Cooperating
with the Eucharist
August
19-20, 2006
John
6:51-58
Homily—Fr.
George Smiga
A
caravan of merchants was making its way through the desert,
trading with villages along the route, when suddenly a terrible
sandstorm arose. So intense was the storm that one of the
merchants became separated from the caravan. When the dust
settled, he found himself alone and totally lost. He pushed
on for several days until he realized that he was simply going
in circles. Then on the verge of starvation, he unpacked all
of the bags on his camel and searched through each one in
the hope that he could find some morsel of bread or fruit
inside. He searched each bag over and over again but found
nothing. Then he discovered a small leather pouch which he
had forgotten about. This was his last chance. His hands trembled
as he opened the bag, and then his heart sank. He knew that
he was finished, because all that he found in that pouch were
diamonds.
Diamonds
are worthless when what you need is food. Without food we
cannot live, and without Christ, we cannot live spiritually.
Without Christ, we starve. This is why Jesus says in the gospel,
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you will have no life in you”.
We
as Catholics interpret Jesus' words as referring to the Eucharist,
because we believe that when we follow his command and eat
this bread and drink from this cup, we keep ourselves alive.
We deepen our relationship with Christ. But the Eucharist,
like any sacrament, is not magic. It does not function automatically.
If we are to benefit from the Eucharist, we need to cooperate
with its power. This is the question I would like to pose
this morning: What does it mean to cooperate with the Eucharist?
We
cooperate with the Eucharist when we live our lives conscious
of the life that the Eucharist gives us, when we live our
lives conscious of the presence of Christ that is within us.
Our union with Christ is the foundation of the Christian life,
and yet we often go from day to day oblivious to its presence.
When most of us are asked to evaluate our relationship with
Christ, we think immediately of our outward actions. We look
over our patterns of behavior and notice the ones that seem
to be positive and the ones that need to be changed. We say,
“I need to be more patient”, “less judgmental”, “more just.”
These
are all useful thoughts, but the Christian life is something
that is much deeper than our actions. The Christian life flows,
not from what we do or do not do, but from who we are. And
who are we? We are the ones in whom the living Christ dwells.
We are connected to Christ at the very level of our identities.
Therefore, the most important thing for a Christian is to
claim who we are, to live our lives out of that relationship.
When we become conscious of the presence of Christ within
us, it changes everything. To put it this way, each one of
us could live the upcoming week fundamentally doing the same
things we did last week: loving the same people, working the
same jobs, maybe even making some of the same mistakes. But
if we were to live this upcoming week conscious of the life
of Christ that is within us, it would change us. We would
live life deeper, better, and more filled with joy.
When
you are starving, diamonds don't help. You need food. We believe
that the Eucharist is our food. But the power of the Eucharist
can only work when we cooperate with it, by living in a way
that is conscious of the risen Christ who is within us.
I
have asked Anthony Camino, our pastoral associate, to share
with us some of his reflections after Communion today on what
it might look like to become more conscious of our union with
Christ. But as we proceed now to the table of the Lord, let
us as a community try to be more aware of the gift that we
receive in the Eucharist and how that gift is not only the
source of what we do, but of who we are.
Mystagogy—Anthony
Camino
We have each received a precious gift this morning (evening):
the real and abiding presence of Christ's own self through
the living Word of God, through one another gathered here
and through the Eucharist we have just shared. And the words
of today's gospel could not be more clear: unless we eat and
drink of the Son of Man, we will not have life within us.
Eat,
drink and live! The formula sounds so simple, yet for those
of us who have tried, we know it takes more than walking through
those doors, listening to a few words, shaking a few hands
and chewing some bread to truly receive the gift of
Christ's life.
Because
in order to receive this gift, we must cooperate
with the Giver. In order to experience real
life within us, we must connect, on a daily basis, with the
One who gives us life. Without our cooperation and response,
the gift of Christ that we have received will remain unopened
and will be worth little more than a pouch of diamonds in
a hot, dry desert.
So
what can we do this week, as we leave this place, to better
connect with God's presence within us? Two thoughts:
First,
we need to understand and believe that God is at work in us
even when we feel distant and disconnected. God does not offer
a gift and then remain idle as we struggle to use it. Quite
the contrary, the God who loves us has sent the Holy Spirit
to be our helper and guide. It is God's own Spirit who, in
the words of Thomas Merton, “prays within us even when we
ourselves are not able to pray well, who asks for us the things
we do not know we need, and who seeks to give us joys we would
not dare seek for ourselves.” Take comfort then, and have
confidence in the knowledge that Christ is already at work
in you and focus your attention not on all the faults you
need to overcome and extra pious practices you could do, but
focus rather on the tremendous love present in your relationship
with Jesus Christ.
Second,
each of us must accept the challenge to be attentive and to
deepen our relationship with Christ. While it is true that
the Holy Spirit is constantly at work, we can only experience
that grace, that relationship, when we find ways to connect.
And there are as many ways to connect as there are individuals
because we all relate to Christ in the joys, sorrows, mystery
and confusion of our own lives. Remember, when it comes to
falling in love with God, just like in any intimate relationship,
there are no simple formulas. For some, it's turning off the
car radio and recalling a phrase from the gospel or a line
from the opening song. Some go to the website and read a homily
online. Others make a point of being thankful while others
write an inspiration quote on a post-it note. Some take a
vacation day to truly re-charge rather than returning from
vacation more tired than when they left.
I
do know this: it's not about adding more things as it is doing
the same things differently - with a different awareness.
It's about looking across the lunch table and seeing an opportunity
to reach out rather than ignore. It's about drinking a cup
of coffee and thinking about those who profit from its production
and about those who really should. It's about hearing some
gossip and then choosing not to repeat it. It's about looking
at your children and looking at your job and knowing which
one's more important.
In
the end, everything we do, all that we are, flows out of our
relationship, our connectedness with Christ who comes to us
this day as gift. Allow that gift to find you, possess you
and transform you. Then, this week and forever, you will have
life within you.
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