This is our fourth week of our message series, “Half-Truths,” where we look at thoughts in our culture that are half-true, but not completely true.  While we have been acknowledging the true parts, we have also presenting the whole truth as best understood by our faith.

    Because the half-truth that we are going to be exploring this week is a bit dense, I am not going to summarize the ones we have already discussed -- you can find them on my blog on the parish website.  This week’s half-truth is not so much part of our larger culture, but one that exists with Christians. It involves the most important element in our Catholic faith. Now, there may be some non-Catholics here today.  First, welcome and thank you for joining us for worship today. Second, I know that you may not agree with what I am going to say today, and I may or may not change your mind. That’s OK. As I said last week, naming different points of view and being honest about them strengthens and does not hurt relationships.  Even if you leave here today disagreeing with the Catholic viewpoint, I hope that you will at least better understand what we believe.

    The half-truth is that the Eucharist (or Holy Communion) is a symbol.  It is true that the Eucharist is, like all the sacraments are, a symbol.  The textbook definition of a sacrament is “an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace.”  Sacraments are these physical signs to show what God wants to do for us spiritually and in our souls.  Human beings are composed of both the physical and the spiritual. Both our body and our soul are good.  God uses very physical and concrete things to give us his grace and life to our souls. For example, water is the key sign of baptism, because in baptism God washes our souls clean of original sin.

    The Eucharist which we receive each week is meant to be a symbol showing that God wants to nourish us and provide for us.  So it is true that Holy Communion is a symbol, but that is only half the truth.

    To get to the whole truth we need to look closely at the Gospel passage we just heard from St. Mark.  It recounts how Jesus instituted the Eucharist, and it will bring us to the full truth of the meaning of Holy Communion.

    St. Mark writes, “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”  This is really important, for to understand the Eucharist fully, we need to know that Jesus instituted the sacrament at a Passover meal. The Passover celebrates God delivering the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.  You know the story: the Israelites were slaves for over 400 years, then God called Moses to lead the people out of their slavery. Moses goes to Pharaoh and says “God says, ‘Let my people go.’” Pharaoh refuses, then God sends a series of plagues, but Pharaoh still says “No.”  

The last plague, the one that finally causes Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, is the death of the firstborn.  To protect the Jewish people from the Angel of Death, God instituted the Passover: the people were to sacrifice an unblemished male lamb, smear the blood over their doorposts, and then they had to eat the lamb.  They had to eat of the lamb that was sacrificed in order to benefit from the sacrifice, in order to be safe from the Angel of Death. It was the celebration of Passover, this sacrifice and meal that initiated the Exodus and freed the Israelites from physical slavery.

Jesus was born about 1500 years after the Exodus.  For the Jewish people, especially at that time, the celebration of Passover was not like how we celebrate holidays.  On the Fourth of July we might think fondly of our Founding Fathers and remember that they wrote the Declaration of Independence, but we do not think we are reliving or participating in that event.  We just remember it. For the Jewish people, when they celebrate Passover, they are not just remembering it but they are living it. It is real for them. In some mysterious way, by taking part in the Passover the Jewish people are not just remembering the Exodus, but are actively participating in it.

It is important that Jesus institutes the Eucharist at the Passover.  Then St. Mark tells us, “While they were eating, he took bread said the blessing, broke, gave it to them and said, “Take it; this represents my body.” Actually he didn’t say that. He said, “Take it; this is my body.” He uses the word is. He equates the bread with his body.  The bread is his body and this is important because of what is missing from the meal, what is not mentioned at this meal whatsoever is the lamb. And that is strange because a lamb was the main course, vital for any celebration of Passover. At the ordinary Jewish Passover, the entire proceedings revolved around the body and blood of the sacrificial Passover lamb.

Here, at the Last Supper, Jesus did something entirely different. With his words of explanation, he shifted the focus away from the body and blood of the Passover lamb, and turned it towards his own body and blood.  Just as the lamb was given up for the Jewish people to be saved and you had to eat the lamb to experience God’s power, now at this time Jesus is saying that now his body is being given up for our salvation. And the bread is his body. It is his body that is sacrificed and given up so that we can be saved. And just as the Jews had to eat the lamb, so do we need to consume the Lamb of God who is Jesus in communion.  Just as the lamb was slaughtered to save the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery, now Jesus goes to the Cross to save us from slavery to sin and death.

Likewise, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to the apostles saying it IS his blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.  Jesus is equating his blood with the blood of the Passover lamb, which protected the firstborn from the Angel of Death. Now Jesus’ blood protects us from death.  Just as the Jewish people believed that by participating in the Passover, they were really participating in the exodus out of Egypt, we believe we are really participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus when we receive communion.  At the Passover it was never enough to sacrifice the lamb, you had to eat the actual flesh of the lamb, because a symbol was not sufficient.

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi. The feast is given to us to reinforce the truth that what we receive at Holy Communion is the truly the body and blood of Christ. It is not just a symbol, but truly Jesus: body and blood, soul and divinity.  It is a symbol, but not just a symbol. We really do receive Jesus’ body and blood. We eat the Lamb of God, who takes away our sins.

So, what do we do with all this information?  For those who still are not convinced, I would simply encourage you to pray about it.  I hope that at the very least you grow in an appreciation for the whole story and depth of Scripture.  The more you read and see the connections between the Old Testament and the life of Jesus, the more you are going to appreciate how God has been working throughout human history.

For those who are convinced of the truth of the Eucharist, I hope that a better understanding of what we believe encourages us to come and receive the Eucharist with a greater appreciation of what we are receiving.  I hope that this better understanding helps us make coming to Mass each week a greater priority in our lives.

Hopefully we will also grow in appreciation for what Jesus has done for us.  Jesus not only humbled himself by dying on a cross, sacrificing himself on the cross, he humbles himself by coming in the appearance of bread and wine. Jesus desires a relationship with us so much that he makes himself food for us. Finally, may we grow in appreciation for what Jesus wants to do to us. Just as the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ, Jesus wants to transform each of us into his Christ like character. By receiving Jesus, we are to become like him.