Encountering Jesus

Corpus Christi

If you could meet or have dinner with or talk to any person throughout all of history, who would it be and why?  Think about it.  Whom would you want to spend time with and get to know?  Especially for those who love history, but not limited to them, there’s a desire to meet people who are dead, whether recently or for a long time, to speak with them, to get to know them, and to try to understand that person and his or her choices.  We want to have a chance to more than just read about the person, or watch a movie about that person; we want to encounter that person.

Bishop Boyea, following the lead of Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis, have been emphasizing the importance of an encounter with Jesus.  How many of you said Jesus when I asked the question at the beginning of the homily (you don’t have to raise your hands)?  An encounter with Jesus is important.  Catholicism, and Christianity in general, is not just a bunch of rules of what to do and what not to do.  Catholicism, and Christianity in general, is not just a set of ethics or a style of morality.  Catholicism, and Christianity in general, is about an encounter with a Person, a Divine Person, Jesus Christ.  Jesus gathered disciples to Himself by inviting people to follow Him.  They, in turn, told other people to come with them and follow Jesus, and so Jesus’ disciples grew in number.  Christianity was able to spread because there were people who had encountered Jesus and found in Him the key to their life.

And it wasn’t just a continuation of their lives, which were usually altogether crummy.  It was a great improvement, and a means of being happy.  Those who encountered Jesus discovered how to be truly happy, even as fishermen, or a tax collector, or a zealot, or even a Pharisee, and wanted to share that with others.  And others shared that same encounter with others, who, through their preaching, encountered Jesus, too, and found a way to be happy.  

How often do we hear, “Mass is boring”?  Some of you may be thinking that right now!  But do we realize that each time we come to Mass, we don’t have to wonder what it would be like to talk to Jesus and see Jesus.  Each time we come to Mass, we have the chance to encounter Jesus and meet Him.  We get the same opportunity the apostles had.  They could see Jesus, touch Jesus, and hear Jesus.  We hear Jesus speaking through the Word of God, and hopefully through the homily.  We see Jesus and we touch Jesus as we receive Him in the Eucharist.  

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.  We celebrate that our God, in the Person of Jesus, has not abandoned us, but remains near to us in a ways that our senses can experience.  We do not have to pretend to hear the voice of God; we hear it in Scripture.  We do not have to pretend to see God; we see Him under the appearance of bread and wine.  We do not have to pretend to touch God; our hands and/or our tongues receive the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, died on Calvary, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven.  The Eucharist is not simply a memorial meal to remember what happened, like posing for the Last Supper.  The Eucharist is not simply the spiritual presence of Christ when His people come together.  The Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, present under sacramental signs, but truly present for us, nonetheless.  

So, the challenge for us is whether or not we treat the Mass as our chance to encounter Jesus.  There are many retreats that give us the opportunity to encounter Jesus, like Cursillo, like Marriage Encounter, like KAIROS, like TEC, like Renew, and the list goes on.  But the Eucharist is the pre-eminent and most excellent encounter with Jesus, and encounter that is unlike any other on earth.  Today, and every Sunday you have the chance to encounter Jesus.  Give yourself to Jesus; He has made Himself available for you to hear, to see, and to touch.