In Australia, we have become used to volunteering. This not only happens at times of crisis but also in our concern to build up a community that can sustain each other. This is more than philanthropy as it expresses a common desire to share our commonwealth with each other. Our gifts are entrusted to us for a good purpose so that we can find meaning and purpose in life but also so that we can share them with others. This is not to focus attention solely on ourselves but also to enable others. It is a respect for the dignity and worth of each person.
As we celebrate the solemnity of Corpus Christi we see the desire of Christ to share his very life with us through the celebration of the Eucharist. This is not just a gift that is to be preserved for the selected few but rather an engagement with the life of Christ. Much as we donate blood or indicate on our medical records that we will donate our organs if we die. There is a sense in which our bodies are not just our own personal possession but rather a way in which we are called to relate with each other for the good. Our incarnate spirituality recognizes that our body and spirit sustain us in a relationship with God, with ourselves, and with each other. We live in a communal setting which brings us into communion.
This is recognized each Sunday which is the summit and source of our life. We are intimately bound to the person of Christ and to each other whenever we share Eucharist. This is a communion in which we listen to God's Word, give thanks for the life with which we are blessed, allow our lives to be broken open so that we can give life to others. This is not just a solitary act in which we privatize our relationship with God. It is a call that we offer our lives for the good of each other. We are commissioned to bear witness to the truth that every life matters and that nobody should be excluded from a deeper communion with Christ through the sharing of our life.
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