Corpus Christi Sunday
May 25, 2008

Broken But Made Whole Again

Today we celebrate Corpus Christi Sunday. The word, in Latin, means “The Body of Christ.” The body of Christ is not just a piece of bread, changed into the Body of Christ. That is a part of it, of course. But the very bread that becomes Jesus’ body flows into us, transforms and changes us, makes us into the very Body of Christ in the world. That’s what we are going to talk about today – us as the Body of Christ, and how we as a Body can become stronger, healthier, more mature.

Take out your handouts, and a pencil or pen, if you have one. This is going to be a participatory homily. As the Body of Christ, we’re going to work together and even do a little bit of homework together. By the way, do you know why I give out these handouts? Not just to wad up and throw at your neighbor. Not just to leave in the pew as trash to be cleaned up after Mass. These handouts are to help us grow and learn, to take home so we can put into practice in our daily lives what we hear and learn today at the Mass.

Let’s begin. I brought with me an egg. If I hold it up high, then drop it into this bucket here below on the floor, what will happen? Right! Slot! It will break. (Drop the egg, let it break). All of us are a bit like this egg – broken, hurting in some way. Jesus himself suffered hurt and brokenness, agony and fear and despair, as he journeyed to the cross. At the Last Supper, he took the bread and “broke it” – reminding us that, as Christians, as part of the Body of Christ, we too are all broken.
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These are some of the universal ways that all of us, as human beings, are broken:

♣ By loneliness… everyone wants to be loved, but sometimes we feel broken because we have no one to walk with us, to companion us. Maybe it’s the loneliness of a divorce, or the death of a loved one.

♣ By drifting … everyone wants meaning, significance in life. But sometimes it feels as if we are just running in circles, on a treadmill going nowhere.

♣ By spiritual emptiness… everyone needs God. But sometimes it feels as if God has abandoned us, and we are all alone, or that our prayer life is dry, and we just don’t feel the presence of God like in the past. We are in the midst of that “dark night of the soul” spiritually.

♣ By guilt… everyone needs forgiveness. But maybe we’ve done something in the past and we are still holding on to the guilt. It’s grabbled us by the throat, won’t let go, and we are gripped by guilt instead of freedom from knowing that God forgives us, because God loves us.

♣ By bitterness… everyone needs reconciliation. But maybe we’re angry at someone, filled with rage and resentment, bitterness and hurt toward that person who has hurt us. Teenagers who feel angry and resentful toward their parents; spouses who aren’t speaking to one another; a former friend, but now, we don’t even speak to one another. Bitterness leaves us broken and not at peace with ourselves or with others, all because of a ruptured and broken relationship, and because we are not reconciled with that other person.

♣ By fear -- of illness, death, losing our jobs, not being able to make house payments or payments on our car… everyone craves life, but sometimes, it seems like death is always stalking us – not just physical death, but spiritual and emotional “death” also.

All of us are broken. For me, over the last few months, the entire project of building our new church as felt exhausting, sometimes frustrating because of obstacles and roadblocks, overwhelming and beyond my strength and ability. There are days when I just feel tired, depressed even – broken. But Jesus wants to heal our brokenness, and make us whole and complete again. He wants to make an omelet out of these broken eggs! And here’s how – God’s answer to our brokenness. The answer comes in two parts: (1) Faith in God; and (2) the Church.

Let’s look at Part 1, Faith in God. We are never alone. The Lord is always with us. But we need to stay connected to the Lord, who is the source of life and healing for our brokenness. No matter what tragedy befalls us, no matter how deep a hole of despair or depression engulfs us – our faith, our relationship with the Lord, can see us through the darkness, to God’s light on the other side. But it is up to us to stay connected to God. Read with me from our first reading today, from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy: “Be careful that you don’t become arrogant and forget the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:14, GW).

On your handout, fill in the blank here: Transformation begins in the ______________ . In the stomach? In the feet? In the mind? In the heart? Let’s vote. Now read with me from Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Dear friends, God is good. Stop here for a moment and just let that sink in. God is good. God loves us and has our best in mind. These rules and commands that the Lord gives to us, they are for our protection and our benefit. God is good and wants us to become the very best we can become. Here’s how: So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing… This is the Feast of the Body of Christ. If we are the Body of Christ, we need to give our entire selves as living sacrifices to Him. He warns: Don't be like the people of this world, -- be careful of all the world’s snares and false values, that will keep us trapped in our brokenness -- but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. (Romans 12:1-2, CEV)

So: What is the answer? Transformation begins in the MIND. Then it moves into the heart and into our actions. That’s the problem in much of Christianity today. We aren’t really convinced in our minds that God has the answer to our brokenness, so we keep turning to the lies of the world. The couple who, in their minds, have become convinced that divorce will bring them happiness… or the teenager in his or her mind, who has become convinced that smoking pot at a party will make him or her more popular… or the teen who thinks, in her mind, that having sex with her boyfriend, maybe even getting pregnant, will fill the hole of loneliness that she feels because she is angry and estranged from her parents. Sin always begins in the mind. We believe a lie. And so we stay trapped in our brokenness. We must change the way we think, then that will change our hearts and our actions. We must have faith and trust in the Lord, not in other people, not in the lies and falsehoods of our society, not in just our own feelings and emotions. Put God first. Invite Jesus into your heart and into your life. Let him become the commander-in-chief of everything you do. Really offer your bodies and your complete self in submission to him. He loves us and will heal our brokenness, if we let him.

