I believe you all agree with me that we have a beautiful parish. A parish may have amazing appointments, statues, pictures, etc, but for a Catholic, what makes a parish a real parish is the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. You might say, “But Father, it is the people that make up the Church. The Lord said, wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am there[1]” Yes, I know that. But there are, let us say, degrees of experiencing the Presence of the Lord. We experience God in the beauties of nature. We have a greater experience of the Lord in the Word of Sacred Scripture, however we have the deepest experience of the Lord we could ever have in the Blessed Sacrament[2].
The Eucharistic Presence fills us and sustains us. And we take this presence within us every time we receive communion. That is what it means to be a Catholic. We are people of the Body and Blood of the Lord.
I sincerely believe that the spiritual life of our parish will grow in proportion to our expansion of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. And to be honest, as a pastor I perceive my community a little cold regarding the Eucharist. On Pentecost Sunday on the evening we had exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. We were just 25 people. Where were all the others? No one could come to be with the Lord half hour? My brother, my sister, the most important of our parish is the Eucharist, if the Eucharist is the center of our parish life ... then what?
Today is a good opportunity to reflect on the fact briefly but seriously that we are the Body of Christ, the Church and that when even one of us is united deeply to the Eucharistic Presence, the entire body is strengthened by the nurturing life of the Eucharist.
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord is given to us as a yearly reminder of the Awesome Gift we celebrate that is the Eucharist. It reminds us to respect this Gift, to reverence this Gift. When we come into Church, we genuflect to pay respect to the Divine Presence and to remind us that we are before the Lord. When we are about to receive communion we stop and reflect on what it is that we are about to do. The reception of communion is sacred. It is wrong for us to use this as a time to socialize. We shouldn’t wave at friends or give a hug to a neighbor. No, this is the time to focus on what we are about to do. As a pastor I was very excited when I see people coming especially well dressed in the celebration of mass. I'm excited when I see people taking a missal and closely follow the readings. And I feel sad when I see people chewing gum or texting or without reverence receiving the Eucharist. My brother, my sister, the Eucharist is not cookies, is the Body of Christ!
“But, Father, why all this emphasis on the Eucharist? And Father, you have to admit it, many Catholics themselves don’t see a value in weekly reception of communion. Many are more concerned with being signed with ashes at the beginning of Lent then with receiving communion. Don’t you think that you should really tone it down?”
That is exactly what the disciples said to Jesus at the conclusion of the Great Discourse on the Eucharist in the sixth chapter of John. He had said, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Jesus refused to hedge on this truth. The disciples said, this teaching is too difficult. People are leaving us. Jesus responded, and are you going too? Then Peter’s answer to this is our statement of faith: Where are we to go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life[3].
The beliefs of others of different Christian denominations are to be respected. The beliefs of those who do not acknowledge Christ are to be respected, however we are Catholics, let’s exalt in that which makes us uniquely Catholic: the Great, Awesome Gift, the Eucharist.
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord reminds us of who we are, Who is present in the tabernacles of our churches, and what we are doing when we receive communion ■
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