Where all Families are Holy

By Reverend Deacon Jerry Bauman

Welcome to the solemnity of Corpus Christ, or for those of us who don’t speak Latin, the Body of Christ. Words matter, don’t they? And our Catholic traditions use a lot of words. Some might say too many! Some of those words come from the earliest writings of our history, and some of them have been added years, decades, centuries, even Millenia later.

Our story is so simple, first Jesus was born, taught us how to live in relation to God and each other, died, was resurrected, and ascended into Heaven. His followers were energized by the Holy Spirit and began to spread the Good News through the Jewish world. Paul came along later and brought the message to the non-Jewish world. And that leads us to this church, right here, right now. It should be a simple story, right?

Let’s look at how the early church first gathered. The followers of Jesus weren’t Christians. They started out as good practicing Jews. Jews who heard about the amazing things that Jesus did and said. They were called followers of the way and they gathered in each other’s homes.

And as Maria told us in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” The only resources they had were the Hebrew scriptures and as you can imagine, Jesus wasn’t mentioned there. The Gospels hadn’t been written yet! In fact, the first three Gospels were written about 35-45 years after Jesus’ death and the Gospel of John was written 10-20 years later.

Words Matter, don’t they? Can you imagine how the stories they told and retold changed in that first half century after his death? Paul wrote his Epistle letters 20-35 years after Jesus died, but those were written for the gentile churches he was starting. And, that still was approximately 15 years before the Gospels were written. What were Paul’s sources?

Why is it important to know these details and ask these questions about our holy stories in the New Testament? Because knowing when they were written down in relation to the life of Jesus is crucial to understanding important details about the words we use. Once you understand that these are not historical documents, written by first person witnesses, it changes the way everything is viewed. With the exception of Paul’s letters, the contents of the New Testament, are collections of stories passed-down by oral tradition.

So, as I said, the earliest followers gathered for a meal, they broke bread, and talked about their history. These early household churches weren’t as well-organized as we are today. How do you think those early gatherings changed into what we are celebrating here today?

We have a few examples of how the early church attempted to standardize what happens when followers of the way gather. One example is found in a document from around 125 CE called the Didache, or “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”

Celebrate the Eucharist as follows: Say over the cup: “we give you thanks, Father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory forever”. Over the broken bread say: “we give you thanks, Father, for the life and the knowledge which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory forever. As this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too, may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. For glory and power are yours through Jesus Christ forever.”

And Maria told us in our second reading from Chapter 65 of St. Justin Marytr’s first apology or teaching written around 156 CE: “And when the presider has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those present are invited to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. And this food is called the Eucharist.”

So, what does this history lesson have to do with our celebration of Corpus Christi? According to Christian theology, when we celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus the Christ is with us in several important ways.

1. The Assembly (The Gathered People) Jesus promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” When the community gathers to pray, sing, and celebrate, they form the Body of Christ, making his living presence known in the world.

2. The Word of God Whenever the Holy Scriptures are proclaimed during the liturgy, it is Christ himself speaking to the congregation. Because Christ is the Word of God, Christ is present in the readings, the psalms, and the homily.

3. The Priest (In Persona Christi) The priest acts in the person of Christ. It is ultimately Jesus who offers the sacrifice of the Mass and administers the sacraments, working through the ministry of the ordained priest.

4. The Eucharist (The Real Presence) Above all, Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique, substantial way. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the words of consecration, the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. This is known as the “Real Presence,” where the whole of Christ—body, blood, soul, and divinity—is present.

Words matter, don’t they? In Luke’s Gospel today, we are reminded of Jesus’ words at his last Passover celebration when he gifted us with the Eucharist: “Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Then time goes on and words are added. In 1570, following the Council of Trent, Pope Saint Pius V declared that Latin would be the only language used in the celebration of the mass. Those of you old enough to remember the pre-Vatican II mass, called the Tridentine or Traditional Latin Mass, will remember these words: “HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM.” And “HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI: MYSTERIUM FIDEI: QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.” I didn’t say, you’d know what they meant, but you might remember the words. I remember them from regularly serving at our parish’s 6:00 am masses.

Then, way back in the 1900’s, in November of 1969, 400 years later, we heard those words spoken to us in our own language. “Take this, all of you and eat it, this is my body, which will be given up for you.” And “Take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”

Words matter, don’t they?

For centuries, there seems to have been a trend to complicate things and add to the words we say. Starting today, on this the feast of Corpus Christi, we’ll be using some simpler phrases for the consecration of Christ’s body and blood at our Eucharistic celebrations.

Would my helpers please pass out the cards we’ve prepared.

When the Priest raises the bread; we will all say: “Take this all of you and eat it, for this is my body.” Let’s practice this now.

And when the priest raises the wine; we will all say: “Take this all of you and drink from it, for this is the new covenant of my blood. Whenever you drink it, remember me.” Let’s practice this now.

These changes have been made in our worship aid and the cards will be kept in each copy of the Music Issue for our future use.

The liturgy committee has been praying about this change for some time. This is not a decision we’ve made in haste. And let me say, it’s not just to make the words simpler or the phrases shorter.

Words matter. Mary has been telling us for a few weeks that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. You will have noticed that at Holy Family, we do not use the prayer before communion beginning with “Lord, I am not worthy…” We found these words just didn’t reflect our understanding that we are worthy, because Jesus himself instructed us to eat, drink, and remember.

During our Lenten journey and Triduum liturgies, we heard stories of Jesus’ last weeks with his followers. We heard that Jesus refused to stop teaching how to live in right relationship with God and all of our sisters and brothers. That this is the way to build God’s kingdom here on Earth. We heard that Jesus was charged, convicted, and murdered because these truths upset the religious and political leaders. Jesus chose to accept his fate because these were truths worth dying for.

The evidence that Jesus was sent on a mission to die for our sins is not found anywhere in Hebrew Scripture or the first three Gospels. This concept was called substitutionary atonement theory and it came much later. It teaches that because God is holy and we are sinful; that Jesus took upon himself the penalty for Adam and Eve’s sin, satisfying the demands of divine justice and reconciling people to God.

Do we still believe Adam and Eve were tempted to eat an apple in a garden and their actions closed the gates of heaven to all of humankind or do we acknowledge that story as an allegory? An allegory is not history; it’s a way of storytelling that represents big concepts in a simple way.

When we return the words of consecration to something similar to what Jesus said at his last Passover meal, we get back to what he really wants us to remember; that we love God and are participants in God’s kingdom in union with all of humanity. Cleaning up the words will not change our beliefs about the consecration, or about the Body and Blood of Christ; the Corpus Christi we celebrate today.

Are we going to mess this up sometimes? Of course we are, we’ve heard and used the old words for 57 years. They’re stuck in our brains! We beg your forgiveness in advance when we, the clergy, use the wrong words. Please forgive yourselves and everyone else, too!

Amen Holy Family!