The Jewish people were tired and weary on their journey. They were really angry and grouchy. But God had Moses remind the people that through their hardships, he had delivered them from slavery, he had guided them through the dangers of the desert, he had provided them water to drink and manna to eat. He reminded them of their blessings, how he cared from them and provided for their needs.
As we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ today, we are reminded how the Lord has cared for us through these days of pandemic and social unrest in our country. I am reminded, too, how I came to Mississippi twenty years ago this month. It is really hard to believe it has been that long. I had never been to Mississippi before in my life. I arrived at the Ole Miss campus in June of 2000, ready for summer school, ready to take the Praxis teacher exam, ready to teach Spanish at Greenville High School in the Mississippi Delta. Well, I say “ready”, because I thought I was ready, but I really wasn’t ready.
Four of us lived together in a house in Greenville as roommates, all of us members of the Mississippi Teacher Corps. It was a two year commitment, teaching high school and earning a Masters degree in Education, but I ended up staying another two years at Greenville High School. I remember that after class on that first week of school, one of the students came up to me and told me that her mom had heard that I was Catholic and wanted to invite me to their Catholic church. Well, I told her that I had already attended St Joe parish the first two weekends I had been in town, but she told me that there was actually another Catholic church in Greenville as well. It surprised me that there would be two parishes in this town in the Mississippi Delta. I guess I really did not figure it out until I arrived at Sacred Heart parish that Sunday morning to realize that this was the historically African American parish in town. By the end of mass, I think everyone in the parish had greeted me and had made me feel very welcome. They had already asked me if I would teach religious education. They had already bombarded me with so many questions. But, for my four years in Greenville, Sacred Heart became my second home. I loved my parish family there. And I really felt a part of the Body of Christ of that community. I continue to feel a gratitude and love and thanksgiving for that community that I cannot adequately put into words, for I know in my heart, if it was not for the love and kindness of that nurturing community, I would not be standing up here right now in front of you as your pastor and as a priest in the Diocese of Jackson.
We receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist, as we hear Jesus tell us in our reading from John’s Gospel. We Catholics hold the Eucharist so dear to us. It has been so hard for so many Catholics being kept away from the Eucharist during this pandemic. As Jesus tells us that he is the living bread that came down from heaven; that whoever eats this bread will live forever, we long for this bread when it is not available to us.
We receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, but we are to be the Body and Blood of Christ in the world as well. I told you the story of coming to Mississippi and living and teaching in Greenville because it was the way I lived out being a part of the Body of Christ at that time in my life. In this past several months, as we have had challenges in not only going to Mass and living in community, but in living out our faith and being the Body of Christ to the world. There is always social injustice in the world. We are always asked as disciples of Christ to address these injustices.
In response to all that is going on in the world today, our Diocese has this prayer in the spirit of Sister Thea Bowman. Sister Thea has her roots in Mississippi - born in Yazoo City and raised in Canton, and in the last years of her life before she died of cancer at the age of 52, working for intercultural diversity in our Diocese. Her spirit in embodied in this prayer that we are going to pray together. May these words inspired by the life and work of Sister Thea not be just words for us - may they call us to examine our hearts, and may they call us to action.
Ever loving God, in your infinite goodness, you inflamed the heart of your servant and religious, Sister Thea Bowman with an ardent love for you and all people. May her prophetic witness continue to inspire us to share the Good News with all, but especially with the poor, oppressed and marginalized. May Sister Thea’s life and legacy compel us to walk together. Gracious God imbue us with the grace and perseverance that you gave your servant, Sister Thea, for in turbulent times of racial injustice, she sought equity, peace, and reconciliation. In times of intolerance and ignorance, she brought wisdom, awareness, unity, and charity. May her light be a beacon of goodness and holiness in our troubled times. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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