The readings for this Sunday are Ex 24:3-8; Heb 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26.

“Behold, behold the wood of the cross, on which was hung our salvation.”

We can feel the hard, rough wooden surface . . .
The weight of the heavy object . . .

The smell of the pine wood that the true cross was traditionally believed to have been made from . . .

. . . and the sickly, metallic smell of human blood, mixed with the dust of the road on the Via Dolorosa.

These are the realities, unpleasant though they are, that are brought to mind when we think of Christ’s passion . . .

. . . and these are things that we remember today.

The famous song so ironically says “WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?”

I say “ironically” because WE WERE THERE and WE ARE THERE.

AND WE ARE ABOUT TO BE THERE AGAIN IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS.

When we knell before the altar during the consecration of the Eucharist – and make no mistake kneeling is very much how our posture should be if at all possible – we are kneeling in the dirt at the top of Calvary – of Golgotha, the Place of the Skull – at the foot of the cross, with Our Lord, JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD upon it!

When we hear the words of institution that Father will speak in a few minutes . . .

WE ARE THERE on that windswept hill long, long ago . . .

Make no mistake, what we do at the Altar at every mass is NOT A symbol . . .

It is NOT a retelling or a remembrance . . .

IT IS the ONE and ONLY sacrifice of Calvary!
WE ARE THERE WITH CHRIST.

The sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist IS the ONE and ONLY sacrifice of Calvary celebrated in an UNBLOODY manner right here, right now, and every day all over the world.

The mystery of the Sacrament is that it UNITES us in TIME and in SPACE with that MOMENT.

And that sacrifice is what we celebrate here today especially – on the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Oddly enough, what we CELBRATE is a Crucifixion – a MURDER in fact, for that is, of course, what it actually was.

(The deliberate killing of the innocent is ALWAYS murder, by the way, no matter what you may have heard otherwise.)

We actually CELEBRATE the nails through his palms . . .

The thorns on his head . . .

The burning pain of his back where he was scourged . . .

We FEEL the thunderstorm and the pouring rain just like the Blessed Mother and St. John did – when the heavens opened up and nature raged forth in grief and sorrow that dark, dark afternoon so long ago.

WE MOST DEFINITLEY SEE the red blood and the water that bursts forth when the lance was thrust into his side.

Indeed, I can smell that blood every time I hold the chalice – every time that wine passes near my nose, I remember the smell of the blood on
Calvary.

ALL THIS WE CELEBRATE TODAY.

Are we morbid, we Christians? Are we crazy?

Many throughout the centuries have thought so – Pliny the Younger was a Roman governor in the early 2nd century AD who wrote that we Christians were absolutely CRAZY – he called us cannibals.

He might understand the concept of a remembrance or a memorial – but to CELBRATE DEATH?

WE EAT AND DRINK FLESH AND BLOOD, don’t we?

That’s what we do every time we gather here for mass, isn’t it?

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. We celebrate BOTH the gift of the sacrament of the Eucharist he gave us on Holy Thursday AND what that Gift really was – Christ’s TRUE body and TRUE blood, shed for US ALL – that we might live.

We no longer offer animal sacrifices to the Lord – we no longer pour blood on our altars nor sprinkle the blood all over the people like we heard in the reading from the book of Exodus.

All that has changed with Christ – we now have ONE VICTIM and ONE PRIEST and they are the same person.

Jesus Christ himself is our priest AND our victim.
In a few minutes, when Father Jim stands at the altar and offers the sacrifice of Calvary he is not doing it as HIMSELF – it is CHRIST offering it, just as he did 2000 years ago.

In most of my homilies, I usually try and offer a few words of how we can take the words of the Gospel or the teachings of the Church and how we should apply them to our daily lives, but today – I’m NOT going to do that.

TODAY – it’s not going to be about US.

TODAY, it’s going to be about HIM – and him alone!

TODAY – we need to remember just what it was that HE DID – something he did do FOR US – upon that heavy wooden cross at the Place of the Skull 2000 years ago.

We can talk about just what exactly that all meant, redemption and salvation and all that which was GAINED for us ANOTHER DAY.

TODAY – we must meditate and remember upon just WHAT it was he did for us – HE GAVE UP HIMSELF, and all that he was – for US.

So when we fall on our knees at Calvary here in a few moments – and every time we go to mass – we need to remember what he did and utter a breath of thanks to him for it – for both the SACRAMENT and the SACRIFICE that he gave us.

