At this Mass we celebrate the First Communion of sixteen youngsters
from our parish. If you count this weekend and next weekend, we are
celebrating First Communion for two hundred five young parishoners.
Good time to talk about Communion.
The amazing thing is that Jesus comes to us in a meal, in bread and
wine. Now we know that Jesus comes to us in the poor. Jesus comes to
us in our gathering. Jesus comes to us in the Word of Scripture.
Jesus comes to us in the Sacrament of Baptism. But the most unique,
overwhelming and amazing way that Jesus comes to us is in the abiding
presence of the consecrated bread and wine of Communion. Jesus comes
to us in a meal. That’s amazing but it is not surprising. Before his
death and resurrection, Jesus met people again and again in a meal.
They dined with him and he dined with them, so much so that he was
criticized, “This man welcomes sinners, eats with them.” And, after
his death and resurrection, how did they meet the Risen Jesus? In the
upper room where they gathered for a meal, on the road to Emmaus when
they broke bread together, by the Sea of Galilee when they sat by a
charcoal fire and ate together. Not only before his death and
resurrection and after his resurrection, but now, today, Jesus comes
to us in a sacred meal. From the day of the Last Supper to today, he
says, “Do this in memory of me,” an explicit order to do this in
memory of him, and a two thousand year experience, practice, and
belief, doing this in his memory.
But what do we mean and what do we understand when Jesus says, “Do
this?” What is the “this?” Well, it means do this ceremony so that
you won’t forget me. Yes, that’s true, but it’s more than that. It
means share this symbol as a powerful reminder of my presence among
you. It means that, but it means more than that also. It means do
this in memory of me. It means the real presence of Jesus, not as the
thing, but as the person. We get fooled sometimes by the language
that is Aramaic, “This is my body. This is my blood,” which, put in
good English, would say, “This is myself. This is my life, given for
you.” We are not talking about a cadaver and body fluids. We are
talking about the real person of Jesus, alive, personal and present
to us, experienced just as he was experienced by Mary Magdalene, by
Peter, by John the beloved disciple, by Thomas who had his doubts.
They were confused but they were certain it was Jesus and he was with
them. And we are sure of the same thing when we receive the
consecrated bread of communion. How can it be?
How can it be? Well, it’s a little risky to try to explain and
explore such a profound reality, but let me give you two ways that
are helpful for me personally. One, is the way of matter and the
other is the way of meaning. The way of matter: Now I have to be
very careful here because the Church has a traditional teaching
called Transubstantiation. How many here have heard the word,
“Transubstantiation?” Yeah, especially if you are older, you know the
word “transubstantiation.” And it means there is an enormous deep
change that takes place but that it is not in the physical element.
It is not in the matter. It is not in the molecule. It is not in the
material. The change is deeper and more profound than that. So, when
I say one way of understanding the real presence of Jesus in
communion is the way of matter, I have to be a little careful. But I
have to share with you what I find amazing and overwhelming and
wonderful. It’s teaching that comes from people like Albert Einstein
and Edwin Hubble and Stephen Hawking. They establish for us, very
clearly, from the beginning that matter and energy are completely
interchangeable. Matter and energy, previously assumed to be utterly
different entities, were shown first by Einstein to be
interchangeable, to be very much the same by his famous equation of E = mc2.
Last time I thought about matter and energy being suffused
and being one was when I thought about the Resurrection of Jesus.
It’s amazing what they tell us about our universe. Do you know that
all the atoms of my body and all the atoms of your bodies were once
part of an exploding supernova, that the truth and reality is that we
come from stardom. The mysteries of the universe are awesome. Because
of our God, the universe knows where it’s going. Our universe is
awesome and the presence of Jesus Christ, the Risen Christ, here in
reality is true and real. That’s the way of matter. That helps me
understand the Real Presence.
Another way (I call it a way of Meaning), you know, when we look at
communion that is consecrated and shared in the Eucharist, it still
looks the same. It still tastes the same. It still feels the same. It
still has the same shape and flavor, unchanged, as simple plain
bread. What helps me is the meaning. Take, for example, the meaning
of a mother’s wedding ring.... A mother who once received that ring
on her wedding day and then carried it with her, washing, cooking,
loving and suffering, working and caring for fifty years, fifty years
of memories, fifty years of amazing moments, of birth, of life and
of death. And let’s say she loses it. And her youngsters, her
children, come to her rescue by going and buying another ring, of the
same weight, the same shape, the same design, the same carats, and
she appreciates it. But it is not the same. It is not the same ring
at all. That ring that she lost was utterly changed by a lifetime of
love and experience. The bread of communion, brought up early in the
Mass, just wheat and water, ordinary bread, but with the faith of the
people, prayer of the Eucharist and the power of God, it becomes
utterly and totally changed and remains changed. And through the
blessed bread and wine of communion, Christ dines with us and we dine
with him, and that bread is never the same, utterly changed. So after
Communion, if there are communion hosts and wafers left over, we
place them in the tabernacle and keep them as sacred. Not only is the
bread utterly changed, we are utterly changed. As St. Augustine said,
“We become what we receive. We become who we receive. We are called
to be part of the Body of Christ.” Unbelievable! Unbelievable, but
true. Unbelievable, but experienced as true for centuries by saints
and sinners, by poets and prophets, by mystics and just ordinary
folks. Unbelievable, but real. Unbelievable, but true. Welcome to the
table of the Lord. Welcome to the table!
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