Homily - Corpus Christi - Year C

Reading
Old GEN 4:18-20
Psalm 109
New 1 Cor 11:23-26
Gospel Lk 9:11-17

There are some Sundays, when the readings we are treated to are just so rich and so packed it's difficult to know where to start. And today, Corpus Christi is just such a day. We have just heard in Luke's Gospel about the feeding of the 5000. A miracle so important it is the only miracle performed by Jesus that is told in all four Gospels. From the old testament we heard in both the reading and the Psalm about Malchizedek, and from the New Testament in Paul's letter we heard about the last supper and the institution of the Eucharist. In fact as Paul's letter to the Corinthians is one of the earliest written, and was written well before the Gospels, so we have in today's reading the earliest quotation of Jesus in the bible “This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me”. And I think this line, which we hear in every mass during the consecration is where we should start.

We all know the meaning of the word memorial or memory. If you looked it up in a dictionary it would say something like “The power of retaining and recalling past experience”. We can all remember things, particularly special things, your first school, your first kiss, your wedding day, your ordination day. And something as special as the first Eucharist must be remembered, but memory or memorial is not what Paul wrote, it's how it has been translated for us into English. What Paul wrote is even more special than memory, and I am going to have to try and teach you a little Greek to explain. Paul used the word “Anamnesis” it's a Greek word first used by Plato.  If you look it up in a dictionary or on the web you get pages of explanation and a lot of ancient Greek, which is not easy to understand. So before we get to the Greek we are going to start with something a little simpler, Lewis Caroll and Alice through the Looking Glass. Where there is a conversation between Alice and the White Queen, in which we get a excellent example of Anamnesis.

Let me read it to you:

`I don't understand you,' said Alice. `It's dreadfully confusing!'
`That's the effect of living backwards,' the Queen said kindly: `it always makes one a little giddy at first --'
`Living backwards!' Alice repeated in great astonishment. `I never heard of such a thing!'
`-- but there's one great advantage in it, that one's memory works both ways.'
`I'm sure mine only works one way,' Alice remarked. `I can't remember things before they happen.'
`It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,' the Queen remarked.

Anamnesis, is a bit like the Queens memory, it works both ways.

Coming back to Ancient Greek & Plato, the definition is something like this: There are thing you know, that you have always known, that are true and have been and will be true for all eternity, the problem is you can't remember them. A good teacher can help you remember these eternal truths. And this remembering an eternal truth that you didn't think you knew is anamnesis.

So when we hear the words “Do this as a memorial of me” we might do well to think “Do this, to know me now, in the past and the future, for all eternity.”

So in a few minutes time as we witness bread and wine becoming the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not watching a re-enactment of the last supper with Fr. Frank pretending to be Jesus. We are actually there. Fr. Frank, in Persona Christi, is actually Jesus and we all stand with the disciples at the last supper ready to receive our Lords body and blood. We are also at the foot of the cross, watching His sacrifice, as He gives Himself for us all. And we are with him, in heaven, at the end of time when he welcomes us to his banquet. All these things are known, are experienced, are remembered from across time, because they are eternal truths.

If we think about this moment of anamnesis, the last supper and Jesus' death upon the cross, we see Jesus in two roles. First as the priest at the last supper taking the bread and wine and giving thanks for them, and also as the priest during his passion, as he offers his life for us. It isn't taken from him but offered as a once and for all sacrifice for us.
We also see Jesus in both events as the sacrifice, in the place of the passover lamb,  His life offered to God the father for our sins. On the cross we see His life offered up and in the last supper, our Eucharist, we see it offered to us.

