HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

Dear friends. I begin this homily for the great feast of Corpus Christi by sharing something a young man said to me after Mass a few weeks ago. This young man has come to live in Wexford in the past year. He said to me: ‘Father, I like it here, but I am struggling to find community. After Mass is over, everyone runs away’.

I share this story because it raises the question of how many people experience our celebration of the Eucharist, especially on Sundays. I approach this question in a positive light and invite you, the reader and parishioner, to think of the Mass as one of the most precious gifts that Christ has left us and to think about how we are all responsible to help others to experience it as something beautiful, nurturing and life-giving. I invite everyone to step into the shoes of that young man looking for community and struggling to find it and to take responsibility for our celebrations of the Eucharist becoming more welcoming with a greater sense of belonging.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that the Mass be flattened out to become merely a social event. What I am pointing to is today’s Gospel where Jesus performs the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish that anticipates the celebration of the Eucharist. Yet he also, no less than three times, puts the onus back on his disciples to create the conditions to allow the miracle to take place.

The first thing Luke tells us is that Jesus made the crowds welcome. He was delighted to see them and made them feel at home. Let’s consider this and how we make each other feel welcome at our Masses today. Is there a sense that my presence is valued and that coming into Church feels like I am among friends? In many parishes in America, for example, there are teams of ushers and welcomers who greet people in the car-park and guide them to their seats.

Here in Wexford parish, the Pastoral Council are looking at ways of improving the accessibility of our Churches for people with ability and mobility issues. It’s just a small step in doing what Jesus does for the crowds today – he makes them feel welcome.

The second important detail from the Gospel today is that Jesus puts back on his disciples what they wanted him to do, namely, to send the crowds away so they fend for themselves. ‘Give them something to eat yourselves’ was his reply. With these words, Jesus was saying to them and to us today – ‘You have a role in the celebration of the Eucharist that is greater than you think it is. You have come here to be fed. You must feed people too. You must not be satisfied with being fed. You must help feed others’. How do we do this? Just as the disciples distribute the food in the Gospel, Extra-ordinary ministers of the Eucharist do it by distributing Holy Communion at Mass. But we all do it by taking the time for each other, not rushing away and helping create a greater sense of belonging in Wexford Parish and every parish you belong to.

The third detail worthy of comment is the instruction of Jesus to organise the crowds into parties of fifty. Why did he do this? Was it because the distribution of food was easier that way? Maybe. However, there is another reason that is very relevant, namely that in smaller groups, people get to know each other better. There is less chance to be lost in the crowd. It is in a smaller community that we form bonds of belonging which is the essence of every faith community including ours.

Friends, this is a conversation that we need to open up and have among ourselves. The words of that young man have stayed with me and will for a long time: ‘I am struggling to find community here’. This young man hungers for Christ and receives him as the bread of life in the Eucharist. But he also hungers for belonging to the Body of Christ that is the local Church community. It is the responsibility of all of us to feed his hunger.

Fr Billy Swan