Fr. JC Maximilian

In hundreds, if not thousands of cities and villages throughout the world people are taking to the streets.  Why?  Our brothers and sisters in Christ are walking the streets of the world in the solemn processions of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Actually in most of the world they took to the streets this past Thursday, but for us in the United States, we have moved this most important of Solemnities to Sunday.  One of the reasons why the Bishops asked permission to move Corpus Christi to the Sunday following the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, was so that more Catholics in the United States could celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  So why are we not taking to the streets in a solemn procession with the Blessed Sacrament?

The sad reality is that over two-thirds of all Catholics in the United States do not even understand what the Eucharist is.  Many Catholics in our country think of the Eucharist as being merely a symbol; some think of it as a symbol of our fellowship with one another, while others see it as a symbol of Christ’s presence.  This is the way that most non-Catholics think about the Eucharist; that it is just a symbol and not the real thing.

A symbol just points to a reality, but it is not the reality itself.  The Exit 64 sign on Route 295 South that says “Mercerville” is not really Mercerville, but just points you towards Mercerville.  The Paschal lamb in the Old Testament did not really take away the sins of the world, but just pointed towards the real lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, Jesus Christ.
As Catholics we know, or we should know, that Christ is NOT just SYMBOLICALLY present in the Eucharist.  Rather He IS TRULY, REALLY present.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way, “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (CCC #1374).  This is why St. Paul, in today’s second reading, calls Holy Communion a “participation” in the body and blood of Christ.  And if it still was not clear, the Church gives us the passage from the Gospel of St. John where Jesus Himself says SIX TIMES in just seven verses that His flesh is real food and His blood is real drink.

While it is most fitting that we give adoration to the Eucharist, the readings today have a the theme of eating this Bread from Heaven.  Clearly the Church wants us to think about eating the Eucharist as we celebrate today the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ.  “The readings also suggest three conditions for eating this heavenly bread.  It is to be continual, corporate, and contrite” (J.J. Hughes, Proclaiming the Good News: Homilies for the ‘A’ Cycle, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., p. 95).

In today’s first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people how for forty years the Lord directed their journey through the desert and provided for them by giving them manna, the heavenly bread.  Let us call to mind that the Lord commanded the people to gather up each day only enough manna to meet their needs for that day; except for the day before the Sabbath.  If they kept it over night, it spoiled.  In making it impossible to hoard the manna, God was reminding the people that they could only live by God’s bountiful love, and not from their own resources.

This same principle applies to the true Bread come down from Heaven, the Eucharist.  We are called to receive the food of the Eucharist continually, NOT because God’s gift is limited, but rather because our capacity to receive God’s gift is limited.  Our coming continually to the Holy Communion reminds us of our dependence upon God.  The Eucharist, as the non-bloody re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, is what saves us from our sins and offers us the gift of eternal life; not anything that we can do on our own.  “Those who come infrequently to the Lord’s table, or not at all, are depriving themselves of food they need to nourish the divine life given to each of us at Baptism” (J.J. Hughes, Proclaiming the Good News: Homilies for the ‘A’ Cycle, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., p. 96).

The reception of the Eucharist is a corporate action, not a purely private affair as too many Catholics today believe.  Our second reading today, from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, makes it clear that the reception of Holy Communion is not something between the individual Christian and God alone.  St. Paul writes, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”  Unlike ordinary food, which when eaten is digested to become part of our body, when we eat the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus we are converted, transformed into what we eat — the Mystical Body of Christ — and the more continuously we partake of Holy Communion, the more complete our transformation in Christ becomes.

This corporate dimension is expressed in several ways, liturgically, as we receive the Eucharist.  First, as we approach the Eucharist we are suppose to make a common gesture of reverence to the Eucharist.  The Bishops in the United States have decided that in this country the common gesture is a bow of the head.  We then say “AMEN” when the minister says “The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ.”  Amen is a Hebrew word that is never translated to show our oneness with Christ and with one another.  We should never substitute “so be it” or “I do believe” or some other phrase for the “Amen” we say right before receiving Holy Communion.

We then should reverently receive Holy Communion.  It saddens me to say this, but too many of you do not show proper reverence for the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus.  Too many come up to receive Holy Communion with dirty hands.  Too many do not say “Amen,” and they do not properly prepare to receive Holy Communion.  The universal manner for receive Holy Communion is, after saying “Amen,” to humbly open one’s mouth to be fed by Christ.  In this country we have received permission to have the option of receiving Communion in our hands, but it MUST be done with reverence.  One is suppose to form an altar with one’s hands, holding them up — at least at chest level — like this [demonstrate the proper way].

Finally, in today’s Gospel reading Jesus says, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

As with ordinary food, our capacity to benefit from the nourishment it contains depends on our physical condition when we eat it.  If we are sick with an illness of the digestive system, we will not fully benefit from a hearty meal.  Likewise, if we are sick spiritually we cannot benefit from receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood.  To be spiritually healthy means that we come to the Lord’s Table with a CONTRITE heart.  We should come to receive the Eucharist with the words of the Centurion still on our lips, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you….”  We should approach Holy Communion seeking from God not a reward, but rather His mercy.

