Summary: The Prophet in me wants to announce that we are in trouble, and the Bishops of this country have raised an alarm calling for a Fortenight of Prayer to renew our national commitment to religious freedom. For any of us paying attention at all there is no surprise in this real or for some perceived threat. It is a natural consequence to the rising tide of secularization and the religious vauum in which we have suddenly found ourselves. There might be no better day to look at how we got here than this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. It is my opinion that we put ourselves into this situation slowly and steadily over the past few decades, and before we blame “government” we might take a look at ourselves and how we have set ourselves up for this conflict. When by actual statistics less than half of all Catholics believe that what we consume in Communion is the real presence of Christ’s Body and Blood, we are already in trouble. In a culture that now recognizes that half the men and women living together and bearing children do not consecrate that relationship in the presence of the church we are in trouble. In a culture that no longer will bring the blessed remains of a loved one into the church for prayer and blessing prefering a “grave-side” or simpy a funeral home service as a way of “getting it overwith” we are in troulble. When parents think preparation for Confirmation means dropping their sons and daughters off for a class when there is no other schedule conflict while they walk the mall or catch up on their shopping, we’re in trouble. In a nation that flaunts the age old teaching of this church regarding justice and rights for workers, dismissing that teaching as something to be brushed aside because the economy can’t afford it tells us we are in trouble, and the trouble is not economic. What is at issue presently is how we live and bear witness to our faith and its teaching and tradition. There is a viewpoint that says we have to stay in the church, and that worship is the only recognizable exercise of faith. This is a serious mis-understanding of Christ, His mission, and His message. If that were case, Christ would have only taught in the Temple or the Synagogue, and all He would have done was preach. But he didn’t stay in the Temple and Synagogue. He healed. He reconciled. He went everywhere he could and was found where ever there was need. It was the work of faith and it still is. The Word of God and the Work of God will not be confiend to these four walls; and when we carry out His mission, it will be our mission because of who we are as Catholics. But the trouble we have with making this credible started long ago and started within us. Because of that, we seem vulnerable to a secular world, and look as though we do not mean what we say, because too often we do not believe what we say. To put this in the context of this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we must ask ourselves some questions. If you believe what is going on in here, and what you have been called to share, you would never leave early, and you would never come late. If you believe that this is the Blood of Christ, you could never pass by or be heard to say: “I don’t drink the wine.” If it were wine, I wouldn’t take it eather. If you really believed what was going on here, you would never stand around with your arms folded and your mouths tight shut while the rest of us sing and pray with a full voice, a full mind, and full glad heart. If it ever really dawned on you what was happening here, you would never dress better for a party, or a prom, or even work than you would for Mass. You would never be ready to support a different charity than you would your own parish family. We have 1000 families in this parish. Less than have make a serious deliberate offering in the collection. Less than 30% contributed to Catholic Charities. If 25% percent shared our financial burdens, there would be free tuition in our school for everyone. If you believed what is really happening here with the Body and Blood of Christ, no one would ever choose a sporting event for their children over attendance at Mass. Teen age children would always be with you in church and Mass would be a weekly routine for the entire family. I hear parents say they don’t want to fight with their children about going to Mass. Does the same argument hold for going to school? The parent says: “I am too tired to fight.” I say: “To fight the school battle and not the church battle says loudly and clearly, that school is important, Jesus Christ is not.” To any child who says: “No” to a parent, I say, “You got it backwards. Parents are the only ones who say, “NO. When you become a parent, you can use that word.” So you see, the trouble we have these days has started within. Before we can convince anyone and any government that we stand for and continue the work of Jesus Christ in our hospitals, in our schools, and in any other institutions we establish to exercise our faith reaching out to everyone regardless of whether or not they are Catholic, we need to get it right in here becasue this is where it starts. The Body of Christ is hungry, it is not just food on which we feast symobolically. The Blood of Christ is still being poured out for the forgivness of sins we refuse to forgive. We have been asked to a lot more in Christ’s memory than consecrate bread and wine. We have been asked and called to become his Body, his real presence in this world to continue his work until he comes again. We can’t do that on our own, by ourselves; but there is nothing we cannot do together as one Body, one Church, one Faith. I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God is an important and puzziling passage of this Gospel. What we celebrate here is not just a memorial, but an anticipation of what is to come. It is not just a memory of the Last Supper, but a promise of what we shall be sharing in hope as we proclaim his death until he comes again. Until we get it right, we can point no finger of blame for any misunderstanding of who we are and what we are about. When we do get this right, you’ll be coming here very early for Mass because the place will be so full, you’ll be left to stand outside.
