The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.
As I stood at the altar this past Wednesday I experienced the most wonderful sensation, a beautiful feeling of love. I experienced that moment as Jesus was placed, body and blood, into my mouth.
Every so often God comes to us in a way that touches us deeply. He is, of course, always there. His presence is always real, but this particular moment was a step above the extraordinary.
It was a moment of savoring; a moment of sweetness and beauty. No words can describe it, but there I was, with Jesus in my mouth, and He enveloped me in His love.
He said, I’m here for you Jim.
Jesus says that a lot —“ to all of us. I am here for you Mary, John, Alice, Henry. I am here for you.
As in Moses’ day, God’s coming to us elicits a response. Listen to what happened:
The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,
the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;
and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.
The elders who received the Spirit of God prophesied. They could not contain or suppress the immense joy they experienced at receiving God’s Spirit.
God’s Spirit, His laws, His precepts give us joy. Joy is our response and our assurance —“ an assurance that we have found our place, our home, in God.
Jesus certainly spoke to me in that moment of communion. He was telling me to talk about the beauty, the peace, the joy found in Him. The beauty, the peace, and the joy found in His assurance.
Earlier in the week I sat down and considered topics for my homily. I prayed, read the scriptures, checked out websites, and considered our shared experience.
I looked at what happened during PolishFest. I thought, perhaps I should talk about the questions people asked —“ essentially, what differentiates the PNCC.
I could do a nice long homily teaching about, and touching upon, one-hundred and fifty points of difference. But to what end —“ to scream about differences?
The key concept, the source of our joy, the unifying aspect of our community, of the Church, is our election. This is Jesus’ assurance. We are the predestined, we are the elect, we all share in Christ and are heirs with Christ. We are bound together in Him and are all sons and daughters of the Father.
Jesus saved the world. His offer is on the table for everyone.
Our election, our sharing in Christ is not a symbol of our exclusivity, us but not them, but rather is the result of our answer to His offer.
We step forward saying yes, Amen, it is You Lord, You are for me Lord. We do that as individuals and in the way Jesus asked us to, as a community of believers, as the body of Christ.
St. James tells us:
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.
Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,
your gold and silver have corroded,
and that corrosion will be a testimony against you;
it will devour your flesh like a fire.
If your joy is in the things you can count, gather, and store your joy is not a lasting one. If your joy is in your exclusivity, it is not a lasting joy. If your joy is found in that sublime moment, holding Jesus in your mouth, consuming Him so He can consume you —“ you have joy that lasts forever.
If we focus on differences, on enumerating points of conflict, then we miss the point of Jesus’ instruction to John:
Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Be assured, your presence here, your sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord, your choice in taking up and living by the name Christian, surely marks you as the predestined, the chosen, and the elect. You are sharers in the salvation of Jesus Christ. Washed in His Blood you stand here in His presence accepting His promise of eternal life. Rejoice, be filled with His joy, a joy that will last forever.
