Body and Blood of Christ
Genesis 14:18–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Luke 9:11–17

Why!
There’s a mountainside full of hungry young people out there, but there’s no one to feed them.

An American priest was invited  to take part in a youth rally in Canada.  About 700 young people  were camping out in a large park  for the weekend.

Their program included workshops  on such topics as dating, sexual morality, drugs, peer pressure, and meditation.

The organizers felt the least-popular workshop  would be the one on meditation. They were in for a big surprise. It was the best-attended workshop of the weekend.

At one point in that workshop, the priest giving it sensed a profound presence of the Holy Spirit and invited the 200 participants to pray together. The response was amazing.

Afterward the priest said, “It was one of the most moving experiences in all my years of priestly ministry.’’

Then, alluding to the image in today’s gospel,  he said:

“There’s a whole mountainside  full of young people out there
who want to eat, but there’s no one to feed them. There’s a whole mountainside full of young people out there who want to pray, but there’s no one to teach them.’’

The priest’s remark merely paraphrases what Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel:

“The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers
to gather in his harvest.” Matthew 9:37–38

Why are there so few workers today  to gather in the harvest?  Why are there so few young people today
responding to God’s call to the religious life?

Why is it that, in a day when there are more single people in the world than at any other time in history, there are, proportionately, fewer vocations than at any other time in history?

On this Feast of Corpus Christi, the “Body of Christ,’’ let us, the members of the Body of Christ, reflect seriously on this vexing question.

Could one reason for the vocation shortage be  that we  aren’t doing what Jesus told us to do when he said, “Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest”?
Jesus placed at our disposal everything  we need to “gather in the harvest.’’ Could it be that we are overlooking  the most basic resource he gave us—prayer?

For example, how many of us pray regularly that the hearts of young people will be touched  to consider a vocation  to the sisterhood, brotherhood, or priesthood?

How many of us pray regularly  that the hearts of adults will be touched  to consider some kind of commitment  to “gather in the harvest,’’  be it prayer, financial help, or whatever?

Let’s be more specific.

When was the last time  we asked “the owner of the harvest . . .
[to] send out workers to gather in his harvest”?  If it’s longer than two days ago,  it’s too long. We should be praying daily.

But could there be another reason  for the vocation  shortage today?  And could that reason be families?

Are families today  the kind of seedbeds for vocations that they once were?

Again, let’s be specific.

When was the last time  we spoke to our children about the priesthood,  sisterhood, or brotherhood as a life’s work?

Or when was the last time  we asked our children to pray for an increase of vocations in the Church?

If we did nothing more  than ask our children to pray for  vocations, we would be taking a big step  toward getting them to consider a vocation.

Finally, there may be a third reason  why there’s a shortage of vocations today. And that reason has to do with each one of us, personally.  Let’s put it this way:
If we are a young person, have we ever considered committing ourselves to following Jesus as a religious? If not, why not?

Is it for the same reason  that the rich young man in the Gospel refused to follow Jesus? Is it because we value the  things of this world more than we value the things of the next world?

Personally, I don’t think this is true of most young people today. I think they are far too generous for that.

I think the reason has to do with us adults. How many of us have ever invited a young person to consider a vocation?
The fault, I believe, is ours, not theirs.

And so on this Feast of Corpus Christi, I’d like to invite
every unmarried person in this congregation to do something special during the week ahead.

I’d like to invite you to add to your prayers a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide you in your choice of a life’s work.

And I’d also like to invite every parent of an unmarried person to add to their daily prayers a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide your son or daughter in choosing a life’s work.

This is the invitation I extend to you on this special Feast of Corpus Christi.

Let’s close with a story.



When missionaries go to foreign lands to preach the Gospel,
they report back regularly to their superiornot only on the progress of their work but also on their own personal life.
Here’s an excerpt from such a report by St. Francis Xavier in India to his Jesuit superior in Europe:

“Many Indians here fail to become Christian simply because there’s nobody to teach them. I have often felt moved to go to the universities of Europe . . .
shouting like a madman, saying to those who have more learning than goodwill, to employ it advantageously. . . .

“If only, while they studied their humanities,  they would also study the accounting they will have to make to God someday
for the talent he has given them! If only they did this, many might be moved to say . . .
‘Lord, here I am.  What would you have me to do?’ ’’

My brothers  and sisters:

“The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.” Matthew 9:37–38


Series II
Body and Blood of Christ
Genesis 14:18–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; Luke 9:11–17

Skeeter

The Body of Christ is a source of strength and life to all  who believe in Jesus.

