2nd Sunday after Pentecost 6 June 2010 Sermon

2nd Sunday after Pentecost 6.6.10 The Eucharist the greatest miracle

The Eucharist is the greatest miracle the world encounters. Greater than a healing of an illness; greater than a raising from the dead; greater than a miraculous intervention in nature... because of what it is. The other miracles are all God’s doing something; the Eucharist is God Himself.

Yet because of its relative commonness in terms of frequency it is easily underrated and even taken for granted by those who believe in it.

So we have to pinch ourselves and really grasp that here and now right before our eyes is a miracle, performed in each Mass, and the best possible type of miracle in terms both of what it is, and the good it can do us.

What it is: bread from heaven. The most visible tangible link with heaven, a kind of permanent and visible reminder. If anyone is scratching around for a sign from heaven, some miracle, “if only there was some way of knowing”... this is it.

Now one might protest that you cannot see any difference with this ‘miracle’ so how do you know it is happening?

There are stories of eucharistic miracles, where hosts bleed or turn into visible human flesh.
But if one is looking for spectacular effects these are to be found in the Eucharist in the difference it makes to people’s lives. They will be able to live in a Christ-like way, loving God and neighbour, forgiving enemies, sacrificing their own pleasures for a higher cause etc.

This may in turn seem rather dull by comparison with some spectacular miracle of nature, but it is more useful all the same.

To enable people to live to the fullest extent of their human nature transformed into the image of God –this is the best thing the world could have. If everyone lived to the full power the Eucharist makes possible there would be no more war, crime, bashings, terrorist attacks, adultery, bullying and so on...in such a world. The remedy is right here in this church, on this altar.

The change in people may be gradual, and not always obvious, but overall the world is a much better place for having this miracle of the Eucharist.

This is what the Eucharist is. A quiet miracle that is not ostentatious to the sense experience and yet will work wonders (miracles) in the lives of those who receive it in the right spirit.

We can come to understand that the effects of this heavenly food are what we most need. So we hunger for this food and seek it out. If there were a medicine that would cure all illness and would enable one to live forever what would people not do to get that medicine? So we have it here, a small piece of food that packs a punch for all eternity, that will cure us of every fault and enable us to live forever.

In a sense one has to grow into this miracle. It is not obvious and instant like the more visible miracles but is evident only to those who have the eyes of faith.

Each time we receive this sacrament with at least partial faith, we can expect to receive more and eventually to become totally convinced of its truth and value.

We also need fortifying against the false and negative influences in the world around us. Many have lost the faith they once had through neglecting to maintain this essential nourishment.

So we are reminded on this Sunday after Corpus Christi of the great treasure we have. The Gospel speaks of a Banquet to which we are invited. Despite its humble appearance this bread from heaven is the best food to be had anywhere around here!