This twin role of Priest and sacrifice can be difficult for us to understand, but it was almost impossible for the early Christian theologians to understand. The problem was Jesus was from the line of David, and therefore from the line of Kings, so He could be accepted easily as King of the Jews. But he wasn't from the line of Aaron, the tribe of Levi, and therefore was not a priest. If he wasn't a priest how could he offer sacrifice to God. And this is why Malchizedek is important today. Malchizedek lived at the time of Abraham, before the Isaac, before Jacob, before the founding of the twelve tribes and before God through Moses gave the priestly duties to Aaron and the tribe of Levi. Malchizedek as we heard today, was both King of Salem, the original name for Jerusalem and a Priest of God Most High. So as today's Psalm tells us Jesus was “a priest for ever, a priest like Malchizedek of old”, and therefore able to offer His sacrifice for us.

Finally, I would like to turn to the gospel, and you can relax a little, no more Greek and no more deep theology. Just a simple message Jesus taught the disciples and one we have the privilege of learning from today.

Jesus has just spent the afternoon with a huge crowd of people, healing and teaching them. As the disciples realised it was going to start getting dark, they also realised the people were going to start getting hungry. They didn't believe they had enough food to help, so they asked Jesus to send the crowd away, if we are being a little harsh here, they were hoping the problem could be given to someone else. Then Jesus shows them, that no matter how small what they have to offer is, when offered to the service of God, it can be used to solve huge problems. Five rolls and two small fish are used to feed 5000 people. We all have gifts, and even if we think they are small and of little value, if we offer these gifts to God, what would he do with them. The thing is to find out we first have to offer them.

I did say at the start, that our readings today were particularly packed and rich. I hope they will add some richness to your experience of they Eucharist and some challenge to your Christian life. In a few minutes, we will stand in the presence of our Lord, His body and blood, offered for us. When we leave mass tonight we take that gift, the source of our Christian strength with us. What are we going to use it for this next week, what gifts are we going to offer and what will God do with them.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Homily Index

Homily 28th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A - The heavenly banquet.

Homily (sermon)
The Heavenly Banquet

Readings for the twenty eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year A:
Isaiah 25:6-10, Psalm 22, Philippians 4:12-14,19-20, Matthew 22:1-14

[All these readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks. Remember to scroll down for the readings of the day.]

We are invited today to banquet of rich food and fine wine. A banquet that will be held on God’s mountain. At this banquet death and shame will be lifted from us, our sadness turned to joy, our tears wiped away. We will live like Adam and Eve in paradise. We are today invited to share heaven with God.

Do you like the sound of that?

Do you think you will RSVP to that invitation?

Will you go to the banquet?

Jesus was very worried that we wouldn’t come, that we would lose our way and get distracted. That this world would get in the way, that we wouldn’t believe the invitation. So he told the priests and elders a couple of parables. In the first parable the king calls those invited to the banquet but they don’t come and even worse attack the kings messengers. That’s easy to interpret, it’s aimed at Gods chosen people Israel, as they turn their back on God and don’t accept his invitation. Then wonderfully God offers the invitation to everyone, to us the gentiles, we are now able to come to Gods heavenly banquet.

The second parable strikes me much harder, I don’t like it. It seems unfair. The people now come and enjoy the banquet, but one man isn’t wearing a wedding garment and just because of his clothes is thrown out. That scares me as I want to be at that banquet, I want to stay at that banquet, I don’t want to be thrown out. How do I ensure I wear the right clothes?

Well the clothes represent your life, or at least your life since accepting the invitation, your life since you accepted the gift of grace. Your clothes and your life are washed white at baptism, kept clean by the life you lead and the sacraments, particularly reconciliation and the Eucharist.

We all do wrong, we all sin, we all ruin the clothes we will wear to the banquet. God knows that, which is why he never stops forgiving, never stops showering us in grace. By accepting his grace we become responsible for our lives, we must try and live lives worthy of that grace, to be proud and grateful for the clothes God has given us. Clothes that through Grace, are so easy to clean so easy to repair.

