One of the experiences of our lives that has significance to us not just today but everyday is a meal. It is usually through the experience of a meal that we nourish our bodies. But there is much more to a meal than the intake of food to strengthen us. A meal is often an opportunity for us to give nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits as well.
When Jesus would gather with his disciples each year along with other Jewish families for the Passover meal, it was for more than eating and strengthening their bodies. The Passover meal was a sacred time for them to renew their belonging to God’s chosen people and to each other. Think back to the many Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day dinners you have shared with your families. There was much more to those events that chowing down with a large turkey and all the other parts of those meals. In my family we always gathered to be family. I don’t think there was a prouder moment for my parents than on those days as we gathered together and then sat down for would often be a two or three hour time together. At the last Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, he gave to them a present of his presence.
This is what we Catholics celebrate today in all our Church around the world regardless of cultural differences. The solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ celebrates the present of his presence among us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, as we know, is his gift of self, Jesus’ self-giving in his Body and Blood that we share in every Eucharistic liturgy as well as his giving of himself to us in divine grace when we present ourselves before him in the Blessed Sacrament through adoration and prayer.
This giving of himself in the Eucharistic meal and in the experience of the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament are moments for us to nourish our spiritual lives, our spiritual needs.
When you and I gather together in this or any church or chapel, we are coming together as a family seeking spiritual nourishment for our souls as well as for the nourishment of our sense of community. We gather together as a diverse community of believers who express our creed by presence, by sharing the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
So often I hear myself saying to others, when I am about to go to the sacristy to prepare for Mass, that I have to celebrate Mass. It is surely acceptable for me to say that "I have to say Mass now." However, don’t I forfeit an opportunity for myself and the persons I might be speaking with by including in those words a sense of obligation? Just as I hear so many parishioners, especially the younger set say "We have to go to Mass."
Again something special seems to have been forfeited in those words with that sense of obligation. We lose the opportunity to remind ourselves that we are about to share in an extraordinary gift – the gift of Jesus self to us.
It is the same with Eucharistic Adoration. There is given to us the extraordinary presence of Jesus Christ for our adoration and praise. I know that if I go downtown to see the original Declaration of Independence, I feel that I am seeing something of history. I am seeing the document that has become the basis for our nation. But, I do not adore that document as I adore Jesus Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Paul’s words are important: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes." When is this "as often"? "As often" as we come together, like this morning to share the Eucharistic meal; "as often" as we remember with gratitude all that Jesus did to save us; "as often" as we sense our being sent by the Holy Spirit to be the Body of Christ in service to others: "as often" as we do all of this, we receive the present of Christ’s presence in our lives. "As often" as we partake of the gift of himself in meal or adoration, we are nourishing our souls and our felt need to have him present in our very being.
When Jesus would gather with his disciples each year along with other Jewish families for the Passover meal, it was for more than eating and strengthening their bodies. The Passover meal was a sacred time for them to renew their belonging to God’s chosen people and to each other. Think back to the many Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day dinners you have shared with your families. There was much more to those events that chowing down with a large turkey and all the other parts of those meals. In my family we always gathered to be family. I don’t think there was a prouder moment for my parents than on those days as we gathered together and then sat down for would often be a two or three hour time together. At the last Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples, he gave to them a present of his presence.
This is what we Catholics celebrate today in all our Church around the world regardless of cultural differences. The solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ celebrates the present of his presence among us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist, as we know, is his gift of self, Jesus’ self-giving in his Body and Blood that we share in every Eucharistic liturgy as well as his giving of himself to us in divine grace when we present ourselves before him in the Blessed Sacrament through adoration and prayer.
This giving of himself in the Eucharistic meal and in the experience of the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament are moments for us to nourish our spiritual lives, our spiritual needs.
When you and I gather together in this or any church or chapel, we are coming together as a family seeking spiritual nourishment for our souls as well as for the nourishment of our sense of community. We gather together as a diverse community of believers who express our creed by presence, by sharing the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
So often I hear myself saying to others, when I am about to go to the sacristy to prepare for Mass, that I have to celebrate Mass. It is surely acceptable for me to say that "I have to say Mass now." However, don’t I forfeit an opportunity for myself and the persons I might be speaking with by including in those words a sense of obligation? Just as I hear so many parishioners, especially the younger set say "We have to go to Mass."
Again something special seems to have been forfeited in those words with that sense of obligation. We lose the opportunity to remind ourselves that we are about to share in an extraordinary gift – the gift of Jesus self to us.
It is the same with Eucharistic Adoration. There is given to us the extraordinary presence of Jesus Christ for our adoration and praise. I know that if I go downtown to see the original Declaration of Independence, I feel that I am seeing something of history. I am seeing the document that has become the basis for our nation. But, I do not adore that document as I adore Jesus Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Paul’s words are important: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes." When is this "as often"? "As often" as we come together, like this morning to share the Eucharistic meal; "as often" as we remember with gratitude all that Jesus did to save us; "as often" as we sense our being sent by the Holy Spirit to be the Body of Christ in service to others: "as often" as we do all of this, we receive the present of Christ’s presence in our lives. "As often" as we partake of the gift of himself in meal or adoration, we are nourishing our souls and our felt need to have him present in our very being.
