- 3rd Sunday of Easter -

Homily by: Fr. Robin Kohing, S.J.

The two disciples who had been walking to Emmaus "told what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." (Lk 24.35) The breaking of the bread is Luke's term for the Eucharist. Today, six children from our parish received the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, for the first time. We use that phrase, the Body of Christ, in three ways, and they are all connected to what happened this morning.

First, of course, and most basically, the Body of Christ is the body of Jesus as he walked on earth. It is the body that began as a single cell when the Son of God became human inside his mother, Mary, and then developed inside her womb. It is the body that was laid in a manger at Bethlehem. It is the body of the boy of Nazareth, taking in Mary's food and finding strength to help Joseph in his carpenter's work. It is the body of the boy Jesus, playing games with the boys and girls of his neighbourhood. It is the body that felt the water wash over it when John baptised him in the Jordan river. It is the body whose hands touched people who were sick and healed them. It is the body that got tired and needed to sit down near a well. It is the body from which tears flowed at the grave of his friend Lazarus. It is the body that Judas kissed when he betrayed Jesus. It is the body that was whipped and crowned with thorns and spat upon, the body that carried the heavy load of the cross, the body that was stripped and nailed to the cross, the body that died on that cross, and then was pierced with a spear until all the blood was gone and only water came out. It is the body that was raised up to new life in the Resurrection and is now with the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven. This is the first meaning of the Body of Christ - the body of Jesus of Nazareth, the Word made flesh, fully God and fully human.

Secondly, the Body of Christ is the Church, the people of God, the community of all those who believe in Jesus. St Paul talks about how together we are the Body of Christ, and each individual one of us is a part of that Body (1 Cor 12.27). When Christ returns to the Father at the Ascension, it is the Church that becomes the living presence of Christ in the world - his hands and feet and voice - tangible, real, visible. This Body of Christ is made up of all those who have believed in Christ from the very beginning until now: Jesus' mother Mary, the first to believe in him; of the apostles who walked with him and passed on his message; of Mary Magdalene who carried the message of his Resurrection. It is made up of all those who came to believe in Jesus over the centuries, in every time and place - all the martyrs who gave their lives for Jesus, so much did they love him; all the fathers and mothers, like St Monica, who loved their children and led them to faith in Jesus; all those ordinary Christians who prayed and suffered and loved and served and believed and led simple, humble lives in union with Jesus. It is made up of the Pope, who leads our universal Church. In a special way, it is made up of the least of Jesus' brothers and sisters, the weakest members of the Body, those who suffer with Christ - in Sudan, receiving communion while listening if planes are coming to drop bombs on them; people with disabilities, loving and being loved in their frailty; in Latin America, where there are so few priests, Christians drawing strength from the Word of God as they wait long periods until they can receive Communion again; Christians facing poverty, injustice or mockery in so many places. This is the living Body of Christ - the tangible presence of Jesus in the world. As we receive Communion, we are united to them all. With Jesus, they become part of us, part of our concern, of our love, of our community - all those who've gone before us, and all those believing today, in every part of the world, a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us (Heb 12.1) - the Body of Christ.

But Jesus knew we could not be his Body by our own power. He knew well our frailty and our sin - that we would need to be transformed into his Body. And so he left us this sacrament of his Body to work that transformation in us. That is what those six children received in Communion today for the first time - the living body of Christ. This very same body is what we receive at every Mass. That is the third meaning of the Body of Christ. Jesus held up a piece of ordinary bread and said, "This is my body." If I did that, you would rightly think I was even crazier than you had thought. But it's Jesus who says it, and Jesus is God. It's the same God who created the universe who now says, "This is my body." And God's word creates reality. So when Jesus, who is God, says, "This is my body," that is the new reality that comes into being.

We don't understand fully how this can be. What's easier to understand is why Jesus did this. It's the same explanation of why God does anything - because He loves us. Jesus gave us this gift the night he was betrayed. All his life he had been revealing the Father's love for us. He was now ready for us even to kill him to show us that nothing could stop that love. But he knew that we'd forget soon enough, and he wanted us to have a way of remembering, something we could touch and experience. So, he gave us his body in the form of bread, of food. It shows us how close He wants to get to us. Not only as close as a friend sitting across from us. Not only as close as parents embracing their baby. Not only as close, even, as husband and wife in the most intimate sexual union. For food enters inside me, is broken down and enters into my bloodstream. It travels all around my body, strengthening and becoming part of every tiny cell in my body. That's how close Jesus comes to us in Communion - part of every living cell of my body, and part of my very spirit. Because he wants me to know that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate me from him (Rom 8:35ff).

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