C: Corpus Christi (23 June 2019) - SACREDNESS OF THE BODY (Lk 9:11-17)

“Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place” (Lk 9:12b).

This is the suggestion of the twelve disciples to Jesus after realizing that the crowd might be physically tired and hungry following and listening to Jesus. Or were they stealthily expressing their own condition in saying so?

This latter reasoning sounds more convincing since it is described two verses earlier that Jesus “took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida” (9:10). Concretely, what happened was that they were about to take a rest, in private. The apostles were disposed to do so when out of nowhere the crowd appeared, prompting Jesus to preach and attend to them (v. 11). Apparently, the disciples wanted their private space respected forcing them to ask Jesus to send them away (v. 12) so that they could have a restful sleep. Jesus, instead of heeding to their request, decided to feed the crowd. Why send them away when you have the means to help them, so to say. He, subsequently, performed the multiplication of the bread, “and all ate and were filled.” (v. 17)

Nowadays, in our current fast-paced modern world, all want to have their private space and time respected. Gone were the days when you can easily barge in into the house of a friend for a hearty chat, or call an old acquaintance to meet up instantaneously, or even ask a relative to drop by shortly at your house to enjoy your cooked dish. Everything has to be done through “appointments”. The banner statement is: “Respect my time and space as I respect yours”.

This mentality dominoes to the greater society as it is now very difficult to go to the dentist, doctor, or lawyer without an agreed appointed time. Much more receiving guests and strangers as we try to limit our budget and time for our own nuclear families alone. Thus, our society becomes numb to the cries of the needy, those who long for acceptance, love, or just food and shelter. Thus, babies are dropped during the day to caring stations, elderly relatives are sent to nursing and even retirement homes, the homeless are sent to social care institutions, and refugees are denied entry to nations, or even more sadly, allowed to perish in the open seas.

The feast of the Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) is not only a celebration of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. More than anything else, it is an acclamation that the human body is part and parcel of the human identity, and it is with the help of the physical body that persons are sanctified. Pope St. John Paul II, in his famous series of lectures on the Theology of the Body, rightfully tells us: “the body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus to be a sign of it.”

But the opposite seems to happen as bodies of people (especially strangers) are allowed to die for the sole reason of protecting one’s private space and time. The Pontiff asserts, too, that the same body that we all have “includes right from the beginning... the capacity of expressing love, that love in which the person becomes a gift – and by means of this gift – fulfills the meaning of his being and existence.” May we begin to put to actions this exhortation collectively lest today we find more “corpses” instead of Corpus Christi.

- Rex Fortes, CM