Corpus Christi 08
CORPUS CHRISTI 5/ 28/08 10:30 Mt 7:21-27
During the Vietnam War, some stray artillery rounds hit an orphanage. A number of children were wounded. One little girl was especially severely wounded. An American Naval doctor and nurse
were dispatched to the orphanage. They immediately went to the little girl. She desperately needed a blood transfusion. So they called together the children who had not been wounded and explained to them in halting Vietnamese what a blood transfusion was. Then they asked for a volunteer. The children just sat there in silence staring at the doctor and nurse. The one little boy raised his hand and quickly pulled it down, He did it again. Then finally he raised his hand and kept it raised. The nurse ran over to him. “What’s your name?” she asked. “Tang,” he responded. “How old are you?” she asked. “Ten,” he said. So they took some of his blood to see if it was compatible with the little girl’s.
It was. So they put each child on separate tables and began the transfusion. Suddenly Tang started to cry. The nurse leaned down and if they were hurting him. He shook his head no. Then he began to wail. The doctor and nurse were baffled. Then a Vietnamese nurse came into the room. She went over and in rapid fire Vietnamese asked him what was wrong. He whispered his answer. She bent down and whispered into his ear. Then Tang became still and silent. And the procedure continued.
“What did he say?” the doctor asked. “He said he thought you were going to drain out all his blood and he was going to die.” “Good Lord,” the doctor exclaimed, “how did he have the courage to do this?” She leaned down and asked him. Then she stood up. “He says, ‘Because she is my friend.’”
In our Eucharist you celebrate Jesus who says, I call you my friends. You are Jesus’ friends and Jesus is your friend.
And Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friend just as the little boy in our story was willing to give his life for his friend.
Joyce Rupp in her book, Fresh Bread, tells us that “Fear of facing our own inadequacies keeps us communicating on a surface level.” In other words, superficial small talk or chit chat about nothing really important.
I has been said that small minds talk about people; average minds talk about
events; great minds talk about ideas.
.An example of Joyce Rupp’s surface communication is this: a person’s low self esteem impedes genuine self revelation.
Let’s look at Joyce Rupp’s statement in terms of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Can you ever appear before Jesus Eucharistic or come forward to receive him without being aware of your inadequacies? Never! And not only your inadequacies but your sinfulness.
Yet doesn’t Jesus constantly say to you from the tabernacle and the altar, Come to me all you who are burdened? Despite the litter of your sinfulness, your slipshod inadequacies, your lonely failures to improve, your hit-and-miss prayers, should you fear to approach Jesus Eucharistic? Of course not. Jesus says, you are my friends.
Sadly, when you approach Jesus Eucharistic, the word, Judge, looms as huge as a black headline in a muckraking tabloid while the word, Friend, is the size of a microscopic footnote in an encyclopedia.
There is an old bromide that goes, A friend is one who knows your faults and loves you all the same. Isn’t this infinitely true of Jesus Eucharistic?
For example, Jesus knows how you rash judge others, how you have an exceptionally alert and keen eye for clay feet, how you sharpen the edge of your hatchet against the tall tree of another’s reputation.
But Jesus still loves you. And he urges you to hate the sin but love the sinner – in this case yourself. Otherwise you will be involved in a nice-Nellie avoidance of reality.
When you receive Jesus in the Eucharist, don’t you want far more than the surface level of communication that Joyce Rupp talks about? Wouldn’t you rather have what Cardinal Newman describes as heart speaking to heart?
If you receive Jesus with a me-and-my-Jesus attitude, you will be like a self-enclosed fountain in a shoping mall, recylcing itself in a n ever ending gush, never breaking out to water the parched ground around it, but feeding only its own stone statuary.
When you approach Jesus to receive him, you need to bring the full force of your conscious gratitude to the act of receiving Jesus in communion just as a surgeon pays strict attention to the incision she makes.
St. Paul pulls the curtain back on the display case in which rests one of the most precious stones from the crown of glory –the sparkling gem of gratitude.
There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look for it. For example, when you get up in the morning, you can thank God that your wrinkles don’t hurt. Yet there a many people who are inflicted with inertia like a black hole in a galaxy.
Winston Churchill wrote a note to his wife which read: Thank you for being rash enough to marry me, foolish enough to stay with me and loving me in a way I never thought I could be loved.
Thanksgiving gets rid of the depression of the present and makes hope possible for the future.
HUMOR A little boy wanted $100 badly and prayed for two weeks but nothing
happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to God, USA, they decided to send it to President Bush. The President was so impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5.00 bill. President Bush thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 and sat down to write a thank you note to God, which read: Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money, however, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C. and, as usual, those crooks deducted $95.00.
When you gather to celebrate Eucharist, come with an attitude of gratitude
so that your Eucharist will be truly a feast of thanksgiving for Jesus’ friendship and the friends with whom you celebrate Eucharist.
