We Are Being Defined 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of Immaculate Conception, Lonsdale, MN

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Today’s Gospel (Mark 5:21-43) is a masterpiece both in literary and spiritual sense. It is about two closely related narratives: the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of the hemorrhaging woman. St. Mark’s story begins with the daughter of Jairus, but before its conclusion, he inserts the story of the hemorrhaging woman and then concludes with the second part of the first story. In a number of ways, St. Mark shows how we are meant to read these two stories together. For example, the first story is about the daughter of Jairus, but the hemorrhaging woman is referred to by Jesus as the daughter of Israel. The little girl is 12 years old, and the hemorrhaging woman has had her problems for 12 years. The point is that we are meant to see the two stories as tightly related to each other. 

But what is it that we are meant to see? Let’s look at the Book of Leviticus. When you look at the Book of Leviticus, what do you find? You find a whole series of laws, requirements, prescriptions, prohibitions, rituals, various behaviors and activities that define Israelite people. A large portion of Leviticus is about the clean and the unclean, animals that can be eaten and animals that can’t, situations that must be avoided, things that make a person unclean, and what a person can do to be rendered clean thereafter. All of these questions are explored in the Book of Leviticus. Now, for those who find Leviticus strange and consider it an odd historical artifacts, don’t forget that every nation has some version of the Book of Leviticus. Every group of people would have some set of laws, rituals and behaviors and prescriptions by which they are defined as a people. Furthermore, even those parts of Leviticus we find puzzling and amusing like the lists of clean and unclean foods, we have our own Book of Leviticus too. When you open most health magazines, what do you see? What about television shows and commercials? We have all kinds of prescribed and proscribed food. We have our list of food we think are unclean and unhealthy. Moreover, when you look at the Book of Leviticus, a lot of things classified as “not to eat” are actually not good too eat. A lot of activities forbidden in the Leviticus are actually not good to be engaged in. So, every culture has its own version of the Book of Leviticus. 

Having said that, I want to draw your attention to two passages in Leviticus that are related to today’s Gospel. Here is the first one: “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, all the days of the discharge, she shall continue in uncleanness. Every bed on which she lies during the days of her discharge, shall be treated as the bed of her impurity. Everything on which she sits, shall be unclean. Whoever touches these things, shall be unclean” (Lev. 15:25-27). Going by the stipulation of Leviticus, the hemorrhaging woman who has suffered for twelve years has much more than a medical problem. She is a persona non grata, an outcast, a pariah. For twelve years, she is unclean. Everything she touches is unclean. Anyone who comes in contact with her is rendered unclean. Whatever she sits on, lies on is unclean. She is excluded from every aspect of Israelite life— community, worship, social gathering centers, marketplaces, everything. She is a woman in a very dire situation. In her desperation she hears of Jesus coming by, and so she reaches out just to touch his cloak in hope that he might cure her. Again, going by the prescription of Leviticus and she knows it, this move would render Jesus unclean. But what happens instead? She in fact, by this touch is healed and rendered clean and able to reinstate herself into the community and society and religion of her time. She is restored to life physically, morally, spiritually and psychologically. Rather than make Jesus unclean, she is made clean.

In the second story, Jairus, a synagogue official comes to Jesus and falls to his kneels. This gesture by itself is an extraordinary act of humility. A synagogue official is a very high figure in the society of Jesus’ time. For him to get down to his knees and beg this local rabbi is remarkable. He begs Jesus that he might come and lays his hand on his daughter who is at the point of death. Jesus begins to go with him. As he gets close to his house, some people came out and say, “Why trouble the teacher any longer? Your daughter is dead.” The Book of Leviticus has something to say about dead bodies: “No one shall defy himself with a dead person except his nearest kin” (21:1-2). To touch a dead person will render you dramatically unclean unless the dead person were to be someone’s immediate family preparing him or her for burial. Because the little girl has died, people asked Jairus not to trouble the teacher. Don’t let him come in here; she is already dead and would be rendered unclean. But what did Jesus do? He turns to Jairus and says, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” When he finally arrives at the home of Jairus and sees people weeping and wailing loudly, he says, “The child is not dead but asleep.” People who heard him say what he said ridiculed and laughed at him. As a result of their unruly behavior, he puts them all out. Then he takes the parents of the dead girl and three of his disciples to the room where the body of the little girl lies. He bends down and touches the girl. This very act makes Jesus unclean. What he just did is proscribed in the Book of Leviticus. A pious Jew does not do what Jesus has done. He touches her, takes her by hand and says, “Talitha Koum.” Amazing! This is one of the three times in the Gospels we hear the authentic words of Jesus. The Gospels were written in Greek. But three times the writers preserved for us the Aramaic that Jesus himself must have spoken. One is when he heals the deaf and dumb man, and he said to him, “Ephphatha” which means “Be opened.” The second time was on the cross when he cried, “Eli Eli, lama Sabachtani” “My God, my God why have you abandoned me.” And the third time is right here in this story, “Talitha Koum” (Little girl, get up). And she rises and comes back to life. In the first story, the hemorrhaging woman reaches out and touches Jesus, and normally that would make Jesus unclean. But instead, she becomes cleansed and was brought back to life. In the second story, Jesus reaches out and touches a dead person. Normally that too would make him unclean. But in fact, it brings her back to life and renders her clean.   

