Claire Smith

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Scripture:

Genesis 14:18-20
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Luke 9:11b-17

Reflection:

Lately, my prayers before Mass have centered on my openness to receiving Jesus into myself. On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ which we celebrate this Sunday, we call to mind what the Eucharist means to us. To reflect on the Body and Blood of Christ is to remember that Jesus has given us His entire self for our salvation. At Mass, we believe that His sacrifice, made “once for all,” is made present for us.

What is our response to this total gift of Jesus? If we remember that the word “Eucharist” is Greek for “Thanksgiving,” our first response is gratitude. Our second response is giving of ourselves in return. In the context of the Mass, this involves being present to Jesus as we believe He is present to us. We also make ourselves present to each other. When we are not there, something is missing from this sacred celebration.

Giving of ourselves, of course, has also to do with what we do before and after Mass. The gift of Jesus which we share at Mass is a challenge to how we relate to the world in all aspects of our lives. In our Gospel reading (Luke 9:11b-17), when the apostles see that it is getting late and that there is a great crowd to see Jesus, but it is in a deserted place, they come to Jesus with the suggestion that He dismisses the crowds so that they can buy something to eat. To the apostles’ credit, they are aware of the needs of the people. But when Jesus (rather mischievously, I think) replies, “Give them some food yourselves,” you can imagine the look on their faces: “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people. [And surely, Jesus, you don’t mean that, right?)”

Sometimes our hesitancy to give comes from thinking we don’t have anything worthwhile to give. Sometimes we’re afraid to lose what we have if we give. Maybe the apostles had these fears in mind. But in the multiplication of the loaves and fish, Jesus dispels these fears and gives the food to the apostles to give to the crowds. As Jesus has given us His Body and Blood poured out for us, He invites us to trust that He will give us all we need to do what He commands us to do. We need not be afraid to give, no matter how little we think it might be.

And so we’re called to give of ourselves, both materially and spiritually. In our second reading from 1 Corinthians (11:23-26), St. Paul writes: “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you …” He then proceeds to articulate what we believe about Jesus and why we celebrate the Eucharist. In our first reading from Genesis (14:18-20), Abram gives Melchizedek “a tenth of everything,” in response to Melchizedek’s blessing and all that God had done for him.

Receiving the gift of Jesus and giving of ourselves in return leads us to abundant life. Now I know this doesn’t make sense in a worldly way. Often, the wisdom of the world celebrates greed and sees giving as losing. But this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ tells us that the greatest gift of God’s love cannot be taken away from us! Giving what we have been given does not diminish what we have, but helps it to grow! Giving is not lived out in isolated incidents, but as a way of life, in gratitude for the gift of Jesus, we share at Mass.

May we be fed in the Eucharist to help feed others and to share our abundant life in Christ with the world.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Matthew 6:24-34

Reflection:

 Therefore, that I might not become too elated,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

­­­­­­_____________

The weakness in this reading from Saint Paul has always captured me.

It is counterintuitive. Boasting of weakness. This is not a language that we learn on the playgrounds of elementary school. In climbing the ladders in the corporate world there is no perfect weakness. I think we trip over ourselves trying to hide each and every weakness.

Let’s take a minute and reread Christ’s answer to the plea of Saint Paul to take away the thorn. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor12:9)

His grace is all we need.

Saint Paul realized this, and what it did was make his personal weakness be a glorious strength.

What are our weaknesses? Are we prideful? Do we have cancer or another serious illness? Perhaps we have anxiety or other social issues? Maybe we just don’t think we are good enough? These weaknesses, often make us powerless. It is in this powerlessness that Christ shines the greatest.

“My grace is sufficient for you.” It’s not always an easy answer, I much prefer, ‘go in peace and be cured of your affliction” (Mark 5:34).

Unfortunately, being cured of our affliction isn’t always what is best for our salvation. What is best, only God knows.

“Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor12:10)

Kate Mims is the Retreat Center Director at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
Matthew 6:19-23

Reflection:

Today is the longest day of the year–or close to it.  This means we can accomplish more today than on any other day of the year.  Correct?  Not exactly, we caution.  It’s just a different disposition of our tasks throughout the 24 hours available to us.

It’s also the memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a Jesuit scholastic who died at a young age.  He’s a saint, accomplishing much in a short period of time.  Was he at an advantage over us older folks in getting a lot done in the amount of time available to him?  Or at a disadvantage?  And he is joined by other young saints in his achievements, such as his fellow Jesuits Stanislaus Kostka and John Berchmans, and young Passionists such as Gabriel Possenti, Gemma Galgani, Mary Goretti.

Well, it’s a matter of accomplishing the tasks to be done in the time available.  We call this packaging.  One way to approach this is by citing what “we have to do”: keep the 10 commandments, the 5 precepts of the church, the1752 entries in the code of canon law, the tax code weighing in at around 25 pounds, city and country ordinances, rules at our workplace–among others.  Can we repackage all of this?

Jesus does so for us today.  What is the greatest commandment in the law?  This from a scholar in Jewish law (613 laws).  Jesus responds: love God, and your neighbor as yourself.  This accounts for the whole law and the prophets.

And John comments in today’s first reading that this commandment is not burdensome for one who has faith, believing that Jesus is the Son of God.

This faith is like an elixir.  It contains all the nutrients we need for the day.  We don’t have to engage in a harried chase after scores of substitutes in order to achieve the same ends.  It’s a question of simplifying.

So, if we love and believe, we are associates of Aloysius Gonzaga and his peers in codifying “the things we have to do” to achieve our place with God.  This is a simplification well worth pursuing.

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.