RECEIVING THE BODY OF CHRIST WITH THANKSGIVING

SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI - Genesis 14:18-20

The feast of Corpus Christi (the body of Christ) is a feast of the Eucharist, and the Eucharist is a celebration that takes place very Sunday, as the centre of the assembly of disciples in the day of the Lord. In fact, there should not be any need of a special feast of the Eucharist, because time and again we are invited to seat at the table of the Lord to eat the special food that he offers us - the bread of life, that is his own body, through which we receive life. The fact that such a feast exists reminds us of the times when the Eucharist lost its centrality in the life of the Church and it manifests the need of continually turning our minds and our hearts to this great gift of love: Jesus offers himself as the food that gives us the strength to walk with him towards the Father’s house.

In the first reading, the Church puts forward the figure of Melchizedek, who became a mythical figure symbolising Christ. We know only three things about him: he was king, he was a priest of God Most High and he offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. In the New Testament, Jesus is proclaimed priest in the manner of Melchizedek. He was not a priest according to the order of Aaron, since he did not come from a priestly family; but like Melchizedek, Jesus Christ is King and Priest, and he is so for ever. The sacrifice of bread and wine offered by Melchizedek is a prophecy of the Eucharist, in which we offer bread and wine, carrying out the commandment left us by Jesus Christ: Do this in memory of me. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we obey Jesus commandment, and together with him we offer the only sacrifice pleasing to God, Jesus Christ himself. Like Melchizedek, Christ is King and Priest, but he is at the same time the victim, that is the sacrifice. The bread and wine of the Eucharist are not food for the body; instead, they are the body and blood of Christ who offered himself in sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. The Eucharist is always the remembrance of the death of Christ and the celebration of his resurrection. Eating his body and drinking his blood - the body of the Risen Lord - we become one body with him, and present ourselves as a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. Paul reminds us of this connection of the Eucharist with the sacrifice of the cross: “every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.” (1 Co 11:26).

There are some people who consider the Mass (Eucharist) as an invention of the Catholic Church, but Paul makes it clear that he received it from the Lord and then passed it on. The Eucharist is not a tradition of the Church, initiated to uphold human interests; on the contrary, it is a gift which we have received from Jesus Christ, in which he gives himself to us.

In Portugal, we celebrate this feast on Thursday. And I had the opportunity to participate in this year’s celebration in Evora. The Bishop presided in the cathedral, and the mass was followed by a procession through the streets of the town. 

Indeed, the Lord is in our midst and walks through our streets with love and care; let us accept him and open our hearts to him.

GOD IS LOVE AND HE CALLS US TO HIS LOVE

FEAST OF THE HOLY TRINITY - John 16:12-15

It is always difficult to speak about God. Whatever we may say about him is always far from the whole truth. The prophet Isaiah had already realised that, when he has God saying: my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways (Is 55:8). God is always the Different, the utterly different, who cannot be controlled and fully understood by our minds. When we speak about him, we speak from our side, the human side, in a constant search, so that we may understand a little more; however, our thoughts remain human, and therefore limited. It is possible to go beyond our limitations, only if God himself lifts a bit of the veil that hides him from us.

Speaking about our human relationships, the Bemba proverb says: Munda ya mubiyo tamwingilwa. One cannot enter the entrails of his friend, and cannot know what is deep inside his heart, unless he opens it and allows his friend to go in. And it is much more so with God. In spite of all efforts and attempts, we are very far from understanding the mystery of our own self; it is not surprising that we only have glimpses of truth about God. 

With our human reason, we can come to the conclusion that there is a creator, who is the source of everything else. However, it is much more difficult to know what kind of being is that creator. And that is why God is thought of in many different ways. There are those who believe in many gods; and those who believe that everything is god. Some think that the many gods are just different modalities of the same Supreme Being, others that they are independent gods. And there are those who believe in two opposing gods - the god of light and good and the god of darkness and evil, who fight each other. In old times, the people of Israel alone believed in one God, and following them we have the Christians and the Muslims who are monotheists as well, that is they believe in one God. Only God is God, and there is no other.

However, the Jewish and Christian concepts of God are quite different from the islamic concept of God. Our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he is a God who enters into a personal relationship with people. He is a God who does not pride himself upon being a very distant and lonely being; on the contrary, he wants to share his life and his love. In his decision to share, he interacts with human history and intervenes in it for the sake of the people he loves. The Bible is written about this interaction, that is about God’s intervention in human history to transform it into salvation history. The God of Islam is a lonely God, with whom it is impossible to have a personal relationship. He is high and far and he decides whatever he will without consideration for us, who are no more than slaves, his slaves, who must submit to whatever fate he imposes on them.

