Closing Observances
Year of the Eucharist
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| Scenes from the Eucharistic Liturgy at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral the second Sunday of October with Cardinal Adam Maida, and the Solemn Liturgy of the Hours Sunday afternoon with Most Reverend Robert Morneau, auxiliary bishop of Green Bay. |
Homily by Adam Cardinal Maida
Eucharistic Day
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 9, 2005
My brother Bishops and Priests, Neophytes from around the Archdiocese, and Members of the Faith Community of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, St. Gregory and Madonna Parishes:
In union with Pope Benedict XVI and the bishops gathered for the World Synod of Bishops in Rome these very days, our Archdiocese is celebrating a special Eucharistic Day. This morning's Mass, as you know, is a special opportunity for me to pray with and for all who have recently joined our Catholic faith this past Easter. It is also a beautiful way for us to affirm and renew our faith in the abiding presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, the Holy Eucharist, one of the central mysteries of our faith, the very action which calls the Church into being. As the Council Fathers of Vatican II proclaimed, the Holy Eucharist is "source and summit" of the Church's life; therefore, it is fitting that we gather here in this, our Mother Church of Detroit, a place named and dedicated for this great mystery of faith.
I thank you for accepting my invitation to be here and for the way you have responded to the gift and call of God in your life. Every one of us here—no matter what our background or experiences—has the option of saying "yes" to the Lord each day. Each day, God invites us to some new degree of intimacy with Him and for the well-being of others. Each day, we have the capacity to hear and respond… but, God leaves us free. He never forces us to answer Him affirmatively. He waits patiently and He keeps trying to get our attention. This message is very much at the heart of today's readings, particularly today's rather puzzling Gospel parable.
Whenever we read the parables, it is helpful to remember that there is one main point Jesus is trying to convey. Sometimes we can get lost in the details of the parable, and therefore, lose sight of the overall message. For instance, on hearing today's parable, we might think it odd that the invited guests not only declined the king's offer to come to his son's wedding banquet, but they even killed his messengers. And then, when the king forces people off the street to fill the empty banquet seats, why does he mistreat the poor man just because he had no wedding garment?
As I say, there are no easy answers to all the details of this parable, but the overall point is clear enough: God sent His own Son into the world. The banquet of life eternal is available already here and now for any and all who are willing to come to Jesus. But like the people described in today's Gospel, we can get caught up and absorbed in our own daily lives—our business, our family concerns, our personal health and security. It is all too easy to set aside the invitation of God and get caught in the immediacy of our own work and leisure, but when we do so, we are really cutting ourselves off from the very source of our life itself. Whenever we refuse to open our hearts in prayer and adore the Lord with gratitude and joy, we begin to whither up inside. In fact, you could even say that we completely lose our appetite for things of the Spirit.
The puzzling ending of today's parable has a very important message for us. While it is true the man was forced in off the street to participate in the banquet, he should still have been properly clothed. The image of the wedding garment implies that the man was being invited not just to be an observer, but also to actually participate in the wedding. Each of us—thanks to our Baptism—have been clothed in Christ, and as such, we should always live according to the pattern of our faith in all that we say and do. In that way, no matter when and where the Lord might call us, we would be prepared and disposed to respond wholeheartedly.
The divine invitation of grace is present for everyone and in every circumstance, but the critical question is whether we are open to receive it. As the prophet Isaiah explained in the first reading, God wants to wipe away the tears of every face and draw together all people to share one banquet with Him and each other forever.
The Book of Revelation describes this beautiful vision as "the wedding feast of the Lamb." In every Holy Eucharist, we renew our participation in that feast and we prepare for the day when we will share fully and completely in the banquet of life eternal.
On our pilgrim way, St. Paul offers us very wise advice from his Letter to the Philippians. He notes that he has learned the secret of having and not having, of living in abundance and being in need. As he writes from prison near the end of his life, he has a perspective of peaceful serenity, looking back on all that which Holy Spirit has given and not given. He appreciates with gratitude and joy the way that God has cared for him and he faces an uncertain future with unshakeable confidence that God will continue to provide what he needs right up to his last breath. Such could be (and should be) our own attitude as we come to each Eucharistic celebration. We are saying "yes" for all that God has done in the past and we are pledging our openness and trust for all He will do for us in the future.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my homily, these very days, in Rome, over one hundred bishops are gathered with our Holy Father to reflect on ways to make the Holy Eucharist more meaningful in our lives. One of the points being raised at the World Synod of Bishops is the importance of seeing the connection between the Holy Eucharist and our way of life.
As the discussion text for the Synod puts it, "The Eucharist and the moral life are inseparable, not only because nourishment by the Blessed Sacrament leads to interior transformation, but also because those reborn in Baptism to life according to the Spirit—to the new moral life, not according to the flesh—are by nature drawn to Jesus in the Eucharist. Indeed, the Eucharist fortifies the Christian sense of living; its celebration is service to God and others, as well as a witness in the world to the values contained in the Gospel. In this way, the three dimensions of the Christian life—liturgy, witness, and service—demonstrate a continuity between the sacrament celebrated and the sacrament adored, and between the commitment to bear witness to Christ and the temporal order and the communion which is built up through service in charity, especially to the poor (Art. 72).
As you come forward to receive the Lord's Body and Blood this day, you will be expressing your faith in His presence by a simple but profound word, "amen." As you know, this word means "I believe." First of all, we are saying that we believe Jesus is present in the Sacrament. At the same time, we are also affirming our desire to be in communion with all of Christ's Body everywhere throughout the world. Saying "amen" to Christ's presence in the host and the wine also means saying "amen" to the whole Body of Christ with all of its gifts and needs, its joys and sorrows. There is a very clear link between what we do here and how we live.
In fact, there should be such a flow of life and love in the Holy Eucharist that when we leave here, we will go forth with the explicit mission and intention of inviting others to come to know and experience the presence of the Lord as well. We are called and sent so that we, in turn, might call others to communion with us and the Lord. Our own communion with the Lord will always be incomplete until the whole family is gathered together at the Lord's Table.
Every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we celebrate a change—a change in the elements of bread and wine, but also a change in us. Our "yes" or "amen" to the Lord's presence should renew and deepen our commitment of love for the Church and its mission of being an agent of change and renewal within the society. As we leave each Eucharistic celebration, we should be more fully in love with all the people God gives us—our family and co-workers, and our fellow parishioners. Saying "yes" to the Lord should ideally predispose us to say a whole-hearted "yes" to any and all who are in need of time and talent.
I rejoice this day that we can gather here in our Cathedral from so many different parts of the Archdiocese. I thank you for giving your "amen" to Jesus Christ and the Church. Saying "amen" to the Body of Christ means you are committing yourself to use your gifts and talents to build up the Church and to work for the salvation of the world. I thank you for being here today and pray that through this special liturgy and the events of this day, our whole Church of Detroit will be drawn more closely to Christ, the risen and glorious Lord. With one voice, may we proclaim our "amen" to the Lord whenever we hear the invitation of divine grace. Amen.
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