(Corpus Christi 1997 (B): This homily was given on June 1, 1997 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read 1 Corinthians 11: 17-34; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26.)

"Preparation--internal and external: the key to getting more out of the Mass."

Here’s another suggestion for the producers of the Jeopardy program (that’s the game show where they give you the answer and then ask you to figure out the question):

The answer is: "Eating too much and talking too much."

The question is: "What are Fr. Ray’s two biggest temptations?" Actually the question should be, "What are Fr. Ray’s two biggest temptations--neither of which he resists very often?"

Well, since I am an expert on eating and talking, I’ve decided to talk about eating during today’s homily. This is appropriate since we’re celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi this weekend--the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

First of all, lets consider for a moment the human experience of eating. . . .

Besides good food and pleasant surroundings, what is necessary for a good eating experience? What is required for enjoyable dining? Well, I would say (based on my expertise in this area), that two things are absolutely necessary: first of all there must be external preparation for the meal; secondly, there must be internal preparation for the meal. That means, for example, that if you get invited to a wedding banquet you’ve got to prepare yourself both on the outside and on the inside for the experience. If you only prepare yourself externally, you will not have a good time at the dinner. And by the same token, if you only prepare yourself internally, you will not have a very pleasant experience. And this is true even if the food they serve you is ‘five star’ quality. That won’t matter.

So what are the external preparations you need to make before you sit down for a meal?

Well, number one: You’ve got to groom yourself and dress appropriately for the occasion. There’s nothing more embarrassing than showing up in dirty dungarees at a coat-and-tie affair. It can ruin a dinner before it even begins.

Number two: If you want to enjoy your meal, you’ve got to avoid eating too much beforehand. Now I don’t know about you, but personally that’s always been a big problem for me. I’d be a rich man if I had a dime for every time my mother said to me when I was growing up, "Don’t eat that, you’ll ruin your dinner!" Now our housekeeper Theresa has to say it. Unfortunately, some things don’t change.

And what about the internal preparations that you need to make before eating?

Well, number one: You’ve got to want to go to the dinner. No one will have a good time at a banquet if he doesn’t want to be there. When my nephews were a bit younger I remember going out with them to restaurants on a couple of occasions. Well, let me tell you, when they decided that they no longer wanted to be there, the meal ceased to be an enjoyable experience--for them, for my sister and her husband, for me and for the rest of the people in the restaurant!

Number two: You’ve got to like and appreciate the food that’s being served. For example, if you know they’re serving chicken at a wedding reception--and you hate chicken--then you won’t be very excited about it. The dinner will be an ordeal rather than a joy. You’ll be looking forward to going to McDonald’s afterward for a Big Mac.

Number three: If a dinner is to be a pleasant experience you need to have a personal relationship with the people you’re eating with; or at least you’ve got to be open to the prospect of beginning a friendly relationship with those individuals. No one will have a good time eating with people they dislike. No one will have a good time eating with strangers in silence. Have you ever been to a wedding reception where they sit you with people you don’t know? And then the band plays so loudly during the meal that you can’t carry on a conversation with the person next to you? I’ve had that experience several times. And it’s terrible. It makes you very uncomfortable. You want to share things with these people but you can’t. Consequently, it ruins the evening--even if the food is A-1.

Fr. Ray, what does all this have to do with the Holy Eucharist? The answer is: "Plenty." Very often people say, "I don’t get anything out of Mass." Imagine--they attend the banquet of the Lord, they receive the holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and yet amazingly they say they get nothing out of the experience! Well, perhaps that happens because these individuals haven’t prepared themselves properly for the event. As I said a few moments ago: For any dining experience to be enjoyable and satisfying there has got to be external and internal preparation. That’s true of a wedding banquet and a family dinner--and it’s also true of the Eucharist.

So what are the external preparations that need to be made before receiving the Lord in Holy Communion?

Number one: As I said earlier--for any special banquet, a person needs to be properly groomed and dressed. Regarding Mass that means, under normal circumstances, we should not dress for Liturgy like we dress for the gym or the beach! Now, why is our attire here so important? Well, it’s not to impress God--God is not impressed even with tuxedos and fur coats. Proper dress is important for us--it puts us in the right frame of mind. When we dress up for a dinner, we are reminding ourselves that this is a special occasion. It’s not an ordinary event we’re about to attend. When we dress respectfully for Mass, therefore, we’re reminding ourselves that we are about to encounter the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords--our Savior and Redeemer.

And regarding proper grooming, let me simply say this: We need to wash our hands before Mass. Now that may sound like common sense to some of us--but unfortunately, as the old saying goes, "Common sense is not so common." Believe it or not, some individuals think nothing of receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord with hands that look like they haven’t been washed in a week! I dare say, we would not reach out to an important human being with dirty hands, so we certainly shouldn’t reach out to Almighty God with dirty hands.

Number two: As is the case with any meal, if we want to enjoy it then we’ve got to avoid eating too much beforehand. Here’s how that applies to the Eucharist: I think there are many Catholics who have forgotten that if they are physically able, they’re supposed to fast for one hour from all food and drink (other than water) before receiving the Eucharist. