06/10/2026
HOMILY
Rev. Kevin V. Madigan
Church of St, Thomas More, NYC
June 7, 2026:10:00 a.m., noon, 5:45 p.m.
Solemnity of Corpus Christi 2026. John 6:51-58
Many years ago, when I was just nine years old, I went with my family on a trip to Ireland. On the first Sunday that we were there we went, as expected, to Mass in the local parish church. As I approached the entrance of the church, I saw a group of men standing just outside the front door, smoking ci******es and, from time to time, chatting with each other. It was sometime later that I learned they were, in fact, fulfilling their Sunday obligation which, as stated in canon (church) law, was to “hear” Mass. The doors of the church were wide open, so the priest’s voice could be heard quite clearly. Technically they were “attending” Mass, but in a minimal manner. Today’s feast of Corpus Christi might be a good time to reflect what we should be doing as we gather for worship.
First, we might consider how we got to where we are today, from the time that the first Christians gathered for worship. When still a very small segment of the general population, Christians would gather in the members’ homes to celebrate the Eucharist. Later, when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, people came forward to be baptized in large numbers. To such a degree, that the emperor gave Christians the right to use public buildings, called basilicas, for worship. Where formerly the government official would conduct business in the front of the building on a raised platform, now, in these same buildings, the priest would lead in the celebration of Mass from that same platform. We can see the beginning of a movement away from the participation of a small group of Christians around a table to what is becoming a spectator performance. The goal of the Second Vatican Council was to retrieve as much as possible a sense of the active participation of all the worshippers, while also removing some of the encrustations of centuries past.
We begin the Mass with a hymn, not to greet the priest as, I sometimes hear while on vacation, but to be united in one voice as a worshipping community, not a collection of isolated individuals. The Penitential Rite reminds us that despite our moral failure or how much we may have screwed things up, we are not disqualified from the Sacred Mystery we are about to enter into. In the Liturgy of the Word where we hear of the acts of God in the history of the Jews, but most especially in the life of Jesus. We respond in reciting the Creed. We go on to pray for the needs of people both near and far.
Then we have the most sacred part of the Mass. The Eucharist Prayer begins with a Preface, often setting the theme for what we are about to do, and ends with the “Great Amen.” Let me begin by saying that I see it as my mission in life to hide the handbells that altar servers used to ring. They are not supposed to be rung then. Why, because in the past they were rung at the wrong time, at the moment when the priest says, “This is my Body” and “This is My Blood.” These are the words of the institution of the Eucharist, the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper. The whole Eucharistic Prayer is the consecration, in which the whole worshipping community plays an active role. The priest alone does not possess some “super power.” Rather, he voices the prayer of the whole congregation, invoking the Holy Spirit to transform the material elements into the Real Presence of Christ. That is the essential part. Then, we give thanks to God that we all have been found worthy to take part as “ministers.” Not just the priest, with some “super power,” but all in the community are playing a part, again, as “ministers” of the Eucharist, praying that the risen Christ be available to us under the forms of bread and wine. Then, we pray that the church through the world might live in unity and peace, for those who have gone before us in faith, and that one day we might be joined with all the saints. We end with the “Great Amen.” It is our enthusiastic, joyful “Yes” to all the words we have just heard the priest recite, and which all have prayed silently with him. All have been privileged to take an active part, not just hear and observe.
The Mass is the celebration of Jesus’ death on the cross. All of Jesus’ life can be seen as a prayer, a prayer in which He was constantly attuned to the will of the One whom He called “Father.” His death on Calvary is the fullest expression of that unity, as He gives Himself to the Father. It is not the case, as some medieval theologians would declare, that the Father required Jesus’ death on the cross to atone for the sins of humankind. There is no violence in God. It was not God who needed the cross, but we human beings who needed that Jesus die on the cross, that we might see how immense is that Divine Love that Jesus would allow Himself to be exposed to such cruelty and still forgive His torturers. The Cross reveals that God’s love is always there, inviting us back, even in the most despicable of actions. In the Mass we are united in the prayer of Jesus that transcends space and time, so that this Divine Love can touch and transform our hearts. Again, it is in the “Great Amen” that we ratify and make our own the great mystery of Divine Love in which we have been invited to take part.
Today’s Gospel passage illustrates this theme. Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you.” These words were so upsetting to His followers who would not consume the blood of animals, much less human blood, that some walked away bewildered by what He had said. What was the point that Jesus was trying to make? The word for “eat” here was not the usual word for “eating a meal,” but something more like chew, devour, something more like what an animal grazing would do. The use of this particular meaning of “eat” connects with Jesus presented in John’s Gospel as the Word of God, as the Wisdom of God incarnate. Even in the English language we have the expression to “chew on something,” as when some sort of advice is being offered for consideration. It means to take it in, absorb it completely, make it a part of one’s very self. In the Eucharist, then, Jesus is offering Himself to us as the Wisdom of God, to be taken in by us in the totality of who He is, under the aspect of nourishment. Our receiving of the Eucharist is a sharing in His life that our life might become more like His, more attuned to the Father’s will, in short, more loving. The Church has always affirmed faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist as a sacramental presence, not a physical presence. We should not think of ourselves as cannibals.
Our receiving of the Eucharist is our sharing in Jesus’ life of love. Let us truly involve ourselves in thanksgiving for that great gift that is being offered to us, and not just watch and listen.
ART: Corpus Christi Carpet São Manuel, São Paolo Brazil 2025