THOUGHT: Always strive for an friendly attitude of gratitude
During the Vietnam War, some stray artillery rounds hit an orphanage. A number of children were wounded. One little girl was especially severely wounded. An American Naval doctor and nurse
were dispatched to the orphanage. They immediately went to the little girl. She desperately needed a blood transfusion. So they called together the children who had not been wounded and explained to them in halting Vietnamese what a blood transfusion was. Then they asked for a volunteer. The children just sat there in silence staring at the doctor and nurse. The one little boy raised his hand and quickly pulled it down, He did it again. Then finally he raised his hand and kept it raised. The nurse ran over to him. “What’s your name?” she asked. “Tang,” he responded. “How old are you?” she asked. “Ten,” he said. So they took some of his blood to see if it was compatible with the little girl’s.
It was. So they put each child on separate tables and began the transfusion. Suddenly Tang started to cry. The nurse leaned down and if they were hurting him. He shook his head no. Then he began to wail. The doctor and nurse were baffled. Then a Vietnamese nurse came into the room. She went over and in rapid fire Vietnamese asked him what was wrong. He whispered his answer. She bent down and whispered into his ear. Then Tang became still and silent. And the procedure continued.
“What did he say?” the doctor asked. “He said he thought you were going to drain out all his blood and he was going to die.” “Good Lord,” the doctor exclaimed, “how did he have the courage to do this?” She leaned down and asked him. Then she stood up. “He says, ‘Because she is my friend.’”
In our Eucharist you celebrate Jesus who says, I call you my friends. You are Jesus’ friends and Jesus is your friend.
And Jesus said there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friend just as the little boy in our story was willing to give his life for his friend.
Joyce Rupp in her book, Fresh Bread, tells us that “Fear of facing our own inadequacies keeps us communicating on a surface level.” In other words, superficial small talk or chit chat about nothing really important.
I has been said that small minds talk about people; average minds talk about
events; great minds talk about ideas.
.An example of Joyce Rupp’s surface communication is this: a person’s low self esteem impedes genuine self revelation.
Let’s look at Joyce Rupp’s statement in terms of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Can you ever appear before Jesus Eucharistic or come forward to receive him without being aware of your inadequacies? Never! And not only your inadequacies but your sinfulness.
Yet doesn’t Jesus constantly say to you from the tabernacle and the altar, Come to me all you who are burdened? Despite the litter of your sinfulness, your slipshod inadequacies, your lonely failures to improve, your hit-and-miss prayers, should you fear to approach Jesus Eucharistic? Of course not. Jesus says, you are my friends.
Sadly, when you approach Jesus Eucharistic, the word, Judge, looms as huge as a black headline in a muckraking tabloid while the word, Friend, is the size of a microscopic footnote in an encyclopedia.
There is an old bromide that goes, A friend is one who knows your faults and loves you all the same. Isn’t this infinitely true of Jesus Eucharistic?
For example, Jesus knows how you rash judge others, how you have an exceptionally alert and keen eye for clay feet, how you sharpen the edge of your hatchet against the tall tree of another’s reputation.
But Jesus still loves you. And he urges you to hate the sin but love the sinner – in this case yourself. Otherwise you will be involved in a nice-Nellie avoidance of reality.
When you receive Jesus in the Eucharist, don’t you want far more than the surface level of communication that Joyce Rupp talks about? Wouldn’t you rather have what Cardinal Newman describes as heart speaking to heart?
If you receive Jesus with a me-and-my-Jesus attitude, you will be like a self-enclosed fountain in a shoping mall, recylcing itself in a n ever ending gush, never breaking out to water the parched ground around it, but feeding only its own stone statuary.
When you approach Jesus to receive him, you need to bring the full force of your conscious gratitude to the act of receiving Jesus in communion just as a surgeon pays strict attention to the incision she makes.
St. Paul pulls the curtain back on the display case in which rests one of the most precious stones from the crown of glory –the sparkling gem of gratitude.
There is always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look for it. For example, when you get up in the morning, you can thank God that your wrinkles don’t hurt. Yet there a many people who are inflicted with inertia like a black hole in a galaxy.
Winston Churchill wrote a note to his wife which read: Thank you for being rash enough to marry me, foolish enough to stay with me and loving me in a way I never thought I could be loved.
Thanksgiving gets rid of the depression of the present and makes hope possible for the future.
HUMOR A little boy wanted $100 badly and prayed for two weeks but nothing
happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to God, USA, they decided to send it to President Bush. The President was so impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5.00 bill. President Bush thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 and sat down to write a thank you note to God, which read: Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money, however, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C. and, as usual, those crooks deducted $95.00.
When you gather to celebrate Eucharist, come with an attitude of gratitude
so that your Eucharist will be truly a feast of thanksgiving for Jesus’ friendship and the friends with whom you celebrate Eucharist.
THOUGHT: Always strive for an friendly attitude of gratitude
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