The next question is then what should I be doing in my new clothes. Well today’s psalm can help, psalm 22, is one of my favourites. It’s often read at baptisms and speaks wonderfully of the lifelong protection God provides. Today the last verse has stood out for me, I have often drawn comfort from the line, “Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.” But today I read it differently; today I found a challenge it that line. Maybe it means I am challenged to provided goodness and kindness all of my days, it follows me because I am supposed to leave a trail of goodness and kindness. If I dwell with the lord, my life is His, I have a responsibility to live a life filled with the grace he has given me. When I fail I can always turn back to Him and always be forgiven, but when I succeed what differences can I make to this damaged world, how can I do my bit to help Gods kingdom come, on earth as it is at the banquet on that mountain in heaven.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Homily Index

Homily 20th Sunday Ordinary Time Year B - Draw Life from Christ

Homily (Sermon) - Draw Life from Christ

The Readings for Sunday 19th August 2012  or the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B:
First Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm Psalm 33
New Ephesians 5:15-20
Gospel John 6:51-58
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks.]

Where do you draw your strength and your life from?

The word draw, as used in this sentence, means to pull. Think of a women in the hot sun turning a large wheel on a well to raise a bucket of water 50 feet from the bottom of the well. It's a tough action, a difficult thing to do, but it needs to be done. The pictures Christ paints with words are sometime lost on us, in our easy lives. Turn on a tap and get clean water. Turn on the heating for warmth. Open the fridge for food. No longer do we draw water from a well, collect firewood or farm and hunt for food.

Our lives have lost some of the basic struggle and we in turn have lost the language used to describe it. However, we have added complexity, we have replaced simple struggle with complex struggle. We balance shift work, school runs, multiple jobs and overtime. We reapply for our own jobs each year as our corporation downsize and change around us. We are always available through email, mobile phones, twitter and facebook. Our debt costs more and our savings are worth less. Our struggle is as tough today as every generation before us, it different that's all. But because it's different we need pay more attention to those things that don't change, those things that can support us, those things that give us life and let us shine in this world, those things that will prepare us for an everlasting life.

We can't draw strength and life from our selves. Our daily food and drink while it fuels our body isn't enough for the dazzling quality of our immortal souls. We need to turn to Christ. We need to Consume him. We need to draw life from him, to fuel our souls for the weekly struggle. He is our fuel, He is our bread, He is our life.

Even Christ did not expect to live this life drawing only on his own strength. He tells us today that he draws his life from his Father and in the next sentence He offers us Himself to eat, so we can draw our life from Him. But this is a difficult message, how can we eat Christ?

The obvious answer I hope you are all thinking is the Eucharist. The making present of Christ on this alter, the taking and eating of Christ's body and blood, the source and summit of our Christian lives. The taking of Christ into ourselves, the life Christ offers us, His beautiful gift, everlasting life with Him and His Father and the Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel.

But there is more, this Mass is an opportunity for you to meet and encounter our God. A chance for you to worship our Father and Creator. A opportunity to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Our God, the blessed trinity, is fully present in this Mass. We come here to bow down and worship, just as our psalm today starts, “We come to Bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on our lips.”

We encounter Christ in every member of our congregation. In your husband or wife, in your brother or sister, in your parent or child. Christ is there right now in all of them. Draw life from them.

We encounter Christ in scripture. In the old testament and in the New, in the Gospel and in this reflection. Christ is present in every word, His life filling this building, there to inspire you, to teach you, to love you. Listen to the Life in the Word you hear, draw life from it.

We encounter Christ in our Priest, in Fr Frank. Look past the man you know and love, see Christ standing there behind the alter. See Christ break bread, see Christ bless the wine, you are gathered with the disciples looking upon Christ at the last supper, you are stood with John and Mary at the foot of the Cross, during this Mass you get to gaze upon Christ. Draw life from Him.

Fill yourselves with Christ, consume Him, draw life from Him. Take that life out from this Mass into your weekly struggles. Live careful lives in this wicked age. Take the joy and song and love of Christ from this Mass into the world. Go and make a difference, Go and shine! Show the world you are fuelled by Christ.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Last weeks Homily 19th Sunday - Homily Index - Next weeks Homily 21st Sunday

Homily 19th Sunday Ordinary Time Year B - Big Picture

Homily (Sermon) - Time to look at the Big Picture

The Readings for Sunday 12th August 2012  or the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B:
First 1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm Psalm 33
New Ephesians 4:30-5:2
Gospel John 6:41-51
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks.] 

