My body and blood

Yes. My very own body and blood. And your very own body and blood, too. As Jesus offered His very life for us to the very end, so, too, must each one of us. This is the meaning of the Eucharist, each time we come together for Holy Mass.

"Take it; this is my body… This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." (From today’s Gospel reading, Mk. 12:12-16, 22-26).

When we gather together for Sunday Mass as a community of God, each one of us should be aware of all the personal sacrifices and acts of selfless love that we have done during the preceding week. All this is what we offer the Father, together with Christ, rather then fulfilling the Sunday obligation primarily for one’s personal salvation!

And when we look up to the Body and Blood of Christ being offered for all of God’s people at the moment of consecration, let us also consecrate ourselves for the love and service of the Lord. As the priest pronounces the words of consecration, whisper and own the very same words in your heart: "This is my body… This is my blood… which will be given up for many." As Jesus offers Himself to all, so you also offer yourself to all through Him. The meaning of Holy Mass!

Finally, as we receive Holy Communion, we then take home within us the Lord’s sacramental presence, to be our guide and strength for all our personal sacrifices and acts of selfless love during the coming week. Until the next Sunday Mass, and so on. Sounds like routine, until you experience the reality that every succeeding week brings fresh and varied opportunities for sacrifice and loving acts. In your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In your words and deeds.

If this is what we experience as a Eucharistic community, you can imagine what a difference it can make in the wider community. Thus, the Church keeps insisting that the Eucharist is the center of our lives. Then it follows that we need to multiply the celebration of Sunday Mass in many more places, and for so many more people who are deprived of it for lack of priests.

Thus, our highest Church authorities should face the challenge to reform the rule of mandatory celibacy for all diocesan priests. There are many seminarians and priests who possess the God-given charism for priestly ministry, but not necessarily the charism for celibacy. For this reason, (among others), many seminarians leave the seminary before ordinations, and quite a number of priests leave after ordinations. Not to mention the equally growing number of priests who stay as priests but are not able to observe total celibacy.

We openly appeal to our Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and our Papal Nuncio to work for this much needed reform with the Vatican hierarchy.

As a first step, already-existing married deacons can be trained and ordained to the priesthood. It saddens me that in the Philippines, our local hierarchy have not even ordained a single married layman as deacon. Why? I really do not know.

As a second step, the Vatican could finally reform the rule of mandatory celibacy and allow optional celibacy for diocesan priests. If and when this comes to pass, I foresee a substantial increase in the number of healthy, well-balanced, dedicated heterosexual priests to fill up the acute shortage of priests all over the country and all over the world.

This, in my personal discernment, will be more according to God’s law of love, compassion, and creation. Any major reform will of course involve problems. But such problems are challenges and opportunities for further growth, rather than curses or rationalized excuses for maintaining the status quo.

In due time, the Church teaching that the Eucharist is the center of our lives may yet become a reality. So help us, God.