(For this homily, I kept it shorter and simpler than usual. We moved into our new worship space while our Church is being renovated. We also had a Corpus Christi procession that followed Holy Communion.)

Today is the great feast day of Corpus Christi, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We find ourselves in a new place today in what was called a gym. This has become our new Church for the next three months. We have spent a lot of time trying to make this place look like our Church. The staff, Marge Hensley and Gerardo Alvarado, in particuliar worked countless hours last week so this place can be beautiful. Also, dozens of the members of the Neocatechumenate Way put together most of what we see here today.

What do we have? In that back corner is the place where we will be celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. Confession is offered every Saturday at 4:00 pm so come to this place to be forgiven. We have in the other corner, our shrine to the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe. There you will see the votive candles that you want to light as a symbol of your prayers. At the doors, we have the Holy Water Fonts and if nature calls we have bathrooms in the Foyer. We have the altar here where the sacrifice of Christ is represented and of course we have the tabernacle, the gold box over here. What’s inside the tabernacle, but the Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament, the Body and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Whenever you see the red sanctuary lamp lit, you know that the Lord is present in the tabernacle. So we have all of these things that our Church itself has. We hope that you will find this place a suitable place to worship our Saviour Jesus Christ.

I think at a time like this when we have a change, it is important for us to review a few things. Sometimes we do things out of habit. For instance, we enter the Church and what is one of the first things we do? We genuflect, we go down on one new and make the sign of the cross. For most of us, this has become habit.

Whenever, we approach a pew, we genuflect before entering. I remember in seminary, I used to go into the Church so much and genuflect so much that it became habitual. One day, I went to a movie theatre, and what did I catch myself doing. I began to genuflect. Now I now Im not alone in that, am I? Nothing wrong with a good habit, but it is so much better to be intentional. Today, we don’t have the visual reminders of the pews to remind us to genuflect. Today, we have an opportunity to realize again why we genuflect. We genuflect at the tabernacle, or better yet at Jesus whose body and blood is present in the tabernacle. Scripture says that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. How much more so, at the real presence of Jesus, should we bow our knees. So we genuflect when coming into this Sacred Place.

This is also a good moment to remind ourselves what is the proper etiquette to do here in the Sacred Place. Just like in Church we should refrain from chewing gum, we should not eat nor should we drink. We can do all of these things out there. But in here, this place is now designated for the worship of God. Just like a Church. So out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament, we dont chew gum or eat or drink. Of course, if you are in need of water, you can do that. We dont want anyone passing out. Likewise, just like in our Church, we want to keep our talking to a minimum. We can talk and share with our neighbor outside, but inside these walls, we have a sacred place where it is designated to talking to God. Please be respectful of this. In all of these ways, we will be treating this sacred place as if it is our Church.

Lastly, I just want to go over a few details about how the Mass is going to go here. We have no pews in here and therefore we do not have any kneelers. What I would like us to do out of reverence to the most sacred moment at Mass is to kneel or do some sign of reverence. This moment will be from the time of the Epiclesis, the part where I put my hand out like this, to the memorial acclamation, you know the part that used to go Christ has died, Christ is risen ... etc. This is one of the most sacred moments in the Mass and it is proper to do such act of reverence yet it is also rather short so the length of time kneeling will be minimal. If you are unable to kneel, feel free to stay standing and do an act of reverence, bow your body or bowing your head. Do what you are able to show honor to Jesus Christ becoming present on the altar. Afterwards, I will ask all to stand for the remaining of the Eucharistic Prayer. Also, prior to the distribution of Communion, I am going to ask you to remain standing. When you receive you can back to the chairs and have a seat. This will allow for a smooth flow of people for Communion.

These are a few changes that we will be having as we move into this place as our temporary Church.

And now, I would like to say a few words about today’s feast day. Today is the feast of Corpus Christi. It is the day in which we recognize the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion and that He draws all of us into his one Body. I did not always believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. When I began studying at Texas A&M, I would have considered myself Christian reading the Bible and talking to Jesus often. Occasionally, I would attend Mass and I more often would go to other church services. Not sure why I would go to Mass. Perhaps it reminded me of my childhood or I like the tasty treat, a little bread and a little wine, at the end of some prayers.

