This week's readings Week of June 22 - 28 Sunday, June 22, 2003 The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Reading I: Ex 24:3-8 Reading II: Heb 9:11-15 Gospel: Mk 14:12-16, 22-26 Monday, June 23, 2003 Reading I: Gen 12:1-9 Gospel: Mt 7:1-5 Tuesday, June 24, 2003 Reading I: Is 49:1-6 Reading II: Acts 13:22-26 Gospel: Lk 1:57-66, 80 Wednesday, June 25, 2003 Reading I: Gen 15:1-12, 17-18 Gospel: Mt 7:15-20 Thursday, June 26, 2003 Reading I: Gn 16:1-12, 15-16 Gospel: Mt 7:21-29 Friday, June 27, 2003 The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Reading I: Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9 Reading II: Eph 3:8-12, 14-19 Gospel: Jn 19:31-37 Saturday, June 28, 2003 Reading I: Gn 18:1-15 Gospel: Mt 8:5-17 Pope's Prayer Intentions June General Intention Respect of human values: That the faithful in public life may be guided by the Gospel and the Church's social teaching to promote respect for human values. June Mission Intention Testimony of full unity in the various Christian traditions of India: That those who belong to various traditions may be drawn together to offer a testimony to full unity and communion in the one Spirit.

This is my Body;
this is my Blood

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

The Second Vatican Council teaches us that the liturgy is the source and summit of our Christian life. The Council is, of course, speaking of the eucharistic liturgy where the community gathers to hear the Word of God and to celebrate the sacrament of our salvation.

These three aspects of Christian life - Word, Sacrament, and Community - are inseparable as we celebrate the Eucharist. The proclamation and preaching of the Word of God is essential to our understanding of the Gospel and our mission as Catholic Christians. The sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ - and all the sacraments - gives us God's grace and a share in his divine life.

Readings for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (June 22, 2003) Exodus 24:3-8 Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

And it is the community of the faithful, gathered around Christ's altar in communion with the universal Church through our priests and bishops, which is itself the Mystical Body of Christ.

Most important, Christ is present in all three aspects of Christian life. He is the Word of God through whom all things were made. He is present in all the sacraments and in a pre-eminent way in the eucharistic liturgy - as the Council teaches - in the word proclaimed, in the sacraments celebrated, in the person of the priest, in the assembly when it prays and sings, and in the eucharistic species, the bread and wine that become his Body and Blood.

Thus when we celebrate the Eucharist we are closely united to Christ and, by his presence and action, to one another. This communion in the Lord unites us also to our Father, whom Jesus has taught us to call "Abba," and to the Holy Spirit, by whose power the simple meal of bread and wine becomes the sacred banquet of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

In Hebrews we are taught that the blood of Christ can "cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God." Thus our participation in the Eucharist and our worthy reception of the Body and Blood of Christ strengthens us for our mission on earth, to spread the Gospel and to bring others into this full communion we share with Christ and one another in the Church.

Sometimes, however, our experience of Word, Sacrament, and Community becomes fractured. This happens first of all when the Word of God is not a daily part of our Christian life. The Bible is not merely to be listened to in Church, but to be used in prayer at home and every day. When it is not, something is missing.

So, too, does our experience of the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood become skewed when it becomes merely a personal piety or when we fail to appreciate the broadness of what "Eucharist" means.

Also, the Community suffers in many ways when the members of that community allow factions and divisions to affect it, both within the Catholic Church and among Christians generally.

Today we are painfully aware of the lack of full communion that characterizes the Christian people, when countless different churches and ecclesial communions exist, some narrowly and others widely separated from the Catholic Church. In the work of ecumenism, we pray that Christ may help us to heal these divisions so that we may be one again as he desires for the Church.

The fact also is that within the Catholic Church there are divisions that cause hurt feelings, anger and argument, lack of cooperation, and a lack of effectiveness in preaching the Gospel that leads to ways of thinking and acting uncharacteristic of a true Christian spirit.

The wholeness and holiness to which the Lord Jesus calls us means that the Eucharist we celebrate must penetrate every aspect of our lives, into our minds and hearts, with the healing love and forgiveness of the Lord. When the liturgy of the Lord's life, suffering, death, and resurrection truly is the source and summit of our Christian life, then the discipleship to which we are called really shines through.

"This is my Body; this is my Blood" has the depth of meaning and divine life which empowers us to be those missionary disciples for Jesus. Then it is that the Word preached, the Sacrament lived, and the Community made whole by Christ can be a source of mercy, conversion, and reconciling love in the world, which, after all, has always been its true mission.

Fr. John G. Stillmank is pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.