June 7, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02In 1950, a shy young writer from Georgia
2. 0:06sat at a dinner party in New York City.
3. 0:10She was surrounded by intellectuals, by
4. 0:13artists, and academics, some of the
5. 0:15brightest minds in America.
6. 0:18Her name was Flannery O'Connor.
7. 0:21The conversation turned to religion and
8. 0:23eventually to the Eucharist.
9. 0:26One of the guests, a former Catholic,
10. 0:29remarked that she had come to think of
11. 0:31the Eucharist as a symbol.
12. 0:35A very beautiful symbol, she said.
13. 0:39Flannery O'Connor almost never spoke at
14. 0:42gatherings like these, but that night
15. 0:44she did.
16. 0:46She looked across the table and said,
17. 0:48"Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with
18. 0:51it."
19. 0:52Years later, she explained what she
20. 0:55meant.
21. 0:57"It is the center of existence for me.
22. 1:00All the rest of life is expendable."
23. 1:05That's the question of Corpus Christi.
24. 1:10Not whether the Eucharist is beautiful,
25. 1:11not whether it's meaningful, not whether
26. 1:14it inspires people.
27. 1:16The question is, is it really him?
28. 1:21Because if it is only a symbol, then
29. 1:23we're wasting a awful lot of time.
30. 1:27If it's only bread, then
31. 1:30we should have just slept in this
32. 1:31morning.
33. 1:33Let's stop building churches. Let's
34. 1:35Let's stop genuflecting. Let's stop
35. 1:38adoring. Let's stop carrying the
36. 1:40monstrance through the streets.
37. 1:43If it is only a symbol,
38. 1:46then Flannery O'Connor was right.
39. 1:49But if it is truly Jesus Christ, body,
40. 1:52blood, soul, and divinity,
41. 1:55then there is nothing more important
42. 1:56happening on earth right now than what's
43. 1:59going about to take place on this altar.
44. 2:03Nothing.
45. 2:05Not the stock market, not politics, not
46. 2:07sports, not social media, not your
47. 2:10career, not even your vacation plans.
48. 2:13Nothing.
49. 2:16Because here heaven touches earth.
50. 2:20Here eternity enters time.
51. 2:24Here God becomes food for his people.
52. 2:29And yet we live in a strange moment.
53. 2:32Many Catholics no longer know what they
54. 2:34believe about the Eucharist.
55. 2:37Some think it is a symbol.
56. 2:39Some think it's a nice reminder.
57. 2:42Some others think it's simply a sacred
58. 2:45tradition that we enter into.
59. 2:48But today's gospel leaves no room for
60. 2:51that.
61. 2:52Jesus says,
62. 2:54"My flesh is true food and my blood is
63. 2:58true drink."
64. 3:01The crowd is horrified.
65. 3:04"How can this man give us his flesh to
66. 3:07eat?"
67. 3:09Notice what Jesus does not say. He does
68. 3:12not say, "Wait, you you're
69. 3:14misunderstanding this."
70. 3:16He does not say, "I'm speaking
71. 3:18metaphorically."
72. 3:19He does not say, "Okay, it's a
73. 3:21metaphor."
74. 3:23Instead he repeats himself again and
75. 3:27again and again.
76. 3:30This John's chapter 6 is what we use,
77. 3:34what we take for our theology on the
78. 3:36Eucharist.
79. 3:40But when Jesus is teaching here,
80. 3:43his disciples begin to walk away.
81. 3:47If you go to John's chapter 6 verse 66,
82. 3:50it says, "And those who did not believe
83. 3:53left him."
84. 3:56It's the only time in the Gospels where
85. 3:58Jesus loses disciples over a teaching.
86. 4:01And he lets them go.
87. 4:03He lets them leave.
88. 4:05Think about that. People walked away
89. 4:06from Jesus, and he let them go.
90. 4:10Because the truth was too important.
91. 4:13Yes, the crowd became smaller.
92. 4:16The disciples were fewer.
93. 4:20And Jesus turned to the 12 and asks
94. 4:22them,
95. 4:25"Do you also want to leave?"
96. 4:28That question echoes across 20
97. 4:31centuries.
98. 4:33It reaches to this church today. It
99. 4:34reaches every single one of us.
100. 4:38"Do you also want to leave?"
101. 4:42Or will you stay?
102. 4:44Will you trust him even when you can't
103. 4:46fully understand this mystery?
104. 4:50Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we
105. 4:53go?
106. 4:55You have words of eternal life."
107. 4:57That's faith.
108. 5:00Not understanding everything, not having
109. 5:02everything figured out, not having all
110. 5:04of our questions answered, but trusting
111. 5:06the one who is speaking.
112. 5:09And
113. 5:10who is this one asking us to believe?
114. 5:15Well, he is the God who became a child
115. 5:18in Bethlehem.
116. 5:20He is the God who touched lepers and
117. 5:23healed them.
118. 5:25He is the God who opened the blind eyes.
