Theme

The Feast of Corpus Christi *25^th May 2008*
Theme :	*“Take and eat! This is my Body!”*
1st. Reading:	Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14-16
2nd Reading:	1 Corinthians 10: 16-17
Gospel :	John 6: 51-58

Dear Friend,

From the time we were children we tended to believe that everything centred around us and we liked it that way. The child wants all the toys for itself. Even as we grow up we become more and more self –centred. Our world tends to be ‘I, me, myself. Coincidentally, everything that we eat becomes part of me. In the Eucharist the equation is reversed, we are invited to become Jesus rather than Jesus becoming us. Our God invites us to be other-centred, for that is what loving is all about! The Eucharist reminds us about self-giving rather than self-seeking. Have a Eucharistic, God-filled weekend!

Fr. Jude Botelho

The first reading the author exhorts the Israelites to remember their journey to the Promised Land through the desert. It was here that their faith in Yahweh was severely tested. It was in the desert that they felt real hunger and thirsted for water. In the desert the Lord God provided for them and they were called to rely totally on God’s providence to feed them and nourish them. Remembering for the Hebrews was not merely recalling a past event but making present the saving action of God for the present generation. Yahweh tried and tested his people to see if they would continue to rely on him; it also provided an occasion for the Israelites to be faithful to the Word of God. More than physical realities, they needed God’s word to nourish them. Man does not live on bread alone; we needs God who satisfies us.

Bread for the hungry
There was once a very poor mother with three children who lived close to a very rich lady who was very stingy and would share nothing. It so happened that the poor lady was again out of bread and her children were hungry so she went and asked the rich lady, “Could you give just one loaf of bread for my children who are almost starving?” “I don’t have any bread myself so how can I give you some?” the rich lady replied. “But” the poor lady insisted, “I am sure you must have a small bit of bread somewhere in your cupboard.” “No I don’t,” insisted the rich lady, “If I do then may God change every bit of it into stone.” So the poor lady went away crying while the rich lady said to her children, “Now, let’s make a nice jam and butter sandwich.” She went to the cupboard to take out the bread, but it had turned to stone! “Never mind.” said the lady and sent her children to buy some fresh bread from the bakery. The children went off but took a long time returning home. When they finally got home they said, “Mummy the basket got so heavy we could not carry it.” On opening the basket the lady found the loves had turned to stone. She was shocked and realized her folly. She went straight to the bakery and bought some bread and cakes for the poor lady then went to her house and handing them over said, “Lady, I will never again be selfish!” She went back home and found that the stones in the basket had turned into bread again.
Willi Hoffsuemmer in ‘1000 Stories You Can Use’

In this section of the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul warns the Christians of the dangers of idolatry and pagan worship, practiced by the pagans around them. Christians have no need to sacrifice to the world’s idols, they have Jesus, the Son of God and the blood of Christ which has saved them, and the bread of life which makes them one. The sharing of the many in the one cup should remind them that they are called to unity of mind and heart through the Eucharist they celebrate.

The Gospel is chosen from the Eucharistic discourses of Jesus. Jesus is presented as stressing that his own flesh is the bread that gives life to men. “I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever…. If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man you will not have life in you.” By the term ‘flesh’ John reminds us of the incarnation, and the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist. This statement of Jesus causes controversy among the listeners of Jesus. How can he say such a thing? This is intolerable language! How could anyone accept it? Many left the company of Jesus and went their way. Those who objected to Jesus’ teaching about eating flesh and drinking blood did not argue rationally against it. They did not analyse it carefully and discuss the finer points with Jesus. They simply reacted with feeling and genuine emotion. What Jesus is emphasizing is the absolute need of accepting him and his teaching if we are to have a genuine spiritual life. There can be no substitute for Jesus. In the person of Jesus there is a new word of God and a new bread from heaven. Now the word of God has become flesh and the bread from heaven; this bread is the very life of Jesus himself. To eat this bread is to have a share in the life of God himself; it is to participate in eternal life. In the Eucharist we are called to remember Jesus. Most of us don’t have to remember to eat; our stomach reminds us of that. But we do have to remember to eat in the name of Jesus – which is why the Church asks us to gather as a community each week to keep his memory alive. Our Eucharist is a celebration of thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us. Are we ready to partake of Jesus? As the bread we eat becomes part of us, can we become Jesus only by partaking of his body and blood? It is either total acceptance of Jesus or nothing! Will we too walk away or stay with Him?

“The Eucharist will never be a means of spreading the faith. That is the very reason why the early Church reserved its teaching about it to the baptized only. Nevertheless the eucharist was heralded since the days of the Old Testament through positive signs from God which prepared the hearts of the poor and met their unspoken desires. There is Israel’s experience of the power of the divine word which came forth from the mouth of God and did not return to him empty. There is the plan of God, which he himself affirms again and again, of taking the human to himself; to be present to the people in their daily lives, to dwell in their midst, with all that means of living communion. Finally, aspired to at least by some, there is the mind-stretching expectation of the coming of God for which one hopes, without being able to imagine it. But was it possible even to suspect that Jesus was the living bread which came down from heaven? A gift made to a friend contains something of the donor. In the lowliness and weakness of the Eucharistic bread Christ gives himself totally. At least to the extent that we experience our hunger and our want each day, as Israel did in the desert, so too from one eucharist to the next, we shall journey towards our final dwelling where the banquet God has prepared will last forever. ”– Glenstal Bible Missal

Eucharistic Mystery
St. Thomas Aquinas, perhaps the most famous philosopher and theologian, was a great devotee of the Eucharist. He wrote the liturgy of the feast and many hymns associated with the feast, like ‘Tantum Ergo Sacramentum’ are accredited to St. Thomas Aquinas. One night when he was praying in the Dominican Chapel in Naples, the sacristan concealed himself to watch the saint in prayer. He saw him lifted up in the air, and heard Christ speaking to him from the Crucifix: “Thomas, you have written well of me. What reward would you have?” “Lord, nothing but yourself,” replied Thomas. His request was granted. On December 6th 1273, when he was celebrating mass in the same chapel, he had some profound mystical experience. We do not know what it was, but after Mass, Thomas said to his long time secretary, “God has revealed such great things to me that whatever I have written so far seems so much straw to me.” This prolific writer put down his pen, and never wrote again. Two months later he died at the age of forty-nine.
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’

Happiest day in my life
Napoleon was an artist in war, and his long succession of victories were the marvel of the world. One day some of his generals were discussing and comparing their master’s great battles, and one of them ventured to ask him which was the happiest day of his life. They wondered if he would think of the battle of Lodi perhaps, the scene of his early triumph with the army of Italy, a young general of twenty-six wresting Lombardy from the Austrians. Or more likely of the ‘glorious sun’ of Austerlitz, the shattering victory which made him master of Europe. The emperor looked thoughtful. “Ah –the happiest day of my life? That was the day of my first communion. I was near to God them.”
F.H.Drinkwater in ‘More Quotes and Anecdotes’

May we ‘remember’ Jesus, become Jesus, through the Eucharist!

Fr. Jude Botelho
judebotelho@niscort.com

P.S. :The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. I would be happy if you could link this website to your own parish/diocesan/institutional website. If you wish to receive these reflections by e-mail, or send them to a friend, do send in the e-mail address to <jude@netforlife.plus.com>

Other Sunday Homily Websites

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Daily Reflections

Creighton Daily Reflections

Immaculate Heart Retreat Center

Gospel Commentary from Ireland

Daily Scripture Readings

www.usccb.org/nab/today.htm

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