Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Celebrated By Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Sunday, 18th June, 2006, at 11.00am

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we come to worship the Lord present and active in our lives. Our gifts of bread and wine presented with Jesus to the Father are transformed into his Body and Blood, which we receive in Holy Communion and worship in his Real Presence in the tabernacle whenever we come to this sacred place set apart for silence and prayer.

The Lord has promised the Eucharist as the pledge of eternal life. May we remember that he is ever present for us, challenging us to walk and live with him, strengthening us to face the challenges of daily life.

Let us call to mind our sins.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, the feast of Corpus Christi, we re-live the mystery of Holy Thursday in the light of the resurrection. On Holy Thursday the Church repeats the exodus of Jesus from the upper room to the Mount of Olives to begin his passion. It is the authentic decision of the Church in prayer to keep watch with Jesus in the night of betrayal and of the indifference of many people.

Today in the light of the resurrection we see “the Lord goes ahead of you to Galilee where you will see him”. (Matthew 28:7) In Israel, Galilee was considered to be the doorway to the pagan world. In reality on the mountain in Galilee the disciples see Jesus, who tells them, “Go and make disciples of all nations. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

Whether we have a Eucharistic Procession or leave the church to go out to our daily life we remember that Jesus leads us personally outward to daily life and upward as he returns to the Father. We are people on a journey. Jesus rises to the heights of God and invites us to follow him because the true purpose of our journey through life is in the words of Saint Augustine, “Our hearts are made for you, O God, and they will never rest until they rest in you.”

At the Last Supper Jesus looked forward to death and resurrection. We are invited always to keep in mind the eternal journey that we make, following the invitation of Jesus. It is a spiritual one in which the human things that we do and say pale into insignificance in the light of the great reality of God’s loving us and calling us home.

In this year of new evangelisation, as the apostles were invited to carry Jesus to the end of the world, so the purpose of our adoration is that we will be holy and filled with Jesus’ love, and what we are will shine in the world of everyday. In procession we carry Christ present under the sign of bread to the streets of our city. We entrust the streets, homes and life to his goodness.

Many of you here today will know people who are sick. I hope that we realise how many people depend upon our prayers and sacrifices for strength. Little by little as we journey through life we realise the importance of placing under Jesus’ eyes the suffering of the sick, the loneliness of young and elderly people, temptations and fears.

It is not possible to receive the Eucharist simply as a symbol, as a piece of bread. The purpose of eating this bread is to communicate, to enter into communion with the person of the living Lord. It is a communion between the Lord and us to allow our lives to be penetrated by Him. His faithfulness to the Father, his use of gifts, his emptying of himself to the mission; this communion means my transformation and being conformed to him who is living love. It means to follow the one who goes ahead of us. Adoration and procession makes us one with Christ and brings Christ to the world.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.