Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Year B
\n<\/a>Exodus 24:3-8
\nHebrews 9:11-15
\nMark 14:12-16, 22-26
\nJune 10, 2012<\/p>\nWhile in the desert, the Israelites received the Law from God through Moses.\u00a0 Today Moses repeats the \u201cwords and ordinances\u201d that make up the law to the people and they agree to \u2018do everything that the Lord has told them\u2019.<\/p>\n
Then sacrifices are made and the blood from those sacrifices is sprinkled upon the altar and the people symbolizing the covenant that is made between God and the people.\u00a0 Blood is used because it is a sign of life and using blood in the sealing of a covenant symbolizes a total commitment of both parties.<\/p>\n
Thus is the Old Covenant.<\/p>\n
We live under a new covenant.\u00a0 Like the old covenant, the new covenant is sealed with blood.\u00a0 But it is not the blood of goats and bulls but the blood of Christ himself.\u00a0 The old sacrifices of the old covenant had to be repeated over and over but the sacrifice of Jesus is done \u201conce for all.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We enter into this new covenant through baptism.\u00a0 In making the old covenant the disciples agreed to follow the \u201cwords and ordinances\u201d given by God.<\/p>\n
In our baptismal promises, we profess what it is that we believe in, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and all that God does for us.<\/p>\n
I said that the sacrifice of the new covenant is the \u201csacrifice of Jesus done once for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the sacrifice of Jesus is the Crucifixion.\u00a0 It is the event where Jesus gave his life (it was not taken from him) for our sins.\u00a0 His great act of sacrifice is his giving his life out of love for us.\u00a0 It is the \u201cunblemished\u201d sacrifice as Jesus is the perfect \u201cunblemished\u201d sacrifice.<\/p>\n
The sacrifices of the old covenant had to be repeated over and over because they were perfect and incomplete.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 sacrifice is perfect and complete.\u00a0 Therefore, it never has to be repeated.<\/p>\n
It is not repeated but we still celebrate that sacrifice today.\u00a0 We do not celebrate a new sacrifice but God makes present what Jesus did 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 We do so every time we celebrate the Eucharist.\u00a0 Jesus did not allow himself to be crucified as an isolated event.\u00a0 Before he was crucified he celebrated the Eucharist with his disciples.<\/p>\n
And he chose no ordinary day to celebrate the Eucharist.\u00a0 He took the Passover that was the most important feast for the Jews for the Passover was fundamental to understanding who they were and transformed it into the Eucharist.<\/p>\n
The Eucharist defines who we are as Catholics.\u00a0 When Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist he said \u201cTake it, this is my body.\u201d And over the chalice he said, \u201cThis is my blood of the covenant\u201d, words that I repeat each time we celebrate the Eucharist.<\/p>\n
Jesus did not say \u2018pretend this is my body\u2019 or \u2018imagine this is my blood.\u2019\u00a0 He said \u201cthis is my body, my blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so, in faith, we believe that the bread and wine that we offer is transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s a really big word that we don\u2019t use for anything else.\u00a0 And we shouldn\u2019t use it for anything else.\u00a0 The changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood has no parallel.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t look any different.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t taste any different but we believe.\u00a0 We believe Jesus when he says \u201cthis is my body\u2026 this is my blood.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember I have an engineering degree and I also have a minor in Chemistry.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how it is changed.\u00a0 I can\u2019t find any physical difference.\u00a0 But in faith I believe it is the Body and the Blood of Christ.<\/p>\n
Our belief in the real presence defines our faith.\u00a0 I remember when I was first ordained and getting ready to preside at Mass for the first time.\u00a0 I prayed saying that I believed something incredible happened in the Eucharist.\u00a0 I asked God to make me acutely aware of that as I presided for the first time and he did.<\/p>\n
There is nothing more important that I do then preside at Mass.\u00a0 I say words but God works through those words to make present the Crucifixion of Jesus for us, not a new sacrifice but the same sacrifice that has been celebrated for 2,000 years and gives us the Body and Blood of Christ.<\/p>\n
We enter into the covenant in Baptism.\u00a0 We are renewed in the covenant each time we receive the Body and Blood of Christ.\u00a0 May we become one body, one spirit in Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here is the homily I gave today. Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, Year B Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 June 10, 2012 While in the desert, the Israelites received the Law from God through Moses.\u00a0 Today Moses repeats the \u201cwords and ordinances\u201d that make up the law to the people …<\/p>\n
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