Sun., June 10, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 “He took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.”
Summary of sermon: Fr. Brankin saw the movie, “For Greater Glory” last week and was touched. He said his throat swelled and tears came to his eyes.
This movie is about the faithful Catholics in Mexico during the persecution against the Church. After seeing the movie, things cannot be the same. We can’t go back to “Dancing with the Stars” and Game Boy. We realize that this religious thing is about life and death. Ninety years ago, ninety thousand people died. It was a struggle between God and anti-God. The movie tells us how real the faith must be lived — in our bones.
In the struggle for freedom, no one dies for an idea. You die for a person, a person whom you love. That person of course, is Jesus. In the movie, a 13-year-old boy who has since been beatified, Jose Luis Sanchez, was martyred. Before he died, he called out, “Long live Christ the King.” This is being true to our religion — to love, even to the death.
Not an “it,” but a “who”
Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Holy Communion is not an “it” but a “who.” What Holy Communion implies is that Jesus Christ expects us to sacrifice our comfort, and even our lives if necessary.
That little white host — his Body and Blood — is what kept the Cristeros alive and will keep us alive, too.