First Communions are wonderful celebrations as we introduce our children to the kind of spiritual nourishment that the Eucharist provides. This weekend is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi Sunday, when the Church directs us all to reflect upon this second Sacrament of Initiation.
Explaining the miracle of the Eucharist to children is not the easiest thing in the world to do. In fact, the miracle of the Eucharist is not the easiest thing for any of us to understand. Bread and wine literally become the Body and Blood of Jesus by the action of the priest at Mass with a community of believers. At Communion time, the priest or Eucharistic Minister holds up the host and says: The Body of Christ! We say Amen, meaning “Yes, I Believe.” What we believe is that the bread is no longer bread and the wine is no longer wine. They have been fundamentally changed into Christ’s Body and Blood. They look the same, they smell the same and they taste the same. However, they are no longer the same, ever again!
When a young woman becomes a mother for the first time, she is changed forever. She looks the same, she talks the same and walks the same. However, she has been fundamentally changed. The same is true for the man who becomes a father. He also looks and talks the same. Fatherhood has made him into a different person, a changed person. Mothers and fathers never stop being mothers and fathers in the same way that ordinary bread and wine never revert to their previous state after being consecrated at Mass. This is one of the ways that we invite our children to appreciate Holy Communion.
Tabernacles were first created to house the Eucharist that was not consumed at Mass so it could be brought to the sick at a later date. Our genuflection before the Tabernacle is one simple gesture that reminds us of what we have come to know as The Real Presence, Jesus present in the consecrated, unleavened bread of Holy Communion. (When I told a little boy one time that Jesus was present in the Tabernacle during a tour of the Church, he sidled up to me and whispered: Could you open the door so we could see him?)
At First Communion time, we always tell our children that as wonderful as First Communion is, what is more wonderful is Second Communion and Third Communion and the fact that we get to nourish our lives of faith for a lifetime on this precious gift that Jesus has given to us. The celebration of Mass is the source and summit of our lives of faith. At its core is our reception of Holy Eucharist that nourishes us and strengthens us to be the disciples that Jesus calls us to be. As Pope Francis reminds us, Holy Communion is not a reward for good behavior; it is an elixir and a medicine to help us be well in this broken world of ours.
In years gone by, we have sometimes lost sight of what properly disposes us to receive Holy Communion. Many people grew up thinking that they had to go to confession every time they planned to receive Holy Communion. Thankfully, we have grown beyond this misconception. If we are consciously aware that we have deliberately turned our back on God, we should seek reconciliation in the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. For all other sins, the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass prepares us for the Eucharistic celebration that follows. We should also be cautious about sitting in judgment on the worthiness of others to receive Holy Communion. Today, we hear talk about denying Holy Communion to people who are in support of capital punishment, since capital punishment is against the teachings of the Catholic Church. The simple fact is that no priest or Eucharistic Minister should ever refuse Communion to a person who reverently presents herself or himself at Mass.
We do not and should not sit in judgment on the hearts and souls of fellow parishioners. We should also be very wary of people who choose to do so. This weekend’s Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ provides an opportunity for us to recommit ourselves to being a Eucharistic people.
This means that we see our Sunday worship as the high point of our week. We come to Mass to be nourished by Word and Sacrament. Strengthened in our souls, we leave Mass with the instruction to go in peace to love and serve the Lord. We do this in the way in which we love and serve one another.
It was no accident that before Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, he went around and individually washed the feet of his disciples. When he finished, he said, “What I have done for you, you must do for each other.” At the Last Supper Jesus taught us that there is an intimate connection between what we receive at Mass on Sunday and how we live as loving disciples on Monday through Saturday. We are called to wash each other’s feet in our lives of loving service.
This is the message of today’s feast of Corpus Christi!
God Bless! Msgr. Paul