The second part of the solution is the church. On this feast of Corpus Christi, that’s really where we want to focus most of our attention. We are the church. We are the Body of Christ. Fill in the blank: Transformation requires _____________ -- (a) food; (b) money; (c) good looks – that’s why I’ve put up a picture of myself on the screen! Or (d) other people. Right! Other people. Read with me from God’s Word in the Book of Ecclesiastes: Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, NLT) Last week, I heard a fascinating story about a guy, an engineer, who owned a 19,000 pound barn and needed to move it. He did some calculations and discovered that, with 350 men, each lifting 55 pounds each, they could move the barn. So he got people from his church, people from town, and all 350 of them, surrounding the barn, and with some pulleys and wenches, they successfully lifted and moved that 19,000 pound barn! There is strength in numbers! That’s why Jesus formed a church, so that we would not be alone, so we can work together and help each other. That’s why Jesus never sent his disciples out alone. They always went out in groups, at least two by two. The early church grew because people would say about them: “See how they love one another.” The Bible, in Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 4, tells us: All the believers were of one heart and mind… they shared everything they had. (Acts 4:32, NLT)

Why are we here? Why are you here? Not just to be a sponge. Not just to be a spectator, sitting on the sidelines. Read with me what the Bible says – we’re going to do a very quick study of one chapter of one book in the Bible, Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 4: Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. (Ephesians 4:11-13, CEV) This is God’s plan for us – spiritually maturity, to be completely like Christ, strong – and it requires, in one word, “serving.” We all have different gifts – not everyone is a teacher, a prophet, a missionary, a pastor – but all of us must serve and be doers.

Last week, I was at a conference and we learned some interesting statistics. In the typical church, only 10 percent of the people are involved. The other 90 percent are spectators. They discovered that of that 90 percent who are uninvolved, 60 percent don’t even want to change or get involved – but 40 percent do. They just don’t know how. Next week, I’m going to talk more on how, but it’s really not hard. Pick up the phone and call us. Or attend the next mini-retreat, 101, “Catholics Alive!” which is coming up in two Sundays, June 8 at 3 p.m., and ask us there. It’s not rocket science. And there is so much that can be done – everything from making phone calls to cutting the grass to helping with the children or youth. Why? Not just because there is a need, but because you need to get involved, for your own spiritual health and growth. And you can really make a difference. Volunteer in the youth ministry, for example, and you might really turn the life of a teenager around. Don’t get involved and that same teenager might drift into drugs or gangs. Jesus commands us to serve.

Let’s keep going: What is needed to make us strong? We must stop acting like children. (Ephesians 4:13-14, CEV) It’s as simple as that. But unfortunately, many Christians are stuck in spiritual first grade. Many stopped growing spiritually back at age 8 or 9 or 10, when they made their first communion.

Paul tells us the dangers: We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the truth. (Ephesians 4:14-15, CEV) Many Christians are really disciples of the world, not disciples of Jesus Christ. Instead of following the truth of God, we follow the truth of society, of Madison Avenue and Hollywood and our government. We follow idols like money, materialism, pleasure, popularity. We replace love of God with love for things.

When we change our minds, when we truly follow God, what are the results? Paul tells us: Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love. (Ephesians 4:15-16, CEV) The brokenness in our lives is made whole again by the love of Christ.

Anyone here know how to spell “love”? It’s really not spelled L-O-V-E. It’s really spelled T-I-M-E. Real love is measured by how much energy and time we put into the relationship – husbands with their wives, parents with their children, and us with God. How much time and energy are you giving to God, to serving Him?

God’s goal for us – write this in on your handout – is spiritual HEALTH, individually and communally, all of us together as a family, as the Body of Christ. Our readings today tell us what is needed for spiritual health. First, we need to be united, all of us on the same page, working together, all of us doing our part. A body divided or not working together is a body that is sick and diseased. In our second reading today, Paul tells us: Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:17, NAB) But too often, we are divided – not pulling together as a team. Some work, others sit.

And to be healthy, we need to exercise, eat properly and get enough rest. The same applies spiritually – we need to feed ourselves spiritually, to be healthy: Prayer, quiet time with God each day, reading the Bible, fellowship with other Christians in a Bible study or small faith community. Our first reading tells us: Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 2-3, NLT) We need to eat, spiritually, or we will grow weak, spiritually.

