We had over 50 children in our community receive their First Eucharist this weekend. So this homily is oriented towards them and their families; it is still a message we all need to hear.

God Bless

A little girl came to her mother and asked the question, "Mom, does God really live in us?" And the mother bent down and said, "Yes. God really lives in you. Absolutely. That is for sure." The little girl asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes," said mother assuring again, "I'm sure." "Well, I hope he likes macaroni and cheese because that is what we are going to have for dinner."

That is not quite what the Lord meant when he said, God lives within us. He is not a little person waiting in our stomachs for food. That is not quite what he meant at all. Today's gospel is a profound message and sometimes a difficult message to truly understand. But God in his wisdom gave us Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ then said to us that he will always be with us and that he will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is the Spirit of truth and that truth will always live within us. So how does that happen? And what does that look like?

Just like food is nourishment for our body, so is spiritual food for our souls and spirit. Did you know that our human body is made up of 70% water. And if we do not get water and nourishment, our body will become depleted and our physical body will eventually get sick and even die. So too it is with our spiritual body. It is more than 70% Spirit; it is 100% divine. Just like our physical bodies, our spiritual bodies nee nourishment. We have to continue to nourish our spiritual body of ours.

So when we come together at Eucharist each Sunday, we celebrate this nourishment at this table. We celebrate the very gift of Christ being with us in the body and in the blood and his presence replenishes our strength. The spiritual part of ourselves is renewed and replenished. Yet we must admit this one piece of bread and that one sip of wine is not going to be enough nourishment for us for the whole week. Would one meal be enough for our physical bodies for one week? Don't get me wrong: it is a very important part of our weekly nourishment. We need that nourishment each and every week and that is why we come back to the table each and every week. But we also need more each and every day. We need to pray regularly and live it out daily.

That sounds easy but it is not so easy. In fact it is very hard. Let's face it there are times in all of our lives when things don't go well for us. Maybe we have failed an exam of some sort or missed a class assignment and we are in trouble with the teacher; maybe we have lost our job or some other workplace stress; maybe things are going well at home for a number of different reasons. Things often go against our plans and living out the gospel each day is hard work. So where do we start?

It is not enough to just come here and eat and be nourished for ourselves. We called to be nourishment and strength for others. We are called to be the living Christ for others, to be the living bread for others, broken for others, to be the blood of Christ poured out for others. As the gospel today says today that we are called to love one another. One way of being that presence of Christ in the world is listening to the advice in the second reading today from Peter: we are called to be the joy and hope in the world. Regardless of the circumstance of our lives we still choose to be joy-filled and hope-filled. The gospel of John and other places in scripture tell us how we become part of God when we love one another and that when we love one another we become part and participate in God Himself.

We increase our spiritual part of our bodies when we love one another, and when we forgive one another. It is in forgiving and loving, and in the gentleness and joyfulness of life, then we increase our spiritual souls and increase our capacity to love. We then enable others to grow and to be part of that same spiritual body. But it all starts with us recognizing we are not just a physical body that needs bread, water or nourishment and hydration, we need more than just those components, we also need spiritual nourishment.

One part of this nourishment for us as a spiritual community, we gather around this Sunday table, to receive His nourishment through thhe Word proclaimed and in the bread and wine made into the body and blood of Christ. But each and every day we also go forth and live it, and we become that nourishment for others by loving others, by forgiving others, by being gentle and kind to others.

So to all the boys and girls who are about to receive their first Eucharist today, this is how we become the living Eucharist for others. We are called to receive the body of Christ so that we can become the body of Christ to others. We receive the blood of Christ so that we can be the living blood of Christ for others in our life.

So when you go forth from here today, boys and girls, you are called to be the living Christ for others, to be the food for the world by being kind, by being gentle, by being loving and by being forgiving in all we say and do. That is what we celebrate at every Eucharist that Christ is the living God and we are called to bring that living presence alive today.

Story adapted from Jim Auer, "Celebration: An Ecumenical Worship Resource," (Kansas City, Missouri: National Catholic Reporter Company, Inc., April 27, 2008).

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Reading 1
Acts 8:5-8, 14- 17

Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and proclaimed the Christ to them.
With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip
when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.
For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice,
came out of many possessed people,
and many paralyzed or crippled people were cured.
There was great joy in that city.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem
heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent them Peter and John,
who went down and prayed for them,
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for it had not yet fallen upon any of them;
they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid hands on them
and they received the Holy Spirit.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!"
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Pt 3:15- 18

Beloved:
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.
Always be ready to give an explanation
to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear,
so that, when you are maligned,
those who defame your good conduct in Christ
may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good,
if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,
that he might lead you to God.
Put to death in the flesh,
he was brought to life in the Spirit.

Gospel
Jn 14:15- 21

Jesus said to his disciples:
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him."

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