FOR REAL. FOR CERTAIN. FOR ALL TIME. FOREVER!

Corpus Christi (A)

June 22, 2014

FOR REAL. FOR CERTAIN. FOR ALL TIME. FOREVER!

Of late, there has been an increasing mistrust for fake food and everything fake from a certain country. Let us hide its identity under the name “China.” In my latest visit to Hong Kong, I was told that certain people in that country have mastered the art – and the business! – of producing fake everything: fake eggs, fake beef, fake milk, not to mention all the fake “signature” items that can be found everywhere where they sell cheap goods.

In our country, we have fake public servants who actually serve no more than their own pockets, their family, their best interests, and definitely not the common weal. Let us also hide them under the collective title of “congressman or senator.”

Of late, too, certain places I am very familiar with have also seen a number of fake priests, who do nothing more than sprinkle holy water to business establishments … for a fee, of course! Of course, having such fake people roaming and hovering around is a tragedy all its own, but the worse tragedy is knowing that certain people fall for their antics, and that certain people, although forewarned repeatedly, still fall for the wiles of scammers and pyramidal scheme proponents. I know … some of those recently victimized are personally known to me.

The Lord, in today’s great feast, speaks about all things real, all things true, and all things that lead to true and authentic life in its fullness.

This is what the feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord is all about – real food and real drink, and real promises that speak about real rewards and more than just earthly life as we know it.

What is good about us human beings is that we all pine for the real thing. Years ago, we asked for Coke, the real thing. We were told that “things go better with Coca-Cola,” and that “it’s the real thing,” and that “Coke adds life,” whatever that meant. We would never settle for anything less than authentic. We asked years ago, for the “orig” maong pants, the real Levi’s (501?), or the real Black Label hard drink, or that which was popularized by the idol of the masses – Blue Label. When we were kids, we all heard about “blue seal” cigarettes, and by that, everyone meant the real thing, smuggled into the country by some enterprising businessman, who was never called a smuggler, nor a criminal, but one who brought in cheap, imported, but genuine items for the masses to enjoy.

Today, I would like us to “remember.” Today, I would like us not “to forget the Lord who brought us out of the land of Egypt,” or any other place where we did not feel real.  Today, too, I would like us to put our focus on the “cup of blessing that we bless,” and “the bread that we break.”

No … they are not fakes. They are not imported from that unmentionable country. Neither are they coming from fake legislators who are only real during the yearly SONA speech of the equally fake leader whose expertise never goes beyond giving bombastic but empty rhetoric, year in and year out.

Yes … they are true. Yes … they are authentic. Yes … they are real … real food and real drink. But that is not where the REAL stops. The more important REAL is the fact that it leads to rising, to living, for real, forever! They lead to eternal life, the only authentic life we can ever imagine and possess, already now in germinal form, every time we eat of his flesh … every time we drink of his blood.

In the final analysis, we really could not care less about fakes (including the fake faces of those clowns who love to call themselves “honorable.). We could not care less about who’s selling fake food and who’s being fooled by such fake items. Life is too short to spend on trivial pursuits like wearing fake Chanels and fake Gucci bags and belts and buttons.

But it is worth our while to work for the real thing … It is worth all our efforts to look for the real, out of this world reward … It is worth everything we can ever hope to do to spend all our lives looking for that which “raises” us up, which makes us participate in the blood of Christ, Savior, Lord, Brother, and Friend.

Those real, authentic and genuine gifts from the God who offered Himself fully, from His Son who offered his Body and Blood that we all might live truly and fully, are worth all our efforts to pursue, partake, receive, and seek after!

He is bread come down from heaven. He is food and drink. “And whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day!”

For real. For certain. For all time. Forever!