“Corpus Christi 2009”

The Sermon Notes of Father S. Peter Donatelli

(All Biblical quotes from the New King James Version)

JOKE:

Let’s see if any of these remind you of Father Peter. You know you’re Italian when you can bench press 325 pounds, shave twice a day and still cry when your mother yells at you. You know you’re Italian when your mechanic, plumber, electrician, accountant, travel agent and lawyer are all your cousins. You know you’re Italian when you are on a first name basis with at least 8 banquet hall owners. You know you’re Italian when there are more than 28 people in your bridal party. You know you’re Italian when you netted more than $50,000 on your first communion.

INTRO:

I still remember how much effort my mother went through to make my brother’s and my First Communion such a special day. We did not have much money back then but she still hired a professional photographer to take our pictures in rented white suits and white shoes. The predominantly first graders all went through a year of training and special attention went into making the morning pristine and festive. We were all nervous as we were about to consume the Body and Blood of Jesus for the first time. For us boys it was even more special as this graduation entitled us to aspire for the coveted altar boy position. I must say that one of my biggest objectives in CEC is to develop a better catechetical system by which the veneration and awe and reverence of this special indulgence. Maybe an expensive meal and having all your relatives over showering you with cash and sixteen gold necklaces is seemingly superfluous but just a pat on the back and allowing this the most sacred, the most charismatic, and the most intimate part of our faith to be understated, unassuming, and unpretentious is a tragedy. How life-altering is this decision that we make to consume the Body and Blood of Christ. Let’s just take a look at the readings for today to see how binding and how vital and how overwhelming this event in our life is.

POINT ONE:

There is nothing more permanent and indissoluble then a blood covenant. When I was a kid there was a romantic yet manly ritual that was exhibited in some movies where two men would cut their palms and grasp each other’s wounds symbolizing each other’s blood flowing through each friend producing what was commonly known as blood brothers. This is not demonstrated in movies today because of the multiple diseases that would make liability manifold. However you get the gist. The ritual that is ancient as humanity illustrates the importance of our physicality when it comes to our divinity. It is hard to believe that God set up such an elaborate ritual of animal sacrifice to demonstrate how the consumption of flesh and blood can symbolize the purging and annihilation of sin. Allow me to put to rest the unpleasantness of temple sacrifice. Yes, draining blood is repugnant and seemingly uncouth however we still do it today. The world consumes well over 200 million tons of meat each year. The United States and China, which contain 25 percent of the world’s population, combine to consume 35 percent of the world’s beef, over half of the world’s poultry, and 65 percent of the world’s pork. Hopefully we are as civilized as the ancient Jewish people were back in the days of Moses. 3300 years ago the people wandering in the wilderness were very clean and sanitary as they conducted their rituals. The false assumption is that these Temple sacrifices were as disgusting as the scene from Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto where human sacrifices were a sick part of Mayan culture. The Jews, on the other hand, were very clean and dare I say kosher as they offered God sacrifice. People are sometimes under the misconception that these rituals were blood fests but the reality is that there were times when attendees were allowed to eat the cooked meat. One could say that Temple sacrifices were a great big awesome barbecue. This ritual resembles everything we and a billion others, do every Sunday morning. Let’s hear the first reading again and hear the confession, readings, and sacrifice order of the Mosaic liturgy. Exodus 24: 3 So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6 And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.”

POINT TWO:

As God’s plan comes to fulfillment in Jesus Christ the ritual becomes neater and less intricate as the elements are easier to find and create; bread and wine. The divine and charismatic aspect of our liturgy is that these elements become the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in a Divine Cosmos that we are participating in, both on earth as it is in Heaven. Quite frankly our Faith is the faith of order not chaos. J. R. Tolkien understood this as he tried to conceptualize the Kingdom in a way that modern Westerners could understand. As a daily Mass attendee Tolkien found solace in our Sacrifice. “Tolkien acknowledged that his Catholic sensibilities unconsciously inspired characters and objects in his imaginative world. In a 1952 letter to Rev. Robert Murray, he readily admitted that the Virgin Mary forms the basis for all of his “small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity.” It is not surprising, he admits, that the character of Galadriel—a created being endowed with radiant beauty, impeccable virtue, and powers of healing—resonates with the character of our Blessed Mother. Nor could Tolkien deny that the Holy Eucharist appears in The Lord of the Rings as the waybread (lembas), given by the elves to the hobbits to eat on their journey. The lembas reinforces the hobbits’ wills and provides them with physical sustenance in the dark and barren lands on the way to Mount Doom. As the Church teaches, while the Eucharist still tastes and looks like bread and wine, our sensations shroud a deeper mystery: The Eucharist is truly Christ’s body and blood. So in The Lord of the Rings the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist appear shrouded in the mysterious elements of Middle-earth. The best way to understand this is to see such examples of Catholic symbolism as literary “accidents.” To leave them out would have diminished the story; they are parts of Tolkien’s effort to make his world complete, true for all times and places.” (Jason Bofetti, Crisis Magazine 2001) The author of Hebrews understood this as he attempted to explain the transition from the Mosaic Temple worship and the realization of God’s perfect plan accomplished in our Sunday Eucharist. Hebrews 9: 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

POINT THREE:

Whatever God creates incorporates God, His creation, and His glory. The Last Supper was an elegant Passover meal prepared by Jesus for His friends and by our participating in this meal we are being prepared a most elegant banquet in Heaven. In Jerusalem, pilgrims would be celebrating the Passover in places that are designated. Pilgrims from Galilee usually took advantage of the hospitality of the citizens of Jerusalem during this festal period but Jesus had connections. Jesus gives them directions about where they are to prepare the paschal meal that lead them to a dining hall which scholars identify as in a large house somewhere in the Upper City, among the well-to-do. The indications given are the following: (a) a male water-bearer (b) a second-floor guest room. Male water-bearers will stand out since it is usually the women who fetched water; a male water-bearer indicates a slave. Second, ordinary houses did not have a second floor; a house with a second floor indicates a large house. The two disciples who were sent to prepare find the place just as Jesus told them. The situation is similar to the preparation for Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem. Here, the evangelist emphasizes the fact that no one except Jesus knew what was about to happen. All has been prepared before hand. The Passover meal with the disciples was part of a plan that Jesus was about to carry out. Mark 14: 12Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” 13 And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”‘.15 Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.” 16 So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover… 22 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 23 Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

CONCLUSION:

The Last several weeks define our Christian identity. We celebrated the life and death of our God, Jesus the Christ. We celebrated the time He gave to His followers both before and after the Resurrection. We celebrate His ascension into Heaven and the gift of perpetual divine presence at Pentecost. We learned last week that our God exists in relationship in the Trinity and how that community not only defines our relationship with God but also the unity of His Body throughout the world and the Divine Cosmos. Finally today before we enter Ordinary Time we come to an understanding that God is with us always and if only we can capture this understanding physically by going to Mass everyday so that we are assured that we taste and see that God is good. I suppose that is the gifting of being a charismatic church whereas we can feel that assurance each hour of the day by praying in tongues and living out our gifs of the Holy Spirit. Today is Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ. May we go forth in our day to day lives knowing that surging through our bodies is the Body of Christ. He is always with us waiting to spend eternal life with us at the Heavenly celebration with all the saints, the angels, and the communion of all believers in a life worth waiting for. Amen!

~ by ordani on June 14, 2009.