Sometimes you have to look at the big picture. Take a few steps back and take everything in. I guess we all kind of get that, we are here in church this Sunday because we, through our relationships with Christ, have glimpsed heaven, have glimpsed that big picture. But, don’t we all to quickly forget that beautiful heavenly vista and start complaining about the fallen world around us.

Both Paul and Jesus, in today's readings, are dealing with people caught up in the details or “Real Life”. Elijah on the other hand has been powerfully doing the Lords will and has been persecuted for it, in his fear and tiredness he also misses the big picture and an angel is sent to strengthen him.

Before I talk a little more about what the world calls “Real Life” and what we as Christian know to be Real and True and Life, I want to point out a that we are privileged at the moment to be hearing scripture each Sunday in order. Over the passed three weeks and in the next two weeks we are hearing most of chapter 6 of John's gospel. Over the passed five weeks and next two we are hearing a good portion of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Why don't you take the opportunity to look at a bigger picture, you could read all of Paul's letter to the Ephesians in 15mins one evening before going to bed. You could also read Chapter 6 of John's Gospel in 15mins. It's in chapter six that John tell us of Christ as the Eucharist. It's an important part of our faith and well worth reading as a whole. Making time for meeting our Lord and God, in the reading of scripture, is important and you won't regret it I promise you.

So, back to today's readings. Our world isn't an easy place to live. We might be worried about friends and family, our health, exam results, how we are going to pay the next bill that arrives. Worry is very human, I tend to worry when I am not in control of any situation, and worry leads to selfishness, and it's in selfishness that we bicker and complain, lose our tempers, raise our voices and call each other names. It's natural, it's human, it's understandable, it's Not justifiable. We are called to be better than that, to aspire to more than that. We are called to love our neighbour. That means not getting selfish when we worry, not putting ourselves first, but continuing to put others at the top of our priority list, and by others I mean everyone, not just those you are close to.

But if we do this what should we do with our worries, our fears, our grief and despair. How do we manager the bad things in this world? The simple answer is we give them to our Father, we give them to God. If they are to heavy for us to carry he will carry them for us, and if we are to weighed down by them he will carry us also.

Prayer, simple prayer, is the answer. Talk to God, tell him your worries, He will understand. Pour out your anger and pain, He will understand. He understand because he has felt them to, on his knees in a garden the night before he died Jesus poured out his worries, fears and pain to his father.

Christ came to our world so we might know our Father. We saw our Father  in Christ, saw His love for us, we saw Him die for us, we saw Him in glory after His resurrection. Because of Jesus, we can, every moment of our lives, turn to our Father for support and comfort.

In our secular world we are often challenged by “Real Life”, the daily grind we often find ourselves in. But when we have tasted the bread of life offered to us by Christ Himself, we can look at all our brothers and sisters around us, and see the beauty of their immortal soul. We can draw strength from the certain knowledge that the “Real World” around us is temporary, and that our encounters with Christ, the Bread of Life, are just a taste of the eternal truth, just a taste of the everlasting life, just a taste of what is real.

This week look beyond the detail, look beyond the world you live in, look beyond your troubles, I ask you this coming week, to eat well of the Bread of Life, to give your troubles to God, and be excellent to one another.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Last weeks Homily 18th Sunday - Homily Index - Last weeks Homily 20th Sunday

Homily 18th Sunday Ordinary Time Year B - Spiritual Revolution

Homily (Sermon) – Spiritual Revolution.

The Readings for Sunday 5th August 2012  or the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B:

First Exodus 16:2-4,12-15
Psalm Psalm 77
New Ephesians 4:17,20-24
Gospel John 6:24-35
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks.]


"Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way."

