First Holy Communion
and May Crowning
May 8, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

Homily

 

Jesus is the Center of Man’s Life on Earth

 

   Jesus the Lord ought to be the center of each man’s short life on this earth. This is, I think, a common thread that appears in the various themes proposed to us by God’s Providence this day.

   I say this very consciously, because the themes of today are many and varied; bewildering, in fact, for a poor priest who must sit down one hour and write about them all. For today is the first communion day of the children of this parish, at least those who speak English; it is also Mother’s day, for which, in these sacred walls of this Catholic temple, our minds turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother; and third, there is the glorious reading of Luke 24, when two disciples one day encountered Jesus on the road, risen from the dead in his flesh, and then He fed them with the Eucharistic sacrifice.

   Let me begin with the Eucharist, because of our readings and the first communion children, and because even if Jesus is always found with Mary, He is God and she is not and therefore takes the precedence.

   [10 AM: Therefore, I turn first to you, children of Sacred Heart Parish. I see you are all decked out in magnificent clothing, and rightly so: today is, in a sense, the most important day of your lives. Why so? Because of this. The reason God made you was to be in communion with him, and today you are having your first communion! You will receive your first communion in a special way, called “intinction,” by which the priest dips the host into the precious blood, and you receive on your tongue both species, that of bread and that of wine. You will taste just that: bread and wine, and nothing other than that. But what you are eating is neither bread, nor wine. The priest has changed them both; what you are consuming is God. He who is so great as to have made the stars is becoming very little to be inside of your body and soul. Yes, God loves you that much! And you should love him in return. Heaven is your goal, God is your friend, love is your path, and sin is your enemy. May today be the first of many, many holy communions.]

   This is a good opportunity to remind everyone here present of the obligation every Catholic has of attending Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, save in case of true impossibility. Even if one is not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion, for failing to fast, want of confession, or canonical penalty, he must attend Mass. One cannot get to heaven while habitually sinning in this way, by refusing to worship God at Sunday Mass.

   The presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which is offered to the Father through the Spirit for man’s salvation, is underscored in today’s Gospel reading. I will limit myself to this one comment about the narration of the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. You will see that the Lord offered the Eucharist in their home at the end of their journey together. And listen carefully to these words of St. Luke, where he writes, “While [Jesus] was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.” Luke does not report that the Lord “left” them. Indeed, he did remain with them, but in the Eucharist. Now he was present, but he looked like bread and wine. The Eucharist is alive, and is a person: and that Person is Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, the Son of God who truly became man in the virginal womb of Mary.

   And with that, my mind now turns to Mary, on this Mother’s day. Think of what joy Mary feels that on Mother’s day, her spiritual children are now about to receive her Divine Son for the first time in communion. You see, there’s nothing selfish in Mary. Yet there is a temptation today in America to take an observance such as Mother’s Day, and turn it in to something selfish. Some women may think, “Finally, my day! A day about me, a day for me!” And so they turn a day of love into a day of selfishness; selfishness is the opposite of love. What is it that makes these great women, our mothers, and the mothers whom we know, so beautiful and loveable? Is it because they are selfish, immature, self-centered, proud or self-absorbed? Clearly not. These women have given themselves in the name of love, they have given themselves away. What made Mary great was that she gave herself to God and to the world, to occupy her unique place in salvation history. What made her great was her obedience, her humility and her pious faith. What should make all of you mothers, here today in Church, great, is the same thing. If others show you love, meet that love with obedience, humility and pious faith, and thereby show the dignity of your vocation, and your similarity to Mary the Mother of God.

   [10 AM: At the end of Mass today, we shall have a procession to crown our Lady. After the blessing, we shall sing, and all are invited to go out to our Lady’s grotto. I must ask everyone to please do NOT, for any reason save danger of death, move your vehicles until the May Crowning is over, for safety; I ask the ushers their help. Indeed, I watch how some of you rush out of Church before the end of the last song, and sometimes you are going down the aisle even before the priest and ministers, and we have to wait for you, while you leave Mass early and hold the rest of us up! Judas left Mass early; do not imitate him. In the procession, the altar servers and priest will go forth as we usually do, and behind us, the first communion children; then everyone else may follow in any order. Around our Lady’s statue, we will sing a hymn, and crown her with flowers, and then be dismissed with a blessing.]

   Christ is the center of the hearts and souls of the first communion children today. He was the center of the lives of the disciples of Emmaus.  He was the absolute center of Mary’s life. Let him be the center of yours. Open the doors of your heart to Christ, as the newly beatified John Paul II invited the world at the start of his pontificate; and as our current Pope adds, Christ will take nothing away from you, and give you everything. Amen.■