{"id":484,"date":"2012-06-06T17:52:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T17:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=484"},"modified":"2012-06-06T18:08:53","modified_gmt":"2012-06-06T18:08:53","slug":"var-_gaq-_gaq-_gaq-push_setaccount-ua-25646250-2-_gaq-push_trackpageview-function-var-ga-document-createelementscript-ga-type-textjava-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=484","title":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">    var _gaq = _gaq || [];   _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-25646250-2']);   _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);    (function() {     var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text\/javascript'; ga.async = true;     ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:\/\/ssl' : 'http:\/\/www') + '.google-analytics.com\/ga.js';     var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);   })();  <\/script>  <\/heat> Corpus Christi, The Body of Christ, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Gospel for this feast day is taken from the Gospel according to Mark.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/readings\/061012.cfm\">http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/readings\/061012.cfm<\/a>.\u00a0 In the first part of the reading we are told, almost incidentally, that it was \u201cOn the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb &#8230;&#8221; \u00a0Later in the same passage Mark, again almost nonchalantly, tells us that \u201cWhile they were eating,\u00a0he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said \u2026\u201d\u00a0 Up to this point, it is mere context, a setting of the stage as it were.\u00a0 Then Jesus says, what are for me literally the most incredible words ever spoken, \u201cTake it; this is my body.&#8221; Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, &#8220;This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What could it possibly mean for a person to say to others in the context of a Paschal meal when the Passover lamb is sacrificed \u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>This is my body [and I would like to add] broken for you.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>This is my blood [and again I would like to add] poured out for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>And in that context these others were asked to eat and drink; that is, to consume, to become one with &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>No one in all of human history, as far as I know, ever said anything like these words; and then to be asked to eat, to be offered, that body broken; drink that cup, poured out.\u00a0 In some fundamental sense, the whole of my adult life has been in search of the meaning of this person, these words.\u00a0 When I am able to attend to these words in the Eucharist, I am overwhelmed.<\/p>\n<p>To get at what is going on, then and now, is to answer that question, what could this person saying these words possibly mean?\u00a0 An untold number of books have been written, thousands of years have passed, millions, no billions, of lives have been lived.\u00a0 And today our church asks us to pause and reflect. \u00a0This is the Good News!<\/p>\n<p>I would like to focus our attention on two phases, to limit, so as to be able to reflect.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Not just any body, but my body, and not just my body, but my body broken &#8230; broken &#8230; broken. \u00a0Not just any blood, but my blood, and not just my blood, but my blood poured out &#8230; poured out &#8230; poured out.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And why? \u00a0\u201cFor you.\u201d\u00a0 Not for my Father, not for God.\u00a0 But for us, all of us, everyone one of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What a person!\u00a0 No human life can ever be the same.\u00a0 All of human life, the life of every human person that ever lived, is living, will ever live, has been placed in a totally different context by this person and these words.<\/p>\n<p>And now to the &#8220;you.&#8221; \u00a0This \u201cyou\u201d is always concrete, real, individual and personal and, might I add, messy.\u00a0 Not some abstract concept.\u00a0 When you gather at the Eucharist, at every Eucharist, at any Eucharist, this dynamic interpersonal, historical event is remembered \u2013 Do this in memory of me.\u00a0 And that body is quite concrete.\u00a0 When you gather next at the Eucharist, look around at the actual people who are gathered at that Eucharist.\u00a0 Keep them in mind, all the ones that you know and most of whom you do not know.\u00a0 Keep in mind that they, including the presider whether priest, \u00a0bishop, or pope have one think in common.\u00a0 We are all sinners; our lives are broken, poured out.\u00a0 And it is for us as that for the sake of which he offers broken and poured out, body and blood.\u00a0 Not for his Father, not for God but because we need this.\u00a0 We need to be saved by what is common to us all, broken and poured out.<\/p>\n<p>No one has greater love than this, to lay down one\u2019s life for one\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n<p>When next you experience life broken, poured out, remember, he too &#8230; And remember precisely <strong>when<\/strong> you experience life broken, poured out; your own life or the life of the other, remember we are not alone, ever, never. \u00a0And your remembering is always in the concrete, <strong>I<\/strong> was hungry, <strong>I<\/strong> was thirsty, <strong>I<\/strong> was sick, <strong>I<\/strong> was imprisoned &#8230; Be that for the other at those times and you will find as he did, resurrection &#8211; the fullness of life, now and forever!<\/p>\n<p>Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Gospel for this feast day is taken from the Gospel according to Mark.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/readings\/061012.cfm.\u00a0 In the first part of the reading we are told, almost incidentally, that it was \u201cOn the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/?p=484\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[7,18],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-scripture","tag-modern-scripture-scholarship","tag-religion-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":491,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions\/491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rjr.richardross.annaerossi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}