CORPUS CHRISTI 2002

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world. Amen. [Matt 28:20]

Before Jesus ascended to the Father and no longer was visible and tangibly present in human history, he promised his disciples that while he would no longer be with them in the way that he had been in the world for 33 years, he would nonetheless be with them in fact until the end of the world in new and more wonderful ways. At the last supper He promised them that he would not leave them orphans - "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." [John 14:18] Jesus would remain in this world even after he ascended to the Father, just as Jesus had never ceased to be in Heaven with the Father while he was walking this earth. He would not only remain with them, but wonderfully, as he promised He would remain in them: "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. [John 14:20]

Thus Jesus today lives not simply with us, in our presence, as he did 2000 years ago in Palestine, but he now lives in us, is present within us, through the gift of His Spirit and Sanctifying Grace. Whoever is in the State of Grace, then, has Jesus living within, indeed the whole Trinity, for in whomever the Spirit dwells, there also dwells the Son of God, and whoever possesses the Son possesses the Father also who sends Him. By the gift of His Spirt and the Spirit's gifts of grace, the Lord Jesus fulfills his promise not to leave us orphans.

But in today's celebration of Corpus Christi we celebrate another way in which Jesus fulfills his promise not leave us orphans, and more precisely to remain with us always until the end of the world. In the Eucharist Jesus becomes present in such a way as to be not only in us, but in a most real way, with us, in our presence, in our midst. The Eucharist is Jesus' new mode of presence in the world, just as by the gift of His Spirit Jesus becomes present in the human soul. Jesus is no longer present in the world the way he was for those 33 years of his earthly life, but he remains nonetheless in the world until the end of time, now in an even more wonderful way.

Christian theologians sometimes say, in my opinion mistakenly, that Jesus is no longer historically present, which means or at least implies that Jesus is no longer a part of man's history as such, no longer an actor within history. It is true that Jesus is no longer present in history the way we are, that is, subject to the conditions of time and space and physical limitations. But it is not true that Jesus is no longer a part of human history, is no longer a true actor in human history. It is precisely this falsehood that has generated a world that is becoming totally secularized and devoid of the sacral. Jesus remains present in the world, and in human history, and is truly with us in our earthly pilgrimage, and not in a less wonderful way than he was here for 33 years, but in a far more wonderful and salutary way than we can fully understand. By His Eucharistic presence, Jesus is now in the whole world, with us everywhere the Church is present, the Gospel is preached, the sacraments are administered and the Eucharist is celebrated. Jesus is present in the world through His new body, His mystical body, which is the Church he wedded to himself on the Cross, and he is present in the Church through the Eucharist in which he builds up His Mystical body as we build up our physical body, with the food which is Himself, the Bread of Angels, the spiritual Manna which makes us one flesh with Him who is Lord and God, and Bridegroom of the whole church.

The Eucharist is truly the heart of the world, for Jesus is truly the center of human history [Gaudium at Spes] and is truly present, body, soul, blood and divinity in the Eucharist. In the celebration of the Eucharist, Jesus draws the whole of creation, the material world and mankind, into communion with Himself, and through Him into communion with the whole Trinity. The whole of creation is destined for this communion, and in the Eucharist Jesus gives us the way that creation and man are to reach their God given destiny. In this sense, the Eucharist is not just another sacrament but the focal point of all history, and the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is not just another presence, but the way to Eternal Life for man, and with man, all of creation.

The Church testifies to this continuing and saving presence of Jesus within human history and within man by its Eucharistic devotion. The Eucharist is given to us as our food for the journey to Paradise, the nourishment that enables us to make the journey through the perils of this world, through all the challenges of human history to our true home in Paradise, where Jesus has prepared a place for those who are united with and to Him. In the Eucharist we become one with Jesus in way that will become fully realized and permanent only in heaven. But this is all true only because The Eucharist is not a mere symbol of his love and spiritual presence in our world, but his continuing, active presence in human history in the fulness of his humanity and divinity, hidden but nonetheless truly present in the Holy Eucharist. Because He is truly present there, to be our food and saving nourishment, we can and must honor him in this sacrament, not only when we receive Him at Mass, but wherever the Eucharist remains, for there Jesus is truly remaining with us and for us.

Corpus Christi celebrates the full mystery of the Eucharist, the way by God's sacramental power basic elements of creation, bread and wine, are transformed, trans-substantiated, into the living substance of the Lord of History. There material creation achieves its destiny in a preliminary way, as the material of bread and wine become the flesh and blood of their now incarnate Creator. There man achieves his destiny in an anticipatory way, as he becomes one flesh, one communion of love and life with his Creator. In the Eucharist adored, all worship achieves its destiny as the Lord of Creation is worshiped as Lord, and as part of creation itself. In heaven, the Eucharist itself will be fulfilled as God becomes all in all, but here on earth it remains as our way to that destiny, because in it and through it Jesus remains with us always till the end. This is our faith; This is the source of our hope; and This is what moves us to love as we have been loved, by Him, who never leaves us orphans.