Rev. John Kha Tran

LEST YOU FORGET

Deut 8: 2- 3, 14- 161; Cor 10:16- 17; Jo 6:51- 58

An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house. After eating, the wives went into the kitchen. The husbands were talking, and one started telling the other about a great restaurant he had just been to.

The other man asked, "What is the name of the restaurant?"

The first man thought and thought and finally said, "What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? The one that is red and has thorns."

"A rose?"

"Yes," the man said. Then he turned to the kitchen and yell, "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?"

Remembering Events

We have brains and memory, and our brains and memory help us to remember. But we also can forget. We can forget things because we are getting senile; because we are absent minded, or because we are so preoccupied with something else. To help us remember important events, we celebrate anniversaries of marriage, ordination, baptism, and birthdays etc. Our government and especially the people of New York, do not want us to forget the tragic event of September 11, 2001, therefore they are building the World Trade Memorial Center. People are making different kinds of medallions, flags, posters and prints as well as websites to remind us of the event.

Remembering Faith

The people of Israel are forgetting their God. Therefore, Moses is reminding them of God's leadership during the 40 years of their wandering in the desert. God protects them from snakes and scorpions; God supplies food and drink for them. They should remember God's goodness, be humble and prove their loyalty to God by obeying the laws of the covenant.

And because of the crisis in the Johannine community, people are forgetting the meaning and purpose of being Christians. St. John wants them to remember the teaching of Jesus. He speaks about the necessity for Christians to remain attached to Jesus and be in communion with one another. This warning is directed toward Christians who separate from the Johannine community, whether as a result of external persecution or as a result of the later split within the community. Anyone comes to Jesus. Anyone eats the food of the body and drink the blood will have salvation, eternal life, live-forever, not hungering and thirsting any more. Jesus will raise them up on the last day. They will remain in Jesus and Jesus in them.

Saint Paul reminds the Corinthians and us that the bread and wine that we bless are body and blood of Christ. Jesus is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Therefore, when we receive Holy Communion we receive Jesus Christ himself. He is with us and we are with Him. We become one with Christ in a very real, concrete and personal way when we receive his body and blood in the Eucharist.

The opening prayer in today's liturgy reminds us of the meaning and purpose of our celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi, "Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death." The alternative prayer adds, "We worship you living among us in the sacrament of your body and blood." So today we celebrate the mystery of Jesus' sacrificial love for us in the Eucharist. He continues to be present among us in the Eucharist. We continue to be nourished by this heavenly bread that gives us life. The celebration of the Eucharist is the celebration of our memorial of Jesus' love for us.

Awareness

A priest made the announcement to his parishioners that Christ was going to visit their parish next Sunday. Upon hearing this, the church was packed the following Sunday. People came to see Jesus. Everyone assumed that Jesus was going to preach on that Sunday. But when the priest introduced him, He only smiled, waved his hands and said "hello" to everyone.

Many people wanted to invite Him to spend the night at their homes. The priest also wanted Jesus to spend the night at the rectory, but Jesus declined their hospitality. He said that it would be more appropriate for him to spend the night in the church. Everybody agreed that it was a good idea.

The next morning Jesus got up early and quietly left before the church open. Later they were surprised to discover that the church had been vandalized. Everywhere they saw the words: Awareness! It was on the main door as well as on the windows. It was written on the altar as well as the pulpit, on the wall as well as on the floor. Everywhere they saw the word: Awareness! Awareness, big and small.

Surprised. Angry. Confused. Amazed. Excited. They wonder what do they have to be aware of? Their first reaction was to wipe it off so that the church will be clean and normal again. But they have to postpone the decision because Jesus himself wrote those words.

Gradually the word Awareness began to sink in their minds each time they come to church. They begin to be aware of the words of God and understand the homily. They begin to be aware of the sacraments and understand the celebration of the sacraments. They begin to be aware of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and understand the meaning of the liturgy. The priest begins to be aware of the importance of his priestly ministry. He begins to serve the people with more compassion and respect. The people begin to be aware of their Christian identity. They treat each other with respect. They pray with awareness. They begin to be aware of the presence of God in the church as well as outside of the church. Finally they decided to make a sign of the word: Awareness and hang it outside the church for people to see./.