My dear people,

Below is the transcript of Deacon Pashley’s homily from last Sunday. It is rich with food for prayers and reflection! -Padre

Over the last four weeks we have celebrated some very solemn Sundays.
The Ascension. Pentecost. The Holy Trinity. Today, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – also called Corpus Christi.

The content of our faith is extraordinary - and it’s not easy. If we want to be practicing Catholics – it takes work. It takes our effort. Faith is given to us by grace at our baptism. At their own baptism, adults ask for faith. Parents ask for faith on behalf of their children when they present a child for baptism. Faith.

Solemn days usually commemorate some doctrine of our faith – something that we must believe in order to be Catholic. For example: The Resurrection of Our Lord. The Ascension of Our Lord. These are things we must believe.

On the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. We believe in one God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

These are non-negotiable matters of our faith, not easy to understand even with a great deal of study, and impossible to believe – without faith.

We cannot be expected to take in the depth of our faith at once. We are granted the gift of faith at baptism – yes – but it is something that has to be cared for, attended to – by prayer, by sacraments.

Memorials, feasts, and solemn days through the year allow us to focus on certain aspects of our faith in one at a time. A solemn day helps us to focus for a moment on one facet of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. All the while, we are able to come together each Sunday to participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the summit all we believe and all that we are. No matter the solemnity, every one of them revolves around the Mass. Our identity is tied to the one who offered himself as the sacrifice for our salvation. We have nothing without Jesus.

In ancient times, God prepared his people. He gave them specific instructions about how to worship – and about how to offer sacrifice. Their prayers, their liturgies, their songs, their sacrifices, their rituals including the one described in our passage from Exodus today, were meant to prepare a people for the one true sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

The blood of the animals offered in stories like the one we heard in our first reading was symbolic of the blood that would be shed by Jesus on the cross on Good Friday.

As Jesus joined his friends a day earlier at the Passover meal, he added something to it they had never experienced before. That meal was instituted hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before to prepare them for the sacrifice of the cross and it’s representation in the Sacrifice of the Mass. During the Passover meal he added bread which he offered as his body, and later wine which he offered as his blood. Nobody thinks they understood what was happening at the time – but in time – after his suffering, after his death, after his resurrection, after his post-resurrection appearances, after his ascension and after the sending of the Holy Spirit – they came to a greater understanding.

After they experienced the historical events that we have solemnly celebrated these past weeks in our liturgies – they came to a greater understanding. Things changed for them. We can see it as we read through the scriptures. By faith they believed, and they got to work helping others to receive the Holy Spirit through baptism and the other sacraments as well – especially in the reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Now here we are in the same situation. After the Passover, after Jesus spoke the words of institution, “This is my body, this is my blood…do this in memory of me,” after his suffering and death and resurrection – and the rest. Here we are.

The Body and Blood of Christ – separated on the altar to commemorate his death on the cross when blood flowed from his wounds. The Body and Blood of Christ presented on the altar as the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. The Body and Blood of Christ – present under the appearance of bread and wine.

Bread – grains of wheat, planted in tilled earth, watered, tended, harvested, milled, turned into flour, made into bread – all through the work of human hands cooperating with the natural gifts God has given us.

Wine – bunches of grapes, planted in tilled earth, watered, tended, harvested, crushed, stored in just the right container for just the right amount of time to turn into wine – all through the work of human hands cooperating with the natural gifts God has given us.

Transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ – at his direction and at every Mass when his words are spoken again by a priest standing in his place.

How do we fit in? Like those individual grains of wheat, or individual grapes, when brought together and prepared they become something more, so we as individual people are brought together through our common baptism. We are transformed like the bread and wine. We are transformed at our baptism into new creations in Christ and together become part of his Body – the Church. The bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass where we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, which continues to transform us into his living Church – the power of the Holy Spirit.

We believe by faith, but this is not easy. If we are hesitant we should pause – in fact at any step along the path of faith, when we encounter a doctrine that is challenging we should pause and pray. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, spend time in prayer and study. Do not take any doctrine as a mere symbol or allegory. Pause and tend to your faith like a farmer tends the wheat or vine. If doubt gains a foothold, other aspects of our faith can suffer. If we don’t believe in any one aspect of our faith, other parts will fall. If one doesn’t believe in the Incarnation, then what of the hidden life, the public ministry, the miracles, the Resurrection? Then what of the Body and Blood of our Lord?


Eleven children were presented for preparation to receive their first Holy Eucharist. They spent weeks preparing with wonderful catechists. Their preparation can serve to inspire us. They spent time in preparation for their first communion. What did we do to prepare for our 31^st, or 101^st, or 1001^st communion?

The child can serve as witnesses of faith to us. They can do what saints do – point people to Jesus. As we consider the time they spent in preparation, we should have the humility to learn by that example and commit ourselves to deliberate preparation for the Holy Eucharist every week – or every day.

I heard a talk recently where someone quoted a saint who suggested that all Catholics at all times should be in a state of preparation to receive the Eucharist. Imagine, if at any time a person could come up to you and ask, “What you up to?” and your answer was, “Getting ready for the Holy Eucharist.” It sounds novel, but it is what we are called to do each day.

Jesus told us – this is my body, this is my blood. He said whoever eats of his body has life – and whoever doesn’t – has no life within them.

Let’s give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love and mercy endure forever. May the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ bring us to everlasting life.