(3/3) This is My Body: Pattern for the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Church

This is the third of three sermons I recently preached for the annual Forty Hours Devotion of Saint Nicholas Parish in Walnutport (Northampton County, Diocese of Allentown), edited for clarity. Below is a keepsake of the event that I hoped would help people get the gist of the talks as a whole.

The Lord Jesus offered Himself for the life of the world. He uttered the words, “This is My Body,” and made them the pattern for all offering-of-self. He said those words, of course, in the Upper Room on the night before His death. In a certain sense, Jesus also said those words upon the Cross: “This is My Body, which will be given up for you."

Humanly speaking, Jesus learned those words at home—and that pattern of action. He learned from His holy mother, who at the angel’s invitation presented herself body and soul to the Lord’s service. Her body provided His Body. Joseph, too, sacrificed his ambitions, his expectations and plans, to the life of his Son as it so strangely unfolded. Joseph gave himself up for Jesus—for his own salvation, for Mary's, and ours. Consider the reading from Ephesians: "He gave gifts to men." Hence the parents of God merit our ceaseless gratitude.

Fittingly, then, today we consider how the “Sacraments of Communion and Mission” or “Sacraments of Vocation” consecrate disciples in body and soul for the formidable task of building up Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church.

We are talking about the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders. In the previous sacraments we saw how God has conferred power by the Laying on of Hands. This physical gesture shows how divine grace comes to us “incarnationally,” that is, the spiritual being embodied in the material. God the Son not only became flesh, He became food for flesh, under the appearances of bread and wine. God chose to give us Himself through bread, wine, water, oil, words, gestures—and people.

Spouses effectively say unto one another, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” They do this in the recitation of vows, in the sexual act, in the raising of a family as God provides, and in so many other daily works and sufferings. They do it when they lead with their weaknesses, sharing honestly with each other and helping each other to grow in holiness and virtue.

One of my favorite photographs from my ordination to priesthood 19 ½ years ago, before the age of selfies, would have been impossible to take myself anyhow: my classmate and I were lying prostrate on the floor of the Cathedral while everyone sang the Litany of the Saints. Then we stood up and Bishop Cullen laid his hands on our heads. The other bishop and priests gathered for the occasion did the same. That ancient practice once again conveyed divine purpose and power.

In the first moment, Fr. Garcia-Almodóvar and I effectively said to the Lord and to His Church, “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” In that ceremony, the laying-down of our bodies was somewhat romantic, but believe me, there have been a few moments since, where the romance wore off. Married couples, you may have similar experiences.

The romance gives way to the reality in the priest’s daily care and direction for the Church—as a whole, and according to that portion entrusted to him. Paying bills, binding wounds, changing lightbulbs, praying for those in your trust. Participants in Holy Orders and Marriage do many of the same things as they participate in the growth of holiness and virtue. They are complementary Sacraments that build up the Mystical Body of Christ, especially through the Word and Sacraments commonly available to all disciples. (And most Eastern Christian priests, Catholic and Orthodox, share in both Marriage and Holy Orders.)

[Editor's Note: I cannot recall how I ended the sermon. Guess you had to be there!]

(1/3) This is My Body: Pattern for the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Church

This is the first of three sermons delivered on the occasion of the annual Forty Hours Devotion of Saint Nicholas Parish in Walnutport (Northampton County, Diocese of Allentown). The collection is called, This Is My Body: Pattern for the Mass, the Sacraments, and the Church. The contents are presented 99.8% as-delivered.

For the sake of the original audience, by the third night I had developed an outline of the schema which I printed on ticket paper; the smaller portion of the ticket contains a memento of the occasion. I display it below for your own clarity.

Knowing that these sermons are hereby available to a larger audience, I welcome, and preemptively resent, any critique.

Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist are considered the “Sacraments of Initiation,” because they make Catholics of their recipients. These Sacraments involve the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. In Baptism, the priest or deacon extends his hands to sign the child with the Cross. In Confirmation, the Bishop extends his hands over the Confirmandi to beg for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them, which he seals by applying Sacred Chrism on their foreheads.

When it comes to the Eucharist, the priest extends his hands over the gifts, calling down the Holy Spirit to transform them into the Lord’s Body and Blood in a moment called the epiclesis, the “calling-down-upon.” Often this has been marked by ringing of bells, previously to alert the faithful and the musicians it was taking place. What the General Instruction of the Roman Missal calls the “Consecratory Epiclesis,” “implores the power of the Holy Spirit, that the gifts offered by human hands be consecrated, that is, become Christ’s Body and Blood” (79).

There is a second moment in which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit: it takes place after the Consecration, and is called the “Communion Epiclesis.” His hands are extended throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, from after the Consecration onward. Here, the same Holy Spirit Who has incarnated the Divine Son in the womb of the Virgin Mother, the same Holy Spirit Who has transformed man-made bread and wine into that very Divine Son, now descends again so that “the unblemished sacrificial Victim to be consumed in Communion may be for the salvation of those who will partake of it” (79). 

Salvation is shown to be more than a divinely weighted blanket being thrown over us; it is, rather, our being born from above and from within, by the same Holy Spirit. He makes us a “new creation” restored to unity with the Triune God, with the Communion of Saints, within ourselves, and with all of creation.

