Communion: a Work in Progress
Homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
June 14, 2020
In a homily for this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Pope Francis said, “We are gathered round the table of the Lord, the table of the Eucharistic sacrifice, in which he once again gives us his Body and makes present the one sacrifice of the Cross. It is in listening to his word, in nourishing ourselves with his Body and Blood that he moves us from being a multitude to being a community, from anonymity to communion. The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion that brings us out of our individualism so that we may follow him together, living out our faith in him.”
I like the image of moving from a multitude to a community, from a mob to a family, as it were. I have a favorite story that comes from a village on a South Pacific Island, where a missionary made his monthly visit to celebrate the Mass, baptize children and new initiates, witness marriages, anoint the sick and pray for the recently deceased.
By tradition, the village chief is the first to greet the padre when he steps on land. The two of them embrace, then the chieftain gives the priest a clump of dune grass. The priest returns the clump of grass to the chief, who then turns and gives it to the person next to him. According to island custom, the clump of grass is a sacred reminder of God’s presence to the people who live within the vast ocean about them. The islanders consider it a kind of symbol of harmony and peace. This sacred clump of grass passes from one villager to another, throughout the entire village, until it returns to the chief, who then presents it to the priest, completing the ritual. The custom symbolizes that the villagers are in harmony with one another and are at peace. It is at this point that the Mass can begin, and not before.
This lovely story illustrates that the islanders understand the Eucharist. They are not a multitude or a mob, they are not a gathering of individuals who happen to be in proximity. They are very conscious of the fact that to have communion (think of that word) you have to be at harmony and peace. I see that as the goal that is always before us as a Eucharistic community.
On the other hand, the Eucharist is also a food, a spiritual nourishment that helps us to move in the direction of the ideal. Again, Pope Francis expresses this very well. Here is what the Holy Father teaches: “Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community….The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators. But the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.”
So, I guess if you put these insights together, you could say that we are a mob on the way toward becoming a community. We desire to live in harmony and peace, but we know that we often fail and fall short. We’re a work in progress. There’s a wonderful saying that I’ve seen on t-shirts and the like: “Be patient; God isn’t finished with me yet.”
We live between the ideal and the reality. We reach for and long for a community that has learned to live in harmony and peace. And yet we are human, sometimes disappointingly so. We fall short. But we don’t quit. We’re on the way to becoming God’s community. We trust that, little by little, it can happen because, if we are truly open, if we let God do his thing, we know that God isn’t finished with us yet. Our partaking of the Eucharist is a powerful medicine for the hopeful, and nourishment for the weak. We are a community, a communion, in progress.