Some years ago  Eucharist magazine carried an article by a 20-year-old cerebral palsy victim named Skeeter Rayburn.

Skeeter could not speak or use his hands or legs.
He communicated by means of an electric typewriter, which he operated by a stylus attached to his head. Pressing one letter at a time with the stylus was a slow, tedious process.

In his article, Skeeter described how receiving Jesus in the Eucharist gave him the strength to carry his crosses.
He writes:

“One of the crosses . . .
is cerebral palsy’s jerkiness. . . .
My muscles have spasms and my arms and legs jerk wildly until I think I will go mad.

“At these moments, I remember Jesus’ torturous writhings
on the cross. He had horrible muscle spasms which convulsed his entire body. . . . But he endured it silently.
“Can I do less with my little contortions with Jesus living within me?

“Another heavy load Jesus helps me carry is requiring someone to care for my every physical need.

“Having watched my mother collapse from taking care of me,
I know the feeling of being a burden and wanting to die. . . .

However, I recall that God humbled himself  by being born a babe, and if almighty God stood helplessness,I can stand it too.

“Another cross is waiting for things. I have to wait to go to the bathroom;wait to have my nose cleaned out when I can hardly breathe; wait to be covered when I am cold. . . .
In these periods I recall . . .
[how patiently Jesus suffered] on the cross. . . .

“With Jesus’ endurance within me, can I do less for him?’’

Skeeter’s article makes a beautiful introduction to the feast that we celebrate today, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the feast of the Holy Eucharist.

As you read Skeeter’s article, you get a profound appreciation
of what the Eucharist meant to him.

You get a profound appreciation of the strength that the  Eucharist gave him.

From today’s second reading you get a profound appreciation
of the great gift that Jesus gave us.He took bread, gave thanks,
“broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.’ ”


In 1985 every television screen in the country  showed footage of a woman who got pinned beneath a falling crane
in New York City.

The TV cameras showed a team of paramedics  fighting to keep her alive until a larger crane could be brought in to lift the fallen crane from her.

The paramedics gave her fluids, blood transfusions, and massive doses of painkiller..

Then came a dramatic moment. The woman had a request of her own.She asked for the Body of Christ in Holy Communion.

This, too, the television cameras caught in all of its moving drama. It was a beautiful witness to the woman’s faith in the Eucharist.

Eventually, the woman was freed and rushed to a hospital,
where a team of medical people saved her life.
As we read the story of Skeeter  and of the woman trapped beneath the crane, we find ourselves doing what the Church invites us to do on this feast day.

We find ourselves asking, “How deep is our own personal appreciation of the Eucharist?’’

We find ourselves asking, “Do we have the same profound appreciation of the Eucharist that Skeeter and the woman had?’’

And if our answer is no, we find ourselves asking, “How can we develop a deeper personal appreciation of the Eucharist?’’

Because we usually receive the Eucharist each time
we go to Mass,  we can tend to fall into the habit of receiving it  routinely. As a result,  we can tend to lose our appreciation of it.

Therefore, one way to deepen our appreciation of the Eucharist is to receive it more consciously  and more  reflectively. In other words, we can make a conscious effort to receive it with attention and devotion.

Let me make this suggestion.
As you walk down the aisle  to receive the Eucharist later on in Mass, focus your thoughts in a special way  on who it is that you are to receive into your body.

For example, when the eucharistic minister  holds up the Eucharist and asks us to affirm that this is the Body of Christ,
try to realize that when you say “Amen’’ you are making an act of faith.

You are saying, “I believe that this is the same Christ  who took flesh and was born in Bethlehem.’’

You are saying, “I believe that this is the same Christ who restored health to the sick, hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, and even life to the dead.’’

You are saying, “I believe that this is the same Christ  who suffered for me and died on the cross for me.’’

You are saying, “I believe this is the same Christ who rose from the dead on Easter, ascended to the Father, and now reigns at the right hand of God.’’

This is the tremendous truth that we celebrate in today’s feast.

This is the tremendous gift that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper.

This is the tremendous event that will take place in our lives on this altar in just a few minutes.


