The Body is Breaking, Along with Our Hearts.
A Reflection in terrible times. 6-22-2025
Individuals are being snatched off of the street by people wearing plain clothes and masks, and claiming to be immigration enforcement officers. Citation There have been several incidents where criminals were impersonating ICE agents, which is easier when ICE officers are masquerading as criminals – masked and unidentified. Citation How can that be? Aren’t we still in America, the land of the free, home of the brave, one nation under God where my immigrant grandparents came as part of the masses yearning to be free? The really brave people today are the people of color, citizens and non-citizens, who still go to work, and school and go about their lives in public knowing that they could be grabbed at any moment by masked people in unmarked cars. There have been stories of such occurrences in other nations where such actions are condoned by the government, but not in my country, my hometown, until now. I want to do something other than scream or cry, but as individuals we are helpless.
Last year a few people in my unincorporated part of the county formed a non-profit so that we could raise money and support needs in our community on a scale that can’t be managed by individuals. It is an urban area with a rural government that can’t address urban needs. To form a non-profit, we went through the process of becoming incorporated and are now a legal entity that is recognized as a single body. We were able to open a bank account. We can own property, receive donations, and function as a single body through representatives. We have legal obligations like keeping track of donations, and disbursing funds according to the intent of our by-laws. For-profit corporations have the ability to issue stock among other things, and they are liable for paying taxes, but they can also speak and act in the public arena as a single body which has complications when mega corporations are treated like individual citizens. A benefit of forming a corporation is that the assets of individuals are protected if the corporate entity is sued or otherwise fails.
The idea of incorporation had its roots in ancient Rome under Julius Caesar and was revised and affirmed under Caesar Augustus (27 BC – 14 AC) when early bodies of government were formed as single bodies to conduct their work. The concept was revived during the Middle Ages and began flourishing as the need to share risk in risky ventures resulted in the formation of such corporations as the Hudson Bay Company and the Dutch East India Company which were key players in the European colonization project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation.
So why am I talking about individuals and corporations? This weekend the church celebrates the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood, also known by its Latin name, Corpus Christi. I believe it is important to remember the Latin title because corpus is the root word for the word corporation. For more than one person to be a body is to be corporate. In our modern day when corporations have so much control over the economy and politics and our lives in general, it is imperative that we remember there is another kind of corporate body.
In the church we become part of the One Body in Christ when we are welcomed to the Eucharist. Another way to say that is to say we have been incorporated into the Body of Christ. Every year during the Easter Season we recommit to our baptismal promises which brought us into the church, allowing us to be incorporated into the Body of Christ. We have guidelines too. They come from the teachings of Jesus who is the Christ into whose body we are incorporated. Every member of the Body is encouraged to receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Easter Season. By faith, we believe we become what we eat. We consume the Body of Christ so that corporately we can become his body in the world, not as individuals, but collectively sharing the risk, the benefits, and the responsibility of being joined together in one Holy Corporate Body. Given the ancient roots of corporate concepts, I now wonder if the early followers of Jesus understood the Body of Christ as another form of resistance to the Empire. If not, being an alternative corporation is a good way to resist now.
The readings this weekend speak of sacred meals. The first reading from Genesis 14:18-20 describes when Melchizedek, king of Salem, and a priest, brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram. The second reading from Corinthians 11:23-26 is a description from St. Paul of the beginnings of the communion rite we celebrate today. “This is my body…Do this in remembrance of me.” But the Gospel is from Luke 9:11b-17 and it speaks of an ordinary meal turned extraordinary. It is the story of Jesus showing the disciples how to care for the people, how to nourish them with five loaves and two fish even as the disciples protest that there is not enough food and they certainly cannot afford to buy food for everyone. But Jesus knows how to care for people. Jesus has people sit together in smaller groups so they can better relate to one another. Food and conversation, sharing, caring, and blessing. Everyone is satisfied and there are leftovers. As a collective, as a single body, there was more than enough. In Christ, we are more than the sum of our parts.
People in our country today are afraid that they will not have enough, that their jobs will be lost, that Social Security checks will disappear, that they will lose Medicare, that their savings or retirement funds will vanish as the stock market crashes, or a war begins. People are afraid they might get caught up in sweeps if they protest. They want to be safe and keep what they have in case they need it for themselves. Fear is a potent enemy, and we are living in a time when fear is being used to tear communities apart: fear of differences, fear of foreigners, fear of red hats, or blue signs. And that fear is breaking our nation apart – and our churches as well. In the face of so much pain, where is the Body of Christ?
The disciples saw the hungry people and told Jesus he should dismiss the crowd because the disciples did not yet understand their mission. “Feed them yourselves” Jesus said. Today’s followers want protection and due process for undocumented immigrants. “Protect them yourselves,” Jesus says. But the corpus has been breaking apart for some time. One part of the body has gone rogue, seeking personal profit, and ignoring the basic teaching of care for the vulnerable. The other has been frightened into passive submission. But the Body of Christ was formed to be courageous, to share the risks, and the benefits, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And where do we think Jesus is today?
There is no magic in the Eucharist. We cannot become what we choose to ignore. As the hands and feet of Jesus in the world we have a role to play on behalf of the poor, the destitute, and the frightened. As his voice, we have words of forgiveness and mercy that we are called to speak. As his body, we are formed to embody the compassion, the kindness, and the love that Jesus offered. He fed all the people, not just those who understood his words or had already begun to function as part of his body. He fed everyone who showed up and he went to the margins to find those who were too afraid to come. We are the Body of Christ in the world – collectively, in union, with love binding us together.
Be nourished at the table together.
Open wide your heart and consume Love.
Consume Hope.
Become what you receive
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