Change happens all the time. Everything changes. Sometimes change is good, 'A change is as good as a rest', they say. Sometime change is bad, like an illness or bereavement. Change can happen slowly, an evolving process that is sometimes difficult to see. Change can happen quickly, a revolutionary change that changes everything suddenly.

Paul tells us today to change, not a slow considered comfortable change, but a fast revolutionary change. A complete change. We must put on a new self, as if we are putting on a new set of clothes, a new self created in God's way. This must be a good change, as it will bring us closer to God. But any change described as revolutionary has to be scary.

What am I going to lose? Will I like the new me? What will I have to do? Am I going to be able to change? How do I change? And dozens more questions like this should be running through your heads.

Or are you thinking I don't need to change? Have you already got your life right? Are you already living in a self that's been created in God's way? I know I am still trying to change, still looking for ways to become more like the person God created me to be than the person I have evolved into during my life. I think I am evolving into the man God wants me to be, I have to admit I am scared to think that revolution not evolution is what's called for.

We are given a huge and historic example of revolutionary change in our reading from Exodus today. Everything has changed for the Jewish people, they have left their home and security and followed God and Moses into the desert. They are scared and they are hungry. They start to worry, then they start to complain, they challenge God and he provides for them. He sends them quail and manna, bread from heaven.  Here is a good lesson for us, change isn't easy, when it gets difficult ask for help, your father in heaven will provide. If He can feed two and a half million people everyday for forty years in a desert, he can help you with your worries.

The same Exodus story is picked up and quoted in our Gospel reading today. As we heard last week, a large crowd have just been feed from a small boys packed lunch, and have now following Jesus across the lake.

The people believe he might be the messiah prophesied in scripture and are hoping he will prove this. The miracle of the loaves and fish shows he is a prophet but it was just earthly bread he gave them to eat. The messiah would give them manna from heaven as Moses had, bread directly from God not of human making. In their concern for bread and manna, their desire to see scripture fulfilled as they thought it should be, they missed the real miracle, they miss the truth, they miss Christ.

I have to be honest, I would I am sure have made the same mistake, and that shows me I still need to change.

Christ goes on to reveal to them that, true bread from God comes from heaven and gives life to the world, and the He is that bread. All we have to do is come to Him and believe in Him.

One of the most wonderful privileges I have as a minister in this church is to distribute holy communion. I get to stand at the front of church and smile at each one of you as you receive Christ, the bread of life, many of you are privileged enough to receive the Eucharist, Christ in the form of Bread and Wine, some for whatever reason receive a blessing from Christ. We all, in those moments have the chance to turn to Christ, to believe in Him, to never be hungry or thirsty again. To start the revolution within ourselves. To become the creation God intended us to be.

Aren't you just a little curious to see what that will be like?

It is your choice. Are you ready? Will you receive Christ? Will you believe in Christ? Will you change? Will you start your personal revolution?

And remember, if you do decide to change, when you get worried ask your Father for help, He will be there.

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About the Author - Deacon John Scanlon
Last weeks Homily 17th Sunday - Homily Index - Next weeks Homily 19th Sunday

Emmaus Reading & Homily during Veneration of the Blessed Sacrament

Below you can read the homily from last night during our Holy Hour in front of the blessed Sacrament. The 50th International Eucharistic Conference is currently being held in Dublin and we have been encouraged to spend time with the Blessed Sacrament. Father Frank put together a beautiful liturgy including plenty of time spent in silence.

I have also been playing with Podcasting technology and have, I hope, done a much better job of putting the audio version together. This link will allow you to listen to the Gospel reading and the homily, please let me know what you think. Over the next week I will try and get the podcasts available via iTunes as well. I'll let you know when or if I manage that.

GodBless,
J

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First  Acts 2:42-47
Psalm Psalm 33
Gospel Luke 24:13-35

He broke the bread and handed it to them and they recognised Him.

How do we recognise God?
How do we know God when we see Him?

The two men we meet on the Emmaus road are walking away from Jerusalem, filled with sadness, doubt and despair. Their hopes dashed, their expectations come to nothing.

