Hidden meaning

Has anyone considered the whole of Christianity is packed into these four words Christ uttered the night before His crucifixion?

Anyone who calls himself a Christian knows Jesus is God and, therefore, sinless. He did not not make mistakes. How then, can a Christian derive meaning from these words, and apply them to everyday life: “This is my body…”?

The answer lies in the second half of His declaration, recorded in Luke’s Gospel account: “… which is given up for you.”

As a follower of Christ, one is called personally by name to participate in His one and only sacrificial offering on His behalf.

How?

And in what context does one do this today?

The nitty gritty

One can all live this sentence, which sums up the Christian life:–in whatever vocation one chooses to live–making a gift of himself to others for the sake of Christ.

For instance, a married couple participates in the constant heroic sacrificing of selfish knee-jerk reactions by the very nature of the institution.

This is why Jesus raised holy matrimony to a Sacrament–an outward sign of the mysterious God-given grace in the world–because we need supernatural strength to live its fullness of beautiful self-giving love.

In marriage, the couple unites to become one body spiritually and physically, each proclaiming to one another, “This is my body [myself], which is given up for you.”

Therefore, marriage is an outward sign in the world of what Jesus (who is called “The Bridegroom”) did for His Bride, The Church.

The fruit of the womb…

Women are made for receiving and nurturing. Men are made for giving and protecting.

Therefore in marriage, women’s bodies are designed to receive…and to give back in larger measure what they receive, which is designed to be nurtured and protected by both the man and the woman.

Through the marvelous work of the Holy Trinity, and with the participation of the man and woman becoming “one flesh” (Gen 2:24), comes the fruit of the physical marital union: the life of a new human being.

Without the woman’s free-will consent to house and nurture the developing pre-born human in her body with her declaration, “This is my body…given up for you,” the fruit of her womb would die.

Single or servant?

The Christian is also called to be a servant in the context of the single life.

A good example would be Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925), a young Italian man who dedicated his life to serving the poor, and was active in promoting social reform during the time of Mussolini’s Italian Fascist Movement.

He was an avid mountaineer, yet he made time to give of himself completely to prayer and work, somehow assisting 150 poor families before his untimely death from polio at the age of 24.

It was these families that petitioned the Church investigate Frassati’s Cause for sainthood.

Like Frassati, the single Christian has a unique opportunity to dedicate his entire life’s work serving Christ through serving others in a variety ways. This “public servant’s” attitude embodies one way he can proclaim, “This is my body…given up for you” (see Luke 17:10 from today’s Gospel).

Holy Orders and religious life

What about those who forfeit the goods of this life, offering them as a sacrifice in the service of God through prayer, poverty and celibacy?

They are the chosen few who are called by God to be set themselves apart from the world as servants of Jesus.

Like everyone else, they are not exempt from temptations to sexual perversion, greed or self-aggrandizement with hierarchical measures of power at their disposal.

They too, are called to be servants to others within their communities and to those they help in the world.

They too, as Christians, must have the courage to profess with their lives: “This is my body…given up for you.”

“Merely servants” (Luke 17:10)

No matter what state in life, in the end, Christians are merely servants.

The joy, freedom and peace come when one serves for the sake of the One who loves him.

Conversely, in every state of life, the temptation is to “seek to be served” rather than to serve.

It is a daily commitment that involves a lot of charity and regular participation in the Sacrament of Confession (at least monthly) and reception of The Most Holy Eucharist.

Our Lady of Victory, pray for the United States of America as new public servants are being voted in on this election day.

St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us.