THE TWO MIRACLES

HAPPY FEAST DAY! Today on Corpus Christi Sunday we celebrate the feast of two miracles: the miracle of bread and wine transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ! Amazing!

But even more amazing, we celebrate the miracle of our transformation. We become the Body of Christ! WOW! I say WOW!, presuming we believe it. Do we? Do we believe we are the Body of Christ?

Of course we know that we are what we eat and drink. It's not difficult to imagine that someone who eats lots of fatty foods and sweets will likely be overweight, and another who eats healthy and lean cuisine will probably be fit and trim. 

And I'm sure that on a religion test on whether we are the Body of Christ, we would all get the right answer. But do we really believe it?

Last week we spoke of the mystery of the Holy Trinity…the mystery of who God is. We said, God is something like a family, which involves mutual love, relationships, and interaction.

Today our focus is on the mystery of who we are…the mystery of our trinitarian identity ~ children of God, Body of Christ, and temples of the Holy Spirit

Most especially we focus on that second part: the Body of Christ. Today most of the Church will focus on the Eucharist. I would like to focus on us…since the miracle on the altar happens with or without our involvement. But the miracle of our transformation into the Body of Christ does indeed require our full and active commitment.

Moreover that’s the real goal: our transformation. After all, Jesus did not say, This is my body; look at it…adore it. He said, This is my body; take it…eat it, so that we might become what we eat.

Jesus did not come to change bread and wine into his body and blood; he came to change us! So that we too might be bread, giving of ourselves and what we have to feed one another…and that we too might pour ourselves out and give life to each other.

Now I want us to be very clear. There is nothing wrong in adoration of the Eucharist. It does very much help us to focus on the presence of Christ with us. It fills us with peace and joy. It may indeed inspire us to a holy life.

Nevertheless, our Lord said, Take and eat…become what you receive, and transform yourself and this world.

A story is told of four donkeys each carrying valuable cargo. One has armaments, another precious gems, a third books, and the last religious articles. The first says, Look at how powerful I am. The second replies, And I am rich. The third says, But I am wise. And the fourth, Yes, but I am holy.

It takes more than carrying some cargo to make them so. And it takes more than receiving the Body of Christ to make us so. Last Sunday we asked, What makes us most like him?

Loving. Loving as he loved…loving especially those who are not lovable. It is these who need our love most.

Perhaps our best ministry, our ultimate test, is to love those whom we detest: political, ethnic or religious “enemies”.  What a world this could be.

Indeed the best way to be the Body of Christ is to be so transparent that Jesus is visible in us.

I remember visiting with a friend the community of L’Arche – a home for those who are physically or mentally challenged. He was a very active volunteer, and was warmly embraced by all, especially a woman who was so happy to see him. 

Then she approached me and said, He’s my friend. I said, Pete is my friend, too. With the biggest smile she said, His name is not Pete. That’s Jesus!

Might people say that about us? What would it take? Perhaps, simply living as best we can that which we profess. As St. Augustine said to his faithful, Upon receiving the Eucharist, when the priest says, ‘the Body of Christ’, your response is ‘I am’.  

Mighty powerful words!

We know it is not easy to love the unlovable. We know it is not easy to give our all and what we possess to feed another. But Jesus said, I am the way. Being like him is the only way to transform ourselves and our world.

When all is said and done, that's our goal...and his. That's why he came...and comes...in this Eucharist...to enter our body and be one with us...to transform us into him. 

It does not happen all at once. But as St. Catherine of Siena, a great saint and doctor of the Church, said, Every step on the way to heaven is heaven.

Like anything and everything worth doing, every step in doing it gets us to our target…every step in imitating Jesus, makes us more and more the Body of Christ. 

Gradually, and more and more, if we are faithful to this quest, we become what we seek.

That's why we come today, and every Sunday, to celebrate this Eucharist...to receive the Body of Christ ...and become what we receive. This week, how will you make his presence visible in you?