May 16, 2021
7th Sunday of Easter B
We are celebrating First Holy Communions this weekend. When the girls and boys come forward to receive Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion, each one will say “Amen†to the words: “Body of Christ.†“Amen†mean “yes.†It is like Mary of Nazareth when the Angel Gabriel, the messenger of God, asks her to be the mother of God’s son, Jesus. “May it be done to me according to your word.†It is like the “yes†of the disciples when Jesus invites them to follow him and like Matthias in our first reading saying yes to be one of the 12 apostles. It is like the “Amen†when we marry or when we say “yes†to become a deacon or priest. It is a special “yes†to be a friend of Christ. When we say “Amen†we are making a promise, saying “yes†that is full of faith, hope and love.
When the children say “Amen†they are saying “yes†to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, the consecrated bread and wine, his Body and Blood, the precious gift of his life and sacrificial love. Like all nutritious food, once consumed, it nourishes and transforms. We receive the Body of Christ and we become the Body of Christ. “If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying ‘Amen’ to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear ‘The body of Christ’, you reply ‘Amen.’ Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your “Amen†may ring true!†-- St. Augustine, Sermon 272
In the Gospel according to John, Jesus prays to his heavenly Father at the Last Supper. Jesus is praying to God for his disciples, for us. Knowing difficult days are ahead, Jesus asks his Holy Father to hold his band of followers together “so that they may be one,†to guard and to protect them against evil and danger in the world, and that they may share in his joy. Then Jesus asks his Holy Father to “consecrate them in the truth.†“Consecrate†means “to make holy, to set apart.†Jesus consecrates the bread and wine, and Jesus consecrates his disciples and sends them into the world.
When we leave Mass, we take Jesus with us. We are not alone and whatever mishaps may happen, God is with us. God counts on you, on us, as his friends. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.†– Teresa of Avila
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6th Sunday of Easter B
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Pentecost