In the New Testament, through Jesus Christ, God reveals his inner self as relationship. In himself, God is communication, dialogue, relationship, love. In his first letter, St. John makes it clear that God is love (1 Jn 4:8), and he wants to establish a relationship of love with us. That is the mystery of Holy Trinity: God is one and only one, but this one God is communion and relationship, because he is love. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Within our hearts, we feel the deep desire of being one, without destroying our diversity, and this deep desire comes from God who in himself is one and yet diverse; he is communion and love.

“O the depth of the riches and wisdom 

and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are his judgments 

and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counsellor?”

 “Or who has given a gift to him,

to receive a gift in return?”

SEND FORTH YOUR SPIRIT

FEAST OF PENTECOST - Acts 2:1-11

Fifty days after Passover - that is the meaning of Pentecost - during the Jewish feast of Shavuot or feast of weeks, which was a harvest feast - the community of disciples had an extraordinary experience. While the Jews were celebrating with great joy the receiving of the Law, which constituted them into a people (a nation), the disciples received the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, who made it possible for them to become the new people of God, founded on a new covenant and a new law, the law of love.

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles makes it very clear that the new people established by the receiving of the Holy Spirit is open to all, being inclusive, not exclusive, made up of people from all languages, tribes and nations. Our God speaks all languages and his message of salvation can be heard “in our own language” (Act 2:11). In spite of the differences of languages and cultures, they can unite and live in communion, because they are moved by the same Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the divisions symbolised by the tower of Babel and caused by jealousy, hatred and pride come to an end. Pentecost is the opposite of Babel. Instead of confusion and disorder, there is peace and sharing. Our diversity is no more a cause of separation, but a contribution to the common good, putting us together in building up the body of Christ.

With the psalmist, we must pray: “Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.” (Ps 104:30). The Spirit leads us to Jesus Christ, giving us the understanding and the openness to recognise and proclaim him as Lord (1 Co 12:3). In the community of disciples, there is a great variety of gifts and of services, but it is the same Spirit that acts in all and makes all that variety possible. And the gifts of the Spirit are given to each one of us for the benefit of all. The Spirit makes possible an attitude of service, because he has filled our hearts with love.

St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians points out that we were all baptised “in the one Spirit”, be it “Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens”, because “one Spirit was given to us all to drink.” (1 Co 12:13).

The second reading can be taken from 1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13 or from Romans 8:8-17. Because “the Spirit of God has made his home in you”, we are able to put our minds and hearts in the spiritual things that are pleasing to God. And it is the Spirit that transforms us and makes alive with a new life in Christ. It is “by the Spirit that you put an end to the misdeeds of the body”, so that we may live. We were baptised in the Spirit, and the Spirit has made us children of God, in such a way that we can address God with love and tenderness, calling him: Daddy (Abba). We are children, not slaves. And because we are children, we will have a share in God’s inheritance, a share in his glory.

In this Jubilee of Mercy, let us open our hearts and our minds to the Spirit, that he may have his dwelling in us and our hearts may be filled with his love, the love that leads us to service. The Holy Spirit leads us to experience the merciful love of God, and so it makes it possible for us to be merciful.

THEY WORSHIPPED HIM

FEAST OF ASCENSION - Luke 24:46-53

Time and again, the disciples were full of doubts, unable to believe, due to their false expectations. The scandal of the cross was so great that they run away, and it was hard for them to believe in the resurrection. That's why Jesus spent time with them, facilitating an experience of the Risen Lord, which enabled them to believe and to act accordingly. However, up to the end, they had the wrong expectations. On the day of the Ascension, they were still asking if the time to restore the kingdom of Israel had finally arrived. They hoped for political power, and Jesus had to dash their dreams, and bring them to reality. Finally, at the very end, we see the Apostles gathered around Jesus, receiving the last instructions and being empowered to continue his mission. 

First, “he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures”, making them realise “that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Lk 24:44-45). Jesus became the key to understand and interpret the Scriptures, and the Scriptures helped to make sense of  his passion and death. The Messiah should suffer, die and then rise on the third day.

They had lived with Jesus and were taught by him. They had the facts, and so they could be witnesses, but in order to be witnesses they needed to understand and read the facts correctly; they needed as well to have the courage to stand up and give witness to Jesus Christ. For both things, they needed the Holy Spirit, and Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to proclaim the Good News, that is “repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name” (Lk 24:47).

After these final instructions, we are presented with a final scene, in which Jesus blesses them and, while blessing them, he is carried up into heaven. While he is rising up, the disciples worship him. Afterwards, they went back to Jerusalem with great joy.

In the letter to the Ephesians, quoting a Christological hymn, Paul tells us that God “put everything under His (Christ) feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way” (Ef 1:22-23).

The ascension is like a graphical expression of this same proclamation: Jesus Christ is the Head of everything and everything is put under his feet. He is the Lord!

Nowadays, in many parishes, there is the tradition of having novenas  for any important celebration. The first novena, where the nine days that go between the Ascension and the day of Pentecost. The Apostles spent that time in preparation for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we join and prepare ourselves well to allow the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts.