Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/19/22 Corpus Christi

Episode Date: June 20, 2022

Homily from The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This is everything. The Body and Blood of Christ is one of the most underappreciated gifts God has ever given. In the Scriptures, God gives us His Word. In the Sacraments, God gives us His work. But in the Eucharist, God gives us Himself. Mass Readings from June 19, 2022: Genesis 14:18-20 Psalms 110:1-41 Corinthians 11:23-26 Luke 9:11-17

So, 850 years ago, Notre Dame Cathedral in France and Paris was built. For 850 years, this place stood. It's defined the skyline of Paris. Not that I've ever been there, but I've seen pictures, and it defines the skyline. It's like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. It's a sign of the incredible number of saints who came from France over the course of 2,000 years. So many French saints. But as we know, on April 15th in 2019, a fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral and the place was just, I mean, in so many ways, utterly destroyed, which is a tragedy in many ways, but also provided an opportunity for an incredible act of faith, incredible act of heroism.

There's a priest. He's chaplain to the fire brigade there in Paris. And his name is Father Jean-Marc Fonnier. when he heard that the cathedral was on fire. He arrived at the scene. And among other things, one of the first things he did is he ran into the burning building. He ran into the burning cathedral. Not to save any people.

People were already escaped. People are already safe. No one perished. But he went to the tabernacle where the Eucharist was, where the body and blood of Jesus was, preserved, kept safe. And he risked his life. running into burning Notre Dame Cathedral to save Jesus in the Eucharist. It reminds me also of another priest back, this is in 2012,

from the Bartholomew. His name is Father Bartholomew Mung Jung-Hun. He's a South Korean priest in South Korea, where there was a, in 2012, August 8th, there was a mass he was celebrating at kind of a controversial naval base. I don't know any of the politics about it, but Father Bartholomew was celebrating mass with people who are protesting this, controversial naval base. And at one point, soldiers were sent out, police were sent out, and they disrupted the mass as he was distributing communion, and they knocked the Eucharist out of his hand. And I didn't know all that backstory. All I knew was a photograph. And this photograph came up on my computer, I don't know how long ago it was, but it was of this priest, Father Potholomew, this Korean priest on his hand, like not just like bent down picking up the Eucharist,

not like squatting kind of on his feet. He was sprawled out on the ground and trying to collect, trying to protect the Eucharist because there are people all over the place. In fact, he even said some of the police, some of the soldiers, whoever was there, were stomping on the Eucharist. They denied that was the case.

But that image, that photograph of this old priest sprawled out on the ground just doing everything he possibly could to protect the Eucharist. Like putting himself between the Eucharist and those who would crush the Eucharist. I remember seeing that photo and being so humbled.

Seeing that photo and thinking, here's a brother priest who has, like, I just think he has no shame, right? There's no, like, no sense of vanity, no sense of pride, just here is Jesus who could be desecrated, and I'm just going to protect him, and do everything I can to get between him

and those who would want to hurt him. Think about those two moments, Father Jean-Marc and Father Bartholomeum. Because today's Feast of Corpus Christi, right? The feast, the body and blood of Jesus. There was a study that came out not too long ago, Pew Research Forum, that indicated that of the Catholics who go to Mass on Sundays, only 31% believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.

Think about that, that's, that follows my mind. Only 31% of Catholics who go to Mass think that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Like this incredible gift, the most incredible gift God could ever possibly give to us, Only 31% of us even realize what we're giving. And again, that could sound like I'm judgy, and maybe I am, but I'm not trying to be. Like the reality, of course, I look at myself and I realize I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school and I spent my whole early life not having any clue. Like I've told the story a thousand times.

But as I said, raised Catholic, went to Catholic school. I hated Mass. I hated going to Mass. What was the point? We did the same thing every single week. We have to also go to Mass at school during the week. you're just like, oh my gosh, like kill me now. Kind of a situation is knew not want to be at mass.

But everything changed. Part of my conversion involved confession involved coming to the Lord, trying to learn how to pray. But one moment, I remember so distinctly, I was up in my room. My mom had a stack of books. She had a stack of books just she never read. And she had a stack of magazines she never read.

I don't know if your moms do this kind of thing. We're like, oh, this is my list. This is the things I want to. There are a lot of religious books and a lot of religious tapes, a lot of religious magazines that she wanted to read. And so I'm like, Mom, can I borrow this? You know, Rumvia just snuck in and took them. I'm not sure.

