Spiritual Life
Fulfilling the desire to receive our Lord throughout the ages JUNE 14 CHRIST IS TRULY PRESENT WITH US Readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: Dt. 8:2-3, 14B-16A; 1Cor10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58
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ver the past three months, Catholics throughout the world were largely deprived of the privilege of sharing in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This lack happened on the two significant levels in which we have understood the Body of Christ from time immemorial: the assembly celebrating the Mass and the SacTHE WORD rament itself. Despite the prohibiFather Garry Koch tions, we experienced two distinct longings: on the one hand for the community of which we are a part. Whether or not we know the names of our fellow worshippers, there is a comfortable reality in knowing that we are with them and recognize them each week as we assemble for Mass. The second awareness of absence happened on two levels: the recognition that we were separate from the presence of Christ in the Eucharist – whether at Adoration or while attending Mass, and then also the lack of receiving the Eucharist. As a result many experienced various levels of spiritual longing. In our time, and really just over about the past 150 years, we have taken the regular When we are reception of the Eucharist for granted. It is an ordinary part of our lives. We expect to unable to be with receive the Eucharist each time we attend – whether it is once a day, once a someone whom Mass week, once a month or even once a year. Yet, we love, we can for centuries, it was uncommon to receive Communion with frequency. Although daily develop a real Mass attendance was very common, and worship was normative, most did physical pain. Sunday not dare to receive the Eucharist. As such, the Church mandated what we know as the “Easter Duty:“ the obligation to receive Communion at least once a year. A sense of longing is a distinct emotional experience. When we are unable to be with someone whom we love, we can develop a real physical pain that aches for an encounter with the beloved. Often, we easily take for granted those who we see each and every day. While Christ has not abandoned us or his Church, the period of being bereft of sharing in the Eucharistic 56 THE MONITOR MAGAZINE June 2020
presence should lead us back to that presence with a renewed sense of awe and reverence. No longer is it possible for us to take the Eucharist for granted. As with anytime we are deprived of a food we enjoy, returning to the Eucharist should have brought us a sense of satisfaction on the deepest level of our souls. Christ is truly with us. It was only when we could not share in that presence, that he became fully present to us. JUNE 21 JESUS TEACHES THAT NO SECRET KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED TO BE HIS DISCIPLES Readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jer. 20:10-13; Rom. 5:12-15; Mt. 10: 26-33
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s we return to the Readings for the Sundays in Ordinary Time, we pick-up in the context of an on-going sermon that Jesus is preaching to his disciples. In the midst of their concerns for the consequences of discipleship, Jesus emphasizes the intimacy of the Father’s relationship to them and to us. To one extent, Jesus allays the fear of what might be called hidden things. While our days seem rife with conspiracy theories, the same was certainly also true at the time of Jesus. Some feared hidden laws or commandments, or perhaps hidden teachings that the Pharisees and Sadducees knew but were unavailable to the ordinary believer. Such a hidden knowledge would leave ordinary persons unable to adequately fulfill the demands of the law, thus jeopardizing their legacy and promise of those commandments. Likewise, they were not to be afraid that Jesus held back what he also taught to his disciples. While the disciples might have had more access to Jesus, the life and the law that Jesus preached and promised was available to all. Although we think of Gnosticism as a heresy emerging within the Christian community, the Gnostics predated Jesus by some four centuries. Their teaching emphasized this hidden knowledge known only to the initiates. A Christian form of Gnosticism emerged and tried to present Jesus as a teacher of hidden things. Condemned repeatedly, forms of the Gnostic religion