Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Most of you are aware that I am a convert to Catholicism. So, what's at the core of what we're celebrating today was not a part of any experience I had attending Sunday church services. Nobody ever suggested to me that the wafers and tiny glasses of juice that were being passed from person to person in the pews were sacred and certainly not that it was Jesus himself.

I’m sure I've shared at some point, that although I accompanied others to Catholic Mass a handful of times in my life, in every experience of it, I was less moved by the experience than I was confused. It wasn't until I was well into my adult years, having recently gone through some years of conversion, and as part of it, having dug deeply into the Bible, front to back, its words beginning to come to life within me.

          It was later, that I was invited again to go to Mass. I saw it in a different way. And although there was so much that was unfamiliar—the responses, the postures—I could now see that there was something intimate and meaningful going on. I wanted to experience it again and kept coming back.

As it was for me, experiencing the Mass for the first time tends to be a bit bewildering. Try to imagine a person who is totally unfamiliar with Christianity and what we are doing, yet with eyes open and a curious mind, tries to gather it all in and understand what the meaning of it is.

          Perhaps as much as anything, they would notice how, like a story that builds up to a climax, it builds up to where it’s clear that our primary focus comes to be directed on a tiny circle of bread. And as they observe, they see the people kneeling, and that the presider holds it up before the people, indicating the considerable importance it bears.

          And then, in a very reverent manner, the people process together, each bowing before it, receiving it in way that it would seem to be something more precious than just a circle of bread. After receiving it, the people return to their seats and close their eyes or sing. “What is it”, a close observer would surely wonder, “that is so special about this odd circle of bread? What am I missing?”

Yes, there’s much more to it than just bread, and I suspect the depths of it often eludes our consciousness. So let us consider:

·        It is mystery, as though something as grand as the universe is packed within, and yet it comes to us in such a simple and humble manner;

·        It is a gift beyond my deserving, yet God in His mercy desires to give to me;

·        It is not a reward for virtue, yet I can only draw from its grace to the extent I desire virtue;

·        It is the fruit of great pain and suffering, but more, the fruit of great love and joy;

·        It is the surest way for the heaven God desires for me, yet it requires that I also desire heaven.

That small circle of bread—Jesus’ Body—is the climax of what we’re doing. It is God who comes to us, if only we desire to let Him dwell in us.