{"id":1618,"date":"2015-06-07T14:21:46","date_gmt":"2015-06-07T18:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2015-06-07T14:21:46","modified_gmt":"2015-06-07T18:21:46","slug":"the-most-holy-body-and-blood-of-christ-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/the-most-holy-body-and-blood-of-christ-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year B<\/a>
\nExodus 24:3-8
\nHebrews 9:11-15
\nMark 14:12-16, 22-26
\nJune 7, 2015<\/p>\n

Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ<\/em>.\u00a0 The name is important.\u00a0 We do not call it<\/em> the feast of bread and wine.<\/p>\n

It still looks like bread and wine but it has changed.\u00a0 By the power of the Spirit, it is transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus.\u00a0 At times we still call it bread and wine but it has become so much more.<\/p>\n

This feast and what it means for us is essential to understanding what it means to be Catholic, a belief in the real presence.\u00a0 <\/em>Some Christian denominations never offer communion while others do it some but when they do, it is just recalling what Jesus did 2,000 years like we can recall any historical event.<\/p>\n

To understand what the Eucharist means for us, we need to understand the Real Presence<\/em> and how the Eucharist we celebrate today is a sacrifice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Real Presence \u2013 <\/em>Where would we ever get the idea that the bread and wine become Jesus?\u00a0 We don\u2019t see a change but we believe it in because we have the words of Jesus in the scripture saying this is my body<\/em> and this is my blood of the covenant<\/em>.\u00a0 Jesus is the Son of God and we profess in the Nicene Creed that Jesus is the one whom through all things were made<\/em>.\u00a0 Jesus says it is so and so it is.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ<\/em> we know that we are strengthened by it.\u00a0 We become what we eat.<\/p>\n

Sacrifice<\/em> \u2013 The Eucharist is also a sacrifice for us.\u00a0 Our reading today from Hebrews reminds us of the sacrifices that we find in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Animals were sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins and as an offering to God. Those animal sacrifices were earthly and thus imperfect.\u00a0 The sacrifice came as the life of the animal was taken.<\/p>\n

Jesus offers us a new sacrifice.\u00a0 It is not an imperfect human sacrifice.\u00a0 It is Jesus freely giving His life for us.\u00a0 The blood of the animals signified the sacrifices of the Old Testament.\u00a0 It is Jesus\u2019 blood that is at the core of what we sacrifice today.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 sacrifice is a one-time event.\u00a0 It is the sacrifice made on the Cross.\u00a0 As such, many denominations see it as an event that happened in the past and is done and over with.\u00a0 They believe that no new sacrifice is needed.<\/p>\n

As Catholics, we also believe that Jesus\u2019 Crucifixion is the ultimate sacrifice so that no new<\/em> sacrifice is needed.\u00a0 I want to emphasize the word \u201cnew\u201d here.\u00a0 As we celebrate the Eucharist today, no new<\/em> sacrifice is offered.\u00a0 However, we do offer a sacrifice here today.\u00a0 Remember God is beyond time.\u00a0 God makes present for us today the sacrifice of the Cross.<\/p>\n

Jesus united the Eucharist and the sacrifice of His Crucifixion as one when he says that His blood is shed for many<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the importance of this sacrifice, we come today to offer our own lives as sacrifices to be united with Jesus.<\/p>\n

In thinking about what celebrating the Eucharist means for us, we also need to be mindful of the words in our first reading.\u00a0 Moses offers the first sacrifice of the Old Covenant that is sealed with the blood of animals.\u00a0 As he does show he reminds the people of all the words and ordinances of the Lord<\/em>.\u00a0 In forming the covenant the people agree to do everything that the Lord has told us.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is the same for us.\u00a0 Jesus has inaugurated a new covenant through the sacrifice of the Cross.\u00a0 In coming here today and receiving the Eucharist we pledge to live as Jesus has taught us.<\/p>\n

Today we celebrate the Real Presence, Jesus\u2019 sacrifice, and recommit ourselves to live as Jesus tells us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year B Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 June 7, 2015 Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.\u00a0 The name is important.\u00a0 We do not call it the feast of bread and wine. It still looks like bread and wine but it …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[113,82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-q6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1618"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1619,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions\/1619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}