By Deacon John Cronin:
Tomorrow is Memorial Day.
The day our nation is called to remember.
We remember the armed forces who died for our freedom.
Who died so we may live.
This year, Memorial Day Weekend happens to fall on the Feast of Corpus Christi
The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
We here today, are called to remember the hero of heroes: Jesus Christ.
He died so that we all may live.
He made the ultimate sacrifice of his body and blood so we can be freed from death itself.
It is good to remember our dead.
But may we especially remember Jesus’ death.
Because his death offers life to us all, including our fallen heroes.
Every time we come to Mass, we hear the words of Jesus the night before he died:
“This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
As disciples, we receive the true presence of our God in this bread and wine of Holy Communion.
As I receive the Eucharist today,
I will ask Jesus to help me remember his perfect love.
His total gift of self so that we may truly live.
So that we like the 5,000 may eat and be truly satisfied.
Since the beginning of time, people have gotten into trouble because they forget.
They forget who they really are.
Who really satisfies them.
We are the beloved Children of God.
God gives us all that we truly need and more.
We may want something else entirely.
But God offers us what we truly need.
In my own life, I have found this easy to forget.
The more I chased after shiny apples, the hungrier I became.
We separate ourselves from God, and forget the taste of His love.
But Jesus came to us in our deserted places.
He took on flesh so we may reunite with the God who gave us life and love.
He asks us to remember that we are God’s beloved.
Right here —— Right now.
Jesus wants to feed us his Body and Blood.
He wants us to be satisfied with a foretaste of the heavenly banquet here on earth.
Can we let go of our anxieties and remember him?
To remember the love that death itself cannot stop?
As young children grow, they suffer what is called separation anxiety.
They grow fearful and insecure when separated from their parents.
As we grow, we form healthy friendships and are able to leave our parents.
We are secure in adulthood only if we remember.
Remember the love of our parents.
The Body and Blood of Christ is offered here today to help us remember Jesus’ love.
We only grow anxious when we forget and feel deserted.
The Apostles themselves grew anxious in the deserted place with the 5,000.
Their reaction was to send the hungry away.
But Jesus told his disciples:
“Give them some food yourselves.”
“Give them some food yourselves.”
If we are fed by Jesus’ love in the Eucharist,
Then we can bring that love into the deserted places of our daily lives.
If we remember his love as our anchor in life, we can help feed the hungry ourselves.
If we dare to perform acts of loving kindness, Jesus will supply more than we had ever dreamed of.
We will be truly satisfied.
So let us pray for our dead today.
But my prayer for you and for me is that we are truly fed in the Holy Eucharist.
And that we can bring the love of Jesus to those who still hunger for Him.
So, together, we are secure in the one body of Christ.
