Spiritus Sanctus

Corpus Christi
Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16 | Psalm 147:12-15,19-20 | 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 | John 6:51-58

Last night, I broke bread with my wife, my goddaughter, her husband, and her family. The six of us had a full meal, followed by a long conversation on many different subjects, and a quick video of her wedding that we missed while travelling last year.

It was a wonderful and most invigorating evening, and doubly appropriate as a precursor to today’s feast, both literally and metaphorically.

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Such gastronomic gatherings of laughter and love are a rarity for most of us, with lunch and dinner usually being treated as mere physical energy sources, ignoring the opportunity for spiritual recharges and reconnections too.

It’s therefore not surprising (and quite distressing) that many of us approach the Eucharist in the same way, going through the motions of accepting and gulping down a plain wafer, then rushing off to take care of other worldly matters.

Oh, to give such marvelous manna the respect it deserves, as spiritual strength for life’s journey.

Oh, to spend time contemplating this wondrous gift from Christ Jesus, freely offered and abundantly shared.

Oh, to recognize the awesome responsibility that consuming this bread foists upon us—that we are in turn to be broken for others in service and love, reflections of the loving God to those in need of hope.

This bread that we share is the Body of Christ,
This cup of blessing His Blood.
We who come to this table bring all our wounds to be healed.
When we love one another as Christ has loved us,
We become God’s daughters and sons.
We become for each other the bread, the cup,
The presence of Christ revealed.

Amen.

Friday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
2 Corinthians 4:7-15 | Psalm 115(116):10-11,15-18 | Matthew 5:27-32

Always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10)

We carry in our body the death of Jesus…

the condemnation of others who do not share our faith,

the jealousy of those who really want to see us fall,

the cruelty of physical and emotional abuse by others, and self-inflicted harm through our own bad habits,

…so that the life of Jesus may also be seen…

the steadfastness of our belief,

the determination to do what is right in the sight of God,

the freedom to shed the shackles of sin and temptation,

if we so choose.

I’m reminded of President John F. Kennedy’s famous moon speech, but the words I hear in my head are slightly different:

We choose to do God’s will! We choose to do God’s will in this life and do the related things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win. Pater, fiat voluntas tua! (Father, Your will be done!)

How beautiful the will of God, that He created us with the supreme gift of free will.

How beautiful the examplar of Jesus Christ, who suffered all our human frailties, yet steadfastly aligned His will to the Father’s, always and everywhere.

How beautiful our own purpose, when we first discern God’s purpose in us, and make it so.

Amen.

Thursday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1,3-6 | Psalm 84(85):9-14(Thu10) | Matthew 5:20-26

Even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:15-16)

This curious reference to Moses’ veil brought me back to Exodus. After Moses begs forgiveness from God for the Israelites’ faithlessness, he spends 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai, subsisting only on the glory of God. Upon his return with the second set of Commandments tablets:

he did not know that the skin on his face was radiant after speaking with the Lord. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him. (Exodus 34:29-30)

Eventually, Moses would wear a veil to shield the Israelites from the reflected brilliance of God’s glory, except for the times when he was relaying God’s Word to them.

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From our modern point of view, it’s easy to think of our religious ancestors as stubborn imbeciles. Who wouldn’t want to bathe in the radiance of God, even when it’s a small fraction of the real thing (as it was with Moses’ face)?

Well, we wouldn’t, to be honest.

How else can we explain our wandering minds, our inability to pay attention when the Word of God is proclaimed at the masses we attend?

How else can we explain our repeated refusal to gaze upon the transubstantiated Body of Christ, despite being commanded to Behold the Lamb of God at our Eucharistic celebrations?

How else can we explain our reluctance to arrive early to prepare ourselves for worship, our rush to leave immediately after communion, our overriding urge to “get it over with”?

When we do all this, we are no better than the Israelites of old. We too would be drawing a dark veil over our own hearts, to block out the healing rays of Divine Mercy, radiating out from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Himself.

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Yet even as we perpetrate this rudeness against the One who bled out for our sake, He still patiently waits for us to recognize our faults, to draw back the thick curtains separating us from Him, and to bask in the loving warmth of the eternal love that He promised…and continually delivers.

The Saviour is waiting to enter your heart
Why don’t you let Him come in?
There’s nothing in this world to keep you apart
What is your answer to Him?

