corpus christi C 2013

There are two perspectives, two ways of looking which I would like to reflect with you in our gospel today.

The first perspective is the perspective of the boy and even of the disciples.  Five loaves and two fishes are all we have.  It is a perspective, an observation of one who is conscious of the little that he has.  It is not much.  It is just a little, so little in fact that it really won’t make a difference to the present need.  There is no pretension in the observation.  It is not pa-humble-humble.  It is just a simple statement of fact, coming from an acceptance of a reality, the reality that what I have is little and perhaps even insignificant.

I am bringing this up because we have lost somehow this perspective, the perspective of our own littleness, the perspective of our own nothingness. Even in the stark reality of our want, even in the glaring sight of our lack and our obvious deficiencies, we still resort to coping mechanisms, to denials and pretensions in the hope of covering up our own littleness. The statement “five loaves and two fishes are all we have” is not just a statement of fact.  It is also a statement of loathing, of somebody who cannot accept forthright one’s lack.  It is always a human experience to be on the defensive when we fall short of what is expected. 

The second perspective is the perspective of Jesus.  He saw the five loaves and two fishes.  He heard their hesitancy and misgivings.  But Jesus accepts them; Jesus blesses them; and the little that they have becomes more than enough.  In the gospel we are taught that it is only through Jesus that our nothingness becomes something.  It is only in God that our lack becomes sufficient; it is only in God that our shortfall becomes adequate; it is only in God where man’s littleness becomes greatness.  Only in God and only in Jesus.

We cannot solve our inadequacy by cheating, we cannot solve our incapacity by stealing, we cannot address our helplessness by pretending to be strong.  Only in Jesus can we find strength in our weakness, only in God can we find fulfilment and completeness in our lack and limitations.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Corpus Christi.  We celebrate the faith that teaches us that a simple bread made of ordinary flour mixed with water can become holy, so holy in fact that it becomes the body of Christ.  We celebrate the faith that teaches us that a cheap red wine can become the most precious blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for our salvation.  We celebrate the faith that teaches us that a priest like me so ordinary, a sinner just like anybody can become the instrument that would change the ordinary into something extraordinary on this altar.  We celebrate the faith that teaches us that a person like you so insignificant, a person so small can be the very reason why God in Jesus would give himself as food for your soul and for your immortality.  We celebrate the faith that teaches us that God chose to live with us, in the silence of our chapels and churches, and in the innermost part of our hearts and being, despite our unworthiness and even despite our ugliness.  We celebrate the faith that has shown us the ways of God –that in God the little becomes great, the ordinary becomes extraordinary, the sinner becomes a saint, the limited and lacking become complete, the weak becomes strong, the ugly becomes beautiful.  Only in God and only in Jesus.

It is said that when St. Augustine gives Holy Communion to the people he would sometimes change the formula.  Instead of saying “the body of Christ” he would sometimes say “remember who you are.”  “Remember who you are.”   Who are you?  Who are we?  We are nothing, we have nothing apart from Christ.  We are who we are because of what Jesus has done for us.