Notice the first reading, from Deuteronomy how much it speaks to us at our time, especially for this day: Corpus Christi.
A little history:
This passage takes place just before the Hebrews are going to cross into the promised land, the land we now call Israel. They spent forty years in the desert. This is because the older generation turned from the Lord, so He raised a new generation that would be more faithful. The Lord calls these new migrants to remember what they went through and explains the struggles they suffered for the past forty years were all by the Lord’s hand. He used those experiences to strengthen them and prepare them to enter into the promised land. They would know, as they crossed the border, they survived the forty years through the power of the Lord. They learned to rely on Him which they would need to do to remain faithful.
Now we are living in a unique time, we spent many weeks without even being able to receive communion or attend Mass in person we have been in our own desert. We are just beginning to open up our churches, but our country changed radically. Many are unemployed, businesses closed and trying to reopen. We saw the riots sparked by the death of a man at the hands of a rogue police officer and now our country is not in the same place it was only three months ago.
However, we are here either in person or via online streaming. This might be a good time to reflect, especially because we are here on Corpus Christi Sunday.
What is the Lord saying to us?
The Eucharist is such a unique reality—the presence of Jesus Christ, especially in exposition. It is not a symbol, but Christ present in the Eucharist and present to us. Just as the angel said to Mary: God with us. Christ speaks to us with his presence visually. So it is a message that transcends all languages and cultures.
During these months when we were forbidden from attending Mass or receiving the Eucharist we could receive our Lord spiritually. As I would say on many Sundays, the playing field was leveled. No one could receive, but all could invite Christ into their hearts spiritually.
Is this not what Christ wants for us? He does not want us to receive the Eucharist just because that is what we do at that part of the Mass. He wants us to be in communion with Him regardless of whom we are. Those who are not able to receive communion because of a state of life or a disagreement with Church teaching, then Christ wants to draw them closer through the Spiritual communion so He can bring them to conversion so they can receive him sacramentally. He wants people to bring their disagreements, their struggles, their anger, their fear, their questions to him in prayer.
That is the powerful message that the Eucharist gives to us on this unique celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.
We watched struggles in this country over the past several weeks. There is a terrible story coming out of New Jersey where a corrections officer publicly mocked the George Floyd killing. He has been suspended pending an investigation, but we can ask the question what is the source of all this?
It can be caused by a country or even a world losing a sense of who we are. Remember, the first temptation is the most important: ‘You will be like Gods’ and when members of our society lose a sense of who we truly are as humans we can fall into that temptation. Indeed, our society and others in the world have.
Gods have no accountability. They can do anything they want at any time. If there is any message in the Bible especially in this first reading it is that we as human beings require accountability to our God. Or we will act like gods. What do gods act like? How about a rogue police officer deciding who will live and who will die? How about others stealing, lying, looting, immorality of all forms and more. Look carefully there is a commandment for everything I just mentioned.
When we as humans do not allow ourselves to be accountable to God then we can do some horrible things. That includes those who believe in God, but choose not to act accountable to Him. Jesus called that offering Him lip service. That simple message is the prime message of the twentieth century and now twenty-first century.
The Eucharist and this special day gives us an opportunity to say: We are not Gods and to look upon the Eucharist, the Body of Christ as the presence of our true God. We can seek to be humble before him and pledge obedience to He who is pure truth, pure reason, pure love, pure goodness which we are not. We can recognize our need for him. God tells the Hebrews in today’s first reading the importance of remembering that he is with them always and he used those forty years to strengthen them. He used these days to strengthen us.
Let us look upon the Eucharist as a reminder of the same message. God is with us always. God might be showing his hand in this time and He is calling us to remember, we are not gods. We are human and we need Him in every part of our life or we risk acting like the worst of the Greek pantheon. For when we forget, then, like the Hebrews, we can and will go astray. We have a glimpse, after all these weeks, to understand how much we need God in our lives and in our society.
God is with us and now he is with us in the Eucharist.
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