Homily delivered by Bishop Leo O’Reilly
in the Cathedral of SS Patrick & Felim, Cavan
Feast of Corpus Christi, 6th June 2010
Back in 2002 I got an invitation to a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the last All Ireland win by Cavan, when they beat Meath in the final of 1952. The surviving members of the two teams were there and various other well-known GAA figures. Micheál O Muircheartaigh gave a very fine speech recalling the great games and the great heroes of that year’s championship and paying tributes to those who had taken part. The players of both teams were then presented with symbolic gifts to mark the occasion. After that we chatted for a while and then had a meal where the chatting and the story telling continued well into the night.
That celebration nearly ten years ago came into my mind when I was thinking about the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the feast we celebrate today. This is the feast where we celebrate in a special way the sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament of Christ’s continuing presence in the Church and in the world. I thought about the parallels between what we do at Mass and what happens on the occasion of other celebrations like the golden jubilee of the All Ireland win.
The first parallel is that we gather together to remember an important event in the past. In one case a historic football match, in the other the historic event of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The next parallel is that in both cases we tell stories. We recall the story of the great day long ago and of all the people associated with it. Micheál O Muircheartaigh told the story of the Cavan victory in ’52 in his speech. Others told their memories of the same event in conversations. In the Mass, the readers and the priest tell the story of Jesus and the events surrounding his life, death and resurrection. We don’t tell the whole story every time. But we tell important episodes which recall the person of Jesus vividly for us. Then we present the gifts at the altar as the gifts were presented to the players. And finally we celebrate. We share a meal as we do at all our celebrations – for football, weddings and so on. But in the case of the Mass it is a symbolic meal – the bread and wine of the Eucharist, representing the Body and Blood of Jesus.
The bread and wine represent the Body and Blood of Jesus. One meaning of represent is ‘symbolise’ – the way the green jersey represents Irish teams in sport. But if you break up that word into its parts, re – present, it can mean to make present again. And when we say that the Eucharistic bread and wine represent the Body and Blood of Christ, we mean that Mass makes Christ present again among us. And that is the big difference between the Mass and the other celebration that I spoke about. No matter how many times we celebrate the 52 All Ireland success, that in itself won’t bring it back, or make it present. We hope that a new team will do that for us, but we can’t bring back the old one.
In the Mass Christ is made present again. That is the great mystery we celebrate today. The mystery of our faith is that when we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim Christ’s death and resurrection and make them a reality in our own time and our own lives. Christ comes as near to us – in fact nearer – than he came to his disciples long ago. Of course Christ is not present to us in the same way as he was present to his disciples at the last supper. He is not with us in the same way as he was with Mary and the other women at Calvary. He is present today sacramentally. He is present, through his Spirit, in signs. He is with us in the form of bread and wine. But our faith assures us that he is really, truly and substantially present with us.
We are preparing to celebrate an International Eucharistic Congress in 2012. We have heard from parents and grandparents stories of the massive celebration that took place in 1932. It was on a scale that almost rivalled the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979. The 1932 celebration was almost as much a celebration of the newly achieved Free State as it was of our faith in the Eucharist.
We live in a very different Ireland today and have a very different relationship with the State. This will be a different celebration, a more modest one I imagine, representing a more humble Church. I see it not as a single burst of enthusiasm, but as an important stage on the path of renewal in the Church in Ireland. We will soon begin this process of renewal in the diocese. It will be centred on the Eucharist. The theme of the Congress has already been decided. It is “Communion with Christ, Communion with each other.” We will be exploring that theme together in the months and years ahead.
Today, we thank God for this wondrous gift of the Eucharist. We ask him to help us to come to know the length and the breadth, the height and the depth of this mystery and to help us to receive it with reverence and devotion. Let us ask him to renew and strengthen our faith that in this bread and wine we meet Christ himself and united in communion with him and with each other.
