We become what we eat

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for Corpus Christi (My last Mass in Holy Names Church)

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

June 26, 2011

Adults are not alone in trying to understand the solemnity of Body and Blood of Christ. Children find it very difficult to understand it too. A boy of three was captivated by the Communion rite and watched every move of the priest until he finished wiping the chalice. Then the boy turned to his mother and said, “Mom, he’s doing dishes. Now can we go home?”

Another child was kneeling beside his mother at Mass after she returned from taking Communion. Looking at his mother the boy asked, “Mom, how does that pill taste?” Since she was praying silently to herself, she didn’t answer. Then he asked again: “Is it the kind of pill that puts you to sleep, Mom?”

Today’s solemnity causes many of us to scratch our heads wondering what it is all about. If you are wondering what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” just know that you are not the only one in this wonder land. When Jesus said that, the Jews present quarreled about it asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” But Jesus did not back down; he even made the matter worse by saying, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

Come on now, Jesus! What are you talking about? Do you want to make us cannibals? The people present may have said when he made those declarations. The Lord speaks of the eating of his body and the drinking of his blood. To those who eat his body and drink his blood, he says, “…I will raise them on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” But what does Jesus mean by those declarations?

As Catholics, we understand that Jesus is talking about the Eucharist- his Body and Blood. As Catholics, we believe that the bread and wine we receive at Mass is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is fully present- body, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. By faith, we accept that what we receive during communion is the Body and Blood of the Lord. Jesus in today’s gospel says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” He also says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” Really! Is it that automatic? So does it mean that I have gained eternal life simply because I do receive the Body and Blood of the Lord? Does it mean that anytime I receive the Body and Blood of Jesus I am in him and he is in me?

Let’s remember that in Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “Not everyone who calls me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven.” This means that receiving the Body and Blood Jesus at every Mass is not enough to merit us heaven. We must let Jesus whom we receive transform us. We must live, talk and act like those who receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. We must live like the Body of Jesus. We must become what we eat before we can inherit eternal life. We must become what we receive at Mass before we can be one with Jesus. St. Augustine once said, “If you receive him in the right disposition, you become what you receive.”

To become what we eat is to become like Jesus. And the one we receive is human and humane. The one we receive is kind and compassionate. The one we receive is gentle and humble. The one we receive is selfless and sacrificial. The one we receive is whole and holy. The one we receive is sinless and virtuous. The one we receive loves everyone- saints and sinners. The one we receive does not despise or discriminate anyone. He does not look down on any one. He is all things to all people. The one we receive gave his all to all. Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” To remain in Jesus means to be everything about Jesus. Our lives must be everything Jesus. Holy Names students usually sing this song:

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in the morning

Jesus in the noontime

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus when the sun goes down

This song must constitute our lives. Our lives must be Jesus in the morning, noontime and when the sun goes down. That’s what it means to be in Jesus and Jesus in us. When Jesus says whoever eats his Body and drinks his Blood remains in me and I in him, he means that the reception of his Body and Blood at Mass must transform us from within. As I said before, we must become like who have received. We must take Jesus into us, and we must come into him before we can have eternal life.

Some of us may be asking why we are celebrating the Eucharist (i.e. Corpus Christi) specially since each time gather together at Mass, we celebrate the Eucharist. Today’s solemnity offers us a special opportunity to give God collective thanks for Jesus’ abiding presence with us which is made visible in the Eucharist. Today’s solemnity also offers us an opportunity to understand the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and to reexamine our attitude towards it since the Eucharist is a sacrament of life, which if misused could bring about the opposite effect. St Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:29-30 says, “All who eat and drink in an unworthy manner, without discerning the Lord’s body eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died”

In order to have a good understanding of the Eucharist we need to ask why Jesus gave us this sacrament in the first place. A closer reading of today's gospel or, better still, the whole of the Eucharistic discourse in John 6 from which today’s gospel is taken provides useful answers. From the reading we find that there are two main reasons why Jesus gave us this sacrament. First, In Matthew 28:20, Jesus promised to be with us until the end of time. In the Eucharist he provides a visible sign and an effective means of him being present to us and us being present to him. As Jesus himself says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” Secondly, In John 10:10 Jesus says that he came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. In the Eucharist Jesus provides a visible means of communicating this life to us so that we can be fully alive both in this world and in the next. As Jesus said in John 6:53-54, “Amen, Amen, I say you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” In the Eucharist, Jesus makes himself present to us and provides us the opportunity of making ourselves present to him. In the Eucharist, Jesus feeds us. He gives us the food for the journey. Life is a journey. We need the Bread of Angels to walk it.