119. 5:28He is the God who carried a cross, the
120. 5:30God who died, the God who rose from the
121. 5:33dead, the God who ascended back to the
122. 5:35Father in heaven,
123. 5:38and the God who somehow decided that
124. 5:40leaving us was not enough.
125. 5:43Think about that.
126. 5:45The ascension happened. Jesus returned
127. 5:47to the Father. He completed his mission.
128. 5:51He could have gone home. He could have
129. 5:53said, "I've done enough."
130. 5:56Instead, he found a way to remain.
131. 6:00Because love always desires to remain
132. 6:02near the beloved.
133. 6:05A young man in love wants to be near his
134. 6:07wife,
135. 6:09the woman he loves.
136. 6:11Parents want to be near their children.
137. 6:14Grandparents keep photographs close
138. 6:16because they miss those they love.
139. 6:20Love always moves towards presence.
140. 6:25And no one loves No one loves you more
141. 6:27than Jesus.
142. 6:30So, he stayed.
143. 6:32Not in a memory, not in a story, not in
144. 6:34a symbol.
145. 6:36He stayed in the Eucharist.
146. 6:39He knew there would be nights when your
147. 6:41marriage was struggling.
148. 6:44He knew there would be days when your
149. 6:45anxiety was overwhelming.
150. 6:48He knew there would be funerals, cancer
151. 6:51diagnoses,
152. 6:52loneliness,
153. 6:54parents who are aging,
154. 6:56addiction, betrayals, gravesides. He
155. 6:59knew there would be moments when you
156. 7:01felt absolutely abandoned.
157. 7:05And so, he left us something
158. 7:06astonishing.
159. 7:07Not merely advice, not merely a book of
160. 7:10teachings, not merely anything, but he
161. 7:14leaves himself.
162. 7:18In every tabernacle of the world is
163. 7:20God's declaration, "I am still here."
164. 7:26When you walk into this church on any
165. 7:28afternoon and no one else is around,
166. 7:30he's here.
167. 7:33When your heart is broken and
168. 7:34disappointed,
169. 7:36he's here.
170. 7:38When your faith is weak,
171. 7:40he's here.
172. 7:42When your prayers feel unanswered, he's
173. 7:44here.
174. 7:46When everyone else has walked away,
175. 7:49he's here.
176. 7:51That's the miracle of Corpus Christi.
177. 7:55The miracle is not only that bread
178. 7:57becomes Christ.
179. 7:59The miracle is that Christ refuses to
180. 8:01leave you.
181. 8:03That's why saints fell in love with the
182. 8:05Eucharist.
183. 8:07That's why Thomas Aquinas spent hours
184. 8:09kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament.
185. 8:12That's why the martyrs of Aventine said,
186. 8:14"Without Sunday Eucharist, we cannot
187. 8:17live." And they were killed for it.
188. 8:21That's why young Carlos Acutis called
189. 8:23the Eucharist my highway to heaven.
190. 8:27That's why the greatest That's why
191. 8:29generation after generation has built
192. 8:32cathedrals, lit candles, and knelt in
193. 8:36adoration.
194. 8:37Not because they worship bread,
195. 8:41but because they had discovered someone.
196. 8:44Someone who loved them.
197. 8:46Someone who remained. Someone who stays.
198. 8:51And in a few moments, on that altar,
199. 8:55Jesus will come to you. The king of
200. 8:57kings, the lord of lords, the creator of
201. 9:00galaxies, the savior who hung on
202. 9:03Calvary, he will make himself small
203. 9:05enough to fit into your mouth.
204. 9:07Small enough to enter into your heart.
205. 9:11Small enough to become your food.
206. 9:15The world has never seen humility like
207. 9:17that.
208. 9:20So, when you come forward today and hear
209. 9:21the words, "The body of Christ,"
210. 9:25do not answer casually.
211. 9:28Do not answer out of habit.
212. 9:31Do not answer because that's what you've
213. 9:33done your whole life. It's not a moment
214. 9:36to say, "Thank you, it is a moment to
215. 9:37say amen.
216. 9:41Because that amen means I believe.
217. 9:45I trust. I know who you are.
218. 9:48I know you are here.
219. 9:51And perhaps more importantly, I know you
220. 9:53stayed for me.
221. 9:56Because that's the message of Corpus
222. 9:58Christi.
223. 10:00Love does not send a symbol.
224. 10:02Love shows up.
225. 10:05Love remains. Love stays.
226. 10:09After 2,000 plus years, through every
227. 10:12war, every scandal, every empire, every
228. 10:15generation, Jesus Christ is still here.
229. 10:19He remains among us.
230. 10:21On this altar, in this church, waiting
231. 10:24for you to come and receive him.
232. 10:29And so, my brothers and sisters,
233. 10:32this time receiving him,
234. 10:35receive him knowing exactly who it is
235. 10:38that comes to meet you.
236. 10:41The Lord that loves you.
237. 10:43The Lord that says to you, "I will be
238. 10:45with you always." Amen.