child, but simply constant loving attention.
All of us who drink from the cup of salvation are called to pour out our lives in love others more generously and joyfully each day. The death asked of us by this kind of loving enables us to give and share more life.
What response can we possibly make for the glorious gift of the Lord’s life poured out for us in love? A life of gratitude. A continual offering of thanks. A life that IS EUCHARIST. Lifting our cup to life means taking all we have ever lived and bringing it to the present moment as a gift for others.
When we lift our cup to life, we must dare to say: “I am grateful for all that has happened to me and led me to this moment.”
This gratitude which embraces all of our past is what makes our life a true gift for others. Why? Because this gratitude erases bitterness, resentments, regret, and revenge. Because this gratitude erases all jealousies and rivalries and makes us one with Christ in one another. Lifting up the cup of our life joined to Christ transforms our past into a fruitful gift for the future, and makes our life, all of it, into a life that gives life.
Fr. Joseph A. Jacobi
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