The Jews that Jesus addressed today’s gospel to had gathered to ask him for more bread. Jesus had just multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish and fed five thousand people. So, they came asking for more bread. Instead Jesus promised to give them the sacramental food. But in their worldly way of thinking, they did not understand or appreciate the sacrament. If we, like the Jews who first heard Jesus talk about his Body and Blood approach the Eucharist with a materialistic mentality, we would loose the spiritual and sometimes the material benefits of such a wonderful gift of God’s love. The Eucharist is real food and real drink but not like every other food we eat. Other food we eat can only blend with our body but cannot transform us in and out. Only Eucharist, the Bread of Angels, can. When we eat ordinary food, we transform them into our own bodies but only the Eucharistic food can transform us into the Body of Christ.

The question then is why is it that so many of us who receive the Eucharist do not experience this radical, complete and real transformation? This story may help us understand why. A team of Russians and Americans were on a common mission. Among the items of food was Russian black bread. It was a tasty bread but hard on the teeth. It happened that at their meal, one of the Americans decided to have a bite of the bread, and immediately had a crack on his tooth. He threw the bread overboard and grumbled, “Lousy communist bread.” But the Russian countered, “Is not lousy communist bread. Is rotten capitalist tooth.” If we do not experience the transforming power of the Eucharist it is probably not on account of a lousy Eucharist but on account of our rotten faith.

If we receive the Eucharist in the right disposition, free from all sins, we become what we eat.

Homily on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

The Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is love

Rev. Divine Emeka Augustine, CSsR

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

Germantown, TN, USA

June 19, 2011

The story is told of St Augustine of Hippo, a great philosopher and theologian. He was preoccupied with the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. He wanted so much to understand the doctrine of three persons in one God and to be able to explain it logically. One day he was walking along the sea shore and reflecting on this matter. Suddenly, he saw a little child all alone on the shore. The child made a whole in the sand, ran to the sea with a little cup, filled her cup with sea water, ran up and emptied the cup into the hole she had made in the sand. Back and forth she went to the sea, filled her cup and came and poured it into the hole. Augustine drew up and said to her, “Little child, what are you doing?”

She replied, “I am trying to empty the sea into this hole.” “How do you think that you can empty this immense sea into this tiny hole and with this tiny cup?” Augustine asked her. Then she fired back, “And you, how do you suppose that with your small head you can comprehend the immensity of God?” With that the child disappeared.

Dearest beloved, today we celebrate one of the deepest mysteries of our faith: the fact that God is a Trinity of persons. While many faiths worship one God, only Christians believe that God is three distinct persons sharing one life- the divine life. We believe in the Father and the Son being one. The love between them overflows, becoming a third person, the Holy Spirit. This means that our God does not exist alone or in isolation; the essence of God is a continual relationship with all three persons, living in a perfectly intimate, unending communion of love.

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is about the inner relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It teaches us that each of them is fully and equally God, yet there are no three Gods but one. Now, if we expected today’s readings to give us a clear and elaborate presentation of the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, we have found out that they simply do not. The doctrine of three persons in one God, equal in divinity yet distinct in personality, is not explicitly spelt out in the Bible. In fact the very word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. Early Christians arrived at the doctrine when they applied their God-given reason to the revelation which they had received in faith. Jesus spoke about the Father who sent him (the Son) and about the Holy Spirit whom he was going to send. He said that the Father had given him (the Son) all that he has and that he in turn has given to the Holy Spirit all that he has received from the Father. In this we see the unity of purpose among the three persons of the Trinity.

In the story of salvation we usually attribute creation to the Father, redemption to the Son and sanctification to the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, though they are distinct as persons, neither the Father nor the Son nor the Holy Spirit ever exists or acts in isolation from the other two persons of the Godhead.