But regardless, I know what happened. I was in my room. I remember reading about the Eucharist. It was a collection of stories about miracles of the Eucharist. And I just was blown away. I'd never even considered, I was about 15 or 16 years old this time. I'd never even considered even remotely possible that that actually was Jesus. And even if someone told me this, they probably did.

I don't think I was sick that day. Even if I knew this already, I didn't care. But something happened. There's this work of grace in my heart, in my life, that I read these stories of the Eucharist and I was, oh my gosh. that's what's happening at every single mass. I remember we were going downstairs into the kitchen. My siblings were there.

I'm like, you guys, did you have any idea? Did you know that at the mass, that that's really Jesus? And they're looking at me. They're like, yeah, of course, we know that. I'm like, no, like, really is Jesus. And like, yeah, we went to Catholic school with you. Like, we know this. I'm like, but it's him.

And they're like, okay, moron, move along. Because I had no idea. That changed everything for me. In fact, I would say that that was, that was from then on, it's one of those, my experience with the Eucharist is, this is everything. Like, this is everything. From that moment on, not in a perfect way, not in a way that, like, I never, and I never sinned again.

End of story. Like, I never was faithful as to the Lord. I always wanted to pray. No. But from that moment on, those three words. This is everything. Eucharist is everything. Just dominated my life.

Why? Because we know that the Bible is God's word. Absolutely. And we know that the sacraments are God's work in the world. But the Eucharist, it's God's very self in the world. And just to think about that, it just blows my mind. And so I knew that, oh, I need to pray. I remember reading other stories about saints who would just,

they go, they stand before, kneel before, sit before the Lord in the Eucharist for hours and hours. And so I was like, well, I can do one. I can do one hour a week, maybe. That kind of situation, I ride my bike over to the church. When I could drive, it was like, okay, drive over there. And at least one hour on a Saturday morning was my commitment. And then when I was a senior in high school, I remember it was one of those situations where they had noon mass and we had open lunch period.

And so it's like, okay, I can do this. I can drive over and it was a bunch of old people and me. And of course everyone says, you're going to be a priest. I'm like, well, I don't know about that, but I do know that this is everything. You know, it's remarkable. We talked about this on Palm Sunday already. But it's remarkable that we could read the Bible and so many people have read the Bible so many times and we can still miss it. Because you have, what do we have?

We have Jesus himself talking about the Eucharist in the second reading today for St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He is saying, I received as a first importance, I receive what I handed on to you, that on the night he was betrayed, here that Jesus did, took bread, said this is my body, took wine, this is my blood, do this and remember to me. But Jesus had prepped his people.

Again, we talked about this on Palm Sunday, so it's a little bit of review. But I think it's worth reviewing when only 31% of us actually believe that this is truly Jesus. that in John chapter 6 he prepared his followers for this. He had told them. Now the context, of course, is the feeding of the 5,000.

In Luke's gospel, the next day is what John writes about. What happened the next day? After Jesus fed the 5,000 in Luke's gospel here, also in the gospel of John chapter 6, the next day people come looking for him and they're not looking for him because they believe in him. They're looking for him because they're like, you can feed all of us, you can be the king.

You should just be the king, and Jesus is making it very clear. I'm not going to be a king that you expect. I'm not going to be a king who just simply feeds you food or you eat it and then you die. I'm going to give you food. If you eat it, you'll live forever. So they say, we want that food. And he says, well, I have it. I'm the bread of life. Which they find troubling. And in fact, in John chapter 6, verse 41, it says, the Jews murmured about him because he said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven. So then Jesus makes it clear. In verse 51, he says, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. And the

bread, and this is the kicker, says, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. Now again, you have to go over this because it's so important that we don't forget this. Also, we're able to teach this to other people. Because what happens is you can say, well, Jesus was speaking figuratively. He was speaking symbolically because Jesus at one point says, I'm the gate. He says, I'm the good shepherd. He says, I am the vine. You're the branches. Now I'm the bread of life. I'm the blood that gives my flesh. We can think that Jesus is simply speaking symbolically still, but he's not. Because when he said, on the gate, I'm the shepherd, I'm the vine, people didn't say, Jesus, you're not a bush. Like, you're not,

We know you're a carpenter, not a shepherd. They don't say that because they know that he's speaking symbolically. But here, when Jesus said, the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world, then it goes on to say, that Jews quarreled among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? They do not think he's speaking symbolically. They don't say, how is he a gate or how is he a vine? In this moment, though, they know that Jesus is speaking literally. The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

And this is Jesus' perfect opportunity to stop them and say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, yeah. Guys, that's gross. Don't think of this. What did he do? Instead he says, truly, truly, or amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Goes on to say, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, has he remains in me, and I'll raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and him and the fifth time, this is four times now, fifth time, he says, just as the living father sent me and I have life because of the father, so also the one who feeds on me will have

life because of me. So Jesus has made it so clear. And I've shared this as well. I shared that at one point I was sharing this with a relative of mine who was saying I should leave the Catholic Church and I was walking her through this. And she said, I can see that's one interpretation. I had to highlight this for her. For 1,500 years of Christianity, that was the only interpretation.

that for 1,500 years of Christianity, 100% of those who were disciples of Jesus said that's the interpretation that what Jesus gave us at the Last Supper and we celebrate at every Mass is his flesh, is his blood, and that's what we need to have eternal life. Some people will still say, yeah, but maybe it's just a symbol. And that's why I love, there was a guy back at the Reformation time, his name was St. Charles Borromeo. St. Charles Romero was having a debate with a guy who was a reformer, right? And as the reformer got done, you know, giving his whole pitch about this is not real, this is only symbolic. Charles Bromeo, who's kind of a funny guy, he got up and he said, okay, let me just get this straight.

Let me understand if I, see if I understand what you're saying. You say this is not his body. Jesus said, this is my body. Okay, if you were me, who do you think I should believe? Because that's the case is that Jesus himself makes it absolutely clear. clear, this is my body. This is my blood. The Eucharist really is him. But nonetheless, even though here's Jesus making it super clear in John chapter 6, verse 66, it says as a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Again, those aren't the

crowd. That's not the Jews. There's not people who just kind of came out that day. These are people who left everything to follow Jesus. But as a result of this teaching, they no longer accompanied him. They returned to the former way of life. And about, gosh, it must have been two months ago now, we had our baccalaureate Mass for all of our graduates. And this was the reading. The reading was they returned to the former way of life and no longer accompanied him. And then Jesus turns to the 12. And rather than saying, you guys come back here, I just don't go anywhere. I all change the teaching. Jesus looks at his 12 best friends and he says, do you also want to leave? do you also want to go back to your formal way of life?

And I remember being so struck by this because here's all the in front of me at this baccalaureate mass, right, our graduates' Mass, all of these people that I've known for the last three or four, five, six years who have come to know Jesus and have come to follow him in varying ways, right? But like with as much of their heart as they possibly could. And I'm realizing they're leaving. They're leaving town.

They're leaving this community. And my fear was, would they return to their former ways of life and no longer accompany him. Because that's the question every one of us has to answer. Like, I can know this truth, but I can introduce things into my life that make me want to forget this truth. I can know that this is true,

that that really is. Every mass is Jesus' body, blood, blood, soul, divinity given to us. Every Catholic church is Jesus' body, blood, blood, soul, divinity given, waiting for us. But I can ignore it. Because he's that humble. Think about that.

He's that humble that he even gives us permission to ignore him. But there are times. There are times when it seems like God does something where he doesn't give us permission to ignore him. There are such things as the Eucharistic miracles. And there's a bunch of them. I'm going to highlight really briefly just two

because just so briefly. One happened in the 7th or 8th century in a place called Lanchiano in Italy. There's a priest who was celebrating Mass, and he had doubts about Jesus' real present in the Eucharist and in his very, in his hands, He said the words of consecration, this is my body, this is my blood. The bread turned to flesh and the wine turned to blood.

You can still see this now. It's been preserved. It still exists 1,300 years later. In 1971, there was a doctor, a researcher who did an experiment on this. And in 81, they repeated this. And they discovered that what had been the host was actually human flesh. and it was human flesh from the heart of a man, the blood they tested, and the blood was blood type A.B.

There's only less than 7% of all people on the face of the earth have A.B. blood type. It was a heart muscle. Back in 1996, far more recently than the 7th century, 8th century. And in Buenos Aires, there was a daily mass. and a nun was walking around the church and she found a host that was sitting on like the top of the candles like someone had taken the host, received it, but didn't consume the host. They put it either he was on the ground or on the thing next to the candle. And so she gave it to the priest and the priest did what he's supposed to do is if it's a dirty host, you put it in some water, put it in the tabernacle.

And then over the course of like a month, a week or so, it'll dissolve. And then you can pour that no longer a host, no longer God's presence. And so you pour that into the earth. A week later, on August 26th, he opened up the tabernacle, looked in the water, and the host wasn't destroyed, but in fact, there were a number of spots that were reddish, that looked like blood. And so he handed it over to his archbishop, who was Archbishop Burgolio, who's become Pope Francis. He kept that relatively secret and put it away, kept it safe, until 2006.

In March of 2006, they contacted a doctor. Professor Zugibe, this man is a forensic pathologist, among other things, who has studied over 10,000 forensic cases of people who have died in accidents, people who have died for any number of reason. And they gave him this host. They didn't tell him where the sample came from. And they said, just tell us what is this? What are you looking at?

And he said that this is cardiac tissue. And it's from myocardium. He said it's from the left ventricle of a human heart, which is fascinating because that's the ventricle that the oxygenated blood gets pumped out to the rest of the body. So here is the Eucharist, which is the part, not just the heart of Jesus, but the part of the heart that pumps life to the rest of the body. What did Jesus say? He says, I came that you might have life and have it abundantly.

He also found out that the person who this heart tissue belonged to had thrombie, which basically meant that they died while they were being beaten. They experienced incredible trauma before their death. But one thing that was even more fascinating is that the sample had white blood cells in it, which meant that the heart was still beating when that sample was taken from it. The same thing is true for the miracle Lanciano. Same thing is true for every verified use of your christic miracle. There's white blood cells usually die within minutes, if not an hour,

after they're taken out of a living tissue. But these white blood cells are alive and they indicate that this myocardium from the left ventricle was taken while the subject was still alive. Also the blood type, A.B. Less than 7%. See, God's something. He sometimes does this thing where he bursts in and says, okay, I know that it seems common when you go to Mass.

I know it seems ordinary when you go to Mass. I know it seems like it's just the same old thing every single time you go to Mass. But sometimes God's saying, listen, you can't ignore this anymore. You must not ignore this anymore. Why? Because this is everything. And this is not just everything that the whole earth revolves around. But this is everything you want.

In fact, in some ways, this is everything you pray for. This is the last thing. this might even be everything you've ever prayed for. Even if you're not Catholic, even if you're just joining us on this online mass or this podcast because you want to know more about who Jesus is. I don't know if you realize this, but every time you pray the Our Father, you're begging the Father to give you the Eucharist. We pray this prayer.

In the middle of the prayer, we say, give us this day our daily bread, which is great, great prayer. One of the things that means is like, give me enough for today. Lord, give me today, enough for today. day. That's a great prayer. If that means that, it does. Also means something else because the original language says this. It says, give us this day our, and then the Greek translation is of daily bread, is actually, or the Greek original of this daily bread, it's actually a word that means super substantial. Give us this day our hyper osious bread. Give us this day our super substantial bread. And you think, wait a second, what could possibly be our super substantial bread?

well, Jesus who gave us the prayer, the Our Father, the Lord's Prayer. He knew exactly what he was asking us to pray for, that every single time you and I pray the prayer, the Our Father, every time you and I pray the Lord's Prayer, we're begging the Father in heaven. Give us this day, our super substantial bread. Give us this day, the bread from heaven. Give us this day, the Eucharist.

Give us this day the very body and blood, soul and divinity. If your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Because this is everything. God, the one who made heaven and earth and everything that's in it, he humbles himself so fully that he would let himself get burned up in the middle of a beautiful cathedral. God who loves us so fully that he allows himself to be stomped upon. As a mass is interrupted in South Korea, he's the same God who loves us so much that he allows us to ignore him and pass by every tabernacle pass by every Catholic church we've ever walked by or driven by but this is how much he loves you so that one day maybe today is the day you realize

this is not just ordinary bread it's not just ordinary wine this is not just an ordinary thing that we're doing here this is super substantial bread This is bread from heaven. This is the bread that came down for the life of the world. It is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Given for you. And now He waits for you.