“The
Eucharist is Really, Truly and Literally Jesus Christ (Not a Symbol)”
Homily
#192
by Deacon Dennis Purificacion
Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Body & Blood of Christ)
June 6, 2021
Allow me to start by asking you a few questions: Right
now, at this very moment, are you wearing a piece of jewelry or an article of
clothing that someone special gave to you?
Let’s use a necklace or a jacket as examples. If someone like your mom or a close friend
gave a necklace or a jacket to you, would you have some special connection with
it? Any reasonable person would say, “Yes,
of course!” And if, say, your mom passed
away later after giving those gifts to you, wouldn’t that necklace or piece of jewelry
or clothing have even more value in your life?
Yes, of course! Whenever you look
at the jewelry or wear that special jacket that your loved one gave to you, you
somehow have fond memories of what that person did for you.
So, if this is true for us human beings who are fond
of gifts given to us, then how much more true is it for God who gives us not
material gifts of jewelry or pieces of clothing, but God gives us the gift of
His very self in the Eucharist! Whenever
we eat the Body of Christ and drink His blood, we remember what Jesus did for
us. And we recall that today on Corpus
Christi.
Here’s another point of reflection to ponder. Our faith tells us that Jesus is all
truth. Right? Jesus does not lie. Everything Jesus says is worthy of our
belief. For example, if Jesus were to
show us a rectangle here hand say, “This is a circle. It is not a rectangle,” do you know what I
would say in response? I would say,
“Amen. This is a circle. Because my faith, Jesus, is in you.” My 5 senses tell me it is a rectangle, but my
faith tells me this is a circle. If
Jesus who is all-truth and does not lie were to take this piece of paper and
say, “This is not a piece of paper. This
is a cup of coffee.” I would reply to
Jesus, who does not lie to me, and say, “Amen!
This is a cup of coffee.” My 5
senses of touch, sight, smell, hearing and especially taste tell me that this
is a piece of paper, but my faith in Jesus who is all-truth tells that this is
not a piece of paper, this is a cup of coffee.
As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote in Adoro te devote, “What God’s Son
has told me, take for truth do I; Truth Himself speaks truly, or there’s
nothing true!”
“Truth Himself speaks truly, or there’s nothing true.” In today’s Gospel from Mark Chapter 14, Jesus
who is all-truth says over ordinary bread, “Take it; this is my body” and over
the cup of wine “This is my blood….,” So I will say this is not bread, but it
is the Body of Christ. I will say, “Amen.
This is Jesus’ body. This is Jesus’
blood.” My 5 senses tell me it looks
like bread, smells and tastes like bread, sounds and feels like bread, but it
is NOT bread. It is the Body of
Christ.
The Eucharist is Really, Truly, and Literally Jesus
Christ Himself. This is called the Real
Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The substance
of the bread literally changes into Jesus’ Body (and the substance of the wine
literally changes into Jesus’ Blood) when the priest says, “This is my body”
and “This is my blood” during Mass. That’s
where we get the word Transubstantiation.
“Trans” in Latin means change and “Substantiation” means substance. So the substance of bread and wine change into
Jesus’ body and blood.
This is how the first Christians have ALWAYS
understood the Eucharist up until our own day.
And the Catholic Church has retained the meaning of the first Christian
community’s understand. We see this in early Church Fathers like St. Ireneus or
St. Justin or St. Augustine. The idea
that it is a symbol is new; it’s only 500 years old, and that started during
the Protestant Reformation. As the
popular Protestant evangelist Francis Chan stated: For the first 1,500 of
Christianity, all Christians everywhere believed that the Eucharist was really,
truly and literally Jesus. So Jesus did not say, “This is a symbol of my body.”
But rather Jesus said, “This is my body.”
In today’s First Reading from the Book of Exodus,
Moses acts as a priest by sacrificing the blood of animals and sprinkling the
blood of animals on the altar and the people.
This was pleasing to God. But
now, as the Letter to the Hebrews says in the Second Reading, it is no longer
the blood of bulls and animals that is used to atone for sins, but rather how
much more pleasing it is to God in the New and Everlasting Covenant for the
Blood of Jesus the Lamb to be sprinkled on his people. Remember you receive Holy Communion, you are being
sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Thus, whereas in the Old Testament in the Book of
Genesis, the whole human race was condemned by eating from a tree through the
First Adam, in the New Testament, the whole human race was redeemed by eating
from the Tree of the Cross, Jesus the Second Adam. Condemnation (Original Sin) came by eating;
and so it is fitting that Salvation comes through eating, too! All of the Old Testament foreshadows the
Eucharist: The fruit from the tree, Abraham receiving bread from Melchizedek, Moses
and the eating of the Passover lamb, manna from heaven, the placing of the
manna in the Ark of the Covenant and putting that Ark in the Temple in the Jerusalem.
[There’s even a legend that the chalice/cup
that Jesus used at the Last Supper was in Noah’s Ark.]
All the Old Testament was meant to prepare for the
hard saying of Jesus that unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no
life in you. And many of his disciples
walked away from this very hard teaching.
So, what does this mean for us today, dear brothers
and sisters, if this is really, truly and literally the Body of Christ in the Eucharist
(body and blood, soul and divinity? As
Second Vatican Council taught, the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the
Christian life. That means our service to
others starts with the Eucharist and leads back to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the reason why we love the
poor, the marginalized, the unborn, the oppressed, the voiceless. The Eucharist is what got Mother Teresa up at
5 a.m. so that she could feed the poor. St.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “If you really want to grow in love, come back
to the Eucharist.” The great mystic at whom our parish is named, St. Catherine
of Siena said, “Love transforms one into what one loves.” Let us rekindle that love of the
Eucharist! The Eucharist will even give
us strength to love those who are difficult to love. St. Pius X said, “The Eucharist is the
shortest and safest way to Heaven.” And
finally, St. Catherine of Genoa said, “Any time spent with the Eucharist, be it
long or short, is the best time spent of our lives.” [If time allows, insert notes about parish
ministries for the poor, such as Mensa Christi, the lady who gives diapers and
groceries every month for newborns, and rent assistance from Catholic Charities.]
Our love for those who need help is based on the Eucharist. So let us help each other for when a lot of
people are anxious about what is happening in the world.
In closing, as many of us return to Mass in person,
may your love for the Body and Blood Christ ever-grow within your hearts. When we receive Holy Communion, have Jesus
rest in our tongues and hearts and speak to Him intimately. He delights in you and cherishes the prayers you
bring to Him. It pleases His heart. Speak to Jesus intimately when you receive
Him in a few minutes. As the
Responsorial Psalm said, “I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord."
