Homily for the Feast of Corpus Dominiat St. Patrick's Church in Wareham, MA
on Sunday, June 26th, 2011
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
You know it’s funny, everybody wants to go to Heaven
But have you ever noticed that few seem in a hurry to get there.
You know it’s funny, everybody wants to go to Heaven
But have you ever noticed that few seem in a hurry to get there.
When faced with death, most people always seem to be so afraid.
So reluctant…
I once heard a story about a sick man who was dying.
One day while in his doctor’s office he turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You, a Christian man,
do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door;
on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,
and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room
and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog?
He's usually not allowed in here, in fact,
he has never been in this room before.
He didn't know what was inside.
He knew nothing except that his master was here,
And yet when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
I know little of what is on the other side of death,
but I do know one thing...
I know my Master is there and that is enough."
Death is scary because of the unknown.
Certainly, no eye has seen what God has prepared for those who love God,
And so there is anxiety about what heaven is like.
But more fundament I think so many people are afraid
because we really don’t know WHO it is
we are going to meet on the other side of this life.
Death is scary because we don’t know our Master
We are not absolutely sure if he is kind or wicked
Merciful and compassionate or just and exacting
Interesting or boring
Let’s face it, death is scary because we are not sure
we want to spend eternity with God!
Sure given two choices, Heaven and the fiery pit of Hell,
everyone says they want to go to Heaven
But if as Sacred Scriptures says—Heaven is an eternity
spent loving, adoring, and worshiping our God and Father
then ought we not WANT to go to Heaven
instead of just not wanting to go to Hell?
God reveals Himself to the World
So that the world might know its Master
And desire to be saved, desire not just to avoid the sufferings of hell
But more importantly desire to be with God, adoring Him forever!
And God’s revelation reaches its culmination and fulfillment in Jesus Christ
The Word of God made fless,
Born of the Virgin Mary
Emmanuel, God with us.
When we encounter and meet Jesus we meet the Father also,
And come to know the Master who desires us to be with Him forever.
That was Jesus’ mission 2000 years ago,
And it remains His mission today.
God is with us, in this most Blessed Sacrament
Which we celebrate and receive
And which always is waiting for us
In every tabernacle throughout the world.
Jesus gave us the Eucharist, transforming completely
Bread and wine into His real and True presence,
So that we can meet the Father, in the Son, each and every day.
For the past 40 hours here at our parish
Many of your fellow parishioners
have engaged in this encounter in a very special way
adoring the exposed Eucharist, meeting their master
and growing their desire to be with Him forever in heaven.
I remember in college rediscovering my faith in Eucharistic Adoration
I was a freshmen, and in the silence of the night, in a darken church
Lit only by candles I met the God who made me
And who loves me, and who saved me.
In all the noise and business of the world I often had missed Him,
But in that priviledged moment I knew God,
I felt God, I desired to be with God forever!
I was so thankful for the outpouring of support
by so many of our parishioners that made the 40 hour devotion a success
because whenever God is truly adored my work is a success
but I was also a little saddened that I didn’t see more of you there.
But don’t worry, Jesus remains with us always,
and is always waiting for you,
always knocking at the door of your heart
The question is, will you let him in?
The Eucharist is all about God being with us,
not just for an hour or so of adoration but in everything we say and do.
Its not a means to get to Heaven, it is the reality of Heaven,
God with us, present hear on Earth.
That’s why St. Paul tells us not to receive communion unworthily
If we have a single serious sin on our heart.
Because the Eucharist is not a means to an end
But the end and goal of our Christian life itself.
When we receive communion with just one serious sin on our soul:
One missed Mass, one serious lie, one act of violence,
We are lying to God and ourselves about where our heart is.
We are pretending we can get to heaven, without the mercy of Christ
Poured out for us again and again in the confessional.
God doesn’t force anyone to come to Him,
And just as He allows us to take communion unworthily,
he allows us to lie to ourselves, to say we want to go to heaven
even when in reality, maybe we don’t.
Most people say they want to go to heaven,
But the question is: are they doing the things they need to do to get there?
Are they getting to know their master so that they can approach His throne
Unafraid at the end of their life?
Maybe you didn’t have a chance to spend some time
with the Lord in Adoration this week, and that’s ok,
but the question is when will you make some time for the Lord?
For the God is the guarantee of happiness in Heaven?
I know Life is busy…. Work, school, sports, recreation, it all takes time
But we all have to ask ourselves, where is our priority
Is God truly number one on my list?
God wants us to live and enjoy life
For the lay person holiness is attained primarily by living in the world,
But we need to take God with us into the world
The best thing about the Eucharist is that
by celebrating it once a week on Sunday
and by making a commitment to a little bit of prayer every day,
perhaps stopping into the Church for a few minutes
here and there to remind yourself of His presence,
the Eucharist stays with us, through everything else we do.
As Pope Benedict notes
about the ancient Tradition of Carrying the Eucharist in processions around our towns and cities on this feast day:
"We bring Christ, present under the sign of bread,
onto the streets of our city.
We entrust these streets, these homes, our daily life, to his goodness.
May our streets be streets of Jesus!
May our houses be homes for him and with him!
May our life of every day be penetrated by his presence."
When we know the master, nothing in life alarms us,
Because all we know and can think of is that we desire to be with him.
