Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Homily - 20th Sunday OT - Eucharist - Jesus' Physical Embrace

Eucharist - Jesus' Physical Embrace


When you love someone you want to be a part of their life. Love seeks a union of heart, mind, soul, and life with your beloved. You want to belong and be with them.
In the Gospel, we hear that Jesus too is seeking a union of heart, mind, soul, and life with His Beloved - you & me.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you."
When we share in the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Himself comes to dwell within us.
God’s special gift to us makes Jesus present to us not just externally, but internally as well.
Jesus comes to us to get inside us, to live inside us, to come totally and completely into our lives, into our very selves.
Bishop Edward Malesic once said the following about the Eucharist.
"It was Jesus who said of the bread, “Take, Eat. This is my body.” And He said of the wine. “This is my blood of the covenant.”
Who am I to debate the words of Jesus?  If he says over the bread, “This is my body,” it is.  And if he says over the wine, “This is my blood,” Who am I to disagree?...
We believe that Jesus meant what He said and said what He meant.  We also believe that, as God, Jesus has power behind His words, power to effect the change He claimed over the bread and wine....
They are the same words spoken by a priest at Mass today; and it is the power of Christ, acting in and through a validly ordained priest, who is able to make this change in substance come about on every altar in every Catholic Church even now." 
That sums it up pretty well; It is Truly Jesus because He says that it is His Body and His Blood.
On the night before His death, Jesus gave us the Eucharist, His Physical Embrace, His Kiss, a sacrament in which He gives us His total self, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
Through His Embrace, He gives us His Mercy, Healing, Kindness, Forgiveness, and Love.  When you receive the Eucharist, Envision Him embracing you and giving you all that you need from the inside out.
This communion with the Lord makes us one Body, brings us eternal life, and sends us forth to be Christ's Body for the life of the world.
In a few moments, you will see with what great love and care the priest touches Jesus in the Host during Mass.
We should go out into the world and do the same, because it is the same Jesus we will find there in the broken bodies of the people we encounter.
Today we sit at the feet of Jesus, who is present to us.  We come to listen to Him, learn from Him, be fed by Him, and unite ourselves to Him.
God’s Word made flesh, Christ Jesus, calls out to us once again here in this church:
“Take and eat; this is my Body. Take and drink, this is my blood.
I am marrying you, giving Myself to you forever in love. Nothing can make Me not love you. I am yours forever!”
Remember, when you come down the aisle to receive Holy Communion, you come as a Bride to receive the divine Bridegroom, Jesus.
St. Augustine said:
"God offers us a short route to the possession of Himself. He cries out:
Love me and you will have me for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already."

Praise Be Jesus Christ, the Living Bread, Now and Forever, Amen!

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