Like Augustine we may not be able to understand the how of the Trinity but I think it is very important to understand the why. Why did God reveal to us this mystery regarding the very nature of the Supreme Being? The importance of this doctrine lies in this: we are made in the image of God, therefore, the more we understand God the more we understand ourselves. Experts in religion tell us that people always try to be like the god they worship. People who worship a warrior god tend to be war-mongering, people who worship a god of pleasure tend to be pleasure-seeking, people who worship a god of wrath tend to be vengeful, and people who worship a god of love tend to be loving and lovable. Like a god, so the worshippers. Therefore, the more important question for us to ask today is: What does the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity tell us about the kind of God we worship and what does this say about the kind of people we should be? On this, I have two points to share with you.

(1) God does not exist in solitary individualism but in a community of love and sharing. God is not a loner. This means that a Christian in search of Godliness must shun every tendency to isolationism. Isolation can lead to loneliness and loneness, that is, alone from self, from God and from others. We become who God created us to be when we are in a relationship with God and with the people of God.

(2) True love requires three partners. You remember the old saying “Two is company, three is a crowd.” The Trinity shows us that three is community, three is love at its best; three is not a crowd. Taking an example from the human condition we see that when a man A is in love with a woman B they seal the love by producing a baby C. Father, mother and child -- love when perfected becomes a trinity.

We are made in God’s image and likeness. Just as God is God only in a Trinitarian relationship, so we can be fully human only in a relationship of three partners. The self needs to be in a horizontal relationship with others and a vertical relationship with God. In that way our life becomes Trinitarian like that of God. Then we discover that the so-called “I-and-I” principle of unchecked individualism which is acceptable in modern society leaves much to be desired. The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity challenges us to adopt rather an I-and-God-and-neighbor principle. I am a Christian insofar as I live in a relationship of love with God and other people. In striving to survive in this fast changing world, the Christian should realize that he or she does not exist alone. Whatever good one desires is equally desired by many others. The principle of I and I results in selfishness. While the principle of I and others results in live and let’s live. Instead of selfishness, we have self-giving and sacrifice. In Matthew 20: 28 Jesus says that “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Now, the God who revealed himself as Trinity is love. 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. And in today’s gospel says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” God sent Jesus into the world to reveal God to the world, so that by believing in him, the people of the world will be saved. It is in the person of Jesus that we come to a full understanding of who God is. It is Jesus who reveals God to us as a heavenly Father; his Father, and our Father. It is Jesus who shows himself to be the Son of that Father, and ourselves as his sisters and brothers. It is Jesus who promised to send the Holy Spirit as a gift from his Father and himself so that they might make their home within us. In word and action, Jesus teaches us the truth about God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, something we could never fully understand by reasoning alone.

All great people have had their favorite texts. But John 3:16 is everybody’s text. John 3:16 tells us that the initiative in all salvation lies with God. Sometimes some Christians present Christianity as if God had to be pacified and persuaded before he can forgive. Sometimes God is presented as a stern, mean, angry and unforgiving God, and at the same time Jesus is presented as a gentle, loving, forgiving person. We may even have heard a Christian message that sounds as if Jesus did something unusual that changed the attitude of God to humans from condemnation to forgiveness. But John 3:16 says it was God that started it all. It was God who sent his Son, and he sent him because he loved men and women. At the back of everything is the love of God.

John 3:16 also tells us that God’s essence and being is love. It is always easy to think of God as a city cop who hides in a corner just to catch us over-speeding away from him. It is easy to think of God as a monitor who looks and sees our rebellious attitudes and disobedience and saying, “I will bring them to justice; I will punish them until they come back to me.” It is easy to think of God as someone who wants our allegiance and obedience just to satisfy his own desire for power. But the wonderful thing about John 3:16 is that it shows us God acting not for his own sake, but for ours, not to satisfy his desire for power, but to satisfy his love. God is not like an absolute monarch who treats his people as subjects to be reduced to abject obedience. God is the Father who cannot be happy until his wandering children have all returned home. He does not smash us into submission; rather he yearns and woos us with his love.

