HOMILY – FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA CHURCH & FURMAN UNIVERSITY

MAY 25, 2008 – 8, 10, 12NOON & 6:30PM

May the Body and Blood of Jesus give us unity and peace.

Mass is boring,  2 bodies,  real presence.

Mass is boring.  At a youth group meeting I asked the teens how they felt things were going in church.  I wanted them to tell me their sense of what they were looking for and needed.  I got an earful, the most challenging remark being, “Mass is boring.”  Rather than snap back with a defensive response I listened, and tried to get a sense of what they meant.  They wanted better music, better preaching, and a change-up now and then.

I could agree on the preaching for sure, thought the music was getting better each week, but had to stop the “change-up” hope in it’s tracks.

There is no question that the body of Christ, that is the community, needs to be fed.  Music and preaching can fill the soul, animate it to greatness in following Jesus, and move hearts to repent in thankfulness for the mercy of God.  But change-ups?  I needed to share with them some perspective on liturgy, and why so much of it never changes.  I don’t like being bored at Mass either, never want to be, but “unchanging” has a place.

2 bodies.  Today we celebrate the Feast of the body and blood of Christ.  We actually celebrate 2 bodies, His and ours.  There is no question that the Eucharist and communion is Jesus’ own described way of remembering Him.  Jesus knows we get detached from Him and need to be “re-membered.”  We remember His way is being broken and poured out.  He calls us to follow Him in breaking and pouring ourselves out.  2 bodies doing the same thing, from this same act, self offering.  A communion.

But what would happen if we forgot that the person cutting us off in the parking lot is our own flesh and blood?  What would happen if the Lord of life came to unite us - and we chose instead to fall apart, insult, sit in judgment over?  According to Jesus, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in that one.”  Could we possibly relate to each other believing Jesus doesn’t remain in that one? This one?

We can’t claim to follow Jesus, and disregard anyone.  This teaching is hard for me too.  But it is true, His request.  2 bodies as one – His/ours.

Real presence.  I came to believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist in a much more profound way by the death of my friend Tom.

We hung out all the time.  There were 4 of us.  Dan, Julie, Me and Tom.

We took responsibility for the youth group of our church together when the director ran off with the budget for the year including 3K in carwash money.  We used to go to a northern ice cream restaurant named Friendly’s after youth group and talk about the most important stuff.

Dan would order a banana split, Julie a Fribble, Tom a Reeces Pieces sundae and me a chocolate nut sundae. 4 waters.

Over the course of the years, spending time like that, over that food in that place, talking about the most important things in life, and sometime laughing so hard whipped cream came through the nose, it was no wonder that after Tom was killed in a car accident, (a truck came across the median) we ended up at Friendly’s after the funeral.  We ordered our usuals, and 4 waters.  4.  We did it by mistake, but we left it there.  And I can tell you that each of us knew Tom was present.  His life was too significant to end.  Not that way.  Not then.  We know he would want to be remembered like that, it would have cracked him up.

Like us, in this place, with this food, and these people, around the most important things in life, Jesus is really present.  You can feel Him here.

I am so thankful for Tom, but much more for Jesus who made a place for Tom.  So, that is why Mass is boring, we remember the same way because there is no better way.  We would have it no other way.  We literally

re-member ourselves, never forgetting who we are, and what we are to do.