Blessed Sacrament Parish, La Crosse at 130 S. Losey Blvd., La Crosse, WI 54601 US - Corpus Christi Homily, June 2, 2002
| Corpus Christi Homily, June 2, 2002 |
Corpus Christi June 2, 2002 Blessed Sacrament Parish, La Crosse, Wisconsin Father Robert Hundt, pastor At a time when we hear so much about what’s wrong with the Church it is very important that we remember what is right with the church. Today we concentrate on a central mystery that has been so very right with the Church for 2000 years. For 2000 year, from the Last Supper in Jerusalem to this June morning the Catholic community has been able to use a two word phrase welcomed by the hungry. That two word phrase? “Dinner’s ready!” “Dinner is ready.” That is something which has been very right with the Church through all the wars scandals and set backs sins and apathy of 2000 years. Our Lord promised: “I will be with you all days until the end of the ages.” Our Lord’s presence to us as food and drink bread which becomes His Body the wine which becomes His Blood that is the way the Lord has chosen to be with us until the end of the ages. Not just with words or symbols or stories that are open to interpretation and explanation undending. Our Lord is present to us as concretely as Mary holding her infant Son on her lap – As really as several people carrying the Lord from cross to the burial spot in the garden. We see, touch, taste, Christ’s personal, living real presence. The faith of the Church rests on the Word of God from the Sacred Scriptures – the Word we read today. “Brothers and sisters: the cup of blessing that we bless is it not the blood of Christ. The bread that we break is it not the body of Christ.” Saint Paul instructed his new converts with those words. Jesus says in the Gospel words we read today “I am the living bread come down from heaven. Whosoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life For my flesh is True food my blood True drink.” Dinner is ready and that is what is right within the Church. Where the body and blood are joined there is the living person. Among his hearers that day 2000 years ago were those who did not belive. They objected – how can this man give us his flesh to eat – these are hard, impossible, foolish words -- many no longer took Jesus seriously. Those people have their descendants down to this very morning. This is impossible. This is only a symbol. This is a fairytale. This is nonsense. Dear friends – if any of those objections are true than we should not bother much about being here. I pray your faith convinces you all the objections are wrong. I admit, faith is difficult in our day – faith is always difficult because faith is built on trust – trust, our trust is so often abused in our day. Americans went about life with a great deal more trust before September 11th than after – now we are constantly being told to be vigilant and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary – The opposite of trust. Government agencies we trusted to look after the nations safety are found to be badly managed. The Church – some of its priests and bishops have proven they are not worthy of trust. Faith is not easy these days – especially faith in something so unlike anything else in our experience like bread becoming the Body of Christ at the Word of the priest speaking in Christ’s name. We can trust the God who is perfect and thus cannot deceive or be deceived. “I tell you this is my body.” If we can accept that the Word of Jesus is so powerful that He can bring into existence things that didn’t exist as when He fed thousands of people with a couple loaves of bread and ended with 12 baskets left over. If we can accept that Jesus did that, then why is it any problem to accept that His Word can change what already exists into something else. bread changed into His body. Did it ever come to your mind that you would have liked to sit at the feet of Jesus just to be near Him, to listen to Him, to ask a favor. I invite you to do it ! He is as present to us as He was to any who say Him in Nazareth Cana Jerusalem. Sit at the feet of the Resurrected Lord just to be near listen ask a favor. He is really present for us in the Tabernacle of our Church day and night. Would you have walked the streets with Him or at least come into the street to see Him as he passed by. Would you have brought your children out to see Him? I invite you to do exactly that this afternoon when Christ will travel up King Street from the Cathedral to our church. Come and walk the strets of the city this Corpus Christi day with your children. The Lord will bless you for being a friend who came to welcome Him on the street. It’s a law of friendship that friends want to be together. Christ is present to us in His TOTAL personal Presence because He wanted to be with us. NOW we must choose to want to be with Him. Dinner is ready. The Lord has prepared it. You are invited. The Lord can do no more. “Dinner is ready” and that is what is right with the Church.