The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ!
Homily preached by Monsignor Michael Deering
Sunday, June 19, 2022

For those of you who are homeowners, you know ... that part of being a happy homeowner is that you get involved in home repair or home improvement projects.

And when you do, these projects often require that you get parts, repair parts or replacement parts from the store. And stores like “Lowes” and Home Depot” have made the task of finding the right part a little easier by the way they show pictures of the parts that they have and once you find the picture that matches

what you’re looking for ... you’ll often find the desired part in the bin right below it.

For example if your looking for a certain bolt or nut or washer ... or a certain electrical face plate, or a particular “T” or “Y” shape pipe connector, you can bring the part with you to hold it up and compare it to the pictures shown on each shelf of all the various size and shape parts that they have until you see the image that matches yours and then get the part you need out of the bin right below the sign.

You find the sign of what you’re looking for; and then get what you want below.

Well, this process that works so well in hardware stores, is the very process

that has been used for centuries in finding what you want in Catholic Churches!

You see, in most Catholic Churches, you’ll find a Crucifix displayed front & center.

A Crucifix is a Cross with an image of the body of Christ hanging on it.

That statue is the image … of what we come to Church looking for ... Jesus!

And located right beneath the Crucifix is the Tabernacle,

which is the container where the Real Presence of Jesus Christ is stored!

Just as at Lowe’s, the image above indicates what can be found in the bin below.

So too, in Church, the image of the Body of Christ hanging above

indicates that the Real Body of Christ is stored below.

The sign on the Crucifix labels the person on the Cross as a King …

which is exactly what we find in the Tabernacle below… Christ, the King.

This great title and role was prefigured very early in Scripture. Today reading from the 11^th Chapter of Genesis, we hear of this mysterious figure, Melchizedek,

who is first a King … the King of Salem, where Salem means “Peace” ...

    and also a Priest ... a Priest of God Most High.

So this figure Melchizedek, who is the King of Peace, blesses Abram.

And how does he do it?

Scripture says, he brought out Bread and Wine …

“and being a Priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram.”

So, He blessed Abram by giving him Bread and Wine.

Notice he did not offer the customary bloody animal sacrifice … but his blessing came through the bloodless offering of the simple elements of Bread and Wine.

Now, connecting this passage to Psalm 110, proclaimed today,

we see a powerful reference to the Priesthood of Jesus. 

First we hear, “The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right” (Yahweh =>Adonai)

Who is it that sits at the right hand of God?   Jesus, the Son of God.

Then we hear, “You are a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

          Not the

So what is the ministry of the Son of God?  He is a Priest.

     For how long?    Forever.

And what kind of Priest? A priest like those who offered dead animals in blessing? 

          Not the order of Aaron or the order of Levi. No, the order of Melchizedek.

Yes, a priest like Melchizedek, who offered bread and wine in blessing!

Now connect this passage with our Second Reading from 1^st Corinthians, where St. Paul recounts:

“On the night Jesus was handed over, he took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “this is my body that is for you.”

Wow!          What just happened?

In that Holy meal of His Last Supper with his Apostles … Jesus offered bread …

but once He blessed it, it was no longer just bread; it was his Body!

That’s what Paul said happened! Could that really have taken place?

Well, Scripture says, that when God said, “Let there be light” … there was light!

And so when Jesus, who is God, said, “This is my body.” Then that was His Body!

The word of God is that powerful … it creates … it transforms.

Paul tells us that Jesus also took the cup at the Last Supper and said,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

What do you think happened?      The wine became blood … the Blood of Christ!

And so at the Last Supper, those Apostles were truly fed with ...

the Body and Blood of Jesus … veiled under the appearance of Bread and Wine.

What a huge privilege! What a huge blessing!

To be fed not with bread and wine … but with supernatural food …

with the Flesh and Blood of the God-Man, Jesus Christ!

Now there at the Last Supper, it was Jesus Himself who bestowed the blessing on the bread and wine that changed it into His Body and Blood.

But Jesus isn’t here in the flesh any more … for after that Last Meal ...

He was arrested, crucified, died, rose from the dead and ascended to the Father.

So does the fact that He’s not physically here anymore mean that that experience of the Apostles getting to feed on his Body and Blood was a one-time experience?

No! For Jesus knew that He would physically leave us, and so He gave the power

to change bread and wine into his Flesh and Blood ... to His Apostles ...

so that they could bless the elements in His absence ... and

bless other men to bless the elements ... thereby making it possible for Bishops and Priests to be able to feed the people with His Body and Blood through all the years until He comes again.

As Paul tells us today, Jesus instructed them, “Do this in remembrance of me”

And so the power to change bread and wine into the Flesh and Blood of Jesus is still present in the world … as it has been handed on … from Bishop to Bishop and Bishop to Priest throughout the past 2000 years!

Just as Jesus blessed His Apostles by giving them His very Body and Blood at the Last Supper, Jesus continues to bless all people today, who come to Him in His Church seeking to be fed by His Holy Body and Blood.

