{"id":3679,"date":"2013-06-07T21:09:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T20:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=3679"},"modified":"2013-06-07T21:10:51","modified_gmt":"2013-06-07T20:10:51","slug":"the-most-holy-body-and-blood-of-christ-02-06-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=3679","title":{"rendered":"The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (02.06.13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (02.06.13)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI RECEIVED FROM THE LORD …\u201d
\n<\/b>
\nSpiritual experiences featured in the commentary for the 6th Sunday of Easter. This Sunday June 2nd. is the Feast of Corpus Christi. An extract from St. Paul\u2019s Letter to the Corinthian church (11:23-26) presents us with an opportunity to explore the, perhaps, unique spiritual experience of the Apostle to the Gentiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrothers and sisters:
\nI received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
\nIn the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
\nFor as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most Bible translations contain the words – \u201cI received from the Lord \u2026..\u201d Paul is making an indisputable claim to have had a spiritual experience. In his letter to the Galatians (1:11-12) Paul is even more explicit: \u201cI want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ ..\u201d<\/p>\n

When God gifts us with a spiritual experience there is no standard formula. Each spiritual gift is uniquely and perfectly tailored to enhance God\u2019s love for us, if we freely cooperate. A Divinely gifted spiritual experience may resemble a jigsaw puzzle which we receive a piece at a time. Baptismal grace nurtures and supports our faith in the Lord as we struggle to complete the picture, slowly and not without pain and struggle. For example, we could focus on Mary. From the Annunciation onwards there is no biblical indication that Gabriel presented her with a whole \u2018route map\u2019. It would appear to have been an inner journey of step-by-step revelation by spiritual experience over the whole course of Jesus\u2019 life, suffering, death and resurrection. Not all those steps were joyous occasions. Think of Simeon\u2019s prophecy on the occasion of The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. (Luke 2:34-35) \u2018Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”\u2019
\n\u201c\u2026 and a sword will piece your own soul too.\u201d There\u2019s no mistaking the import of the words and Mary\u2019s immaculate soul will have received them in the fullness of the mystery they revealed. Simeon and Anna would undoubtedly have been a comfort yet, simultaneously, a sign that faith is a penitential pilgrimage.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s initial spiritual experience is quite different. Paul, or Saul as he was called, never met Jesus in the flesh. Theirs paths on this earth never crossed. Saul\u2019s Pharisaical credentials and dedication were \u2018top drawer\u2019 and, more than that, he enjoyed the status and privilege of being a Roman Citizen. There is reason to believe that Saul was acting from a good conscience in persecuting his fellow Jews who had converted to Christianity. Literally, all of a sudden, everything changed in his world. The \u2018Damascus Road\u2019 experience, which lasted three days, is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9:
\n\u201cMeanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord\u2019s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, \u201cSaul, Saul, why do you persecute me?\u201d
\n\u201cWho are you, Lord?\u201d Saul asked.
\n\u201cI am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,\u201d he replied. \u201cNow get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.\u201d
\nThe men travelling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saul\u2019s three days of physical darkness reflected Jesus time in the tomb. For Saul there was no piece-by-piece jigsaw puzzle to complete. As soon as Ananias laid his hands on the blind Saul\u2019s head the, perhaps unique, spiritual experience for a sinful human was completed in Damascus. The Acts of the Apostles chapter 9 give us the detail:
\n\u201cThen Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”<\/p>\n

For Saul, whom we acknowledge to be Saint Paul, the infusion of the Holy Spirit brought the fullness of the Apostolate of Jesus Christ. Whereas his companion Apostles had lived through years of formation and teaching by Jesus, either as a group or in individual tutorial sessions, Paul\u2019s Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist and Consecration were instantaneous. Refer to the earlier quotation from Paul\u2019s Letter to the Galatians (1:11-12) The Persecutor became the Propagator in, as it were, an instant.<\/p>\n

Within five words, five quite easily overlooked words, \u201cI received from the Lord \u2026\u201d, are the seeds of a Church and world-changing individual\u2019s spiritual experience of the power of Divine love.
\n\u2018Corpus Christi\u2019 \u2013 the Body of Christ \u2013 is the gathering of Christ\u2019s Body, the Baptised, on earth. For some, the life-changing Divine spiritual experience will have happened relatively quickly. For others, probably the majority of us, it is a work in progress. For all it is a gift to be grasped tightly and held as precious beyond words.<\/p>\n

Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ was the head of the Jesuits when Pope Francis was a Jesuit priest. Pope Francis, I like to think, has this Pedro Arrupe prayer on his wall as I do on mine \u2013 maybe it will find it\u2019s way into your life too? Then, like St. Paul, we will be able to say \u201cI received from the Lord \u2026 \u201d and the Feast of Corpus Christi will open up even more for us too.<\/p>\n

A Prayer to Sense the Mind of Christ<\/b><\/p>\n

Above all, give me that sensus Christi \u2013 the sensing of Christ about which St Paul speaks: that I may feel with your feelings, with the sentiments of your heart, which basically are love for your Father and love for humanity. Teach me your way of relating to disciples, to sinners, to children, to Pharisees, Pilates and Herods. Teach me how you deal with your disciples. How delicately you treat them on Lake Tiberias, even preparing breakfast for them! How you washed their feet! May I learn from you and from your ways, as St Ignatius did: how to eat and drink; how to attend banquets; how to act when hungry or thirsty, when tired from the ministry, when in need of rest or sleep.<\/p>\n

Teach me how to be compassionate to the suffering, to the poor, the blind, the lame and the lepers. Teach me your way of looking at people: as you glanced at Peter after his denial, as you penetrated the heart of the rich young man and the hearts of your disciples. We have to learn from you the secret of a close bond or union with God: in the more trivial, everyday actions, with that total dedication to loving the Father and all humanity. Give me that grace, that sensus Christi, your very heartbeat, that I may live all my life, interiorly and exteriorly, proceeding and discerning with your spirit, exactly as you did during your mortal life.
\n– Pedro Arrupe SJ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (02.06.13) \u201cI RECEIVED FROM THE LORD …\u201d Spiritual experiences featured in the commentary for the 6th Sunday of Easter. This Sunday June 2nd. is the Feast of Corpus Christi. An extract from … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feast-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3681,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679\/revisions\/3681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}