So, what’s Mark trying to tell us? He is telling us that Israel is being redefined as a people. Up to this point, the Book of Leviticus defined who the Jewish people were. Following all those series of laws, regulations, prescriptions defined Israelites. But now, all of that is superseded by these gestures of Jesus. In the Gospels, we hear comments like, “Jesus therefore renders all foods clean.” In Jesus’ time, identifying which food is clean and which is unclean was a major preoccupation of the Jews. But Jesus is saying that such has nothing to do with holiness and who you really are spiritually. In the Acts of Apostles, St. Peter had a vision. And in that vision, he saw a sheet of paper lowered before him. And on the sheet were all kinds of animals— clean and unclean. Then he hears a voice say to him, “Take, slaughter and eat.” Peter realizes that his deepest spiritual identity now comes not from the rules in Leviticus, but from relationship with Christ. Today’s Gospel does two things: one, that members of the Church, the New Israel, are being defined in relation to Jesus. What defines us is not so much the regulations of the Book of Leviticus but our relationship to the Lord. Faith in him is how we being defined as a people. Two, we are being called to do what he does. And what did he do? He reaches out to those who are suffering, who feel excluded and marginalized.  That is the law of the New Israel. That is the law of the Church.

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

“Who Is This That Even The Wind And The Sea Obey Him?”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Today’s Gospel (Mark 4:35-41), which is the story of the calming of the stormy sea is a great nature miracle that most regular churchgoers are familiar with, for it is found in all the four Gospels. When Jesus calms the stormy sea, his disciples were so astounded that they asked, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Simply put, the disciples’ question is: Who is Jesus? 

The central claim of the Church about Jesus is this: In the singularity of his person, he is the coming together of the divinity and humanity. Two natures— divine and human coming together in a unity of his person without mixing, mingling, or confusion. As such, Jesus is the fulfillment of all the greatest institutions of Israel— Temple, Prophesy, Torah, Law and Covenant. All of them were designed to bring divinity and humanity together, to reconcile God and his people. All of these happened in the most unsurpassable way in the very person of Jesus when the two natures of divine and human come together. That is why we say that Jesus is our salvation. But in the course of history, heretics have emphasized in a one sided way, the divinity or humanity of Jesus. Centuries ago, the Monophysites overemphasized the divinity of Jesus. The Nestorians, on the other hand, overstressed his humanity. Today, there are more people, more Nestorians than there are Monophysites who overemphasized the humanity of the Lord. The problem with each of these notions is that they undermine the stubborn fact of salvation. If Jesus is simply divine and not human, then we are not yet saved. If he is simply human and not divine, we are also not saved, so said St. Athanasius. Our salvation depends upon the coming together of divinity and humanity. One of the greatest mistakes made today by not a few people is the reduction of Jesus to a mere great ethical and moral teacher. If that is all he is, it means that Jesus is in the same boat that we are. If he is not divine, then he needs to be saved as much as we do. 

