Did You Miss Me? (Jesus Asks Us) Corpus Christi 2020

"I'm back! Did you miss me?"

When your spouse, parent, child or friend asks that question after returning from a trip, there's only one right answer. Yes!

But what if, deep down, your answer isn't really yes? What if you realize that you didn't really miss your loved one all that much? 

If that's the truth, that's the truth. It doesn't mean you're a bad husband or wife or parent. But it does mean you've got some work to do on the relationship.

(Although when I used the line on Father Jeff when I'd been away for a week before the pandemic, he replied "well, it was rather nice to have the rectory to myself"!)

On today's feast of Corpus Christi, on which we celebrate the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we might hear him saying "did you miss me?". How much have we missed coming to Mass and receiving him in Holy Communion?

Some of us, if we are really honest with ourselves, might realize that this long absence hasn't been particularly painful. It's made for relaxing Sunday mornings watching Mass on-line, or not even watching Mass at all.

Of course many parishioners have really suffered deeply from being deprived of the Eucharist. But what if you realize you haven't missed going to Mass all that much?

That doesn't mean you're a bad Christian or a bad Catholic. But it does mean you've got some work to do on your relationship with the Lord.

It could even be a blessing to know just how you feel about the Sunday celebration--an invitation to start thinking and praying about it.

In our first reading, Moses tells the people that God humbled them by letting them hunger. He tested them to know what was in their hearts. Might that not be what God has done with us, during this long Eucharistic fast?

Even for those who truly longed to get back to Mass, the opportunity to receive the Body and Blood of Christ can be a time to reflect on the place that the Eucharist has in our lives--and in our parish.

In the months before the pandemic hit, the parish team worked hard to create a graphic that would show the life of Christ the Redeemer parish in a simple way. Here it is (you'll need to click on it to see the full image):

You can see the various stages through which we move as we grow as disciples, and as a parish. But notice that all those circles revolve around a symbolic Host. At the center of our parish life is the Mass, to which everything tends and from which all these invitations flow.

Let's think today about what is in our hearts as we begin to return to church, taking stock honestly and humbly, knowing that the Bread of Life will draw us ever closer to him and one another as parish life resumes.