Homily: Corpus Christi 2016 - As if it were your first and your last

Last Saturday,  I attended ordination of priests for the diocese of Cleveland.  It is always edifying to see our brothers lay down their lives, promising to serve Christ and His Church. There is a moment in the Ordination Rite that particularly struck me this year. Before they are officially ordained priests, promises are asked by the bishop.

“My son,” the bishop says, “before you proceed to the order of the presbyterate, declare before the people your intention to undertake the priestly office.

Then the Bishop asks a series of questions: Are you resolved to celebrate the mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously as the Church has handed them down to us for the glory of God and the sanctification of Christ's people?

Are you resolved to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and action as it is taught by the Gospel and the Church's tradition?

Are you resolved to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching the gospel and explaining the Catholic faith?

Are you resolved to consecrate your life to God for the salvation of his people, and to unite yourself more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a perfect sacrifice?

Then the candidate goes to the bishop and, kneeling before him, places his hands in those of the bishop.” And the bishop asks, “Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?”

Candidate: I do.

I remember what it was like for me to be kneeling there in front of the bishop, making those promises.  So exciting, so profound. So many of you, who have made marriage vows, remember the day of your wedding with a similar gratitude.

As I heard these promises being asked, I remembered a piece of wisdom, a wonderful, seasoned, holy pastor once shared with me. He said, “celebrate each Mass, as if it were your first, and your last.” Celebrate with reverence, recollection, a spirit of profound love, as if it were your first, and your last.

I then thought of our young second graders, who receive their first Holy Communion this year.  As they approach the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time, they come forward with such reverence, love, and excitement.  Wonder and awe are displayed on their faces: what will it be like, will I feel Jesus enter my heart? How will this change me? They are careful not to drop the precious host, they treat the host with more care than precious crystal, or a newborn child. And they return to their pews and offer the simple and sweet thanksgiving only a child can offer to God.  They celebrate Mass that day with such purity of intention.

Friends, on this Corpus Christi Sunday, we do well to imitate the reverence, excitement, gratitude, and love of our first communicants. To receive the Lord’s Body and Blood, as if it were our first time, and as if it were our last.

Today, I want each of you to travel back to your first Holy Communion. Imitate the piety, the excitement, the reverence you had on that day. Offer to Jesus sweet gratitude for the gift of receiving Him. Ask Him to change you, to transform you. And then consider what it would mean if today were your last Holy Communion. It very well could be-- none of us know the day nor the hour when the Lord may call us home.  Receive the Lord today, as if your eternal life depended on it.

I don’t remember many homilies from my seminary professors, but one I remember quite well, was given by our liturgy and sacraments professor, Fr. Mike Woost.  Fr. Woost challenged us to receive and celebrate all of the sacraments worthily and well.  The grace of the Sacraments is received according to the mode of the receiver.  In other words, God gives us, in each sacrament, a treasury of grace to transform our hearts into the heart of Christ. But that grace can only change us if we are open to that change. When we receive the Sacrament without wanting to be changed, we receive it them in vain, as if it didn’t really matter that much.

The way we act during Mass should show that what we do matters, very much. If a Muslim, or another non-Christian entered the Church on any random Sunday, would they see palpable visible expressions of our faith. What would they think if during our hymns of praise, they looked at us, standing there silently with bored expressions on our face.  What would they think if they watched us approach the Holy Communion, as casually as we walk up to the counter at McDonald’s.  What would they think if they saw us walk out the door immediately after receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood without making a proper act of thanksgiving and waiting for the final blessing? Friends, If you are in the habit of leaving mass before the final blessing, please stop this practice.  At the Last Supper, after receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood the Apostles remained until the end of the meal, they left together singing hymns of praise. Well, all but one of the Apostles, that is.  Judas, left the Last Supper early.  Don’t be like Judas. He left without allowing the Lord’s love to sink into his heart and change Him.  That was the beginning of the end for poor Judas.  Leaving Mass early shows both a disrespect for the Body and Blood of the Lord, and also a disrespect to your fellow Catholics. Can you not wait to get out of our company?

Muslims may not possess the one true faith. But their external signs of reverence of God can sometimes surpass our own. In muslim prayer, many times a day, in their praise of God, they touch their heads to the ground in humble reverence of God.  Many of them develop calluses on their foreheads from touching their heads to the ground day after day, year after year. Do our knees have calluses? Do we even genuflect when we enter the Church? Are there palpable visible signs in our life, that what we do here at Holy Mass changes us? That our faith matters more to us than our bank accounts, our sports team, our political party?

For every reception of Holy Communion is meant to change us, to deepen our love for God and neighbor, to strengthen us against sin and temptation—to make us more courageous in spreading the Gospel and performing the works of mercy.

On this Feast of the Lord’s Body and Blood, we pray that we may receive Holy Communion today and all days with every ounce of reverence we can muster, every ounce of gratitude for his great sacrifice for us, that our hearts may be transformed, and that through this saving sacrament we may be made worthy of the kingdom of heaven for the glory of God and salvation of souls.