Corpus Christi Sunday (A); June 14, 2020

Dt 8:2-3,14-16   Ps 147   1 Cor 10:16-17   Jn 6:51-58

Deacon Jim McFadden

 

            On this Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the idea of memory comes up frequently in our readings. This is a good thing because when we remember who God is, who we are, our relationship to God and each other and Creation, then everything falls into right order—just as it was in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall. But, when we forget, then we inevitably live out of a false narrative, which draws us a way from the source of Life.

So, in the first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses says to his people: “You shall remember all the ways which the Lord your God has led you…Lest…you forget the Lord your God, who fed you in the wilderness with manna” (Dt 8:2,14,16). When Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he said: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). St. Paul will tell his disciple Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ” (2 Tim 2:8). And, as we heard in the Gospel, Jesus is “the living bread, come down from heaven”( Jn 6:51). Taken all together, we could say that the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Memory, reminding us in a very concrete, tangible way of just how much God loves us.

So, today, the Word of the Lord is challenging us to remember! Let us keep close to our heart how the Lord has guided us and strengthened us as we journey through the wilderness, which we are acutely experiencing during this time of plague, economic contraction, and racial strife. No matter what life deals us, no matter how hard life may be, let us remember all the Lord has done for us every moment of our existence as our own personal story of salvation unfolds.

Remember how the Lord loved you in the womb, how he loved you as a toddler and a child, how he loved you as an adolescent and into adulthood, and, if your hair is turning grey, how he still continues to pour his love into your heart. Remembrance is not a feel-good sentiment, but is essential for faith , just as water is for a plant. If we don’t remember how God has loved us in the past, can we really believe that we are being unconditionally loved right here and now? Can we have hope that he will love us in the future?   A plant can’t stay alive without water; is wont’ be able to bear fruit. Nor can faith, unless we drink deeply of all that the Lord has done for us from conception to the present moment. “Remember Jesus Christ”—yes, 24/7!

Memory is important because when we get assaulted with the hard psychic blows that life can throw at us, it’s easy to think that the misery of the here and now constitutes all that life has to offer. As people of Faith, we see the same reality that a cynic does, but unlike the latter we’re people of Hope because we are forever mind-ful , never forgetting who it is who is loving us, who loved us so much that he gave his life for us. And, all that he asks is that we love him in return and to love our neighbor as well.

Yet, nowadays while we ostensibly live in a Judaic-Christian culture, behaviorally we live in a post-Christian, secular society, which has diluted the faith of many of our brothers and sisters as they leave the Church in droves. Living in a digital age which stimulates frantic activity, many people and events seem to pass by in a whirl as we thumb our way from one screen shot to another. Being disconnected from our roots, we quickly turn the page, looking for novelty, the next new thing that can assuage our appetite. In so doing we’re unable to retain our memories. Leaving our memories behind and living only for the moment in which we pursue the goods of the world, we risk staying at the surface level of existence, constantly on the move, never going deeper into the Mystery, anxiously trying to navigate through life without having an over-arching narrative that reminds us who we are and where we are going. In this way, our life becomes fragmented, and dulled within. We look like we’re alive, but detached from the fount of Life, we’re slowly dying.

In spite of all of this, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi reminds us that in our fragmented lives, Jesus comes to meet us where we are and communicates himself through the loving “fragility” of the Eucharist. In the consecrated bread and wine, the Bread of Life comes to us, communicating his very Being, making himself a meal so that we can receive him completely—his soul and divinity. When we receive Jesus in Communion, he restores our memory, wounded by the frenetic pace of modern living. When the Body of Christ is placed upon your hand, you have a memorial of God’s love for you. At that moment everything comes together. There, “(Christ’s) sufferings are remembered” (II Vespers, antiphon for the Magnificat) and when we consume the consecrated Bread of Life we recall God’s love for us, which gives us strength and support to continue our journey.

This is why the Eucharistic commemoration is so powerful and does us so much good. It’s not an abstraction of some philosophical principle; it’s not a cold and superficial memory. No! It is a living remembrance that God who is Love has entered into my person. I have received Love sacramentally, which comforts us to the very core of our being. This memory is a recollection of all the moments that God has loved us and is a challenge to imitate his Love by sharing our life with our brothers and sisters. We live how God operates: namely, self-giving generosity.

Perhaps we entered the church feeling discouraged, fragmented, buffeted by circumstances. But, the Eucharist gives us a patient memory that all is well amidst all our troubles. We know, we remember that the Spirit of Jesus is always with us; even on the roughest, most problematic uncertain road, we know we are not alone. The Lord will never forget us and whenever we turn to him, he is there, restoring us with his love. Thank you Jesus! We will always remember you!   Amen.