Jesus of Nazareth is both human and divine. But what is the warrant for claiming the divinity of Jesus? Though he is like Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Jeremiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist by way of being sent, nevertheless, Jesus speaks and acts in the very person of the God of Israel, which makes him qualitatively different than any other sent figures who came before him. In all the Gospels, Jesus is consistently presented as the one speaking and acting in the very person of God. The primary purpose of the gospels is not to show what a wonderful ethical teacher that Jesus is. The gospels are there to show that he is God. To the paralyzed man Jesus says, “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Mk. 2:5). The moment Jesus uttered those words, some of the scribes remarked, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins? (Mk. 2:7). Throughout the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7, Jesus says over and over, “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors… but now I say to you…” When we read those words, we pass over them and keep reading, but in the first century, in the Jewish context, they did not ignore them because what Jesus is referring to is the Torah, the highest authority given to Moses. In these words, “But now I say to you…” Jesus claims the authority of the one who spoke to Moses.

When the Pharisees called Jesus’ attention to the picking and eating of the heads of grain on the sabbath by his disciples, something that they considered unlawful, Jesus says to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering which either he nor his companions but only the priest could lawfully eat?  Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent?” Then in reference to himself, he says to them, “I say to you, something greater than the Temple is here” (Matt. 12:1-6). For first century Jews, the Temple is not just a shrine of Yahweh. It is Yahweh’s home on earth, his dwelling place on earth in practical and literal sense. The Temple is the possible holiest place because Yahweh, the God of Israel lives there. So, for Jesus to say in reference to himself “You have something greater than the Temple here” means he is the dwelling place of God, and the first century Jews did not misunderstand what he said. Furthermore, in reference to his teaching, he says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). No one will say such a thing about their words unless the one who is himself the eternal Word. Talking about the conditions of discipleship, Jesus says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). A religious founder or teacher will most certainly say, ‘unless you love God more than your mother, father, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and the things you consider important to you, you are not worthy.’ But to declare, “Unless you love me more than the highest goods in this world, more than your very life, you are not worthy of me” is breathtaking. The only one who could legitimately say that is the one who is in his own person the Highest Good. The story of the calming of the raging sea is a great miracle, but no first century Jewish audience would have missed its implications. Throughout the Old Testament we find references to Yahweh’s power to still the storm. Psalm 107:28-30 says, “In their distress they cried to the Lord, who brought them out of their peril; he hushed the storm to silence, the waves of the sea were stilled. They rejoiced that the sea grew calm, that God brought them to the harbor they longed.” The Gospel’s account of Jesus walking on the water is another astonishing story for it echoes the very beginning of the Book of Genesis when Ruach Yahweh— the Spirit of God hovers over the surface of Tohu va-bohu (the stormy chaotic water) and brought order and calm. When Jesus calms the stormy sea, his disciples were so astounded that they exclaim, “Who is this man that even the wind and sea obey him?” (Matt. 8:27). For them, Jesus is doing what God alone can do. At Caesarea Philippi, Jesus famously asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). He did not ask what people think of his teaching or what impression he was making. No other religious figure focused on himself. This makes the point that the Gospels are not first and foremost interested in the moral teaching of Jesus, but interested chiefly in who he is. Again, look at the Nicene Creed we say every Sunday. It says nothing about his teaching, but obsessed with the fact that he is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father.” Now, those are not some later Greek imposition, but claims coming right from the Gospels themselves. They wanted us to know who this Jesus is. 

Where is this taking us? It means that Jesus compels a choice, a decision in a way no other religious founder or figure does. It is therefore important for all believers to insist, but not violently or obnoxiously that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord. If he is who he said he is, then we have to give our whole life to him. If he is God, not one teacher among the many, then our mind, heart, soul, body, everything must belong to him. But if he is not who he said he is, then he is not a good person, he is not an ethical inspiring figure, he is a bad man. He is deluded, crazy, and self-absorbed. C. S. Lewis said that Jesus is either a liar, lunatic or Lord. The Gospels compel we make a choice. If Jesus is Lord, commit to him unreservedly and wholeheartedly. Doesn't Jesus himself said, “It is either you are with me or against me?” (Matt. 12:30). In the theology and logic of the Gospel, it is crystal clear that Jesus compels a choice, and Christians should make this bold declaration although not in an aggressive manner. If we proclaim Christ and people remain indifferent about him, we haven’t proclaim him adequately. If someone reacts negatively against Jesus after we have proclaimed him, at least we proclaim decisively what is true about him. Present adequately who Jesus is and if someone still rejects him, you have done your job adequately well. 

