Corpus Christi

Four minute homilies

Corpus Christi

Today we are going to take Jesus to the streets. We are going to walk with him, to take a stroll with him, to accompany him around the streets of the church. And we are going to play music, use incense and bring him flowers. We wish to bring the flowers of our good deeds. During the day we gather little flowers that we find along the way and we manage to put together a nice bouquet. Little flowers that nobody notices, but not unnoticed for the gaze of a careful eye. We burn the incense of our good desires, which go up to the presence of the Almighty God, through the smoke that keeps climbing. And we play our best music, bringing our thoughts to him, expressing with the lyrics what we have in our hearts.

On Holy Thursday we have also a Eucharistic procession inside the church, to the altar of repose. We accompany Jesus to the garden of olives, to his agony at Getsemane. It is a sad procession, with the apostles falling asleep, only Judas awake. Today we relive the mystery of Holy Thursday in the light of the resurrection, just a few days later. Then it was Via Crucis, the way of the Cross, through the streets of Jerusalem; today is Via Lucis, the way to the light, bright as the sun shines at midday. We couldn’t celebrate the Eucharist properly on Holy Thursday because Jesus was going to die for us. After his resurrection he went up to heaven but stayed with us in the tabernacle. And today we are congratulating him for his presence. We are grateful that he has decided to stay with us.

It is a magnificent feast. It is like a king that goes out to meet his people. We play music, we sing songs, we rejoice in his presence. We accompany him with our best clothes, with our best wishes, and with our presence we acknowledge his kingship, his rule over us, and we are happy to be citizens of such a kingdom, a kingdom of peace and justice, a kingdom of truth and life. We sing alleluia, hosanna, God save the king, may his kingdom last forever. It is going to last for eternity.

We made a carpet of flowers for him to walk on softly. In Europe there is a long tradition of making carpets of flowers through the streets of the villages for today’s feast. Beautiful carpets, where people go to admire the amazing colours and forms before the procession. Every house makes its own, through the narrow streets, with a bit of competition, placing nice bunting on the balconies and decorating the windows. Also in the big cities they use magnificent monstrances carried by people, or pushed on wheels, with all sorts of precious stones, surrounded by silver and gold, crafted by the best jewelers.

We carry him under the canopy, to cover his divinity, hidden behind a piece of bread, white as snow, concealed from our eyes without faith. Normally he hides inside the tabernacle, cold in winter, hot in summer. But today he wants to see the full light of the day, look into our souls, heal our wounded bodies, pierce our mortal flesh. From the vantage point of the monstrance, he can gaze above our heads, looking into our future, forgiving our sinful past. And like on his way to Calvary, we meet his mother, who is waiting on the foot path, while we are passing by, with a desire to have a glimpse of his countenance, this time full of joy, when she sees us walking with her son.

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