They are joined by Christ but fail to recognise him. Something stopped them. Something got in the way. We are not told in the passage what got in the way. Maybe we are not told because the story needs to speak to each one of us, today. We need to ask, What gets in our way? Why might we fail to recognise Christ when we see him?

Christ didn't get upset when they failed to recognise Him. He didn't force himself upon them and tell them who He was. He just spent time with them, or gave them the chance to spend time with Him. He listened to them, and when they had poured out the despair and heartache, He spoke to them, He taught them, showed them where they were wrong and why their despair was wrong.

Not yet recognising Him the two men invited Him in for a meal, because it was getting dark. I think there is a strong message for us all here, before we can truly recognise God we need to invite him in. And before we recognise Him things may seem as if it's getting dark.

They recognised Him at the breaking of bread. For us the strong link to the Eucharist is clear, at the breaking of Bread each Mass we have the opportunity to recognise Christ. The question maybe is do we? Have we spent time walking with Him, have we poured out our sorrows and troubles to Him, have we really listened to what He tells us, do we learn from Him, and finally do we invite Him in.

I am often told that I smile a lot when deaconing a Mass. Standing behind the alter, watching the miracle happen, it's difficult not to smile, not to get a little lost in the moment. But there are also times when I am distracted, maybe my worries are my own and I haven't shared them, maybe I haven't wanted to listen to the teaching. Sometimes I fail to recognise my God at the breaking of bread, and that saddens me. Often that sadness is  the spark of recognition it takes to again meet my Lord and my God, and feel my heart burn within me.

When we do recognise Christ, we are capable of so many miracles. We take Christ out of the building inside us, we take him out into the world. When I look at the wonderful things this Church does, the Soup Run, the CWL, the Legion of Mary, the Prayer Group, the choir, the social action, the ministries in schools, hospitals, prisons, homes and the workplace, I have to smile. I have to be joyful. We do wonderful things when we walk with Christ, when we recognise Him.

One small bit of imagery that is easy to miss in the Emmaus story, is that the two men before they recognised Chris were walking towards the sunset. After they recognised him they turned around and walked towards the sunrise.

I don't know where you are on your Emmaus journey, if you’re walking alone in darkness, if you're walking with a stranger and telling Him your story, if you are listen to the good teaching, if you're inviting your teacher in, or if you have recognised Christ at the breaking of Bread.

As we spend time now in the presence of Christ, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, think where you are on your Emmaus journey and who is with you, and know that we are called to walk towards the light, the light of Christ, the light we are bathed in  right now.

Homily from June 10th 2012 - The Most Holy Body & Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi) Year B

A homily for for Corpus Christi.
(Available via iTunes as a Podcast, just search in iTunes Store for John Scanlon.)


First: Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm: Psalm 115
Second: Hebrews 9:11-15
Gospel: Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

If you prefer to listen to the homily please click here.

The Most Holy Body & Blood of the Lord (Corpus Christi) Year B


Bread is one of our most basic foods. You take some grain seeds, like wheat, you grind them up so that the goodness that is food for the next wheat plant becomes a powder called flour. You add some water, salt, fat, sugar and if you have time yeast. Mix it up and bake the resulting dough. It smells wonderful, tastes wonderful and is one of the main reasons I am a little rounder than I should be.

Wine, is a party drink, a drink of weddings and celebrations. It's the juice of grapes, left to ferment. Most grapes have enough yeast naturally on their skins so they naturally ferment. Just crush the grapes and leave the juice for a few days, strain it and seal it in air tight bottles or wine skins and over time it develops into a wonderful intoxicating drink. Yes, another reason for my roundness.

So why do we place such importance on simple bread and wine?

The importance is not the bread and wine we offer at Mass, but what they become. After we make present on this Alter the last supper, Christ's passion and the heavenly banquet that awaits us all, we no longer have our simple bread and wine, but our Lord and God present, right here with us, present in the form of bread and wine.