We have been emphasizing the divinity of Jesus, let us now focus on his humanity for if we hyper-stress one nature above the other, we fall into a heresy. In the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, the Church says that the two natures of Jesus come together without mixing, mingling or confusion. What does this mean? It means that God’s coming close does not resolve in the suppression or eradication of Jesus’ humanity, rather in the enhancement and elevation of it. In the old myths and fairytales, when the gods come close and break into our world, people are overwhelmed and have to give way. Why? Because the gods exist in a competitive manner. For them to appear, we have to turn over and give way. As for Christianity, the claim is that God in Christ comes close but does not overwhelm the humanity to which he assumed. In the story of the burning bush, the bush is on fire but not consumed. That is the opposite of mythological imagination. In Christianity, as God comes close to creature, the creature’s beauty and integrity is enhanced, not overwhelmed. So, we say confidently and unapologetically that Jesus is true God and true Man. At the trial of Jesus, Pontus Pilate said of Jesus, “Ecce Homo!” (Behold the Man!) (John 20:5). When Thomas encountered the Risen Lord, he declared, “My Lord and my God.” You know what? Both assertions are true! In the measure that Jesus is divine, he is fully human. The implication here is that Christianity is the greatest humanism ever proposed. There is no philosophy— ancient or modern that proposes greater and better humanism than Christianity. Christianity proclaims the divination of our humanity, that in Christ our humanity is raised up, enhanced and rendered more beautiful, more radiant by the presence of God. The modern culture thinks that religion is oppressive and that it denies our humanity, but that’s just not true. With incarnational confidence, let us proclaim the divinity of Jesus, because when we do so, we are in the same token proclaiming the greatest possible humanism. 

Time To Silence And Quiet The Storm

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of Nativity of Mary, Bloomington, MN

Sunday, June 20, 2021

The storms of life simply speaking are those things that inconvenience us. They are those life’s experiences that bring us to tears. They trouble us and sometimes can lead to a loss of interest in life itself. They keep us sleepless at night. In extreme situation they can lead some people to depression. They are those life’s experiences that make people ask questions like “God, where are you?” “God, why me?” Lord, why must I suffer?” “God, have you abandoned me?” These storms can come in different fashions. Sometimes they come unannounced and when we least expect them. No matter one’s status in life, storms are unavoidable. When you are confronted by the difficulties of life, how you handle it is important. If handled wrongly, it can lead to another storm thereby multiplying the person’s misery. This is the reason why some people go through life carrying all forms of storms without any end in sight.

In today’s Gospel (Mark 4: 35-41), Jesus is “crossing to the other side” with his disciples. As the boat sails, a violent storm erupts and threatens their lives. As this is happening, Jesus is asleep on a cushion. Out of fear, his disciples wakes him up and say, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus wakes up, gets up and speaks with authority to the sea: “Quiet! Be still!”  Immediately, there was a great calm. He then turns to his disciples and asks, “Why are you terrified? Do you not have faith?” Still wrapped with shock and awe, the disciples exclaim: “Who then is this whom even the sea and wind obey him?”

This gospel passage teaches that even when Jesus is in your life, in your relationships, in your marriage, in your job, studies, ministry, families, business, vocation etc. problems can still occur. Even with him accompanying us on our journey, we are still going to experience the storms of life. With Jesus in your life, the wind could still turn violent, and you can still be exposed to danger. You can still be in trouble. The difficulties of life can still come. Your spouse may still hurt you. Your son or daughter may still betray you. Even when we are riding with the Lord, it is still possible to lose a job. With Jesus in the boat of our life, health can still fail sometimes, business can still be slow at times. You might even lose your retirement and have to begin afresh. Your credit card company can still overcharge you; the money you pay for your health insurance can still double up; you may still experience a foreclosure of your house. Even with Jesus in your life raising your children and having to pay for their tuition and other expenses can still be tough. None of us is immune to the adverse effects of the plundering and exploitation of nature. 

