Homily-Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ



I am a fan of genealogy. I have done the whole genetic testing, family tree. I like to see our connections and find relationships, understand our family roots.

I believe a lot of Americans feel this way. The vast majority of us came from other countries, and we have this inherent desire to know our roots.

I wonder if it is because of our immigrant roots. I remember my grandparents talking about their own parents and the “old country”, and I was fascinated by it.

What about our spiritual roots? Our Spiritual DNA?

This is a part of our Celebration today, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

See, at our core, the very core of our being, what forms the roots of all other ways we identify ourselves, we are the children of God.
In a sense, that is all of salvation right there: freedom to be the children of God. Being Human is being a Child of God.

The trick, the spiritual life, is to live it out.

Jesus Christ is our role model, our mentor, and of course, so much more.
He as the Son of God is the blueprint for humanity.

As the Son is begotten by the Father as the Son, so we, created in the image of the Son are created to be God’s children.
This is God’s will.

Jesus incarnated God’s will. He made the Father’s will visible and present.
So that we can know it too.
Then we in turn make our humanity real and visible, within the context of our own lives.

What does it mean to be a Child of God?


As we celebrated last week, it means we are created for community, for family.
Being human means to be connected, to want to be connected to others.
Family and community are part of who we are.

We know that when this does not work well, people hurt.

Father Richard Rohr, in a recent interview with Krista Tippet, spoke of his experience as Chaplain at the jail, for over 14 years.
He spoke of the mostly men there, but some women, to whom he ministered to; and he spoke of how a common thread within them was the wound of an absent father, or father figure; broken families.

People hurt, not just in jails, but here, because they are not well connected to others; their experience of being human has been wounded.
Their literal Body and Blood has failed them.

It doesn’t even have to be because of drugs, or anything like that.
Youth are not shown love, not shown how to receive love.
Too many learn that success, therefore being human, is only about getting good grades, getting the best job, have the perfect partner. It is only about succeeding, succeeding, succeeding.
Hence the huge rates of depression among young people, and those who take their lives when they think they fail. When they do not achieve these impossible goals.


Contemplate the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That represents and symbolizes the failures of humanity, and the Father’s response to this failure?
Love, forgiveness, the wish to restart the journey again.

Being a part of God’s family, being a child of God is acknowledging we have fallen down, but then get back up and start walking again.
The Father never ever punishes us. The Father has no interest in punishing us.
The Father only wills that we reflect that goodness within.

This Body and Blood of the Son of God that we receive is the pledge of the Father’s will. It is a pledge that we always remain part of the Family of God.

We believe and we consume the very real presence, so that we will remember and make real the Father’s love: the same love that raised the Son from the dead.

We believe and we consume so that we will remember that all of us, ALL OF US, children of God, and that we can make that real through our generosity, our compassion, our kindness, our mercy.


This Gospel passage ought to shock us.
We may see the good that Jesus did in feeding all the people, after he had preached and after he had cured.
There was a failure there.

What one thing did Jesus ask of his disciples, his followers, the ones who were supposed to know him best?

They did not.
Who knows why?
Maybe they thought they lacked the skills and capacity?
Maybe they thought the people were not of their own tribes, so why bother?

They failed in generosity. mercy, hospitality.

Jesus’ response...he continues with them. He continues to show them the right way. They are still part of the family. And look at what they accomplished in the end.


We are part of something huge! We are part of a family that transcends genetics, family trees…
This is our strength. This is our being. It is lived how?

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