Homily Notes Feast of Corpus Christi

Feast of Corpus Christi, 6/18/17 (We Remember)

The first idea in the Liturgy of the word today is a very powerful, “Remember.” Moses speaks this word to the Israelites in the Book of Deuteronomy. We cannot help but recall the last words of institution narrative when Jesus gives the Eucharistic liturgy to his disciples. He says, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

We probably remember a lot of meals in our lives. Not too long ago, I was at a funeral for a member of my family. We had many cousins there who had grown up together. Most of us had not seen each other in years. What would we have in common I wondered? But as we gathered to eat after the service we started to remember past meals. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas we would gather as an extended family. At this moment, when we came back together we recalled the joy of those meals.

We reminisced about the bread that my Grandmother would bring to the meal. We recalled the pies that an aunt would bake. My other aunt would bring baked beans. One of my cousins said, “I remember your mother would make the turkey as well as the mashed potatoes.” Meals evoke memories years later. A similar smell. A parallel experience can pull us back.

Moses was appealing to the memory of the Israelites when he said, “Remember.” He reminded them of the great Exodus event. The people had left Egypt to flee slavery long before. As they lived in Egypt, they did not enjoy great meals, but they had enough to eat and drink. Life changed when they fled out into the desert.

The desert was a place of testing. How would the people of Israel survive? But they were sent there to learn a lesson, a very important lesson. Moses did not point to a great banquet as a point of remembrance. He reminded them of food that barely fed them and drink that barely kept them alive. As the people of Israel were wandering in the desert, they began to starve. The people were also suffering from dehydration. Death was imminent. Despair entered their hearts. But then what did God do? He rained down mana from heaven. He brought forth water from a rock. Certainly, this was not sumptuous food nor was the water tasty, but it gave the people life. The lesson to be learned was one of trust.

What do we need to learn? We need to learn that we can put our faith in God. We need to rejoice in the necessities of life. Perhaps we have forgotten.

Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska has been interviewed a lot lately. He is a former College president who has observed young people. He found that the students he dealt with lacked self-confidence. He wrote a book “The Vanishing American Adult.” His book began one day with an experience that he had with his children.

One hot summer day the air conditioner broke down in his home. His children complained. “We cannot live without the air conditioner. It is a necessity.” Sasse and his wife told them that they could indeed live without air conditioning. The children were told that they might perspire a little, but air conditioning was not necessary for life. The children had lost perspective on what was vital and what was not. They were not at home with adversity. Such experiences prompted Sasse’s book. He believes we are not challenging Americans to be Adults.

We could say that the Israelites lost their trust in God. We could say that they needed to be reminded through their testing in the desert to believe God would provide. When they matured they were ready for the promised land.

As people of God, we need to remind the world what is most essential. When we come here on Sunday we eat a bit of bread, we drink a sip of wine. We do not have mashed potatoes, turkey, beans or pie, but we get the spiritual sustenance to make it through another week. Our participation in the Eucharistic action bears witness to the power of Jesus. We recall what that faith does for our life. When we grow weary in our daily struggles we need to remember this sacrament. Jesus gave us this meal. He carefully, picked the menu and sacrificed so he could procure the ingredients. He then prepared it. He serves it every Sunday. To paraphrase the Marty Haugen song, “When we remember, when we celebrate, we can believe.”

Please note, this is a rough draft...grammar may not be perfect.