Our attitude to the challenges of life is what is going to distinguish us from non-believers and faint believers. The disciples’ journey to the other side is our journey. The life of a believer is that traveling to the other side— heaven. Their experience is our experience. They had Jesus with them, yet there was storm. We have Jesus with us too and there are storms also. If you have never experienced any, wait for your turn. Storms are part of human life. From time to time we will experience them in different fashions and forms. When they come, there are basically two opposite reactions: Fear or Faith. True believers lean on faith; they are not totally destabilized. When the violent winds of life begin to blow, they remain calm because they know they have a very big God who is always standing by their side. As humans, they are likely going to experience and express some fear, but due to their faith in God, they are able to make a quick transition from fear to faith. Non-believers and faint-believers, on the other hand, are overwhelmed and crippled by fear. FEAR is False Evidence About Reality. Prolong fear can make us doubt the power of God to save us from our situation. Satan loves people of fear. In fear and out of fear, we can easily do something that radically goes against our beliefs and values. But persons of faith remain calm and prayerful. Like the disciples, they go to Jesus in prayer. After their initial experience of shock, or anger or fear at what has happened, they begin to call upon the Lord for rescue. They call in faith, in expectant faith.

Dearest beloved, what is your present situation? Are you sick? Have the doctors written you off? Have they concluded that you are not going to live again? Have they given you the month, date, and year to die? Did you lose your job? Are the storms of life blowing so violently that you are almost being blown away? Is your business going south? I urge you to turn to Jesus. Do not turn away from him. When the disciples called out to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” he got up, and rebuked the wind: “Quiet! Be still!” Stop keeping silent. Speak out to the One the sea and wind obeyed. Go to Jesus and call out to him. Break that silence. Stop hiding and crying in the secret corners of your house. Stop speaking to the wrong people. Speak to Jesus. Instead of suffering in silence, you can silence the aggressive winds of life. Silence and quiet the storms that threaten to upend your life by going and speaking to Jesus. Don’t suffer alone! 

The Already And Not Yet

Rev. Marcel Divine Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Church of Nativity, Bloomington, MN

Sunday, June 13, 2021

To better understand today’s Gospel, it is important we look at the meaning of the literary genre called “parable.” The word parable is “a comparison” between two things, i.e. an analogy. A parable is also a fictional story derived from everyday life experiences which often has a surprising twist that causes the hearer to think deeper into its meaning. Although many biblical parables are presented without interpretation, but what comes before or after can help us know how to interpret them. 

In today’s Gospel (Mark 4:26-34), Jesus speaks once again in parables. He compares the Kingdom of God to seed that grows secretly and to the mustard seed that “when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants,” and its large branches provides dwelling shade for the birds of the sky. 

In the Gospel, Jesus does not attempt to define the Kingdom of God. But what is the Kingdom of God? From the Church’s standpoint, the Kingdom of God is Jesus himself. The great theologian, Origen of Alexandria said that Jesus is the “Autobasileia,” that is, “the Kingdom in person.” How is Jesus “the Kingdom in Person?” Check this out! The Kingdom of God is the coming together of divinity and humanity that was sundered by Origin Sin. And we know that Original Sin led to many other sundering, many other falling apart like hatred, violence, rivalry, imperialism, murder etc. The Kingdom of God is God and humanity uniting so that the eternal order, eternal law of God can become our law. Where do we see this? In Jesus! He himself is the Kingdom, and he is radiating out from himself this Kingdom which we call his mystical body, the Church. 

Additionally, the Kingdom of God is also the community of those who have been purchased by the Blood of Lamb, whose lives are so shaped by him, and who have made eternal law their law as well. This community is so Christo-centric that it becomes a place where divinity and humanity also meet. Now, is this Kingdom of God here already? Yes! Here in Church is the Kingdom of God. But has it perfectly come? Of course not! Because Jesus has not come back definitively and because the Church is not yet where it ought to be. That’s why during Advent we as a Church cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!” So, the Kingdom of God has two dimensions— the already and not yet as we say in theology. It is already here but  is also coming. But the fundamental reference is Jesus himself. He is the Kingdom. Your singular act of charity and kindness to someone, although small, can result in something much bigger and also makes the Kingdom of God present. Here in this world and among us, God is already establishing his reign and vanquishing evil and suffering through the kindness and generosity of many. 