The Second Vatican Council refereed to the Eucharist, the part of the Mass where we get to take our Lord into ourselves, as the source and summit of the Christian life. The highest point of our worship, where we get to gaze in silent awe at the body of our Lord. The source of our Christian strength, the energy needed to fuel our Christian lives.

Today in these very small passages from the old and new testaments we heard about the history of the Eucharist. It's a wonderfully rich story, that is woven into four thousand years of holy writing.

Please try and picture the scene, two and a half million people have just walked into a desert and are camped at the base of a mountain. At the top of the mountain their leader is talking to God. You can only tell this from the smoke, cloud, lightning and thunder covering the mountain top and the trembling ground beneath your feet. Your leader, a man named Moses, walks down and tells you how God wants you to live. How God wants to be part of your life and the promise he is making to you.

A few years later, you are deep in the desert, it is a special day, the day of atonement, when the high priest, Moses' brother a man called Aaron, will make the sacrifices needed to purify you from the sins you have committed.  A tent stands in the centre of the camp, surrounded by a wall of cloth 150ft long and 75ft wide. Within this tent, or tabernacle as it's called, behind a curtain in the Holy of Holies, is the Arch of the Covenant, the gold box holding the promise God made on that day on the mountain.

Aaron, only on this day may enter the Holy of Holies, he takes blood from sacrificed bulls, and sprinkles the Arch, a washing away, an atonement, for the nations sins. Every year the priests would need to do this, every year the nation, every member of the nation, would turn their back on Gods law. Every year new sacrifices would be needed to make things right with God again.


Years later, when we were ready, God choose to visit us. He sent his own Son, Jesus. He came as a man fully human and as God fully Divine. Jesus spent more than thirty years with us, living with us, teaching us, loving us. Then he did something unique, he replaced the lives and blood of the bulls with his own life, his own blood.


As Aaron sacrificed the lives of the bulls, Jesus sacrificed his own life. As Aaron walked alone into the Holy of Holies, Jesus opened the doors of heaven to us. As Aaron sprinkled blood over a nation to wash away their sins, Jesus washes not our outsides but our insides, fills our souls and hearts with his blood. Unlike Aaron's sacrifice, Jesus' will last. One sacrifice for all time. One gift for everyone.

In a few minutes, you are going to witness a miracle. On this alter we will see made present, the last supper, we will see Christ die on the cross, we will see him open heaven and forgive us our sins through the gift of his precious blood. He will offer us his perfect and divine body and blood, to purify us heart and soul, to empower us to do his work, to fuel of our Christian journey, the highest point in our Christian life.

New Awakenings - £1,000,000 or something better?

You have made it to the last question on Who wants to be a Millionaire, Chris leans forward, "You have £500,000, but we don't want you to leave with that, lets look at the question for £1,000,000. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes what as the Source and Summit of Christian life? A- Saints & Martyrs, B- Heaven, C- The Eucharist and D-The Bible." This was how Fr. Matt began his homily this morning.

Of course the answer is C - The Eucharist. The meal of the last supper made real and represented to us. The taking of Christ's Body & Blood into ourselves, the Source of our Christian strength, the gift that lets us live our Christian lives as Christ would like. A taste of the heavenly banquet that awaits us in heaven with Christ, the high point of our Mass, the summit of our Christian worship and lives, the moment of being at one with Christ.

If you won the £1,000,000 prize, you may do lots of good with it, sharing it with friends, family and those in real need. The Eucharist is love and faith and grace, It's Real and It's God, it's Source and Summit, it's beyond measure, it's priceless.

After Fr. Matt's passionate and inspiring Homily we sat in silence and then shared the priceless gift of the Eucharist.

For those of you who want to read a wonderful, beautiful and detailed Vatican II document about the Source & Summit of Christian life, I really do recommend taking a look at CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY - SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM I first read it while doing Fr. Michael Fountains course on Liturgy and again during my formation. Don't be put off by the Latin name it been translated into English and is a real insight into our Mass, our Faith and our Christian calling.