Bringing Home theWord BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST June 10, 2012 : Source and Summit By Diane M. Houdek

Every four years, an International The has called for a Year of We can do that today not by proces- is held some- Faith, from October 11, 2012 through sions, but in our caring for the poor where in the world. This year it’s being December 8, 2013. As we prepare for and especially the hungry. We as the held in Dublin, Ireland. Today is the this Year of Faith, we are called to Body of Christ go forth from the concluding celebration of this gather- return to the most basic elements of Eucharist on Sunday to transform our ing. Since the first Eucharistic our faith, things that we may have neighborhoods and our world. Congress in the late 19th century, the learned as children but now need to In today’s Gospel, Mark tells the story purpose of this gathering is to focus on revisit as adults. Surely one of the most of sharing a Passover meal with the centrality of the Eucharist and the essential of those beliefs is that of the his disciples. While the Gospels are Real Presence as the core of our belief Real Presence. filled with stories of Jesus eating and as Catholics. Transubstantiation is the word we drinking with his followers and feeding This year marks the 50th Eucharistic use for our belief that the bread and great multitudes, this particular meal is Congress and the 50th anniversary of wine of the Eucharist truly becomes a special ritual, rooted in their Jewish the , which the Body and Blood of Christ. This tradition and an essential part of their famously called the Eucharist the belief in the “Real Presnce,” rooted in covenant with God. “source and summit” of our faith life. Scripture and Tradition, makes it clear Jesus chose a meal, specifically bread that through our partaking in the and wine, as the sacramental sign of Eucharist, we ourselves become the his continued presence with us SUNDAY READINGS body and blood of Christ present in throughout history. He connected it our world. St. Augustine said, with a meal that was already a formal Exodus 24:3-8 “Become what you receive.” Pope religious ritual. The liturgical reforms Moses presides over a ritual sealing of Benedict puts it this way: “It is not the of Vatican II reminded us once more of the covenant at Sinai. They have become Eucharistic food that is changed into the roots of our own Mass in this the . us, but rather we who are mysteriously ancient meal. But the symbolism needs transformed by it. Christ nourishes us a connection with our daily lives if Hebrews 9:11-15 by uniting us to himself; ‘he draws us we’re going to understand it fully. into himself’” ( , Sharing a formal meal is far different Christ, our great high priest, has estab- Sacramentum Caritatis 70). than grabbing a single-serve snack on lished a new covenant. All who believe People of a certain age often associate the way out the door. If we don’t have can look forward to an eternal inheri- with today’s feast the Corpus Christi this experience in our daily lives, the tance. processions that once took place weekly Eucharist can lose some of its around the neighborhood of each meaning for us. Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 church, led by the priest carry- Make time for a special meal with Jesus celebrates a Passover meal with ing the consecrated bread, often in a family and friends. Include a blessing his disciples. He gives them his Body and , These processions held a at the beginning calling to mind the his Blood as a new covenant that will be rich symbolism of taking the Body of Lord’s presence as the source of the ratified through his death. Christ out into the world. love and nourishment you share. Franciscan Media l www.AmericanCatholic.org REFLECTION

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS THE REFLECTION HOME CHURCH • What place does the Eucharist By Kathleen Carroll have in your spiritual life? In your everyday life? Bread and wine are transformed • How might you celebrate a year of into Christ, and Christ eaten trans- faith? forms people. And it is they, trans- formed, who touch others. Bread and wine remain just that to human eyes, but the people of God are somehow other than they were before the coming-in of Jesus.... They were the Eucharist for those The Eucharist has been called the “source and who could not fathom bread and summit” of our Christian faith and we cele- wine as Christ.... RA E brate it in a special way during the feast of the And when he thought now of the P R Body and Blood of Christ. Though we know Y brothers, it was not just of the com- that God is everywhere, always, the Real By his word, the Word almighty pany of Lesser Brothers, but of all Presence communicates that reality to us in a men and women of every time and Makes of bread his flesh indeed; way we can see and touch. place who breathed the Lord in and Wine becomes his very lifeblood; In our families, we experience a range of “presence.” At times, the whole crew can be out as regularly as air. Faith God’s living word must heed! piled on one sofa, virtually atop one another, He thought of all who would let Faith alone may safely guide us but with each busy with a different task— Christ transform them into what Where the sense cannot lead! watching TV, texting, reading—they might as they needed to become in order to well be far apart. So, too, families separated by be happy. He found them in his own great distances—military families during time and place, and he saw that Come, adore this deployment, for example—can seem to be transformation in their eyes. wondrous presence; standing right next to us when we read a let- He saw them in the future, for the ter, get a phone call, or connect via Skype. Bow to Christ, the source of grace! Word would always speak, and there Even our departed loved ones can still be pres- would continue to be hearers of Here is kept the ancient promise ent to us in a prominently displayed photo or that Word. Of God’s earthly dwelling place the charmingly recalcitrant forelock of a tod- They would make the Eucharist dler. Sight is blind before God’s glory, convincing by the total transforma- Corpus Christi helps us recall our longing tion of their lives. Faith alone may see his face. for Christ’s presence. Who is longing for —from Francis: The Journey and the yours? Can you make time this week to be —Tantum Ergo, St. Thomas Aquinas Dream by Murray Bodo, O.F.M. really present for someone who needs you? (translated by James Quinn, SJ)

Monday Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3/Mt 5:1-12 Thursday 1 Kgs 18:41-46/Mt 5:20-26 WEEKDAY Barnabas Friday Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9/Eph 3:8-12, 14- Tuesday 1 Kgs 17:7-16/Mt 5:13-16 19/Jn 19:31-37 Sacred Heart of Jesus READINGS Wednesday 1 Kgs 18:20-39/Mt 5:17-19 Anthony Saturday 1 Kgs 19:19-21(364)/Lk 2:41-51 of Padua Immaculate Heart of Mary

Bringing Home Copyright © 2012, Franciscan Media, 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. the Editor: Diane M. Houdek; designer: Mike Winegardner; Illustrations: Julie Lonneman. Word For licensing information, call 1-800-488-0488 or visit BringingHometheWord.org. June 10, 2012 All rights reserved. Distibution rights granted only to license holders.