The Body and Blood of Christ

The Body and Blood of Christ

How often do we stop and think about what we are doing when we come down to the front here to receive Holy Communion? Do we just stand at the appropriate time and walk forward, a bit like zombies or sheep, one following one, forward and beyond until we have had our turn? Or – or – are we in deep thought, consideration and appreciation of what is about to occur?

We are all used to coming together to worship as one body and to celebrate that Christ was born, that he lived and that he suffered and died for me, a sinner and – and that he rose again for me, for me and for everyone so that our sins would be forever forgiven.

We accept as an everyday thing that we can receive the holy sacrament of the Eucharist as our spiritual sustenance and reminder that Christ gave us his body and blood as our eternal and life-preserving-food. It is possible that we have taken all of this for granted, that it would be there, on call for whenever we would need it or decide that we wanted to make use of it. Until of course it isn’t and it is no longer there on call or on tap.

I wonder how many of us remember back to Covid and the closing of the churches and the absence of the Holy Eucharist? Sure it was only for a few weeks, but it did happen and we were excluded from our sacraments of the Holy Mass and the most holy Eucharist.  Remember? The opportunity to attend at mass; to pray and to be sustained in our hearts, our minds, our souls and our spirits was taken from us! Gone and outside our control to get it back!

How many were feeling the loss of the spiritual food; a gap in our diaries; an abstinence forced upon us that then maybe helped or forced us to think really hard about how we pray, how we attend mass and how we celebrate this greatest of gifts, the Holy Eucharist.

I think that much of our attendance at mass can be done on automatic pilot, if we are honest with ourselves, that we sort of fly in at the start and fly out at the end without much of it hitting our ears, our minds, our hearts or our spirits: and that is a shame. It is beyond a shame: it is a missed and wasted opportunity.

When we attend at holy communion, we hear the priest or minister say to each of us, “The Body of Christ” or “the Blood of Christ”. But what do we understand when we hear this? What is it that we think of when we hear these words?

The ministers are stating to the communicants their own declarations of faith: this is what they believe, this is their declaration of faith  –

That Jesus is the Son of God who came down to earth, born of the Virgin Mary; that he suffered and died on the cross for me to save me from my sins and that he rose on the third day to save all mankind.

That at his last supper with his disciples he took bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples and told them that they were to eat this meal in memory of him – his body and blood in the form of bread and wine.

That at each mass, this great miracle of transubstantiation, transformation, takes place: that the bread and wine on the altar are transformed, changed into the body and blood of Christ and that I and each of you are given the opportunity to eat and drink of this food of life.

That this food is essential to sustain and support me in my spiritual life. And that I need this food to guide, guard and to always protect me as I journey through my life. I need it to sustain me. I need it to help me grow ever stronger and even more capable to live a good and holy life.

Every time we hear a minister say these few little words, “The Body/Blood of Christ” – this is what they are declaring to us. It is this declaration of faith.

And likewise, when we give our, “Amen”, in response, this is what we are saying in return, this is our own personal declaration of faith:

That we understand what is being declared to us and that we in turn declare the same in reply: our “Amen” is a “Yes ! Yes, Lord. We believe.” We accept all that has been said in and through the mass and want to live our lives accordingly, in a state of grace and faith, from which, and through which, the light of Christ will shine.

We will take the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Holy Eucharist, forward into our daily lives and daily living. We want to show to others the gift that we have received by how we witness Christ in our lives.

That all lives matter to God. He sent His Son to save everyone and to show everyone that they are each important in his eyes and that we are all worthy of love, respect, inclusion, welcome, forgiveness and support. And he offered his son’s body and blood as this eternal gift to one and to all; an unconditional gift to free us, to feed us, to sustain us and to save us.

We don’t want to be hypocrites who invite Christ into our souls and then mock and defame others; who curse and gossip with or about others; who waste the Food for the journey, the Food of our lives by pouring scorn and poison onto it and rubbishing it.

Today’s feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ gives us this special opportunity to reconnect with this most tremendous gift of God. It allows us to plan our actions, our lives so that that will show our, “Credo” every day and in every way for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. We pray for the continued opportunity, when we can each kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and receive the Holy Eucharist, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and say our heartfelt, “Amen” in response.

And this weekend we pray for all of those children of ours who will be making their First Holy Communion this coming Saturday. Who, we will be setting out on their road of being able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ as their day’s food for their day’s journey and how by our own example of coming here to church and our participation in the Holy Mass and especially when we come to receive Holy Communion – how we are, how we act, how we show our love, our understanding and our appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament – we will show them the holiness and the blessedness of this sacrament and the importance of it in their lives.

The Body and Blood of Christ - Amen