Then one day something changed. I remember in the fall of 1994, I went to visit my twin brother in Austin who was having a big Frat. Party at his fraternity house just off of the drag near the University of Texas. My friends and I doing what any other college student would do at a frat party. We were talking about the Eucharist. Okay so, I had good friends. One of my friends said that as Catholics, we believe that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. I responded, we do. She said, yes, look at the sixth chapter of John. I looked and found what she was talking about. I read Jesus say, I am the Bread of Life. ... He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall have eternal life. Over and over again Jesus reiterated the same message. Finally, the disciples said this saying is too hard. In John 6, verse 66, the bible says that many of his disciples left because they found it to hard. Now, did Jesus run after them and say, wait a second, I was just speaking figuratively. No! He let them go and then turned to Simon Peter and asked him, “Are you going to leave too.” What was St. Peter’s response? “Lord You have the words of everlasting life. To whom should I go?” These words are words of great faith - they are our words too when we choose to believe and follow in what Jesus said. I read these words and knew that the Bible was inspired and True and what Jesus said is unmistakable. I went to Mass shortly after, and my eyes were open. I realized that all the prayers of the Mass and all the gestures pointed to the same thing. Jesus so loves us that he wants to come into our entire person. Not just into our souls, or into our minds, but our bodies as well. He makes Himself like bread and wine so that our bodies and our blood may become one with His most Holy Body and Blood.

Almost immediately, my love for the Mass grew. Suddenly, Mass changed from something that I had to endure to something that I did not want to miss. Who would want to miss such a great guest as God. Then just going to Mass on Sunday’s was not enough. I soon began going to daily Mass. I fell in love with the Eucharist. You can too.

For many of us, we see what looks like bread and wine and say Fr. Jason, how can this be truly Jesus Christ. I remember preparing some 1st Communion students in Rome and I decided that I would let them taste what the host and precious blood would taste like, so I go the bread and got the wine ahead of time and gave it to them. I wanted to prepare them so that they would not make a big face. So, I got a little wine in a cup and gave it to the first boy. He swished it into his mouth and then proclaimed, “E Buono!” It is Good. Such is the way in Italy ... But, we the boy acknowledged is that the host tastes like bread and the precious blood tastes like wine. It smells, feels, tastes like the bread. We say that these are the accidents or properties of the Communion, but the substance is that it has become the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. For us, it takes faith to be able to see past what our senses tell us to the words of Jesus Christ and believe that this is truly His Body and Blood.

And as your priest, it takes greater faith to be the one who makes it happen. I remember as a seminarian talking with this priest from Beaumont who was just ordained. I was eager to see what it was like and so I asked him. What was it like when you held the host in your hands and said the words of Jesus and the host became Jesus’ body and blood? What was that like? He just looked at me and said, “Well you know, I remember being there and after I said those words, I looked at God, and said, ‘Well God, I hope that took.’” What this priest was telling me was that it takes great faith to know the Eucharist has come to be. This is what I have found to be true. I know that I dont have the power to make this come about. Yes, I hold the host and yes I say the words, but it is the Holy Spirit through me that makes this bread into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This takes faith - it really does.

To make this more intelligible for you, I want to bring it into modern terms. The Eucharist appears to be bread and wine but the reality is that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. A question for you: when you look up at the sky and you see the sun go across the sky, is the sun really moving. No, it appears to be moving across the sky but the reality is that we are the ones that are moving. We have taken this for granted since from the beginning of science class. With the Eucharist it is the same thing. It appears to be bread and wine, but it really and truly is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

In a few minutes, after Communion, we will have a Eucharistic Procession. This procession, is meant for us to give honor and adoration to Jesus Christ who is our Lord and Saviour. Will you see Jesus in the Eucharist? Will you give Him honor and adoration? Will you give him your lives?