<p><em>The question too often asked by Church leaders is Do you believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?. The more profound question raised by todays reflection is whether we understand the implications of the Divine decision to become incarnate in our midst. Are we truly present to the Divine in our midst?</em></p><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=oldwebkit><p><strong>June 11 2023: Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ</strong></p><p>Deuteronomy 8:2-3 14b-16a</p><p>Psalm 147:12-13 14-15 19-20</p><p>I Corinthians 10:16-17</p><p>John 6:51-58 </p><h3>Corpus Christi: Saying Amen to the Real Real Presence of Christ</h3><p>A reflection by David Jackson&nbsp;</p><p>Some years back I asked a number of people what the feast of Corpus Christi meant to them.</p><p>My brother-in-law was a Eucharistic minister and told me that he was always in awe when noticing the people who came for Communion.&nbsp;He said I'm in wonder at the different hands that receive communion. A&nbsp;young professional woman comes with her nails beautifully done. I say Body of Christ and she says Amen. She is followed by her daughter who has just received first Communion. Her hand is small and soft. I say Body of Christ and she says Amen. Her husband comes&nbsp;with hands that are rough and stained by his work as a mechanic. I say Body of Christ and he says Amen. Then an elderly man comes and his fingers are bent by arthritis. I say Body of Christ and he too says Amen.</p><p>This reminded me of something I did once.&nbsp;As Communion time approached I told the people that we were going to do something different.&nbsp;I would hold up the host before putting it in their hand and they were to say Body of Christ and I would say Amen. Some people were obviously disoriented in trying to make this change and the exchange was awkward. But others told me after Mass that it helped them realize how at times they received Communion by force of habit. This small role reversal helped them to&nbsp;consider what and who they were receiving.</p><p>These days the US Conference of Catholic Bishops encourages dioceses to host Eucharist renewals. They present the statistics about how many people do not believe in the real presence. For these Catholics the Eucharist is symbolic or metaphorical but not real in some sense.&nbsp;The US bishops are investing great deal of money and energy to bring about this Eucharistic renewal.</p><p>Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville Texas where I live often speaks on the connection between the Eucharist our faith and our response to immigrants at the US-Mexico border. (Hear Bishop Flores Easer homily <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPezIrr4CJk target=_blank>here</a> and an interview on EWTN <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3W2TMYFptw target=_blank>here</a>.) Bishop Flores who is very much involved in the Synod process has been called by Pope Francis to Rome to be involved in&nbsp;further discussions on the Churchs synodality. I am sure he is aware of Pope Francis saying: You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That's how prayer works. Authentic prayer is followed by action.</p><p>To be honest I am not sure these gatherings about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist that are being prepared by the USCCB will have the effect of revitalizing Eucharistic experience among American Catholics because I am not sure they include the second half of Pope Francis equation. Although a resurgence in our faith is surely needed it seems to me that there may be more effective ways to bring about the renewal to which we are called.</p><p>If we are not careful these calls to Eucharistic renewal can simply be intricate exhortations to believe in Jesus presence under the form of bread and wine at Mass as if the belief itself qualifies as moral righteousness. Instead I suggest the critical belief within our Corpus Christi proclamation is that Gods Spirit is made flesh in Gods people and Gods creation this truth is personified in Jesus and encapsulated in our Eucharistic ritual and we must treat one another and our world accordingly. The ritual act of the Eucharist is a gift to help us see the reality of Gods presence in the world more clearly and live it more convincingly. I fear that any renewal of the Eucharist that is not clear on this relationship within the Body of Christ (prayer and action) unnecessarily truncates the teaching in a way that risks perverting its meaning.</p><p>What ideas and thoughts do you have about the Eucharist? What is your experience of the receiving the Eucharist? What changes would you like to see in our practice of the ritual or our teaching of this article of faith? Maybe most importantly what of our own practice of recognizing Christs Body in the outcast and marginalized in our world and in our communities? I suspect our respect for the real presence of Christ in our ritual exists in a symbiotic relationship to our capacity to recognize that real presence in the real people and real struggles that populate the liturgy of our real lives.</p></div><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/david_3f5871b1220eaef4ecb514617201f222.png alt= width=166 vspace=0 hspace=0></div><p><em>As a Catholic priest for 48 years <strong>David Jackson</strong> preached on most Sundays. His love of Scripture led him to pursue an M.A. from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. For the past 16 years he has sent out homily reflections to friends. For the last two years these reflections have also been available on Roman Catholic Women Priests Canada's bimonthly newsletter. Since he discovered Catholic Women Preach that web site is part of his weekly preparation. At 82 years of age he has been married for the last ten years to the love of his life Alva. In March he published his first book Jesus Gardens Me available on Amazon.</em></p><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>