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Corpus Christi (Day of Thanksgiving for the Eucharist)
God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament hath left unto us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Scripture citation(s): Romans 6:1b-11
A Sermon by
The Rev. Dr. Alison Turner
on
Romans 6:1b-11
✛
We are the Body of Christ
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Almost 50 years ago, Avery Dulles, New York born Jesuit-Priest and Theologian published a book titled Models of the Church. Challenging the long-held beliefs of Roman Catholic laity that the Church was the building, or an hierarchical, historical institution, the book quickly became a set text for Seminarians and students of theology alike, promoting a lively debate on what, and indeed, who the church is.
The revised images or models that Dulles offered drew into focus differing relationships between clergy and laity, styles of leadership, and essentially the strengths and weaknesses of each model, of being church. For some, he suggested, the church is a Mystical Communion or a Sacrament, a Herald or a Servant. He later added the community of disciples to his list. As we find in the New Testament, the community of the followers of Jesus have a relationship with God and with one another, and are collectively known as the Body of Christ.
In our Mass today, not only do we mark the 2023 Valedictory Weekend, our liturgy and readings focus on thanksgiving for the Eucharist in which we receive the Body of Christ, but also become the Body of Christ to a broken world.
This image, or model of the church, the Body of Christ, aptly mirrors a communal life of many Episcopal Schools, and especially residential schools, with regard to how faculty, students, support staff, families, and alumni, connect with one another; creating a strong community within, but a looking out to the world outside.
It is a model we see exemplified in the life of the Saint Thomas Choir School, as this weekend we reflect on the past and the present, and look forward with hope to the future. Our graduating boys, in particular, have come to a threshold that connects the known with the unknown; their present with their future; and it comes with a myriad of emotions that accompany this time of transition.
It doesn’t take long to recognize that the Choir School is founded not only on singing with lips and believing with hearts, but also the nurturing of the practice of faith in our lives. It is, indeed, a body with many parts – a school that sings, speaks, and lives the Christian life. A school where every person is valued for their individuality and which builds up the whole, creating a rich tapestry that exemplifies community. It is a place where challenges and achievements are acknowledged in the life of the youngest child through to the Grade 8, and indeed across the whole community, including the faculty and staff. Here exists a palpable codependence of what was, what is, and what is to come.
Echoing the words of our Epistle reading, this school bears witness to being the Body of Christ.
But it is not only in our music that God is glorified. We see the body at work throughout the school week, from breakfast to little lights and lights-out, the community ebbs and flows as students and staff live and work alongside one another. At Incarnation Camp, last week for example, while some played soccer or tennis, others were chatting and needle pointing, while a couple were composing settings of the Magnificat in their rooms. Diversity and personality are valued, and no one person or one gift is seen to be more important the other. It is a school where if one is hurting, everyone is hurting; where if one is rejoicing, everyone is rejoicing. For as Fr. Moretz sometimes says, “Each part of our common life rubs shoulders with each other”.
David, Grayson, Constantin, Nathan, Jovon and Frankie, you have played a significant part in participating in and sustaining a school that is distinctive for its faithfulness, founded on trust and forgiveness, with a call to kindness, and a commitment to recognizing the best in one other. You know what it means to be present both with and for one another, modelling the Body of Christ, his presence in this place.
In his message to the parish this week, Canon Turner reflected on the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He reminded us that while we receive the Body of Christ individually; Christ also comes to each one of us which is why we call it ‘Holy Communion’ for we gather together to receive the Body of Christ as a community.
The great mystic Thomas Merton also said this, “In receiving Communion, it is not sufficient merely to perform a soulless, external action…We are familiar with the fact that Christ ‘comes to us’ in Communion, but we forget the far more important aspect of this great mystery: in order for him to come to us, we must ‘come to him’, we must allow ourselves ‘to be drawn to him’ by the Father”, (The Living Bread p84) and we do this together.
In the Mass, we gather as the Body of Christ, to consecrate the Body of Christ, to receive the Body of Christ in order to be the Body of Christ; to build community, and to be Christ’s body, hands, feet, and eyes to a troubled world. As St. Teresa of Avila put it so simply, Christ has no body now but yours.
Each and every time we extend our hands to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we are reminded of what it is to be part of a community of faith, and that community is to go out into the world to make a difference. Remember this simple truth, David, Grayson, Constantin, Nathan, Jovon and Frankie, as you move on to your new schools, and become part of new communities. Continue to be the Body of Christ, for in the one Spirit we were all baptized; let us, therefore, wherever we are, do all that makes for peace and builds up our common life. AMEN.
