The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – 02nd June 2024
Any family event that is celebrated with a meal and a drink is a cause for great joy and happiness. Friends and relatives, some of whom we may not have seen for a long time gather around the table to be fed, nourished and refreshed. Food is eaten, stories are told and memories are created. The transforming power of a family meal should never be ignored, dismissed or underestimated.
Jesus was very fond of eating and celebrating. There are many times in the gospels where we are told that he sat and ate with people. He sought out and ate with those who were despised and excluded; the tax collectors, the sick and the poor. This became such a feature of his daily life and ministry that some of the Pharisees and Scribes even said, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’. Nobody was excluded from the company or table of Jesus. Can we say the same today? Who are those who in our families and communities who are not allowed to gather around our table and the table of the Lord? Who have we decided do not belong because they are different from us? We need to be careful that we do not become like the Pharisees and the Scribes. Pope Francis challenges us and reminds us of this when he says in the Joy of the Gospel, ‘The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak… The Church is the House of God, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.’ This means you and me; it means all of us. We do not come to share in the Body and Blood of Jesus because we have earned it or because it is our right. We cannot demand it. We come because we are invited around the table of the Lord out of love. It is a gift freely given to us.