For as we say IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS:
“When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death Lord Jesus, until you come in Glory!”

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“Why do questions arise in your heart?”

We’ve heard time and again that the only stupid questions are the ones which are never asked . . .

. . . But Jesus here kind of takes that saying and throws it out the window.

HE says – we shouldn’t still have any questions LEFT at all.
Why would that be?

I can give it to you in one word – FULFILLMENT.

As he hung upon the cross – as we just heard on Good Friday – his last words were three that we all remember very well: “IT IS FINISHED.”

Today, we get to understand just EXACTLY what all of it meant.

What we’ve just heard is the very last part of Luke’s Gospel – only two verses come after this briefly describing Jesus’ ascension – and it is the passage we heard today where everything that went before was FINALLY EXPLAINED.

It is here that we FINALLY get to understand it all – this is the FINAL EPISODE of JESUS THE TV SERIES where everything GETS REVEALED!

And you know what the BIG REVEAL is?

HA! YOU HAVE TO GO BACK AND WATCH ALL THE EPISODES AGAIN!

Luke plays with the reader here – he tells us ONLY that “Jesus explains it all to everybody” but he gives us NONE of the details.

Jesus here seems kind of like an amused big brother explaining things to his younger siblings – things he knows very well and finds it kind of funny that they just can’t seem to get it. (As the oldest of four I can kind of relate . . .)

“Why do questions arise in your heart?”

We really DO need to AVOID having a TV mentality on this one though.

Unlike on television – WE – the viewing audience here – are NOT SUPPOSED to be spoon fed all the answers at the end of THIS show and go “AH HA – THAT’s what all that really meant!”

Luke sort of presumes here – somewhat understandably – that we’ve watched at least some of the previous episodes up to this point, as well as being at least passingly familiar with the “Old Testament” TV Series that finished up some time back (that was a great one too by the way) and as a general rule we can say we’ve at least seen some of them – and that’s good enough actually.

. . . BUT while this might NOT have been good TV – it’s very much good gospel writing – good news actually to coin a phrase.

What’s great here is that Jesus reveals that this was God’s plan ALL ALONG, ever since Adam’s sin.

Jesus, you know, HAD explained this before – at least partially – to all sorts of people on all sorts of occasions:

. . To his own village of Nazareth in “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

. . .To the Jews of Jerusalem in “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

. . .And to Peter in Gethsemane – “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” (

You see – Jesus had been talking about FULFILLMENT all the time throughout the series . . .

. . . BUT ALMOST NOBODY EVER GOT IT.

Just hearing it, it seems – isn’t enough.

It takes the ACTION – the DRAMA – the CLIMAX – just like in any good TV program – for everyone to TRULY GET IT.

It takes the empty Tomb . . .

It takes Mary Magdalene weeping in the garden. . .

It takes the man in white standing outside asking why we look for the living among the dead . . .

It takes the nail holes in his hands and his feet and the lance mark in his side . . . as we saw with Thomas last week.

It takes the RESURRECTION for everyone to BELIEVE, but it took TODAY’s Gospel for everyone to UNDERSTAND.

You do all understand now, don’t you?
No?

Well don’t feel too badly if you still have some difficulties or questions – we all do, although I’d like to think we’re quite a bit further along than the disciples were in today’s Gospel.

You see, even though the final episode of Jesus The TV Series was broadcast some time ago, we do have the benefit of the 2000+ seasons of the ongoing spin off series – “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” to help us understand.

And just what is it that the FULFILLMENT teaches us?

All that God promised, he has accomplished!

We have been redeemed!

Eternal life is not only possible, it is actually realistically attainable!

Jesus is the CHRIST – the MESSIAH – HE is the promised one since the time of Adam, slowly revealed through Noah, Moses, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and all the rest.

Now we can have REAL HOPE when we worry about our jobs, our bills and all that may come from the uncertain economic future we face – we KNOW that God has a plan, and that he will not LEAVE us orphaned.

NOW when we sit at the bedside of our sick loved ones we can KNOW that God not only exists, but that he loves each and every one of us.

We might worry – we might be afraid – and, yes, we might even suffer . . .

. . . But we can be COMFORTED for FULFILLMENT HAS HAPPENED.

God was with us the whole time BUT he is NOW with us in new and most amazing ways unlike before.

It was all God’s PLAN from the beginning – just like us celebrating the Eucharist like we will do in a few moments.

FULFILLMENT HAS COME – LET US REJOICE NOW AT THE TABLE OF THE LORD BECAUSE OF IT.

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