FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Today we are celebrating the feast of the Body and blood of Christ. This feast reminds us of the great sacrifice of Jesus and His command to his disciples, "Do this in memory of me." From the time of the election of the Israelites God's presence was manifested in various ways among them. Moses received 10 commandments on mount Sinai. As he brought it to the people they made a Tabernacle and placed the Tablets in it. The presence of God lingered over the tabernacle. God's presence has always been with His people in various ways.  Through the voice of the prophets, through the wisdom of the sages, and finally God manifested Himself in human form through Jesus. Jesus at his departure instituted the Eucharist to continue his presence with his people.

In addition to the presence of God, through out the Old Testament  God expresses His concern for the people. During  the exodus when the people craved for food God sent them the heavenly bread, "Manna" which people ate and were satisfied. When they were thirsty God asked Moses to strike the rock and water gushed forth. 

In the New Testament we have numerous instances where Jesus expressed his concern for the poor and hungry.  The miracle of multiplication of bread to feed the crowd is an instance of Jesus' concern for them.

The great 14th-century mystic, Julian of Norwich, not only called God our ‘mother’, but she called Jesus our mother!  This may seem very strange, even weird.  But, as always, she meant something luminous, and she had profound reasons for saying it.  She did not mean to say that Jesus is like our mother; she meant the reverse: our mother is like Jesus.  Our mother fed us from her own body.  Our mother’s care for us may well be the best image we have of God  -  and of Jesus.

During the words of consecration, the humble, normal substances of bread and wine are changed into Christ's living body and blood. The substance of the bread is changed into his body, and the substance of the wine is changed into his blood; this process is called "transubstantiation." They are truly changed; Christ becomes truly present in them. This is the first miracle.

The second miracle is that although the substance of the bread and wine has changed, their appearance remains the same. After the sacred words of consecration, they still look like bread and wine, but under those appearances, Jesus is truly present. This is why we treat the Eucharist with such reverence: it is not just a symbol; it is a sacrament, a mystery of Christ's real presence. It is not a thing, it is a person. These two miracles are performed at every Mass, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The second miracle gives us the opportunity to accept Jesus in faith. But every once in awhile, God allows it to become more dramatic, just so we don't fall into routine. There have been several Eucharistic miracles where the body looked really like body and wine looked really like blood.  If all the time when this transubstantiation takes place, if the body and blood really looked like body and blood, we would need no faith to accept him. And all the people in the world invariably would believe in this mystery without exception. Then there wouldn’t be any other religion in the world. Every one could see and verify and accept. But there is no faith needed, because faith is belief in things not seen. You would not need faith to believe. Then our freedom also is curtailed. No freedom to believe in any one other than Jesus.

By making himself present in us, he heals and sanctifies us, but he also reaches out to heal and sanctify every one around us, every part of the world that is connected to us. But this doesn't happen automatically. When we eat natural food, our bodies digest it and derive nourishment from it automatically, without our having to do anything consciously to make it happen. But since the Eucharist is supernatural and spiritual food, it will only nourish us if we allow it to. By willingly accepting it.

When we receive the Holy communion we become the tabernacle where Jesus is present. So Maximilian Kolbe says, ' If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." Hence, it is binding on us that we should keep the tabernacle, ourselves, holy.  St Francis de Sales preached to the people, "When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage, welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."

The ancient practice of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has been encouraged by recent popes. We have the adoration every Tuesday soon after the morning Mass. And we have 40 hour adoration every first Friday till Saturday 4.00 pm. If you can spend one hour before the Divine king, you can sign up for that. And when you are there, pray for the whole world, people in our parish and finally for your own needs. Some times you may not have any thing to speak. Just keep looking at the Lord and he will speak to your heart. St. John Mary Vianny found a farmer sitting before the blessed sacrament for hours. One day he went up to him and asked, what do you say during this long hours. He replied, I don’t say anything. He looks at me and I look at him. The Blessed Sacrament is not a thing to be adored but a person to love and who loves us. When we take the Blessed Sacrament out of churches and process through the streets we are making a clear statement that Christ is for all people not just for those who go to church. There is a Eucharistic procession at the Cathedral at 2.00 pm today.

In support of the practice of Holy Hours and Benediction, our present Holy Father quotes St. Augustine as saying "No one should eat this flesh without first adoring it. We should sin were we not to adore it."  When we come to receive the king of kings, we should make a throne for him by placing our right palm under the left and receive him in the left hand reverently and take with the right hand and consume and commune. Showing just one hand like this… is not the right way of receiving communion. As we process in the line to receive the communion we should be praying a welcoming prayer to the Lord. Or just repeat the words of the humble centurion, Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say a word and my soul shall be healed.

St Philip Neri, the famous Apostle of Rome in the 1500s, known for his sense of humor, understood this due reverence especially well. And he did his best to help the people of his parish understand it too. One lady used to come to Mass regularly, but she wouldn't stay to the end; after receiving Holy Communion, she would walk out the door. St Philip noticed this, and was worried that she had forgotten how sacred Holy Communion really was. So he decided to remind her. The next time she came to Mass, he had an altar server get ready with a candle and a little bell, and put him beside the exit that she usually used. After receiving Communion, sure enough, she headed for the door. But as she took her first few steps out onto the street, the acolyte was right on her heals, ringing the bell for all to hear, and holding the bright candle for all to see. Shocked and embarrassed, she turned and asked what he was doing. He answered, "Well ma'am, you just received our Lord, so you are like a walking Tabernacle, and we have to show him due honor." She got the message and humbly returned to Church for the rest of the Mass.

Leaving the church as soon as you receive the Lord in holy communion is dishonoring the Lord. When you go to a wedding, as soon as you finish eating you don’t just run out of the reception hall. You wait and say thanks to the host. Doesn’t the Lord deserve a few words of thanks for bringing his holy and great presence to our heart ?. I can well understand when people come late for mass. You may have been held longer at traffic lights,  or you got some important calls when you were ready to leave, or it took long to get the kids dressed up, etc. Ok, but what is the justification we can tell for running out of the church soon after you receive the holy communion ? I don’t think there is any. If you have any intention of leaving early from mass, please don’t show up for communion, leave before that. By saving one minute or half a minute what are we going to save ? The Lord who gave us 24 hours a day to enjoy, expects us to honor him and thank him for giving us one more day in our life.

Today, as we thank God for this awe-inspiring gift of the Eucharist, let's express our gratitude by praying with St Augustine: Lord, make us holy by our sharing at the table of Christ. As members of his body, help us to become what we have received.