Body and Blood of Christ
Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Saint John Baptist de LaSalle/Saint Stephen June 2, 2024
The summer after our graduation from high school, my best friend Freddy Corbin decided to run away from home because he could not get along with his father.
Freddy and his father were always arguing, and thinking back, these arguments were about things they probably never should have talked about in the first place. So, at about 1:30 in the morning, I woke up because someone was throwing stones at my bedroom window. It was Freddy. “Let’s go,” he said, “I’m going to New York City to join Castro’s rebels, and you have to drive my car back home.” Well, we did go to New York City, but things did not work out the way Freddy wanted, so we drove to Cape Cod where we were going to spend the rest of the summer. Now his father, being older and having the heart of a father, couldn’t bear it anymore.
Knowing where we were, he sent Freddy’s sister Jane to say, “Dad is really upset and he misses you so much, can you just come meet him halfway and agree to disagree?” But Freddy said, “his way of thinking is so wrong, I won’t meet him halfway.” So, Jane went back to their dad and said, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but he can’t meet you halfway. He said he just can’t do it.” His father said, “Go back and tell him to come as far as he can, I’ll go the rest of the way.”
I never forgot what he said: “tell him to come as far as he can, I’ll go the rest of the way.” For that is what God is like: Come as far as you can, and God will go the rest of the way.
Today, on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we celebrate one of the most beautiful aspects of who God is: the truth that if we make the slightest move in the direction of God, God rushes toward us. From the beginning of time, we promised God: “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.” We are still doing this to this very day, every week we make a little movement toward God. Here is what we do:
God has given us 168 hours a week to live. We take one or two of those hours to come to church, where all we have is a small bowl of bread and a little wine, then God comes and fills those gifts with divine life. As soon as we make one tiny step toward God, God rushes from heaven to be with us.
Like the disciples, life has made us tired, there is always another task, another thing to do. We need to sit down and share a meal with Jesus and discover what God wants us to do.
I think all of us are being encouraged this very day to ask ourselves: Where in my life might I be able to take a step closer to God, or where in my life am I just holding back a bit? Maybe I don’t need to make a big change in my life, just to take a tiny step. Maybe I’m being called to just pause before bedtime every night and say a prayer. Maybe I’m being called to have a little quiet time in the morning, maybe light a candle and sit with God for a few moments. Maybe it’s to read one spiritual book a year. Maybe I’m meant to come to Church.
For it is here in our Church where we and our family take a step closer to God. Here God comes to us in bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ, as soon as we ask. We only need to take a few steps forward and reach out our hand to receive the strength and energy we will need to live another week.
I know there are always those who believe that whatever we do, it’s not enough. Well, they are wrong. We are a people, who with one voice says: “We will do everything that our God has told to us.” We will take some tiny steps in that direction. But this is one of the most lovable things there is to know about God. You make one move in God’s direction, and God rushes to meet you, right now, and right here.