Prayer Warriors@ St Mary Help Of Christians Church, Aiken, South Carolina at 118 York Street SE, Aiken, SC 29801-4568 US - Homily for Corpus Christi

Our second reading, from the letter to the Hebrews, was written to Christians who understood the value of Jewish law and ritual practices.  The Letter to the Hebrews reveals that the Mass is not empty symbolism.  At Mass, Jesus is the high priest of a new and eternal covenant.  Too often, though, we don’t appreciate what is happening in this place because we don’t understand how some ritual can actually mean something in God’s plan.  Not only does it mean something, I am here to tell you that it means everything. 

That’s a pretty strong claim, I know, but it is perfectly in line with the Catechism which teaches us that “the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.”  Our lives draw their meaning and experience their deepest fulfillment in the Body and Blood of Christ.  I don’t blame you if you don’t fully grasp that truth – none of us do – but we would all do better if we knew some of what the author of Hebrews knew.

First of all, the author of Hebrews would have understood the main reason why we come to Mass.  We are here to worship God.  Yes, it is important that we feel welcome, that we have a sense of community, that we hear the scriptures and (hopefully) get a good homily.  However, those are not the main reasons why we are here.  We are here to worship. 

Worship is an invitation to look beyond ourselves, but for what purpose?  We come to worship because we seek peace – peace in the world through peace with God.  Like in our first reading – the sacrifices were a peace offering.  That is the purpose of worship in every world religion – peace with God.  But, there’s a catch.

The basic call to of worship is marked by an awareness that we are sinners and are separated from God.    The awareness of guilt weighs man down.  I hear non-believers complain that they don’t need religion because it is all about guilt.  That’s not true.  It’s not all about guilt, but guilt is a critical starting point.  Worship is the attempt to overcome guilt and bring one’s own life into right order.  At the heart of the non-believer’s claim is that worship feels pointless.  How can man connect the world with God again?  How is he supposed to make valid atonement?  They make a good point.

The sacrifices of the world’s religions, including Israel’s, rest on the idea of representation – something stands before God on our behalf.  But, how can sacrificial animals or the fruits of the harvest take the place of man and repair his offense against God?  They are merely replacements.  Somehow the real thing is missing.  I thought of ancient cultures that practiced human sacrifice, and realized that even though they were gravely misguided, they took seriously this need for the real thing to be sacrificed.

Two central ideas in Israel’s history express this same problem but also offer new hope – the lamb and the temple.  First, there is Abraham’s call to sacrifice his son Isaac.  However, God spares Isaac and provides the ram, which Abraham then offers back to God.  The lamb is merely a replacement, but sets into Israel’s heart an expectation of the true Lamb that will come from God. 

Similarly, in Exodus, we have the Passover Lamb.  The lamb is offered in place of Israel’s first born.  Yet, the Passover must be re-enacted every year, as we heard in our gospel.  Why?  Because the Passover sacrifice points beyond itself, to something or someone who will fulfill the Passover sacrifice.

Second, God also revealed to Moses that the sacrifice should be offered in a place designed for such an important event. It should be offered in a place designed for worship.  So, Moses made the tent of meeting according to the heavenly vision he saw on Mount Sinai.  The temple in Jerusalem would be an even better model of what Moses saw.  But, if God gave Moses a pattern based on the heavenly reality, this meant that the earthly temple was only a replica, too.  It was only a model which pointed beyond itself to the true Temple in heaven where God dwells.

So, what the author of Hebrews understood and teaches us is that in Jewish worship, the paschal lamb and the temple were models that pointed in hope to a divine lamb and the heavenly temple that COULD restore our peace with God. 

And so we come Jesus of Nazareth and our feast of Corpus Christi.  Who is Jesus and what does he have to do with the true worship of God?  First of all, he is the Son of God, and in God’s plan he has a special identity.  John the Baptist reveals this when he says of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  It’s why the second reading says, “If the blood of goats and bulls can sanctify those who are defiled, how much more will the blood of Christ . . . cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God?”  So, we have the Lamb.  Where is the temple?

Recall two things Jesus said about himself.  First, in Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, one greater than the temple is here.”  And then elsewhere in John 3:19 Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  Jesus does not say that he will demolish the Jerusalem temple.  Rather, St. John tells us that Jesus was referring to the temple of his own body.  The destruction of a temple is Jesus’ prophesy of what will happen on the Cross.  Because he is the Lamb of God, because He is greater than the temple, Jesus tells us that the destruction of his earthly body will be, at the same time, the end of the temple worship in Jerusalem. 

What happens at the moment of Jesus’ death?  Matthew, Mark, and Luke all report that at the moment of Jesus’ death, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  What they mean to say is this:  at the moment of Jesus’ death, the function of the old Temple comes to an end.  With Jesus’ Resurrection the new Temple begins:  the living body of Jesus Christ will now stand before God and be the place of all worship.   

The Lamb of God offered for sin is no longer just some dumb animal or crops from the field that stand as a replacement for man.  He is a human being; he is the real thing.  The Son of God made man now intercedes for us.  In His body he enables man to be in right relation with God.  As it says in the second reading, “For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant (so that) those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.”

Where do we come to meet this Jesus and partake of His eternal sacrifice?  We do it in the Eucharist.  There are so many different ways that we could describe our Sunday celebrations.  We can talk about them as a meal or the Last Supper or in relation to the Passover.  But these miss the greater significance.  The Eucharist enables us to participate in the universal form of worship performed by Jesus on behalf of all mankind.  And so, unlike every other sacrifice, the Eucharist doesn’t merely point to something greater.  It is the fulfillment of all of the promises.  It is in the Eucharist that we achieve what all worship in history has sought – real atonement for sin and right relationship with God.

That is why we celebrate Corpus Christi.  The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.  Until you grasp this truth, something will be missing.  Once you begin to embrace this truth, you will see Jesus and our celebration of the Mass in a new way.  That which your heart seeks more than anything else - peace with God - will be yours if you will reach out, take it in, and nourish it in your life.