Feast of the Body and Blood of Chris
The Second Vatican council was one of the most important
moments in Catholic history in the 20th Century. They looked afresh
at the Church and described the Mass as the source and summit of everything
that we do. I fear that we have not really understood what this actually means.
I think that this has been made harder in many ways with the new translation. So
how are we to celebrate the Mass today?
When we read the Gospel today there are few things that
we can take in consideration. The first thing that we notice is that Mark calls
the place where they are to eat “the dining room.” One of the saddest things in today’s society
is the demise of the dining room: Where eating has become functional rather
than a time to meet and be community, it is a place to remember to tell stories
to be with each other. IT is a time of celebration. When growing up in my own
family we always sat at the table to eat it was a place to build family and
community.
We do the same here we gather around the altar, we share
the stories of the past in the liturgy of the word, we reflect upon it and pray
for each other and then we share the sacred meal of Jesus himself in his body
and blood. So the Eucharist then the Mass is something that should be joyful
and bring us together as community in thanksgiving for each other and also sharing
in that love that Jesus has for us.
The person that the disciples go and find is a person
carrying a pitcher of water. And what is odd is that a Man carries the water.
So that he would be instantly recognized. Water is a symbol of life and so is
receiving the Body and blood of Christ. We receive that life when we come to
communion it is the life of Jesus himself. And so through the participation at
Mass and we all everyone here by nature of who we are take an active
participation in the Mass from parents looking after your children to the choir
to the altar servers to coming and sitting and being here we are all actively
participating in the Mass. Because of this we have a right to be here.
So how do we take this experience out into the streets?
One way that we do it is by showing Jesus to others. This can be done in the
Blessed Sacrament processions that we do here today.
Another way is to realise that we are living temples of
the presence of Christ we have eaten his body and blood. Jesus in one sense
flows through our veins either by hearing his word and receiving his blessings
or by the physical reality of the body and blood of Christ. So we should so
respect for each other as such. This is one of the things that saddens me most
of all that we are pleasant to each other in these walls and yet the Eucharist
and Mass does have little effect to how we treat others in the world. The last
words of the Mass are a sending out to the whole world to tell others and bring
the experience of Mass, the community, the prayer and the concern for others to
the world. So how should we celebrate Mass. We should celebrate it in the local
community bringing what we have received here to the world at large. Are we
good at this? We could and should I feel do a lot better.
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