Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34: 2-3,4-5,6-7, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-58
Click here to listen to today's homily
Delivered at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Mustang, Oklahoma
A
large part of this homily is in outline form. To experience the full homily, listen to the sound file posted above.
In
this part of the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus uses very vivid
physical images to emphasize an essential spiritual truth—communion with Him
is only way to true life. Some
people hear these words—“”Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”—and think Jesus is
promoting some kind of cannibalism—but that is not the case at all. Rather
he is talking about giving the complete gift of himself to us, and as we unite
ourselves to the Risen Lord we are granted a new kind of life—eternal life. We
hunger to take all that Jesus is into ourselves, that
he might transform our hearts and minds into his. Thus,
whoever eats his flesh and drinks his
blood remains in him and he in them.
When
we eat material food, it becomes us. When we eat spiritual food, we become it.
In
other words, this spiritual food of the Eucharist transforms us into “other
Christ’s.” Communion
with the Risen Jesus means integrating his consciousness into ours. The
way Jesus communicates his consciousness is by his death—
“The
bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” His
total self-gift on the cross is the heartbeat of the Mass and of the entire
universe, and
when Jesus expresses his desire for us to eat his flesh and drink his blood he
is emphasizing this complete giving of himself to us and for us.
Communion
with Christ means union with his heart, a heart open to all people,
a
heart full of compassion for those who suffer, for those who live on the margins, for
the forgotten ones of this world. Communion
with Christ helps us think with Christ, to put on the mind of Christ, for
he is always intent on doing the will of the Father. This
is the way to wisdom, while fools follow their own will, yielding to shallow
desires. Those
who are in Communion with Wisdom-Enfleshed put out into the deep, exploring
with Christ’s help the deepest desires of their heart. There,
illuminated by Christ’s love, they discover the will of the Father.
I The “OUR FATHER” opens the 3rd
Section of the Liturgy of the Eucharist
In the celebration of the
Mass, the Communion Rite opens with the “Our Father”
as we make Jesus’ words our
own, joining Him in praying that God’s will be done. In this 3rd and
final section (the Communion Rite) of the 3rd part of the Mass, (the Liturgy of the Eucharist),
we pray the Lord’s Prayer, joining our lives to His.
Jesus
teaches us how to surrender to the Father, how to depend on our Father
for
our daily bread, which brings us a peace which the world cannot give,
which
we want to share.
II. PEACE OF
CHRIST which world cannot give
A. Peace—not
absence of something but the Presence of Someone Christ
B. Continual effort at Reconciliation: Might be sitting next to family members whom you may
have hurt or been hurt by in the past week. Only peace of Christ can make you one. Sin
has affected us all, broken our bonds of Communion. Christ and the gift of His brings us back
together in Him.
C. Connects to OUR FATHER—“forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
III. LAMB OF GOD, WHO TAKES AWAY the SINS OF THE WORLD
“HAVE MERCY”—another cry for mercy to one who takes away sins of world
IV. “LORD, I AM
NOT WORTHY that you should enter under my
roof,
but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
A. One final cry
for mercy—this is the centurion’s prayer in the Gospel.
B. We are hungry & thirsty for God and God wants to
feed us,to give
us to drink of his mercy. So the
Lord God says the word. The word is
MERCY!!!!!
V. COMMUNION CHANT(song) – sing together during Communion
“The purpose
of the Communion chant is to express the spiritual union
of the communicants by means of the unity of their
voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the
‘communitarian’ character of the procession to receive the Eucharist.” (General Instruction on the
Roman Missal {GIRM} #86)
VI. RECEIVING
COMMUNION
A. Still singing
with the rest of the congregation as you come forward
B. Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ:
1. Act of reverence (bow
of the head, not of the body) “When
receiving Holy Communion, the communicant bows his or her head before the
sacrament as a gesture of reverence and receives the Body of the Lord from the minister….When Holy Communion is received under both kinds, the sign of
reverence is also made before receiving the Precious Blood.” (GIRM #160)
Can receive the Body of Christ either on the tongue or in the hand.
Can receive the Body of Christ either on the tongue or in the hand.
The
response, AMEN, is meant to be an expression of belief.
Say it like you believe it.
2. TAKE
AND DRINK—important to receive the blood of Christ. Eating
his flesh, drinking his blood. Jesus
commands us to do both.
VII. GUIDELINES
FOR RECEIVING COMMUNION
Receiving the Eucharist
demands something of us, that we prepare for such a great gift. We will never be completely
worthy to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, but we can properly dispose
ourselves to receive this wonderful gift.
Here are some basic
regulations for receiving Holy Communion.
A. CATHOLIC—believe with the Church, be in Communion (Pope, Saints, Sacraments)
Remember, faith is never solely a personal relationship, solely Jesus & me. Each one of us is united to the Risen Christ in Holy Communion, but it is a gift given to the Church, to all of us, to make us One in Him.
A. CATHOLIC—believe with the Church, be in Communion (Pope, Saints, Sacraments)
Remember, faith is never solely a personal relationship, solely Jesus & me. Each one of us is united to the Risen Christ in Holy Communion, but it is a gift given to the Church, to all of us, to make us One in Him.
B. If married, then married in the Church
1. One of the laws
of the Church
2. If need an annulment for a previous
marriage, I can help with this.
Those who are divorced
and not remarried are able to receive Holy Communion.
C. Be free of mortal sin—Examples are murder, adultery,
apostasy. A
mortal sin cuts us completely off from God and is a rare sin.
If you have chosen to cut yourself off from
the Church and her sacraments and
have been away for more than a few months, then celebrating the
Sacrament of Reconciliation is necessary.
D. The Church requires all Catholics to confess their
sins at least once a year in
the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also called the Sacrament of Penance)
E. Fast for one
hour before receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord.
F. Those who are not Catholic or Catholics who are not
properly disposed
can
come forward in the Communion line for a blessing.
VIII. AFTER RECEIVING COMMUNION
A. Continue singing the Communion Song until it is
finished
B. Then together we offer silent prayers of thanksgiving.
C. Finally, the “Prayer
after Communion” is spoken or sung by priest, concluding the Communion Rite and
the 3rd part of the Mass.
Jesus in John’s Gospel tells
us today, “Unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Without Christ and a share in
his life, we are like the walking dead. With Christ, being in
Communion with him by sharing in his body and blood, we come alive and find
meaning for our life. We discover that dying with
Christ is the only way to rise with him to new life.
As enter into Communion with
Christ in this Eucharist, we are more able to see
Christ present in others.
Mother Theresa reflects upon
this truth, stating:
“In Holy Communion we have Christ under the appearance
of bread. In our work we find him under the appearance of flesh
and blood. It is the same Christ."
Fr. Joseph A.
Jacobi
