I once knew a girl who grew up in an abusive home. She went on to be in a string of abusive relationships herself. With each one when asked “why do you keep doing this, why do you do this to yourself?” she would simply respond “I love him.” No matter the advice we gave, she continued down that path. It’s hard to watch someone you care for being abused. Just imagine for a moment how different the story of Jesus would have gone if He had taken the advice we give to people today? Jesus is in the most abusive relationship of all time. Constantly we cheat on Him, turn our backs on Him for other things, and then at every Mass He chooses to once again come in our midst and allow us to receive Him.
The story in today’s second reading reminds us that even the very story of His Passion includes some of that abuse. Jesus chose Judas. They journeyed together. Judas sat at His feet learning as a disciple, sharing both the good and the bad of life. In the end, Judas betrayed Him. Yet, on the very night that Jesus was in agony in the garden, just hours before the events that would lead to His painful death, St. Paul tells us “that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” When most people would have said “they are just going to break your heart. They are no good for you,” Jesus offered Himself to us and for us for all of eternity.
At every Mass, we walk forward to receive Jesus Christ into our bodies in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. As Catholics, we believe that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is no longer material matter, even if it looks like it. It is instead literally the flesh and blood of our Savior. Like the Passover lamb, we believe you must consume it, that the Sacraments are channels of grace that give us the strengthening we need to get to Heaven. That the very words of Jesus that proclaim “If you do not eat the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you” are true and pertinent always. On the very night of His betrayal, instead of rejecting those who would abuse Him, He offered Himself for us. We would never encourage someone to do that, but love is sacrificial. It gives of itself even when someone else rejects it.
Don’t get me wrong, I would never encourage someone to remain in an abusive relationship. If someone is beating you or emotionally abusing you, get out. Which makes what we are about to do this morning in Sunday worship on the Feast of Corpus Christi even the more astounding. We are going to go in and receive Jesus again, are we prepared? There is an interesting quote in the Gospel in which Jesus is going to feed the gathered crowd with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus first turns to His disciples and says “Give them some food yourselves.” In the grand context of the good news, the plan of salvation for Christ, receiving the Eucharist means that we are being “divinized.” While that is out of fashion to talk about these days, the plan really is and always has been for us to become “like Christ” or “little Christs.” With that in mind, as you go forward to receive Him, ask yourself: Am I ready to be a vessel of God’s grace? Am I ready to commit to living life with Sacrificial love, even for those who don’t return it?
A reflection on the readings for June 23, 2019: The Feast of Corpus Christi, Year C.