The Eucharist has an unlimited capacity to give nourishment; however our capacity to receive nourishment from the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood is limited by our consciousness of our need, by our sorrow for our sins, and by our longing for God’s healing and strengthening love.

“These are the three conditions imposed by the Lord, who gives us the Eucharist, upon our eating of it.  We must receive this heavenly bread continually, conscious of our permanent dependence on God; corporately, rejoicing in our fellowship with all who share this sacred meal with us; and contritely, acknowledging our unworthiness and seeking God’s loving mercy” (J.J. Hughes, Proclaiming the Good News: Homilies for the ‘A’ Cycle, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., p. 97).

If we fulfill these three conditions for worthy reception of Holy Communion, then the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel are fulfilled; “whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the third holiest celebration of our Christian Faith. We know that it is a day when we wear red at Mass, and for remembering of the great event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples in the upper room. We see this gift of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate promised by Christ at His Ascension, as the manifestation of the Church. While we remember all those things that we learned in our religious education class, have we really taken the time to ponder the meaning and significance of Pentecost?

First, on what can we base our reflections on the Holy Spirit? In speaking of God the Father, we can base our reflections in some measure on philosophy; He is the Unmoved Mover, or the First Cause. In speaking about God the Son, we can base ourselves on history; even non-Christians recognize the historical reality that at a particularly time and place in history Jesus of Nazareth lived. But what means do we have at our disposal for speaking about the Holy Spirit? None, other than Sacred Scripture, and “spiritual experience”. Jesus tells us Himself that of the Spirit the world, “neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you” (John 14:17). By spiritual experience I do not mean only our own personal experience, though that is a good starting place. Rather I mean also the experience of the Holy Spirit in the Church throughout history, which is nothing other than what we call Sacred Tradition. Sacred Tradition is infallibly the Word of God, as is Sacred Scripture. They are the two wings of the Dove of God’s Revelation.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit could have manifested Himself in many ways. In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles we hear that the Spirit manifested Himself as a “driving wind” and as “tongues as of fire”. However, St. Luke in his account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles places great emphasis on the phenomenon of the Apostles speaking in different tongues. Why? This is not the well-known speaking in unknown tongues during a prayer assembly, which St. Paul tells us must always be followed by its interpretation by someone else. Clearly in the Pentecost account there was no need for this “interpretation” because “each one heard them speaking in his own language.”

The constant response of the tradition of the Church has been that St. Luke wanted to create a tacit contrast between what happened in the construction of the tower of Babel and what takes place now at Pentecost. In fact, in the expanded, optional Pentecost Vigil, the account of Babel is one of the readings. The relationship between Babel and Pentecost is one that contains both an element of similarity, and one of contrast. The element of similarity or affinity is that both the Tower of Babel and Pentecost involved a project of unity among all people, made possible and manifested by the unity of language. In Genesis we are told that all the people of the earth “spoke the same language” (Gen. 11:1) when they came together to build the tower. On the day of Pentecost each person hears the apostles “speaking in his own language” (Acts 2:6).

The element of contrast consists in the type of unity pursued, and this makes a big difference. At Babel it is a human unity; decided by human beings and having the goal of obtaining glory for human beings. Note that in the Genesis account the people do not offer their work to make a name for God or to give Him Glory, rather they say, “Let us make a name for ourselves!” (Gen. 11:4). The project at Babel is one seeking power and fame, and born out of arrogance. In contrast, on the day of Pentecost, the people hear the apostles speaking in their native language “of the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:11). The apostles are not raising a monument to themselves but to God.

The difference is what is at the center. Is it a unity according to the flesh, or is it a unity according to the Spirit? Today when we hear the word “universal” we tend just to think about something that pertains to everyone, and that is true, but it forgets an element of the real meaning of that word. The original meaning of the word “universal” was “that which is turned towards the one” (from the Latin, uni = “one” and versum = “turn towards”). This is important for us to keep in mind, for the Church is universal not only when it aims to reach “the ends of the earth” but also when it draws all the ends of the earth towards its center which is the head of the body, the risen Christ Jesus.

Where is our center? This is the essential question for us to ask ourselves today? Do we think that our salvation lies within our own power? Are we like the arrogantly pious builders at Babel who know God but do not render Him the glory and thanks due Him? Do we seek mostly to make a name for ourselves? Or do we exercise the most necessary virtue of humility by accepting that all is from God; that He alone saves us and offers us redemption. Do we put God as the center of our lives so that in Him we live, and move, and have our being? Do we proclaim with our lives the mighty works of God?

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy Faithful; and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

[This homily was inspired by Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Pentecost by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, “‘And They Began to Speak in Different Tongues’: The Lukan Pentecost and the Spirit of Unity.” Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2001.]