DECLARING OURSELVES FOR CHRIST

XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Romans 5:12-15

In his letter to the Romans, Paul puts side by side Adam, the first man, and Christ, the new Adam. Adam represents the old humanity enslaved by sin who have chosen to disobey God and rebel against Him. Full of pride, they refuse to recognise their dependence on Him and affirm themselves as being self-sufficient and independent. In shame, they try to distort and destroy God’s image in them. Jesus Christ is the New Adam. From Him, it comes a new humanity that affirms itself in humility and obedience to God. It is a humanity that reveals the image of God and His glory. The “divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift.” Whenever we follow Adam’s path, we find chaos, self-destruction and death. However, if we choose to be disciples of Jesus Christ and follow his footsteps, we find peace and life, enjoying them to the full. Having Adam as a role model, we live in darkness and submit to the power of evil. By choosing Christ’s way, we become children of the light, are set free and are granted a claim to the Kingdom of God.

There is a constant struggle between light and darkness, which tries by all means to overcome light. This struggle takes place in our hearts and in the world at large. If we were not strengthened by hope and by the guarantee of God’s faithfulness, we would fall into despair. Those who revel in darkness make it their duty to persecute and destroy Jesus’ disciples so that his light may not shine over the world.

In the first reading, we find Jeremiah, whose life was in itself a prophecy. He was rejected and persecuted for being faithful and truthful to God’s calling. Even his friends turned against him. He complains but does not despair. He entrusts his cause to the Lord, being sure that the Lord delivers “the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men” (Jeremiah 20:10-13). With the Psalmist, we pray, "In your great love, answer me, O Lord.”

Jesus fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy, being rejected, tortured and crucified as a criminal among other criminals. Like Jeremiah, Jesus entrusted his cause to the Lord, remaining faithful to the end. Jesus’ way passes through suffering and death towards glorification. By his resurrection, Jesus is established as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Before Him, every tongue has to confess that He is the Lord.

Jesus calls his disciples to follow after Him through the way of the cross, enduring rejection and suffering and remaining faithful to the end. With reassuring words, Jesus tells us: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” We are in God’s hands, and He will never desert us. As for us, it is our duty to remain faithful at all times and in all places.

“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.” (Mt 10:26-33).

A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS

XI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Exodus 19:2-6

When they reached the wilderness of Sinai, the sons of Israel “pitched their camp; there facing the mountain Israel pitched camp.” Then, Moses went up the mountain, answering the Lord’s call, and God declared this to the people of Israel: “I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.”

All the peoples of the earth belong to God, but he specially chose Israel to hear his word, know his will and give thanks and praise to him. The people of Israel should stand for all humanity, establishing a bridge to God and serving the Lord in worship. They were not chosen for their greatness, their wealth or their cleverness. On the contrary, they were chosen for being one of the smallest and weakest among the nations. They were chosen so that the glory and the sanctity of God may be revealed in them. And God sealed this special relationship with Israel with a covenant that shows His commitment and confirms His promise of redemption. From the people, God demands faithfulness to the covenant: you must “obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant”.

We know that, time and again, the people of Israel were unfaithful to the covenant, doing their own will and pursuing their own ways, thus turning their backs to God and rebelling against Him. However, God kept his promise, preparing the coming of the Messiah and establishing in Christ the new covenant, a covenant open to all peoples of the world.

The Psalmist invites us to recognise and proclaim that we belong to him. 

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

Know that he, the Lord, is God.

  He made us, we belong to him,

  we are his people, the sheep of his flock.

We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

(Psalm 100)

In the gospel, we can see Jesus facing the people and becoming aware of the dire situation they were in. “When Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” These words may be applied to our generation as well. We feel lost and hopeless. It brings to my mind the words of Jeremiah: "For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jer 2:13). All of this because there are very few shepherds, and many of them are not good shepherds. We must pray incessantly to “the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” And Jesus decided to initiate the Apostles in this work, sending them to proclaim the Good News: "The kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” (Mt 9:36-10:8), We must proclaim everywhere and to everybody that God’s Kingdom is within reach. God is calling; let us hear his voice and answer his invitation.

COMMUNION WITH THE BODY OF CHRIST

SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI – Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16

In the calendar of the Universal Church, the solemnity of Corpus Christi is celebrated on the Thursday after the Holy Trinity. However, the celebration is done on the following Sunday in the countries where that Thursday is a working day. There should be no need for a special celebration of the Eucharist since it is celebrated every Sunday, but, in her wisdom, aware that we are carried by habit, Mother Church gives us this liturgical celebration for us to focus on some essential themes.

The first reading, taken from the book of Deuteronomy, presents the manna as pointing to the Eucharist as the true bread from heaven. Like the manna received by the people in their wandering in the desert, the Eucharist is the true viaticum, that is, the bread for the journey. We must be fed with this bread to become strong enough to proceed and reach the finishing line. Due to our weakness, we fall and go astray. On our own, we will never arrive unless we are fed with this special food.

In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they will not have eternal life and enter the Kingdom of God without eating this food. And the reason for that is that, by eating this food, we enter into a special bond with Jesus, receiving life from Him as He receives from the Father. A true communion is established between Jesus and us and, through Jesus, with the Father.

Jesus makes it very clear that the food He gives us is his body and his blood. “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.” Indeed, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.” (Jn 6;51-58)

In the second reading, taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul echoes Jesus’ words by telling us that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, we enter into communion with the blood and the body of Christ. This was the belief of the early Church and is still our belief today. We cannot approach the table of the Lord without a strong belief that we receive the body and blood of Christ to become one with Him. “The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)