SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST – CORPUS CHRISTI C

COME, AND LIVE!

Something is happening with our brothers and sisters in the Evangelical churches.

Before it was only singing and praising… and compelling preaching.

But now many of them are returning to a tradition that many Catholics will easily recognize.

They have Communion Services, some irregular, but some, even the mega-churches, have them every week now. Check the Internet and see!

Why is this so? For some, maybe it is because of the PR value:

It can attract people when you have both the new stuff of praise and worship and also the traditional stuff of ritual.

Some however admit that it is part of true conversion.

They sense a hunger, not for the pastor who animates the crowd, but for the Person who should be at the center of every worship – our Lord Jesus Christ.

They realize that Jesus is in his Word alright, but he is also present in another way, in his sacrament – his Body and Blood.

Worshipping people now also want some silence, reverence, the presence of God in mystery…

Isn’t that a wonderful discovery from our Protestant brothers and sisters?

The sad thing is… what they are discovering, we Catholics are easily discarding.

How many Catholics prefer to stay at home on Sundays to play computer games or have a movie marathon?

How many are more willing to stroll in the malls or go on adventure trips?

And all these, without ever missing the center of their life of faith!

They do not miss the Word.

They do not miss the Body of Christ.

Sunday is a special day, not for the Lord anymore, but only for their families, friends and themselves alone.

I remember the story of the early Christians in a city called Abitene (now in Tunisia) in the year 303.

The Proconsul (representative of the emperor) forbade them to read the Bible and to celebrate the Eucharist on Sundays but they continued doing it in secret.

When they were caught the proconsul asked them to surrender their Bible but they said they already kept it in their hearts.

When the proconsul told them to stop their weekly gathering, one of them, Emeritus, boldly proclaimed: “Without Sunday we cannot live!”

With those words, they honored the Sunday Eucharist and gave themselves for their faith.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, that we receive in the Eucharist especially as we gather on Sunday.

The gospel of John describes how eagerly and compassionately Jesus wants to nourish us by feeding us with the bread that can only come from him.

Later on, we will know in the Last Supper, that this food is his own Body and Blood, given for our salvation from sin and death.

How many of us can truly say today:

 “Without hearing the Word of God proclaimed and explained, I cannot live!”

 “Without partaking in Holy Communion, I cannot live!

It does not have to be dramatic.

But isn’t it true that sometimes we really feel we are missing part of our life when we do not connect with the Lord in the celebration of his Word and in the reception of his Body?

There is a hunger in your heart that only God can satisfy.

There is a thirst in your soul that only the Lord can quench.

Jesus is waiting to embrace you, to receive you, to bless you, to feed you… in the sacrament of his Body and Blood.

Go then, and live!


(paki-share po para makatulong tayo sa iba. salamat)

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