Homily for the Body and Blood of Christ, C

New Testament scholar, Fr. Francis Moloney, OSB, in his essay, “A Body Broken for a Broken People”, writes, “Jesus eats with people who fail, even at the Last Supper.”

I have Mass on Sunday, June 22 at St. Isidore @ 9:30/11:30 am

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Transcript

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. 

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd, so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions, for we are in a deserted place here." He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people. Now the men, they're numbered about five thousand." 

Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to sit before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets. 

The Gospel of the Lord. 

At the beginning of chapter 9 in Luke's Gospel, Jesus sends the disciples out on mission with these instructions, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money." Do you see what Jesus is doing? If you take nothing with you, you'll have to depend on strangers for hospitality and lodging. 

Just before today's Gospel, the disciples return to Jesus from their mission. The crowds, however, found out about it and followed them. Jesus welcomed them. 

The disciples are slow learners. They said to Jesus, "dismiss the crowd so that they can go find lodging and provisions." 

Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat."

 Remember, at the last supper, Jesus took bread and gave it to them and said, "This is my body that is for you." Jesus is really suggesting to his disciples, "You give them yourself." Jesus is inviting them to do Eucharist. 

Luke is also making a direct reference to Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means house of bread, and Jesus was placed in a manger of feeding trough. Jesus will be bread for the world. In asking Jesus to dismiss the crowd, the twelve were denying them hospitality and asking Jesus to do the same. The one denied hospitality at Bethlehem would instead offer hospitality here in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. So we are to do this in memory of Jesus. When we give our lives away in love, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 

In today's Gospel, Jesus welcomed the crowds, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. Rather than dismissing the crowd to go and buy food, Jesus fed the five thousand with the five loaves and two fish. They all ate and were satisfied. Jesus stands in solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, and the weary. 

As Jesus teaches in Matthew 25, "I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

"Do this in memory of me." 

Paul tells the story of the night when Jesus was handed over to remind the Corinthians that Jesus did not accept suffering as a victim. He was sold by one of his friends, Peter, the rock, was about to deny him, and the other disciples would run away. At the last supper, Jesus took hold of the betrayal, the failure of love, and made it into a moment of gift. Jesus handed over his life in love. 

"Do this in memory of me." 

The Lord's death is proclaimed in the world in the broken body and the blood poured out of a church of disciples who live the Eucharist they celebrate until he comes again. When we remain faithful in the face of denial, when we open a door that has been slammed shut, when we give back forgiveness in the place of betrayal, we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 

New Testament scholar Fr. Francis Maloney, in his essay "A Body Broken for a Broken People," writes, "Jesus eats with people who fail even at the last supper." In  chapter 14, Jesus said, "When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you." In Luke 15, the scribes and Pharisees grumbled, "This man welcomes sinners, and he's with them." 

The early church founded its understanding of the Eucharist on the basis of the dangerous memory of Jesus' table fellowship. Gentiles, prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners, as well as the blind, lame, maimed, and the poor are welcome at this table and in his covenant. 

"Do this in memory of me."

In the Gospel, after all the people were satisfied, the leftover fragments were picked up. They filled 12 baskets. So the Eucharist doesn't end here. We are sent out to continue the healing ministry. 

Pretty much every morning in the chapel of the St. Martha guesthouse in the Vatican, Pope Francis used to celebrate morning mass. For about the last year and a half, every night around 7 p.m., Pope Francis called the pastor of Holy Family Church, a tiny church in Gaza. Every night, Francis was the voice on the other end of the phone calling to check on them in wartime. "He would ask us how we were," the pastor said. "What did we eat? Did we have clean water? Was anyone injured?" The Holy Family congregation was often terrified, but during his calls, the Pope drove fear from our hearts. Pope Francis continued these calls every night until two days before he died. 

The reason we don't conclude mass with an "amen" is because the mass isn't finished. We are sent forth to do in the world what we do here around this table. The mass is not entered. The mass continues in us. 

"You give them something to eat."

"Do this in memory of me."