Corpus Christi , May 29, 2016
In some moments, we will bring bread and wine to the altar. And Jesus Christ will be present when we commemorate his words: “This is my body, this is my blood, do this in memory of me.” We see bread and wine and we know that this bread, that this wine is different from the rest of our daily food products. We see bread and wine transformed into the presence of Christ – and we re-ceive this bread, this wine – we eat and drink. This is what we call “communion” - a sign, an ex-pression of a relationship between me and Jesus, between us and Jesus. For 2000 years this small piece of bread has been nourishing people. There are those yearning for love, those crying for justice, those dreaming of a world without weapons and without malice, those searching for God, those asking for the meaning of their lives, those looking for a spiritual home in the church of Jesus Christ. To all these men and women and children Jesus says: “I am the bread for your hunger, the bread for your longing and for your questions. With me and together with me you will find life that never ends. Through me you will become yourself bread for others.” Time and again, Jesus shared meals with people, he ate bread with them. By his sharing of the bread, his disciples recognized him after Easter. This sharing of the simple bread with Jesus brought them something they had missed so much: this sharing of bread brought them life, future, hope, courage to persevere, brought them faith in the presence of Jesus. And we continue to share this same meal; we continue to eat this same bread. It is no recompense for the fact that we are so good and that we go to church so often. This bread is given to us for free, because we are appreciated in the eyes of God, because God wants us to satisfy our hunger. We can find this in the letter of Pope Francis “Evangelii Gaudium”, the Joy of the Gospel from the year 2013: The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, the doors of the sacra¬ments should not be closed for simply any reason. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. Frequent¬ly, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its fa¬cilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems. This meal, this Eucharist is no ‘recompense for the fact that we are so good and that we go to church so often. This bread is given to us for free, because we are appreciated in the eyes of God, because God wants us to satisfy our hunger. God wants us to satisfy our hunger for life, future, hope, courage and faith with this bread and not with all other kinds of things. We receive this bread so that we live, and we are invited to hand it over, to share it so that others may live. To us all Jesus says: “Take and eat”. Jesus says this to all of us, to the whole humankind, he excludes no one; everyone should be able to eat enough, to satisfy his or her hunger. Then what St Augustine says becomes true: “Become what you receive, receive what you are – the body of Christ” The All Saints community is part of this body of Christ – we are invited to share the bread we receive so that others may live. “Become what you receive, receive what you are – the body of Christ”
Evangelii Gaudium 47 The Joy of the Gospel 2013
Fr. Wolfgang Felber SJ