HOMILY: 11th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (CORPUS CHRISTI) 2020
The other day, a concerned parishioner approached me about this critical issue on racism. Father, I know you belong to the minorities, have you experienced racial discrimination? Based on my recollection, I do not feel discriminated only tendency to isolate from the crowd because of the feeling of inferiority. I have to admit that materially, you are rich and I am poor; I am neophyte and you are veterans in this land of greener pasture. It is just a personal feeling of being a David in front of Goliath. It is not imposed; it is something from within. It is not intimidation but resignation. I am grateful to God that what I have spoken to this gentleman slightly jibed up with the official definition of word. Racism is a prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
We are now on the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time and we are celebrating the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. History tells us that the very reason for this celebration is to confirm and affirm by an Eucharistic miracle before a doubting German priest whose name is Fr. Peter way back in 1263 that Jesus Christ is indeed present in the bread and wine which were transformed into the real body and blood of Jesus Christ thru transubstantiation by the very act of consecration. This spiritual reality is also telling us that by virtue of faith we belong to the one body of Christ because we are bound together into one family by the very blood of Christ. First, before protesting, I should be thankful. The first reading which is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy says, Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you for forty years in the desert. Moses is reminding them that amidst their complains and grumbling against the Lord, they have to be thankful instead because they were liberated by Yahweh from the brink of death in the hands of the Egyptians. Personally, I am overwhelmed by your greatness. The peace and order, prosperity and hospitality of people but of course I am very much aware that there is no such a perfect government, no perfect people and no perfect society. I am very thankful, less complain.
We have focus on communion instead of exclusion. The second Reading reminds us that “is it not a sharing in the body of Christ when we bless the cup and the bread together? It is good to be aware of our individual differences but we have to think more on how to unite us. First, our racial and cultural identities are being melted together by one faith. We have to gradually outgrow our cultural differences by promoting cultural communion. We have fellowship. We eat together in one table. I eat Canadian dish and you appreciate Filipino food. We have cultural parades.
Instead of disagreement, invite for a dialogue. In the gospel, when Jesus proclaimed to them the He is the bread of life, they disputed it against one another. It became unacceptable to them. We have to recognize that we are entitled to our own opinion but insisting on it is divisive and eventually lead to violence. Matt Nelson taught me the LADI FORMULA. Listen, Agree, Disagree, Invite.