The miracle still takes place, it happens at every Mass, through the hands of the Priest ... who stands in the place of Jesus at this Holy Meal.

You may wonder if the blessing we have of His Body and Blood will ever run out?

It’s likely that you have made a trip or two to the store to get a certain part you

needed ... only to discover that they were out of the part you wanted …

that the bin was empty!

Well, that may happen with fasteners and every other thing manufactured by man,

but it will never happen with the Body of Christ, for it is eternal.

We’re assured of this from our Gospel today where Jesus performs the huge miracle of multiplying five loaves of bread to feed 5000 people … and still

there was food left over.           Luke says,

“when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled 12 wicker baskets.”

So you see, where God is concerned, the Bin’s never empty!

There’s always more … of Him ... more mercy … more strength … more wisdom … more grace … more of the Bread of Life ... that God delights in giving to us.

Today’s feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is intended to heighten our appreciation for the generosity of God ... a generosity that God made clear when He established the Holy Eucharist.

You may recall that some years ago this feast was referred to as the feast of “Corpus Christi”.     That’s the Latin expression for “Body of Christ”.

Today the Church refers to this feast as the “Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ”. This title refers more completely to what Our Lord did at the Last Supper ...

when He gave Himself up for us… His Body and His Blood.

Thru the Mass, celebrated in every Catholic Church in the world, Jesus becomes truly and substantially present, His Body and Blood under the Bread and the Wine.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist?

There’s no scientist in the world that can prove that Jesus is really there.

And yet, many of us believe.     I do!    Jesus said it!     I believe it!     End of Story!

It’s is a miracle. It’s a mystery!

Many say they’re looking for a miracle … well a miracle happens at every Mass!

For those of us that are Catholic, we need to remind ourselves

that Holy Communion is not just a symbol of God.

No, Holy Communion … is God.    He’s there; His real presence among us.

In His great love for us, God comes to us to feed us with Himself.

The Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus.     It is holy.    It is God.

By worthily receiving Jesus into our bodies and having union with God on earth,

we transform our hearts to be like His.

And in this way, we prepare ourselves to have eternal union with God in heaven.

Recognize it’s really Jesus in Holy Communion, The Creator comes to the Creature.

The Savior comes to the saved.  Jesus comes to heal us, transform us, strengthen us.

Jesus is there in the Bread each time the Priest says the words, “This is my Body.”

Jesus is there in the Wine each time the Priest says the words, “This is my Blood.”

Do you believe that?   Do you treasure that?   Do you reverence that?

I was talking to a young man Friday at the YMCA Date Night, who expressed an interest in beginning RCIA classes this fall to become Catholic like his wife.

He said that participating in communion in his Protestant Church, he often felt unsettled at their lack of reverence for what they called the symbol of God.

He didn’t find that they offered any special reverence at all.

But attending the Catholic Church, he was very impressed to see the reverence afforded to the Holy Eucharist ... the Sacrament we  proclaim to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ!

For example, what’s the first thing I do after the consecration of ...

each of the elements ... of bread and wine?

I genuflect ... because at that moment I’m now in the presence of Jesus the King ...

and so with reverence ... I bow with bended knee before the King!

This is so very special! That God would come to us ... to feed us with Himself!

St. Thomas Aquinas calls this ... God’s greatest Miracle … feeding us with

the Most Holy Body and Blood of His Son, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Do you know what you’re looking for? That helps you know in finding something!

Have you ever gone to a store to get a gift and you don’t know what you want?

You wander around aimlessly … and probably leave not finding anything.

Knowing what you want really helps when you go to Lowes to find a part …

you just follow the signs to find what you need.

If you’re looking for a certain PIECE … Lowe’s can help you find it.

if you’re looking for God’s PEACE, the Church can help you find it!

So for Home Improvement … go to Lowes.

And for Soul Improvement … go to Church!

The Sign of Jesus’ presence is hanging there in every Catholic Church!

It points you to Jesus’ True Presence in the “bin” right below.

You know the Latin Letters “INRI” on Cross identify Jesus ...

they mean “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.

But those same letters “INRI” also identify where Jesus is to be found ...

          they mean “I’m Near, Right Inside”.

You know

    this is probably why Protestant Churches don’t put Jesus on their Crosses.

That would be a sign that they had His True Presence in their Church ...

and they don’t.  So, to have the Crucifix displayed would be false advertising.

If Lowe’s doesn’t carry a certain product, they sure don’t put up a sign for it.

When people don’t find the sign of what they’re looking for,

they have to go to another store.

If there’s no Crucifix, there’s no True Presence, so go to where you can find it!

Well, if you’re looking for Jesus ... you’ve found Him here ...

at Holy Spirit Church ... and ... at every Catholic Church in the World!

Let’s recognize and reverence the treasure God offers to us ...

in the Most Holy Body and Blood of His Son ... the Lord Jesus Christ!