[This homily was written for the Corpus Christi Mass at my high school's 50th Reunion.]
Those of us from the Class of '65.
And any of us baby boomers.
Have heard our parents described as the Greatest Generation
And they were great.
They accelerated civilization's steady advances in knowledge, science and arts.
And they did that despite struggling through the Great Depression.
And fighting the Second World War.
They knew hardship and sacrifice, and service.
Not least of all, they raised us.
And we began to join them, contribute with them in their later achievements.
Like putting a man on the moon.
Beginning to break down some of our country's racial and gender discrimination.
What will be recognized as the great achievements of our generation?
Certainly more advancements in science and technology.
Maybe attention to the environment.
Adaptation to a global economy.
Hopefully, further progress in honoring human dignity.
Another important transition began in our parents' generation and carried into our own.
That was the change taking place in our Church.
In those early 1960's while we were coming into adulthood here at Northwest,
Elders from our parents' generation—and the generation before them—
Were wrapping up the work of Vatican II.
Giving us the Mass in English, lectors, extraordinary ministers, permanent deacons.
Clarifying, or even evolving, the structures and roles within the Church.
Setting out a new Constitution and a more inclusive definition of the People of God.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi—the Body of Christ.
It's a time to reflect on what we mean when we speak of that Body of Christ.
Of course, there's the Sacrament, the Eucharist, Holy Communion.
Actually, the Feast is now called The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
That pretty much points to the Sacrament.
As a little aside, we have two major American cities named after this Feast Day.
Both named by Spanish explorers.
Not only Texas’ Corpus Christi but also, more specifically stressing the Eucharist, California’s capitol, Sacramento.
Baptism could be considered the most important of the seven sacraments.
And yet it's the Eucharist that was called Sacramento—The Sacrament.
And indeed, it is The Sacrament that feeds us and sustains us.
Our generation revived the old phrase, You are what you eat.
And that should be as much a call to the Eucharist
As it is to healthful, wholesome, worldly food.
In fact, the origin of the phrase has been traced to a 1500's sermon on the Eucharist.
This food is available to us every day.
And there's a risk that we come to take it for granted—fail to fully appreciate it.
Active, alert participation in the full ritual is one way to avoid that.
We can offer ourselves along with our gifts of bread and wine.
The work of human hands.
We can see ourselves becoming part of the sacrifice
As we mingle a few drops of water into the wine.
And say, By the mixture of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.
We can join he Priest as he calls on God to transform those gifts
Into the body and blood of Christ.
And God does.
As we come forward to receive, the priest or minister says the Body of Christ.
Before Vatican II the priest (and only the priest) said Corpus Christi.
And we say Amen to confirm our belief that this is indeed the body/blood of Christ.
We do need to believe that.
We can't fully understand how this is actually the body and blood of Christ.
We simply have to have faith that it is, accept that it is.
Believe that it is.
We need to be properly disposed to receive it.
We don't want to be either too lax or too stringent with ourselves.
We don't want to unnecessarily deprive ourselves of the spiritual nourishment.
But at the same time, we can't disrespect the Sacrament.
If there is some real impediment that prevents us from receiving the sacrament
we can still make a Spiritual Communion.
Praying something like:
Lord Jesus I believe you are truly present in this most blessed sacrament.
I love you above all else and long to have you enter my soul.
As you come in Holy Communion, please come to me in Spirit.
I embrace you as already there and unite myself entirely with you.
Grant that I may never be separated from you.
As Pope Francis recently said
The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect,
But a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.
Corpus Christi, The Sacrament, is closely linked to a second meaning of
the Body of Christ.
The Church is the Body of Christ.
We, the members, are the Church.
We are the Body of Christ in this world.
His Spirit lives within us, but we are his physical presence in the world.
We are the hands and feet to perform his service, to carry his Word.
The Sacrament gives us the strength and the ability to carry out that mission.
More and more we become what we eat.
More and more, we are transformed.
Pope Francis was criticized by some of the Cardinals and Bishops.
They warned that he was perhaps inviting too much change in the Church.
He responded that the Spirit is very active right now.
Let the Spirit work.
Let's listen to the Spirit, let's see if He wants to lead us somewhere.
Perhaps this will be another great achievement of our generation.
Many of us are near the point where much of our secular work is done.
But our generation still has a couple decades of service left for this world.
We've seen a lot over the past 68 years.
We now have the perspective to see what's truly important.
We're now the ones with the wisdom, the experience.
We have the time, the opportunity, to step back and think.
Meditate, contemplate, attend to our spiritual growth.
Perhaps as the Body of Christ and nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ,
We can help our generation lead the world to a new awakening.
A new spirit of love of God and neighbor.
If we can do that, ours will be a truly great generation.