John 3:16 also tells us of the width and breadth of the love of God. It was the world, the entire world that God so loved. It wasn’t only a nation; it wasn’t only the good people; it wasn’t only the people that loved him; it is the world- East, West, South and North. God loves the unlovable and the unlovely; the lonely and the despised; the man who loves God and the man who never thinks of him, the woman who rests in the love of God and the woman who spurns it. Everybody is included in this vast, limitless and inclusive love of God. According to St. Augustine, “God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.”

God loves you; God loves me. The God who is Trinity is love. Do you seek love, come to him today and be loved.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ points to the glory of the final promise

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

June 5, 2011

Dearest beloved, today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. The Lord’s Ascension is an integral part of the paschal mystery, which began with the death and resurrection of Jesus, and continues with his Ascension, then, closes with the Pentecost (i.e. the coming of the Holy Spirit). The Ascension of Jesus signifies the triumph, glorification and enthronement of Jesus in heaven. The Ascension is the realization of a dream and hope. The Ascension is the fulfillment of a target. It is the achievement of a goal. That dream, that hope, that target, that goal is HEAVEN. That realization, that fulfillment, that achievement is the glory of HEAVEN. Heaven is the final promise of God to every follower of his Son, Jesus Christ.

This solemnity is so central to Christian tradition that the four gospels speak explicitly and implicitly about it. It is so important because the Ascension of Jesus into heaven points and reminds us of the final glory in heaven. After all, the Lord says in John 14: 3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that where I am, you also may be.”

On the Ascension of the Lord, three points may be considered. Number one: Jesus is going up to heaven but not as he came down from heaven. The Lord came down from heaven as the Son of God, and he goes up to heaven as the Son of God and also the Son of Mary. He came down from heaven as the only Son of God, but now, he goes up to heaven as our Brother and Redeemer. In one sense, he is the only Son of God, but in another sense, he is not the only begotten of the Father, for through his own suffering and death, he has ransomed and begotten each of us as sons and daughters of God. Through his redemption, we have all become God’s adopted sons and daughters. We have become his brothers and sisters. The Lord was the only Son of God and the only Son of Mary, but through his redeeming blood poured out for us, we have become his brothers and sisters. He is also our Lord and God. Number two: Jesus goes up to heaven without really leaving us. He stays with us as the Risen Lord. Although he is not physically present with us, he is spiritually present in and among us. He is present in the Holy Spirit he sends to us, for it is the Spirit of the Father and Son. He also continues to be with us really in the Eucharist, in common and private prayer, in the neighbor- especially the poor, and in those who evangelize for the Lord. It is interesting to point out that the last words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew is a promise to be present always: “And behold I am with you always, until the end of time” (Matthew 21:20).

The Ascension of the Lord is not a change of place for Jesus. We must avoid the danger of boxing Jesus in heaven, away from us. After all, heaven is living in God’s presence- presence which begins here and now with the grace of the Lord, and then ends in the glory of heaven. Remember, in the gospel of John 17:3, Jesus defines eternal life (i.e. the glory of heaven) like this, “And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”

The number three point to consider as we celebrate the Lord’s Ascension is that the Ascension of Jesus reminds us of the destiny of his followers. A Christian is a pilgrim. We are on a journey. When someone starts a journey, he or she wants to get to the destination. The hope of the Christian pilgrim is the destination of heaven.

Writings or articles about heaven do not get a press coverage. You can hardly read an article on heaven in the New York Times Magazine. Even in the Church, homilies or sermons on heaven is seldom preached about. Some people argue that we know little or nothing about heaven. Theologians continue to argue whether heaven is a place or a state. Heaven, most conclude is a mystery. Because no one has come from heaven to earth to tell us how it looks like, we shy away from talking about it. Even when the rich man in hell wanted Father Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers on earth so as to warn them to change their lifestyles or else they would end in hell, his request was immediately turned down. What is in heaven is not adequately known. Brother Gene Patin CSsR has variously asked me questions like, “How is heaven like?” “I hope there will be food in it?” “What are we going to be doing in heaven?” “I hope heaven is not going to be a boring place?”