Time after time, He has waited before
And now, He is waiting again
To see if you’re willing to open the door
O how He wants to come in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHJLmdR5gVQ

Lord, we draw a veil over our hearts, because we fear Your judgement, and the loss of our secular pleasures.

Give us the gift of honest self-examination, so that we may come to realize the terrible cost of refusing Your love.

Show us the freedom that comes from letting go of temporal temptations, and turning to You in all our worldly endeavors.

Breathe the Holy Spirit upon us, to set our hearts aflame, and burn away all that stands between us and Your Holy Presence.

For You are our Lord and our God, now and forever.

Amen.

Wednesday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
2 Corinthians 3:4-11 | Psalm 98(99):5-9 | Matthew 5:17-19

Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded, then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! (2 Corinthians 3:7-8)

On my way to work yesterday, I beheld an old lady adjusting her dentures with her tongue.

It was an awesome sight, a set of grinning teeth attached to an artificial gumline, moving around between two thin lips on a weathered face.

For everyone else around me (at least the few who didn’t have eyes glued to their screens), their general reaction would probably have been “GROSS!!!”

But to me, her utter lack of self-consciousness, coupled with the eye-catching and humorous dance of her pearly whites, was remarkably brilliant.

Make no mistake, this senior exuded more liveliness that the morose 20-somethings around me, faces perpetually frowning down into their mobiles.

I think she could teach a masterclass in the administering of spirit and life.

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In contrast, most of us administer death in our daily lives, despite our protestations to the contrary.

Perhaps not the corporal death handed out to drug offenders at Changi Prison, or even the termination of gainful employment that might have been a family’s sole lifeline.

But in our own way, we “put down” other folks through unkind words, through rejection, through turning away from those in need.

We can certainly do better, but we must first recognize that tendency in ourselves, the tendency to deliver the equivalent of cruel headslaps for “infractions” that are mere misunderstandings at worst, not because they’re deserved, but because we can.

This feeling of power over others is devilishly seductive, a false impression of superiority over others. We are beacons of rightness, oh yes we are!

Except…we aren’t, are we?

Lord Jesus Christ, You humbled Yourself to accept the death that was administered to you. You picked up and carried mankind’s cross, not because we deserved such consideration, but because You loved us that much. Help us recognize how much spiritual death we administer in turn, and teach us to offer Spirit and life instead, in our daily words and deeds, so that all mankind may see Your boundless love through us, and in union with the whole world, we may praise and glorify God for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
2 Corinthians 1:18-22 | Psalm 118(119):129-133,135 | Matthew 5:13-16
Saint Antony of Padua, Priest, Doctor
Isaiah 61:1-3 | Psalm 88(89):2-5,21-22,25,27 | Luke 10:1-9

The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you […] was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. That is why it is ‘through him’ that we answer Amen to the praise of God. (2 Corinthians 1:19-20)

Most of us have a strange relationship with God.

Stupid parents, can’t control their kids. How can I pray with all their noise?

I knew coming for Eucharistic adoration was a waste of time. How can I hear God when that clown in the corner is snoring?!?!

“The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed”zzzZZZZZ…

(That last bit happened to me last night. I’d come back very late from a friend’s mother’s wake, and nodded off while contemplating today’s scripture.)

Jesus, on the other hand, was ever-present in God. Even in the direst of circumstances, as His Passion unfolded on that terrible day, He still accepted His excruciating role in our salvation:

‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ (Matthew 26:39)

Jesus was God’s ultimate YES to us (John 3:16), and in turn showed us how to say YES to God.

We may always fall short in our human frailty, turning away or giving up despite our most earnest desire to be closer to God.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop striving to make our very lives a tangible YES to our Creator.

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I’m reminded of a Spanish hymn I used to sing in college. I roughly understood the lyrics at the time (the Spanish words alternated with their English translation), but it took over 25 years to really understand their import.

Digo “Si,”Señor,
en tiempos malos y en tiempos buenos.
Digo “Si,”Señor,
a todo lo que hablas.

Let us look deep into our hearts, and reorient our priorities, our desires and fears, to the One, the Everlasting, the Eternal YES.

I say “Yes,” my Lord,
in all the good times, through all the bad times.
I say “Yes,” my Lord,
to every word you speak.

Then, and only then, can we answer with all our heart, our soul, our strength and will:

Amen.