11 June 2023 – Corpus Christi (Year A)

by Fr Francis Anthony

My dear friends,

If you have followed the Readings, not just today, From Pentecost Celebration, all the Sundays, we are seeing God’s infinite love for us. God loved us. He sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, to give us the way, the strength to be His disciples on earth.

Then we had the Feast that was last Sunday, of the Holy Trinity, the centrality of our faith where once again it is this God, let us not get into this complication of three and one, it is the mystery that we celebrate, the uniqueness of God who is one but has manifested Himself in three different ways of His downcoming to us. Very simplistically we say the Father created, the Son redeemed and the Holy Spirit sanctifies.

And today we go further into that great union with God. We are celebrating the Last Supper. We are celebrating that great moment before Christ’s passion with his disciples/apostles. He sat and he had his Paschal meal. And during that ordinary meal, he took the opportunity, taking that bread and the wine and saying:

This is my body. This is my blood. Do this in memory of me.

That is again in the sphere of Christ wanting to be with us. We have a God who is not just above the blue skies. He is with us, wants to be with us. And today, we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ. It is not just the miracle but for me the miracle is that goodness of God to be with me though I am unworthy. I am a sinner and yet He comes because He knows with His presence He can transform me.

Let us not just simply focus: ‘Oh, the miracles of the Body and Blood of Christ in the various places.” No. The miracle is in us. He is changing us. He is walking hand in hand with us. Come Friday, we are going to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart and with that the intensity of God’s love for us. When we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart is not an anatomical celebration. It is the love.

So today, my dear friends, we are sharing as we had in the opening prayer where it says:

O God, who in this wonderful sacrament, have left us a memorial of Your passion.

You are making us to remember your suffering. And your suffering is for me. You are making me to remember we have a God who came and He wants to transform me. We always say He is taking away the sins of the world. Yes, that is general. He transforms me, takes me as I am and redeems me.

The Body and Blood of Christ that we consume every time we come to celebrate the Eucharist, here or anywhere, we are receiving the love of God. And when we receive the love of God, are we living out the love of God? As the text says: ‘You have left us a memorial of your passion.’

The passion, yes. We have the agony in the garden.
The passion – that carrying of the cross.
The passion – hanging on the cross. And that has gone to such an effect: on the cross, He was still so concerned for us.
When he was praying to the Father: ‘Forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.’ Those brutal soldiers who made him suffer. His side was pierced, blood and water came to show of His cleansing power. He washed us clean.
It is on the cross, He told to Mary: “Behold your son. And to the disciple who was there, John: “Behold your mother.”

So in the passion again we will see the intimate relationship of Christ with each one of us.

So my dear friends, as we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, let us manifest it by the way we live. At Pentecost, we receive the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Kindness, goodness, forgiveness, and all these. Let it burst out from us. Let that passion of God who loved by dying for us, by suffering for us, continue to be manifested by us.

This evening, we are going to have the procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Penang from Assumption Church through Penang Road coming to Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Let it not just be an event. Yes, not all of us will be present for the occasion as God is with us and in us. In the papers a few days ago, I saw the Blessed Sacrament being taken in Times Square in New York. I was fortunate to be in that area, the Cathedral is not far. And you know that place. My eyewitness, it is a place of enjoyment, the theatres, the cinemas, a place of joy where all the pubs are. And it is through that place, the Eucharist was taken and as usual, just seeing that one photograph, the presence of God was manifested by the respect those people who were there showed and we will say “Ah, those are the Christians.”

And if you go to the town today, that same thing will be happening. The respect that will be given by all those who are there, not just the Catholics. All the other religions because for them, it is something sacred. It is not just a procession right downtown. And many of them will show respect by the worship sign. Some of them will have lighted candles in front of their houses. Yes, that transformation that takes place.

So those of us who are able, join in that procession and manifest. Yes, it is He who has given me strength, given me life and now I am walking that life and I am trying, in all my human weakness, to bring that Christ into the world. To continue His goodness by my simple way of loving, of forgiving, of sharing. God loves us and we love one another and everybody.

The Body and Blood of Christ is a sacrament of love.

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