Catholic 741: The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. (Corpus Christi). Year C - Sunday, June 23, 2019

Homily The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. (Corpus Christi). Year C - Sunday, June 23, 2019    

Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash  

First Reading: Genesis 14:18-20

Psalm 109:1-4. "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek."
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel Acclamation: John 6:51-52
Gospel: Luke 9:11-17
++++++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers, and reflections for The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. (Corpus Christi). Year C - Sunday, June 23, 2019, by clicking this link here:  - https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-body-and-blood-of-christ-c-2019/s-Rqwrk  (EPISODE: 163)    
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This is such a beautiful feast day, the Body and Blood of Christ…. Or "Corpus Christi", as it is also known…..

The Eucharist is so central to our church and to our faith…..

A priest I worked with, once described regular Eucharist as like the piers on a bridge….  The Length of the bridge represents the journey of our daily and weekly lives….   The upward support pylons of the bridge are what support the length of the bridge….   to keep the whole thing standing.

Similar to the image of a bridge, we need regular Eucharist as our weekly, (for many people a daily), support, along the whole length of our life-journey; lest the whole thing "caves in," under the weight of the world. ….

It is so fitting to be celebrating this feast, a couple of weekends after many young people in our parish have celebrated their first Holy communion and (around this time) many parishes around the country and the world are doing so at this time too…..   

Once confirmation and communion are received, the children have now been fully initiated into the life of the church…  and the action that completes their full initiation is that they receive Holy Communion…  

And, by receiving Holy Communion they are truly are ONE with Jesus, united with God, and united with all of us,  .. We are truly "in communion" of heart, mind, and soul with God and one-another….. 

I love to tell First communion candidates that "First Holy Communion is a truly very special moment. ....There is only one thing better than first holy communion, and that is "second holy communion," and there is only one thing better than second holy communion and that is "third"….. and so on…….   This sacrament makes the best sense when it is the beginning of a pattern for one's weekly life….    (And most certainly may it NOT be the first and last time one ever comes to communion…and also, may it not be the first and the rarest of times that one occasionally comes to communion). Eucharist is participating in the fullness of our membership as a disciple of Jesus.

God comes to us in a 'touchable' (tangible) form and that is a gift of priceless value that we need to cherish by participating in regularly….

I remember when I was only about five or six….  In Church at Canberra…  (and by the way, my earliest memories of the church was not in a 'church'…   in Canberra in the seventies, they had virtually no churches…  and there were many new areas and growing areas…  so we had masses at the local school assembly hall.. which was transformed into a church for the Sunday Masses …   God was present in the midst of the church, literally the 'ecclesia' - "the People of God" gathered by God… 

The only permanent piece of furniture at that time was a tabernacle built into a wall and kept safely locked to store the blessed sacrament. 

I remember as a six-year-old being in awe and wonder about the Mass.  Even then I KNEW that Jesus came to us in a real way during the Mass..  and made his home in our hearts…., though I got a little confused about HOW this happened, as I was too young to receive communion at this time…  ….  I somewhat confusedly thought that Jesus was released into our hearts when they went to open the tabernacle at communion time…  As a child, I thought that that Jesus was in there locked away and at communion time they would go and unlock the tabernacle and Jesus would fly out and fill our hearts…  Well.. I didn't connect that the host given and the chalice given to people was Jesus truly coming into our hearts..  in a real way..  as real nourishment…  Isn't it wonderful how the child's mind works…    

It is wonderful that God knows that we are physical beings who need tangible ways of connecting to God who is bigger than we can see or touch…. So, Our Lord gives us the gift and mystery of his Body and Blood.  Real food and real drink for our spiritual journey and our connection to Christ. 

The other thing I remember as a little child was the words of the priest…  "the Lord be with you…  and we would say,  (at that time and also with you"  now of course we say..  "and with your Spirit"…. Then the priest would say, as we still do….  "Lift up your hearts…"  

…….and I, as a six-year-old would strain to lift up my chest as high as I could…  I wanted to really "lift up my heart" to the lord …SOOO  high……!!!   

Even as adults…  we want to lift up our hearts and lives to the Lord…  we have so much to be grateful for…  including our families, and friends and fellow parish members,..…  who, by their lives and their example, have done what saint Paul has so beautifully written in this weekend's Second reading…   "We hand on what we, in turn, have had handed on to us … the message of Jesus".. The gift of Holy Communion….  And the proclamation of our membership as God's sons and daughters…..    

May the blessings of the sacrament fill our hearts and lives… so that WHAT we profess with our lips will be proclaimed by the loving ways we live our daily lives…..   "We become what we eat"…  As we take in the Body and Blood of Christ, we become more and more the Body of Christ ….  A real sacrament and sign of God's constant care and presence amongst us….always…

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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly

Image: Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash
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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from "The Psalms: A New Translation" ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg's 1993 book " Together we pray". Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

"Faith, Hope and Love" theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.


The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. (Corpus Christi). Year C
(Sunday, June 23, 2019)

(EPISODE: 163 )

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or// The Lord be with You)
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Coming together as Gods family, let us call to mind our sins. 
option two on the cards// Have mercy on us, O Lord.// For we have sinned against you.// Show us, O Lord, your mercy. And grant us your salvation.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation

Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

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Eucharist I

Eucharistic Prayer II

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
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Go in peace.