Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 / 1 Cor 10:16-17 / John 6:51-58
We know what the Sunday obligation is, and that is we have to come for Mass on Sundays.
So, we will come to Church on Sundays to say a prayer, as well as to listen to the Word of God in the readings, and receive Holy Communion.
For most of us, coming for the Sunday Mass is a weekly routine, and also a part of our weekend schedule.
Then the pandemic came along, and that routine and rhythm was broken.
The Sunday obligation became an option of either on-site Mass or online Mass.
Although the Sunday obligation has been reinstated, the pre-pandemic routine and rhythm have been broken.
Some have a difficulty fitting in the Sunday obligation into their weekend schedule, while some have lost it all together.
For most of us who observe the Sunday obligation faithfully, we may need to reflect on what we are doing.
The Sunday obligation can become a habit and a routine that we are familiar with.
We may begin to take things for granted, because routine can be the death of reverence.
Today, as the church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi, we need to ponder and reflect.
The Mass is not just about going through some religious ritual.
At Mass, God speaks to us through the Scriptures. So, we hear the teaching from heaven to tell us how to live holy lives on Earth.
And then we will receive Holy Communion. What we received at Holy Communion is something holy from heaven.
We are receiving the Body of Christ, and Jesus enters into our hearts, and makes His home in our hearts.
So, something very holy is happening at Mass. It can be said that heaven comes down to earth at Mass.
And we participate of the Divine banquet, in which we partake of the Body of Christ at Holy Communion, and hence this Feast is called Corpus Christi.
Jesus gives us His heart at Holy Communion, so that our hearts can be like His, and that we can live our lives like Him.
But all these profound aspects of the Mass take the form of the simple and humble and ordinary.
The Sacred Host, or the Blessed Sacrament, looks so simple and ordinary, that we might lose reverence for it and treat it casually.
But that Sacred Host, the Blessed Sacrament, the Body of Christ, is nothing less than the very Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We are given the faith to believe that, and we must have utmost reverence for the Body of Christ in that humble form.
There are many accounts of the Miracles of the Eucharist, and there is one about St. Anthony with the Blessed Sacrament and the hungry donkey.
The story goes that there was a man who openly mocked those who believe that Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Anthony tried to convince that man, but he was stubborn. So St. Anthony prayed and received an inspiration.
He challenged that arrogant man, “If the donkey you ride adored the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, would you believe in the truth of the Blessed Sacrament?”
The man agreed, but decided to raise the stakes. He would starve his donkey for three days and then bring it to the town square.
St. Anthony would bring the Blessed Sacrament to that same square. The donkey then would be put in front of a pile of hay and St. Anthony would stand a few yards away with the Blessed Sacrament. What happened next would decide the victor.
To prepare for the challenge, St. Anthony fasted for three days, and the man in turn told everyone in the town of the contest. He was convinced that the donkey would think nothing of the Eucharist and ravenously eat the pile of hay.
On the day of the contest, the man brought his donkey and placed the hay under the donkey’s nose.
St. Anthony came and stood a distance away with the Holy Eucharist.
Defying all odds, the donkey turned its head and walked over to St. Anthony. When the donkey was near, it bent its front legs and knelt in adoration!
When the man saw this miraculous change of events, he immediately knelt down and professed his belief in the truth of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
For us who believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, let us not think of coming for Mass as an obligation.
If animals can sense the divine presence, may we have utmost love and reverence for Jesus who comes to us in the humble Sacred Host.