Finally, health requires healthy relationships. Even Jesus was not alone, but depended on his heavenly Father. Our gospel today tells us: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. (John 6:56-67, NAB) That’s why Jesus founded the church, so we are never alone.

Are you healthy, spiritually? Are we healthy, spiritually, as a church family? I heard a joke last week about a group of Russians and Americans on a joint expedition, back in the days of communism. The American took a bite out of the hard, black Russian bread and broke a tooth. He screamed, “Lousy communist bread!” The Russian replied, “It’s not lousy communist bread; it’s rotten capitalist tooth.” God feeds us in so many ways, if we let Him, with living bread – but maybe the problem is in us, in rotten teeth, spiritually, because we don’t take care of ourselves spiritually. We stay stuck in a spiritual root, locked in our brokenness.

Let’s get practical. Since spiritual transformation and change and health begin in the mind, I’m going to ask us to memorize two verses from the Bible. These verses need to sink into your spiritual DNA and into the spiritual DNA of all of us as a church. These two verses give us the recipe for spiritual health. The first verse is the Great Commandment of Jesus. Read it with me: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind…This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39, NLT) The second verse is the Great Commission of Jesus, his final marching orders to the disciples as he prepared to leave the earth. Let’s read it together: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NAB)

These two verses are the foundation of being a mature, growing, strong follower of Jesus Christ. One church in Orange County even uses these verses in its church’s mission statement: “A great commitment to the Great Commandment and to the Great Commission will grow a great church.” Do we want to be a great church, for the glory of God? Then it requires great commitment to these two verses of the Bible, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Love God. That’s worship. That’s why we are here on Sunday. In our church, love of God is the first purpose, or reason, God has us here on this earth. Love your neighbor: That’s service. God insists that we be servants, actively involved in ministry in the church, washing one another’s feet, not just sitting and watching from the sidelines. Go. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Go, teach, grow, mature. Go, baptize, spread the good news, become an ambassador for Jesus when you leave this place today. The Body of Christ is meant to be the very body and presence of Jesus in the world – to your spouse; to your kids; at your workplace; at school and home and shopping center; playing sports; watching TV; driving your car. Following Jesus is 24-7, all hours, all days of the week, every day of the year.

In our church, we use a spiritual baseball diamond to help people grow into spiritual maturity. It’s so easy you can draw this on a napkin. That’s why we use a baseball diamond, because of its simplicity. A child can understand this. You can share it. It’s a simple, five-step process toward spiritual maturity which you can share with anyone, even just sitting at Starbuck’s, sipping your “vente” or “grande” coffee. Love God – that’s at the center of the baseball diamond, the real heart of what our faith is about. We have an entire class, or mini-retreat, on this. It’s Mini-Retreat 101. To love God, we need to know God, so we have our first base class, Mini-Retreat 101, “Catholics Alive!” to help us get on the way toward spiritual maturity. It’s coming up Sunday after next, June 8, 3 p.m. If you’ve never lived it, you’re invited and urged to attend. It’s also the doorway to becoming a member of our church. To love God, we also need to grow in Christ, become more mature. Our Mini-Retreat 201, second base, focuses on how to mature and grow spiritually. To love God, we need to serve Christ, and Mini-Retreat 301 shows us how to serve. To love God, we need to share Christ with us, become ambassadors and missionaries for Jesus in the world, and our fourth base class, Mini-Retreat 401, teaches how to do that.

See how it fits together? If we live out these five purposes which Jesus has for us, we as the Body of Christ will grow strong. But if we don’t, we’ll remain trapped in our brokenness. All five purposes are in those two verses in the Bible, so this week, take the handout home, learn those two verses, let them sink into your mind and start to change the way you think, so that they also start to change your heart and your behavior. We’re all broken, but God wants to make us whole again. Will you let him?

Please bow your head as we pray together: Change our minds so that we put you first in our lives. Help us to live out the Great Commandment, to love you with all our heart, soul, mind and being, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to live out the Great Commission, to go and spread your love throughout the world, to become your hands and feet, your ears and mouth, in our hurting and broken world. Knit us together in unity. Move us to grow and to give, to serve and to live as your ambassadors, your witnesses. If we won’t go, if we won’t do, who will? Make us strong and mature. As a church, help us to always growing, individually and communally. Heal our brokenness and make us whole again. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Let’s conclude by listening to a song, “Trust God,” by Rich Muchow:

Trust God from the bottom of your heart.
Don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Trust God for where your life is going.
God is in control. God is in control.

Commit to the Lord, whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.
Pray – Lord, I’m available to you.
Here I am, Lord. Use me.
God is in control. God is in control.
Trust God. Trust God. Trust God.
Trust God. Trust God.