To watch Fr. Joe’s homily from the Feast of Corpus Christi: CLICK HERE!
In more recent years families gathering around a table for a meal seemed to be a rare occasion, maybe at holidays, maybe on a special occasion. Everyone had some place to go and nobody’s schedule seemed to be the same. Then came the Pandemic and maybe one of the things that changed, at least for a while was, nobody was going anywhere.
People had to live with those people, often referred to as: husband & wife; ma & dad; children; brother and sister…
People actually gathered around a table to eat, to be family.
And today we have a Feast: The Body and Blood of Jesus, that also asks us to gather around a table. To find the time again to be with our community of faith, our family in person and in some cases via livestreaming.
When I think of families gathering together at home, of families gathering together at God’s home (Church for Mass), my thoughts are the same families and parishioners around a table with those they love, sharing in conversation, stories, being fed… good food and good wine, bonds of friendship and life and love deepening… People being nourished to go out into the world to work, to school, to serve & care for others.
I think of people being fed and becoming what they eat. We’ve all heard that quote, “you are what you eat.” And it is true both physically and spiritually.
I think of food and drink necessary to keep us alive, physically and spiritually, that should also move us to bring nourishment, in any number of ways, to the people we interact with day in and day out.
It is our belief that we actually receive the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearance of bread and wine every time we receive Communion, but as the Disciples of the past remind us, we are called to feed others, to bring Jesus into the world daily, to “become what we receive” – Jesus to one another.
Maybe todays Feast is that reminder to continue to make Jesus real to the people and world in which we live – to be Jesus, to be Holy Communion to others, as we continue to come together as family, as God’s family, now and forever. (Amen)