I would say that nearly all of us are tired. COVID tired. End of the school year tired. Rising price of everything tired. Tired of politicians not doing what we want. Tired of wonky weather. And then there’s the news of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The January 6 insurrection hearings. Crimes, shootings. Floods in some parts of the country, drought in others.
[Story] So I have a story for you. One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. [I throw plastic starfish into the congregation.] Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then smiling he said, “I made a difference for that one.” [I throw another starfish into congregation]
This weekend we not only celebrate Father’s Day but this is the Body and Blood of Christ weekend. Or as some of you old-timers remember, it was called Corpus Christi (which is Latin for the body of Christ). It is also the kick-off for a national effort by our Catholic Bishops to honor the Eucharist. It’s called a Eucharistic Revival.
There are many ways to honor the Eucharist. Some parishes are having a procession with the Eucharist displayed in the monstrance. [Show our monstrance] Here’s the monstrance that we use which was originally from the South Church. Some parishes are having longer times for Adoration of the Eucharist. That is, when you spend some time praying before the Monstrance, which we have on the Tuesday nights of Advent, Lent and also on the first Wednesday of each month.
Here at Christ Our Light, we support those things, but we are choosing something different. In the next three years, we want to encourage all of you to honor the Eucharist by doing what the second part of our parish mission statement says . . . LIVE the Eucharist.
You, see we don’t just adore the Eucharist or we don’t just process with the Eucharist. But what The Vatican II Documents tell us is that (at Mass) the Eucharist is the source and summit of who we are as Catholics. But not just to look at, we RECEIVE the Eucharist. And as St Paul talked about in the second reading (he was quoting Jesus at the Last Supper) we are to DO this in remembrance of him. Do what? Eat the presence of Jesus in the host, drink his presence in the cup. It’s not a symbol. It’s his real presence. But why do we consume it? We receive the Eucharist to BECOME Eucharist.
Think of Eucharist as a verb, not a noun. It’s an action. We are to BE the body of Christ. That is, we are to be hope for a world overwhelmed in tiredness. We are to be peacemakers in a world overshadowed with senseless killings. We are to be light in the world that only sees darkness.
So to be the body of Christ . . . does that mean that we are to go heal the sick like Jesus did? Maybe. Or to preach good news like he did? Maybe. Or confront evil, or correct bad behavior even if it could get us crucified? Maybe.
If the world is going to change, it starts by doing simple thing. Like the boy throwing starfish. Each day, you decide to become better. Maybe there are somethings you could start doing . . . pick up one piece of trash as you walk, offer a compliment, let that car merge ahead of you, don’t leave church so quickly but linger a bit. Or maybe it’s something you stop doing . . . stop looking at Social Media so often, stop complaining about THOSE people and go chat with them, stop staying stuck in only focusing on the what is not working so well.
Think of winter time. Think of a heavy snowfall. Think of a tree branch that is covered with snow and it’s almost ready to break. And then there’s the ONE snowflake that comes down and lands on the branch and it breaks. It changes forever. Maybe your one little action is that snowflake that could change the world.
Jesus fed the 5,000 with so little. Miracles still happen. And they start in little ways. I would like to imagine that the man in the story starting throwing starfish with the boy [I throw another starfish into congregation] Perhaps the world is waiting today for the miracle that is you. Go live the Eucharist.