Series III
Body and Blood of Christ
Genesis 14:18–20, 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, Luke 9:11b–17

Holy Communion
Holy Communion is an incredible gift of love  from an incredible God of love.

This is my body. . . . Do this in memory of me.”
In the same way . . .
he took the cup and said . . .
“Whenever  you drink it, do so in memory of me.”                       1 Corinthians 11:24–25

Melinda Haynes was excited. Soon after her first novel,
Mother of Pearl, was released, the phone rang. A woman on the other end said, “I’ve just finished reading Mother of Pearl,
and I think it’s wonderful. How did you do it?”

Melinda said she jumped right up  on her soapbox  and told the woman the whole story, never thinking to ask who she might be.

Melinda began by explaining how at one point in her life
everything began to fall apart for her. She had a crippling phobia and anxiety attacks, and had attempted suicide.

She said her two little daughters were frightened at what was happening to their mother.

One day, in panic and desperation, she got in her car and drove off. She writes:

I pulled over at the first house of worship I saw. It was a Catholic church. . . .
I don’t know what made me start to cry. All I know is that I felt safefor the first time in my life.

A tall man in casual clothes sat down beside me and handed me his handkerchief.

Matter-of-factly, he began to explain the design elements of the church, and then discussed the sacraments.

I wanted to tell him not to bother, that I was Baptist—but I didn’t. The man was . . . the parish priest.
In the days ahead,Melinda returned again and again to the church.

Then one day she started going to Mass. In preparation for Holy Communion, the congregation prayed:

Lord, I am not worthy to receive You,but only say the word and I shall be healed.

Those words, she said, “struck to the heart.” She said a transformation took place inside her.

She concluded, saying that her life “turned in an entirely new direction.” She had been given a new faith and a new life.

At that point in the phone conversation, it dawned on Melinda that she hadn’t yet asked the caller her name.
She said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I forgot to ask your name.” She was stunned when the caller said, “This is Oprah Winfrey, and I want to feature your book nationally on my television program.”

Melinda ended her story, grateful to God for her new faith and her new life.
Retold from “Lost and Found” by Melinda Haynes
in Ladies Home Journal (September 2000)


Melinda’s experience in connection with the Eucharist is becoming more and more typical of many converts.

The doctrine of the Eucharist was once a significant stumbling block for people who were seriously considering the Catholic Church.

But in recent years it has become one of the things that is drawing more and more people to the Church.

Sadly, however, there still remains a stumbling block to the Eucharist that has nothing to do with doctrine.

Some years ago, Father John Donahue, S.J., was having breakfast with a Muslim student in Lebanon. The student began to question him concerning Catholic teaching on the Eucharist.
Father Donahue writes:
I thought I was responding to his concerns about Catholic belief
in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.


But none of my responses seemed to address his deepest concerns,until finally I asked,“What is your most basic problem
with what Catholics believe about the Eucharist?”

He thought for a moment and answered, “Well, if Catholics really believed they were receiving the body and blood of Christ together on Sunday, would they treat each other the way they do?” America magazine (June 4–11, 2002)

Because we usually receive the Eucharist each time we go to Mass, we can tend to fall into the habit of receiving it  routinely—even carelessly.

Addressing this point, a second-century homilist wrote nearly 1,900 years ago:

When unbelievers hear the words of God on our lips, they are amazed at their beauty and power. But when they see those words have no effect in our lives,their admiration turns to scorn.
Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. 4, Reading for Thursday,Week 32
What is the solution to this problem? A first step is to make a conscious effort to begin receiving the Eucharist
with attention and devotion.

Let me make this suggestion. As you walk down the aisle in a few minutes to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, focus your thoughts in a special way on who it is that you are about to receive in your body.

For example, when the eucharistic minister holds up the Eucharist and asks you to affirm that this is the Body of Christ, try to realize that when you say “Amen”
you are making an act of faith. You are saying,
“I believe that this is the same Christ who took flesh and was born in Bethlehem.”

You are saying, “I believe that this is the same Christ who restored health to the sick, hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, and even life to the dead.”

You are saying, “I believe that this is the same Christ who suffered for me and died on the cross for me.” You are saying,
“I believe that this is the same Christ who rose from the dead on Easter,ascended to the Father, and now reigns at the right hand of God.”

This is the tremendous truth that we celebrate in today’s feast.

This is the tremendous gift that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper.

This is the tremendous event that will take place in our lives in this church  in just a few minutes.