Christified by the Eucharist 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. We celebrate “the source and summit of Christian life.” Today’s Gospel (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26) is about the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus himself. Mark says that while Jesus and his disciples were eating, Jesus takes bread, says the blessing, breaks it, gives it to his them and says, “Take it; this is my body.” After that, he takes a cup filled with wine, gives thanks, and gives it to his disciples to drink. When they have all drank, Jesus says to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” The Church’s age-long insistence in the Real Presence of Christ Jesus in Eucharist is hinged on this Gospel. Catholics who do not believe in the Real Presence are rejecting the words of the Lord; they are rejecting the most fundamental truth of our faith, and they are not paying enough attention to the “source and summit of the Christian life.” If the Eucharist is merely a symbol, why do we give such reverence, such adoration, such worship, and such honor to it? If the Eucharist is merely a symbol and a sign, that’s not enough for me. At Mass, I want to receive the Lord, not a symbol. 

Now, if you are wondering why we are particularly celebrating the Eucharist today since each time we gather at Mass, we celebrate it, it is because today’s solemnity offers us a unique opportunity to give God collective thanks for Jesus’ abiding presence with us in the Eucharist. It also offers us an opportunity to understand the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and to reexamine our attitudes towards this sacrament of life. 

But why did Jesus give us this Sacrament in the first place? First, Jesus promises to be with us until the end of time (Matt. 28:20). In the Eucharist, he gives us a visible sign and an effective means of being present to us. Jesus makes himself present to us and provides us the opportunity of making ourselves present to him. Secondly, Jesus says that he has come so that we may have life and have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10). In the Eucharist, Jesus provides a tangible means of communicating this life to us so that we can be fully alive at every level— spiritual, physical and emotional. Thirdly, life is a journey and we need not only the material food but also the spiritual food as well to make it. We need nourishment. We need sustenance. We need refreshment. We need a refill. No other food can offer and guarantee us all these but the Body of Christ. Moreover, Jesus knows the brunt of this journey of life. He lived it himself. So, he journeys with us. He goes before us and offers himself to us as our nourishment and support. Through the priests of the Church, the Lord continues to say, “Give them something to eat” (Luke 9:17). The food we earnestly need to continue to travel on this journey is the Eucharist, the Body of Jesus Christ, broken and offered to us. In the Eucharist, Jesus feeds us; he gives us the finest food for the journey. Because life is a journey, we need the spiritual food to walk it and make it. 

Is the Eucharist a symbol? No! Is it a sign? No! It is Jesus of Nazareth. The same Jesus who was born by Mary, who went about doing good, who was strongly opposed by the Pharisees and chief priests, who healed the sick, raised the dead, preached powerfully God’s love and plan for the human race, the same Jesus who was crucified, who died and is now risen is supremely present in the Eucharist. He is personally and actively present in what we receive at Mass. During consecration, the substance of the bread and wine changes and become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Believe this message not merely because I am saying it but because Jesus says so. The Eucharist is the means by which we are Christified. In both body and soul, in both mind and heart, we are Christified by the Eucharist. Our lowly body is Christified and is prepared for heaven by our contact with the Reality of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. If Jesus spoke symbolically, he would have said so. The Eucharist is the heavenly food that enables us to participate in the love between the Father and the Son. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ Jesus is made fully present, and his sacrifice is the fullest expression of love of the Father and the Son for the human race. In the Eucharist, the believer encounters the Jesus of Nazareth who suffered, was crucified, died and risen. In his homily on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in 2001, Pope John Paul II asserts that, “Christ who died and rose for us is really present in the Holy Eucharist. In the consecrated Bread and Wine, the same Jesus of the Gospel remains with us whom the disciples met and followed, whom they saw crucified and risen, whose wounds Thomas touched, exclaiming prostrate in adoration: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28)”

Sister and brothers, are you still looking for Jesus? Are you like some of the Greeks who came to Philip and asked, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus?” (John 12:20-21), I invite you to the breaking of the Bread (Mass). Remember, it was only when Jesus broke the bread before his two disciples who traveled to Emmaus that they were able to recognize that the stranger who joined them during their journey was no other person but the Risen Lord himself. According to  St.Pope John Paul II, “In the breaking of the bread, the eyes of those who seek him with a sincere heart are opened. In the Eucharist, the intuition of the heart recognizes Jesus and his unmistakable love lived “to the end.” (Jn. 13:1)”