Deacon Steve's Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi: The Bread of Life - Heavenly

You may know that I have 6 grandchildren.

They live here in Greenwood and my wife, Mary, and I see them often.

The oldest is 16 while the youngest is 8.

One of their favorite things to do while staying at our house is to cook.

All 6 of them, the 2 boys included, are really good cooks. 

They will find a recipe and ‘lo and behold’ they prepare it and it’s always really good.

When I arrive home from work in the evening, the house is filled with some wonderful aromas.

Cookies, brownies, chili, jambalaya and spaghetti sauce, to name a few.

Without a doubt, though, my favorite is walking into the house and smelling freshly baked rolls or bread.

The wonderful aroma of bread. Can’t you just smell it now?

And then I put butter (not margarine) on the bread and take a bite. Delicious, downright heavenly!

I’m hungry just thinking about it.

The wonderful smell and taste of freshly baked bread is something that we all can appreciate.

Whether it’s at home or at the bakery – I never get tired of the aroma of freshly baked bread.

It’s downright heavenly.

But the real food from heaven is what we celebrate today;

That is the feast of Corpus Christi – aka The Body and Blood of Christ.

This feast and readings are about one of my favorite, and probably your favorite topics – FOOD!

In all three readings we read about bread, a staple for most diets, especially 2000 years ago.

In many cases, bread was all they had to eat.

In our 1^st reading from Genesis, we read that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine for Abram, as a sign of hospitality to celebrate a victory.

And then in our 2^nd reading from Corinthians, we read about the bread and wine at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist.

Then we heard this marvelous story from Luke’s Gospel about the feeding of the 5000 from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

These readings and this feast remind us of God’s generosity and his desire to feed us with heavenly food.

Just as our bodies need food, our souls do as well.

Our souls need to be fed regularly with good and healthy food.

The Eucharist, my friends, is that good and healthy food.  It’s food from heaven.

Its Jesus gift to all of us, because of his great love for us.

Jesus, a human himself, knew that all humans need good, healthy food not only for their bodies but for their souls, too. 

What a gift this is!!

Jesus gave us the Eucharist at the Last Supper just before he died.

We just read in Cornithians:

“the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

We do this at every mass, don’t we?

During the Eucharistic Prayer, our priest says the same words of Jesus.

These are the words of institution where the bread and the wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus - our heavenly food.

Food that we feed on at each and every Mass.

The Eucharist is food for our souls that sustains us on our journey of life.

But Jesus also says: “Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood will have eternal life.”

What great news that is - eternal life.

My friends, feeding on the Body and Blood of Christ leads us to eternal life.

We can feed on the Body and Blood of Christ each and every day if we want by attending mass.

There is no shortage of God’s food. There’s plenty to go around.

Our gospel reminds us that God is generous and His food is abundant.

Jesus fed the 5000 – from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – and there were 12 wicker baskets full of leftovers.

A generous God with abundant food – yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

One of my favorite spiritual writers is Fr. Henri Nouwen who had this to say about God’s generosity:

God is a god of abundance, not a god of scarcity. Jesus reveals to us God's abundance when he offers so much bread to the people that there are twelve large baskets with leftover scraps, and when he makes his disciples catch so many fish that their boat nearly sinks (Luke 5:1-7). God doesn't give us just enough. God gives us more than enough: more bread and fish than we can eat, more love than we dared to ask for. God is a generous giver…

My friends, in just a few short minutes, listen carefully to the Eucharistic prayer and focus on the words of institution:  ‘this is my body - this is my blood.’

Imagine Jesus himself saying these words at mass today.

And when you come forward to receive Holy Communion, know that you are receiving ‘the bread of life’, heavenly food for your soul.

Remember that it is Jesus himself who is fully present in the consecrated bread and wine.

When the priest or Eucharistic minister says the words ‘The Body of Christ” or “The Blood of Christ” don’t respond with a wimpy ‘Amen’.

Respond with a resounding and heartfelt ‘AMEN’.

An ‘AMEN’ that says ‘I believe that this is heavenly food!

‘I believe that this is Jesus who leads me to eternal life!’

‘Thank you Jesus!’

God bless you all!