I read about the story of a doctor and his terminally ill patient, who was very scared of dying. Out of fear of death, the patient asked his doctor: “What is there in heaven?” The doctor answered: “I don’t know.” In amazement, the patient said again: “You do not know? How come? You are a devout Catholic and you attend Mass daily, yet you don’t know what is there in heaven?” At that time, there was a big noise produced by someone who wanted to force the door of the clinic open. It was a big dog, the doctor’s dog. Entering the clinic, the dog runs, jumps, embraces and kisses the doctor. Then, the entrance of the dog provided a teaching opportunity for the doctor. The doctor now said to his patient: “Did you see my dog? He did not know what was in this room, but he knew that someone, his master was here, and that was enough for him. I do not know what is in heaven, but I know one thing: God my Father is there, Jesus my Redeemer is there, and that is enough for me.”

Dearest beloved, the Ascension of Jesus points to us the glory of the final promise- heaven. Heaven is the reward of righteousness. Heaven is the gift of eternal life. It is the final rest and home of a believer. Our time on earth is just a temporary state; 70 years, 90 years, 100 years is like a drop of water on an ocean when you compare it with the blessedness of heaven. Whatever we have on earth, whatever privileges we enjoy on earth, whatever beauty we see on earth, whatever fellowship we partake on earth, we should always be thinking of the eternal home of a believer, which is heaven, where our Lord has ascended into. Jesus himself says, “In my Father’s house, there are so many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that where I am, you also may be” (John 14:2).

The Ascension of Jesus reminds us of heaven- our place of rest. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. As you think of the majesty of God himself, also think of the majesty of the place he dwells. As you think of the greatness of God, think of the greatness of heaven. As you think of the beauty of God, think of the beauty of heaven. As you think of the mystery of this earth where we live now, think of the mystery and the majesty of heaven. Human language cannot paint a good picture enough. Human oratory cannot paint the picture to show us what heaven is like. St. Paul himself in 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” But we know that heaven is a place of undisturbed, perfect eternal rest. In this world, we are easily disturbed. Rest is easily disturbed on earth. But heaven is a place of uninterrupted perfect eternal rest. It is a place of everlasting peace without worry or anxiety. It is a place of joy without sorrow. Heaven is a place of full satisfaction without disappointment. It is a place of fellowship with Jesus Christ and with the people of God. It is a place of enjoyment without interruption.

In this world, joy or enjoyment is often interrupted. Triumph is often interrupted; victory is often interrupted, may be by accidents or whatever that comes in a person’s life. But when we get to heaven, we will enjoy eternally without a moment interruption. Heaven is a place of reward without rebuke. In fact, heaven is the greatest hope we have.

St. Paul tells us that we are citizens of heaven. And as citizens of heaven, let us commit ourselves deeply to be witnesses of the Risen Lord. Let us strive to crucify every sinful passions and desires. Let us crucify the sins of hatred, jealousy, unforgiveness, injustice, discrimination, and selfishness. For us, to live should be Jesus Christ. For us to live should be love. The command of Jesus today is: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” As we go about doing the work of our Lord, he assures us: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

We are citizens of heaven. The Ascension of the Lord points to our destiny. We are pilgrims on the way to heaven. A 90 year old priest was asked: “Father, how are you today?” He answered: “Very well, one day closer to heaven.” If we are living right, proclaiming Jesus in words and deeds, each passing day becomes a match closer to heaven. An old man was seen walking from his city to another city. Halfway, he stopped by in a restaurant to rest a little. He was very tired, but still determined to keep walking. He has no car and no money to ride with a public bus. And he was not ready to beg or to borrow. Inside the restaurant, a man asked him: “How will you get to the other city on foot? Don’t you know it is far away?” The old man replied: ““It will not be so difficult: my heart got there first, so it is easy for the rest of me to follow.”

Sisters and brothers, where is our heart? Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, “For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.” With heaven as our goal, let us press on; let us go on journeying towards heaven, where there will be no death, no mourning, but life, love and happiness. Meanwhile, let us walk with others and for others; let us love God, neighbor, creation. Remember the words of St. Augustine: we can only walk forward to heaven with steps of love!