Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (A) – June 11, 2023

St. Paul – Lyons, KS

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a; Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

Ite, Missa Est

So when you grow up in a nerd family like mine, one of the things you do is study Latin…beginning in third grade. Which is not something you want to brag about to your friends—found that out he hard way. But, one handy thing is that you know what random Latin phrases mean. E pluribus unum—you find that on the Great Seal of the United States, on all U.S. coins—means “one out of many.” Ad astra per aspera—motto of the state of Kansas—“to the stars through difficulties.” Carpe diem—“seize the day.” Deus fit homo ut homo fieret Deus—don’t worry about it.

One Latin phrase we need to clue in on—especially today, at this time in the year but especially at this time in our history—one Latin phrase to learn: Ite, missa est. Anyone? It means, “Go, she is sent.” Maybe more importantly, do you know where it comes from? The end of Mass, the end of our Eucharistic assembly, yeah! In the English translation we’re given options. Options like, “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” or, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” or, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” But the original? “Ite, missa est.” This doesn’t mean, “We’re finally done, you can go home now. Chiefs play at 3:25!” No. It means, “Go, she is sent.” It’s a command! “Go!”

Ok, but who is “she”? The Church, us—this people gathered around the altar, this rag-tag group of followers of Christ, all of us incorporated into Christ through baptism. But as Jesus made clear to Saul on the road to Damascus: “she,” we, the church—it is the continuation of Christ. The Church is how Christ continues to be present. That’s who “she” is. Ok, “She is sent”—sent to do what exactly? Exactly. We’re unclear about what we’re sent to do, so we’re unclear about why we exist.

Like I mentioned at Ascension and Pentecost, just like it can feel like everything is winding down for the summer, or we’re starting Ordinary Time (a.k.a. “boring time”)—just like at the end of every Mass it can feel like we’re winding down, just gonna to chill now—nothing is further from the truth! I think about it like the offseason: yeah, it’s not game time, but that doesn’t mean you do nothing, right? You have trades to make, training to do, physical and mental growth, recovery from injury maybe. The offseason isn’t game time, but it’s not “do nothing” time. It is critically important! Same here! When we are given the command, “Go, she is sent,” it’s not an announcement that “We’re done! Thanks for being here! Nothing at all ’til next week,” no. It’s an announcement, “Ok, you have encountered God himself, you have been made sharers in His life, in His mission, in His body—now GO, you are sent.” That word for “send” in Latin is the same word from which we get the word, “Mission”: missa. The word “Mass” comes from that word. The Mass—it’s a sending, it’s a “commissioning”!

Sent to Gather

To do what? Well, the mission. What is the mission? “Uuhhh what? What are you talking about?” That’s the usual response from people: “Uuuhhh, wut mission?” And if I press, people will say, “Well, I’m Catholic. So the mission is to love God (whatever that means to you), go to Mass (when it fits into my schedule), and be a good person.”

But no, the mission is clear! One day, “as he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers…And he said, ‘Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Mt 4:18-19). What’s the mission? To fish for the people, to gather the people.

Throughout history the Church has summarized Her mission into three essential parts: the Church worships God, the Church serves the poor, and the Church evangelizes. And this last one—this is the one we tend to ignore, or to think, “Yeah, that’s Fr. Michael’s job.” But no! This isn’t my job, or any one person’s job. This is our job, the Church’s job. This is the most fundamental job. Pope Paul VI said, “The Church [we, us, this group of people that follow Christ]—the Church exists in order to evangelize” (EN 14).

What is the first part of the Mass? Do you know? I’ve told you this before. Big red books, tells us what is going on, what we do—very first words, “When the people are gathered…” Not the song, not the sign of the cross: gathering. Here’s the point, five words: we are sent to gather. It’s really that simple. We are sent to gather.

The Eucharist

Why do I bring this up on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ? Well, it’s because when we talk about the Eucharist and what it is, we often stop at the definition of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist: Jesus is really, truly, and substantially present, body, blood, soul and divinity under the appearances of bread and wine. That’s true! 100%. If you don’t believe that, you aren’t Catholic. But the bigger question is why? Not only why is it so important that the Eucharist is not just a symbol, but why is it so important that Jesus gave this to us? 

Ready? Here you go: By our reception of the Eucharist, we are incorporated more and more into the one body of Christ. And because of that, when we go out into the world, it’s not just us that people encounter, but Christ through us. And when people encounter Christ, lives change, are transformed, are made new—just go read the Gospels.

If it’s just a symbol…yeah, it’s pretty dumb. But because it’s Jesus’ flesh and blood, because we are receiving him, because we are literally sharing in his life—this, what is happening here, what we are receiving here…it changes the world. We are changed, and through us the world is changed. Something happens in us, and that is carried out into the world, offered to others!

The “Why” of Our Existence

We are sent to gather: to gather people into the one body of Christ. And why is that so important? Because as Paul tells us in Colossians, “You come to fullness of life in him” (Colossians 2:10). I talk about it all the time, it’s my one homily, which I just plagiarized from St. Augustine: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Everyone, everyone who wants to most out of life is searching for Christ. Everyone who wants more in life, who can never find enough—they’re looking for Christ. G.K. Chesterton has the famous line, “Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God.”

Why are we sent? We are sent to gather. Why do we gather? So that people can come to the fullness of life, which is what each and every single person in our community is longing for.

God is SENDING you and me to take part in the greatest and the most exciting adventure that there is in life: to offer another person in our community a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. That is why we exist, that is our mission: so that every person in our community (not just us, but every person in our community) can have that life changing encounter with Jesus Christ. There isn’t some “Catholic Version” of believing in Jesus, like you can choose the Starbucks or Dunkin’ or McDonald’s or Brew or Clive’s or Casey’s version of getting your coffee! Here, in the Church, gathered around Him presence in the Eucharist—here is the fullness of the Faith, the fullness of everything Jesus Christ has given to us. Here we have access to the fullness of life.

And so we are called to be fishers of men and women; to catch people submerged in meaninglessness and sadness, drowning in their own brokenness and woundedness, suffocating in a life apart from the God who made them and loves them—and to invite them to meet Jesus Christ, to offer them a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. We are sent to gather.

The challenge for us? Invite one back. All throughout the Gospels, people don’t try to convince people of Jesus’ teachings, or force them to follow Jesus’ rules, no. People run up to their brothers and sisters, their friends, their neighbors, and they simply say, “Come and see. We have found him, the one we have been waiting for. And my life is changed.” Our job isn’t to convince, it’s to invite. Invite one back. And then let Jesus do the rest. And think: “What would someone have to do to make me feel comfortable to go to something?” “It changed my life! Everything in my life is different! You have to check this out! I’ll go with you. You can sit with me.” Right? We don’t need to convince people. We need to invite them, and accompany them. Invite one back. I can tell you: sometimes the hardest thing is walking through the door. It’s terrifying to walk into a new place where you think you don’t belong! So walk with them, accompany them. When someone new comes in the door, welcome them, help them belong. Invite one back.

Why are we sent? We are sent to gather. Why do we gather? So that people can come to the fullness of life. Where does one find the fullness of life? In Christ. Where is Christ? Here, really and truly present. Here. In the Eucharist and in his body, in this community called the Church.

Jesus isn’t going to appear to people on a cloud. Jesus walks the streets of Lyons, just like he walked the streets of Galilee. Because of the Eucharist, because you aren’t just you, because he is present and alive and at work in and through you—he continues to walk the streets, these streets. And through you, his invitation continues, “Come, follow me.” Through you, he continues to gather a people to himself.