Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi, 10th June 2007

The Lord cares for us, the Lord holds us in the Eucharist

ONE OF THE SATURDAY PAPERS has a regular column called ‘Modern Morals’. It’s a discussion of moral dilemmas thrown up by everyday life. I can imagine the discussion: ‘You’ve just prepared yourself a fine meal and a friend turns up unannounced. Do you: a. offer to send out for a pizza and put your meal to one side (to eat later); b. offer to share your meal with your friend knowing in faith that there would be enough to go round; or c. Apologise that you’re about to eat and then try to get rid of your friend as soon as possible?
 
Unfortunately we all know what option Jesus would have taken. The feeding of the 5000 is a Eucharistic miracle. But it’s Eucharistic not just in the sense that Jesus is saying: you see what miracle I can work with bread and fish? See what greater miracle I will do with bread and wine!’ It’s also a clear demonstration of the Lord’s great care for us. We know that ‘every hair on our head is counted…’that ‘not even a little sparrow falls to the ground’ without our Father knowing it; and here we’re shown that the Lord loves and cares for us even in the most ordinary thing of not sending a crowd away without making sure they’re fed. And there’s many a Yorkshire mother and housewife that would do the same. The point is this: if the Lord cares for us in such small matters, his care for us must be very great indeed.
 
LAST SUNDAY an Iraqi Catholic priest, Fr Ragheed Aziz Ganni, was interrupted while celebrating Mass in Mosul. Gun men tried to stop the celebration: he insisted on continuing. As he drove away after Mass, with four deacons, the road was blocked: they were ordered out of the car; one of the deacons was ordered to run away; and Fr Ganni and the deacons were shot dead. Explosives were then placed around the ground so that there bodies had to lie in the street until evening. Fr Ganni is a modern day martyr! Now when I was a student in Rome in the 1990s we knew that some of our fellow students would be returning to persecution I their own countries and could die as martyrs. Fr Ganni studied in Rome, he lived at the Irish College - until 2003. He could well have sat in the same lectures as Fr Stephen Maughan. Two years ago he spoke at the Eucharistic Congress in Bari of the suffering of the Christians of Iraq.  This is what he said about the importance of the Eucharist:
“There are days when I feel frail and full of fear. But when holding the Eucharist, I say ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ and then I feel his strength in me. When I hold the host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me and all of us…. Keeping us united in His boundless love”.
 
Now Fr Ganni had already been threatened several times; his church had been bombed; he was celebrating Mass surrounded by fear: his ‘frailty and fear’ was real. But what a wonderful conviction: ‘When I hold the host in my hands, it is really He who is holding me.’ The point is we should ALL have that conviction. Whether we are full of fear or sadness, loneliness or even joy at some happy event, we should all realise that in the Eucharist, especially in the moments of Holy Communion, it is the Lord Jesus who is holding us. The Lord who would not let people go away with empty stomachs cares so much he wants to hold us, to console us, to share our sorrows and joys. I wanted to talk especially about reverence in receiving Holy Communion on this feast of Corpus Christi. But surely, rather than just talking about external actions of reverence, it’s more important to talk about the true meaning of the Eucharist and Holy Communion. If we really appreciate that Jesus holds us when we receive Him, then we’ll know what signs of reverence are needed.
 
Fr Ganni back at the Eucharistic congress in Bari in 2005 had a challenging word for those who “live comfortably”, without threat of violence or persecution. He said he thought it led people “not to appreciate the gift of the Eucharist”. I pray to God, please don’t let us have to suffer before we come to value the gift of the Eucharist above all other things.
 
I WANT TO ADD A FINAL THOUGHT about something that has been in the news very recently. Our Lord wants ‘to hold’ those suffering in a particular way, those who perhaps are seeking a way out of their suffering. There has been much talk recently of those who may not receive Holy Communion because they have been involved in or support abortion. This year is the 40th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act. Moreover, Pope Benedict spoke in his recent letter, Sacramentum caritatis, of how those who support or are involved in the procuring of abortions cannot join themselves to Christ in Holy Communion. And this is what Cardinal O’Brien was repeating in a homily for the Feast of the Visitation last week – and he was punished in the media for saying it.
 
But that is NOT the Church’s final word, it is not our final word. Yes, God counts every human life as sacred from the moment of conception for two reasons: because it was made in his image and likeness and because He has mysteriously joined himself to each and all through the Incarnation. That is the basis for the sanctity of every human life which makes abortion a crime against God. But it is also true that those who have had abortions, those who have helped with abortions – surgeons, nurses, GPs who sign the ‘blue forms’ referring women for abortions – they too are made in God’s image and likeness; they too are joined to God. The Lord loves us all and with a word of repentance will come to each and ‘hold them close’ in a loving embrace of reconciliation. Of course we know this, but it’s important to say it: the Lord really does love the sinner for it is they who need him, the true physician.
 
When I was in Ireland after Easter there was a familiar picture in the sacristy of the church where I celebrated Mass everyday. It can be found in many sacristies and it reads something like this: ‘Priest of God, offer this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass…” It’s designed to make you swallow hard just before going out to celebrate Mass; to help you see beyond the routine. Fr Ganni perhaps knew that the Mass he celebrated last Sunday could be his last Mass. Do you suppose it was a faith-filled celebration, as he held the host and was conscious that in his fear and frailty, Christ held him? However we feel now: full of joy, fear, touched by unforgiveness, indifference, loneliness… I want to say: People of God: let us all offer this Mass as if it were our first Mass, our last Mass, our only Mass.