We follow the Lamb wherever He goes | PadreCast Solemnity of Corpus Christi

There is no salvation apart from a covenant relationship with God. There is no covenant apart from the shedding of blood. And no blood is as precious as the Blood of Jesus Christ the true Lamb of God. We, the covenant people, are privileged to partake in this very Body and Blood. We who become one with not only Christ, but with one another in this Holy Eucharist, have a great moral obligation. A two-fold obligation.

 

First and foremost: to always remain united with Christ in His Church. We do this by a worthy reception of Holy Communion. And I say that again: a worthy reception. Many souls can be damned to hell for all eternity precisely because they receive the Lord unworthily. They were not in the state of grace, they were in mortal sin. It's simple to figure out if you are in mortal sin or not. Are you following the commands of Christ and His Catholic Church? If not, have you gone to confession and been forgiven of those offenses? If you don't fall into those categories, you can't receive communion. It's that simple. Saint Paul warns us "Do not eat the Body or drink the Blood of the Lord to your own condemnation." This greatest of gifts bestowed upon us, followers of Christ that we are, can also be the sign of our condemnation if we do not worthily receive Him. And He can make us worthy. That's what confession is for. ...

 

Secondly, it's unity with each other. This is one of the great tragedies of Christian life is that - not only among Christian communities are we not united... there are so many "versions of Christianity and discipleship" - obviously they can't all be right. This disunity is a scandal to the world. The Body of Christ is one in the Catholic Church, but we have to strive to bring about the unity of all believers. It's bad enough that our Protestant brothers and sisters are not united with us. It's even worse when we as Catholics are not united with each other. That's where we have such an obligation to be men and women of peace. Christ is the Prince of Peace. How does he bring about peace? By sacrificing Himself. If we are truly united with Christ inHis Body and Blood, then we would seek to imitate Him. To bring about unity by self-sacrifice. By the shedding of our actual blood if necessary for the sake of the unity of not only the Catholics in the Church, but even Christians at-large. What greater sign of the truth of the Gospel would that be to the world?

 

How can the Church of Christ be a witness to the Truth if we are not united?

 

Ex 24:3-8; Ps 116:12-13, 15-18; Heb 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

 

You may watch the Mass in its entirety on our YouTube channel.  Homily begins at 25:34