Presence. Amen (2020-06-14, Corpus Christi)

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2020-06-14 _ Corpus Christi ● Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a ● Psalm 147   ● 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 ●  + John 6:51-58 ●

Title:    Presence. Amen.

[_01_]  Michael Jordan - who played many seasons of successful basketball - was once neither very famous nor wealthy, nor did he have any social media.

          As a college basketball player at the University of North Carolina, Michael Jordan would

write letters to his family. But, he did not have much money and wanted to keep communicating, staying in touch.

So, in one letter, he begged – to his mother, mother, please send me stamps, please send me postage stamps so I can write you. Imagine, Michael Jordan MVP, All-Star, all that -- back in the day -- did not have enough money to buy a roll of FirstClass Forever postage stamp so that he could write his mother a letter.

 

[_02_]      What is that makes someone present to us? By what means do we stay connected. We have lots of ways of doing this – Instagram, e-mail, texting.

          But, sometimes, we are not always sure who we are communicating with.

          The other day, I received an email from someone whose address I recognized and this simple message:

          “check this out” and there was a link to click on.

          However, inside the email there was no salutation such as “Dear __name___” and it was not signed. I was suspicious. I called up the person to ask – is this really from you? Did you send this to me? Was your email hacked?

          So, we live – these days – often suspicious of communications. We wonder if it is real, if it is true.

          Michael Jordan’s mother, receiving a letter in the 1980’s from her son, did not wonder whether the communication had been hacked or hijacked.

 

[_03_]     If there is any benefit or blessing to the current pandemic, it is that we are often immersed, thrown together and all together physically present to each other.

          While we might wonder what day it is, we are wondering what day it is together!

          That’s presence.

          That’s truth. It builds trust. It’s good news.

 

 

[_04_]    This is Corpus Christi Sunday, the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

         

 

[_05_]   Last summer – in August 2019 – a research study was published by Pew Research Center –  that only about 30% of Catholics believe in what we call the “Real Presence”. In other words, only about 30% believe that the bread and wine are really transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

The findings clearly touched a nerve as commentators jumped to analyze the data, questioning the language that Pew had used in its survey questions.

Mark Gray from the Center for the Applied Research in the Apostolate wrote in a blog post that replacing the word “actually” with “really” might have led to different results. In previous surveys on the Real Presence, CARA used “Jesus is really present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist” vs. “Bread and wine are symbols of Jesus, but Jesus is not really present.”

          Others found the results an affirmation of their belief that catechesis in the church is in a sorry state.

Bishop Robert Barron wrote “It represents a massive failure — and I include myself in this, we’re all guilty — a massive failure on the part of Catholics – including priests … he is including himself…”

I include myself …

 

[_06_]     I am not here to point fingers – the only finger is being pointed at me. I am also here to express my gratitude to you, for it is through you, the people of God of Our Lady of Lourdes, that I have also seen the Body of Christ really present.

          I am also grateful to our catechists and volunteers and our religious education teachers who with such dedication teach our young people about Jesus’ presence to them in Holy Communion, about genuflecting and bowing before Jesus in the Tabernacle, and about the fact that our beautiful altar rail is also an extension of the altar to you. They are same surface and purpose, to remind us of Jesus the altar rail was something more than a divider from the sanctuary, but that it is actually an extension of the altar—the people’s altar. It is the place where we bring our own sacrifices as we wait to be united in communion with Our Lord and with each other, the Church.

          So we show respect to Jesus not only at the altar and tabernacle about also at the altar rail.

 

[_05_]   Many years ago, there was a death in our parish family, and it was a trauma and tragedy for one of our families as the person who died was very young.

          It all happened very suddenly.

          What I remember distinctly about that day was not only the sadness, the outpouring of grief but how everyone was present to each other in the house. No social distancing that day.

          When I returned to the rectory that evening, I myself was pretty wound up.

          And, I was very grateful for a text I received from Father Jim Chern, Father Jim had also been there that day in the house, with the grieving family. So, in a way, his text read my mind, that I was up and might need to talk.

 

[_06_]  We often experience “real presence” then by someone reaching out to us, whether in person – with a written letter – on the phone.

          The Eucharist, in this regard, it is not a symbol. It is a word, it is a vow.

          On the day of wedding – matrimony – between the bride and groom – there are many visual symbols present.         

          But, what we can and do say is that the vows – the promise of “I do” are not symbolic.

          A word is not a symbol. A word is about presence.

          The word that Jesus leaves us is the promise of his love, his presence among us. The Body of Christ. Amen.