As Our Lord makes bread and wine His Eucharistic Body by the Holy Spirit’s power, by that same Power He makes us members of His Church: “Believe what you see, see what you believe and become what you are: the Body of Christ” (St. Augustine).

Only once in a lifetime can one receive the first two Sacraments of Initiation—only once can one be baptized and confirmed. Note for anyone who became Catholic after having been “confirmed” in another Christian denomination: no other church save the Orthodox consider Confirmation a Sacrament, which is why we confirm converts. The Orthodox do chrismate converts from Catholicism, though as a sign of unification with them and not as a repudiation of the validity of our sacraments—at least depending on who you talk to. The Catholic Church does not re-confirm converts from Orthodoxy.

As for the Eucharist, of course, one should receive that Sacrament of Initiation worthily and often. Perhaps only the first reception of Holy Communion is an “initiation” as such, while every subsequent worthy Communion serves to deepen our identity. Hence our ongoing need to keep clean the Temple that would receive God Himself as its Guest—which is where we will pick up tomorrow.

Of Symmetry and Sanctity

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She died at the age of 24 from tuberculosis, as a cloistered Carmelite nun who scarcely knew the outside world after entering the order; but her desires to proclaim the Gospel and connect people with Christ's Mystical Body have merited her not only a place in heaven, but the patronage of the Church's missionary activity.

To proclaim the Gospel and to connect people with Christ's Mystical Body: that is the goal of every baptized Christian, and a fortiori of every priest. I recall hearing of St. Thérèse's love for priests, indeed of a kind of holy envy for them--certainly a profound reverence for their proximity to things divine. She offered her life for priests, for which I am most grateful.

Twenty years ago today I signed and mailed my application for seminary studies to the Diocese of Allentown. Today, a priest for ten years and almost four months, I participate in the solemn closing of my parish's Forty Hours Devotion. Much has transpired between then and now: all, I trust, to God's glory and the sanctification of His people.

The sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders are "Sacraments of Communion and Mission" because they orient their participants toward the eternal (and temporal) fulfillment--salvation--of others. I would say, "unlike the other sacraments," but that wouldn't be true. Every sacrament orients its participants toward the salvation of others, and thus to their own salvation.

Now, vowed religious life is not a sacrament, but there are real parallels between the purified and elevated commitment ("consecration") of the priest and the spouse, and of vowed religious. Perhaps the details of comparison are best left to the theologians and canonists.

I preached on the readings of the day as they relate to the life of the Little Flower. Zechariah foretold an eager response to the message of salvation among the Gentiles, who until his time were not roundly expected to repent and convert. Notice the palpable excitement ascribed to the nations: "...men of every nationality...shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"

Perhaps in this light we can salvage some worth from the enthusiasm of James and John, who express their disfavor of hostile Samaritans who would not welcome Jesus and company along their Holy Land Tour. Apparently the journey to His passion and death should encounter a sort of sneak preview along the way.

"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume them?" As if Jesus couldn't do that Himself if He wished! But He wanted to move on, though not without offering a rebuke. Now we are not privy to the precise words of that rebuke, but here is my script:

"Don't presume to know My mind concerning this situation. Don't you remember the account of Shimei, who cursed David and his officials on their way to Bahurim? How David made excuses for the man, even suggesting that the Lord Himself told him to curse the king? Let him go--mentally as well as physically. There are places to go, people to see," etc.

Jesus Himself spoke of a desire to "set the earth on fire" (Lk 12:49). One religious brother suggests that we not impede the Holy Spirit who wants to inflame our hearts with holiness and mission. This inflammation precedes and accompanies the Church's missionary activity.

Once again today we hear that Pope Francis has conducted an interview, this time with an atheist Italian journalist. Questions abound as to the accuracy of the translation (Traddutore, traditore--"The translator is a traitor--the Italians say), and a number of bloggers fear the implications of this interview. ("This isn't magisterial-level teaching!" "Too many people will misunderstand the Pope's words!" "He is watering down the uniqueness of Christ's Person and Sacrifice!") Others are encouraging people to relax and realize that the Holy Father (in imitation of Jesus) is an equal opportunity disturber.

St. Thérèse used to disturb me, too. (She still does, but she used to, too.) Too photogenic and photographed for being a cloistered Carmelite. Too pious, too impetuous--too bad! She's a saint, Chris, and you're not. Maybe you can learn something from her!

After I celebrated the 12:10pm Mass, I exposed the Blessed Sacrament to continue Adoration until the close of 40 Hours tonight at 7pm. After the usual incensation and genuflection, I noticed that the monstrance and tabor (the stand that elevates the monstrance) were not lined up just so with the Crucifix. I prepared my chalice for the next Mass and returned to the sanctuary to retrieve the Lectionary and other items, though not without stopping to reposition the tabor just so.

Then a voice came to me: "Are you more interested in symmetry than in sanctity?"

The voice of God? The late Mel Allen of "This Week in Baseball" used to say, "You make the call."

I think God was saying something to me. Upon sending out this post I shall obey His voice by donning my cassock and going down to the Church--not only to get a few more things ready for tonight's solemn closing, but also to make a visit and pray for the conversion of everyone on every side of these interviews, myself included.