The Most Holy Body & Blood Of
Christ – Cycle B
Exodus 24: 3-8; Hebrews 9: 11-15;
Mark
14: 12-16, 22-26
For
show and tell today, I brought in one of my most beloved possessions.
This is the deacon's stole that my wife made for me for my
ordination. She cross-stitched my whole history into this little
piece of cloth. It took her about a year and a half to complete.
It depicts my life both with my family and with the church. It's
very special to me, and I will treasure it always.
Unfortunately,
a deacon usually wears a dalmatic over the top of his stole. The
stole is a vital part of the deacon's wardrobe – some might argue
that it is the most important part – and yet few people get to see
it.
Today
is the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus
Christi. The Eucharist is the
source and summit of our catholic faith. It is a very visual
sacrament. We bring the bread and wine forward and place it on the
altar. The priest raises the elements, and by the power of the Holy
Spirit, changes them into the body and blood of Christ. Then we all
come forward and receive the Eucharist. We understand that, through
the grace of the sacrament, we – you and I – are
the body and blood of Christ. Anyone who comes to mass can see this.
But
there is a second part of Eucharist that isn't emphasized quite as
often. It's a vital part of the sacrament, but – like a deacon's
stole – people don't see it and so they tend to forget about it.
C.S.
Lewis once wrote: “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your
neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
Jesus
instituted the Eucharist at the last supper, on the night before he
died. If you recall, there was another thing that happened during
that meal. Jesus gets up from the table and washes the apostles'
feet. After his does this, he instructs them to wash each others
feet. (See John 13: 1-20) The act of serving each other is the second part of
the Eucharist.
Both
of these actions – the body and blood and
the washing of the feet – go together to make up Eucharist. It's
like breathing. When we breathe, there are two distinct actions –
the inhale and the exhale. You cannot do one without the other –
not for very long! Eucharist is the same. We come forward and we
receive the body and blood of Christ – the inhale. Then we, as the
body of Christ, take Jesus out into the world – the exhale. The
two actions go together – like breathing. One action completes the
other. Without both components – the sacrament remains incomplete
and unfulfilled.
Jesus
became mediator of a new covenant by shedding his own blood. We
follow Jesus into this new covenant by offering ourselves up totally
for the well-being of our brothers and sisters.
When
we labor for human rights, when we shelter the poor, when we
dismantle the bombs, when we protect the unborn, when we welcome the
traveler, when we reach out to the criminal, we do these things not
as political activists or social workers. We do these things as the
body and blood of Christ. We are his healing hands. We are his
compassionate heart. It is through actions such as these that the
Eucharist comes to fruition.
The
body and blood of Christ is not only our redemption. It is our task.
Deacon Darryl J. Diemer
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
June 7, 2015
Painting: from the Ottheinrich Bible, c 1425-1430, artist unknown.
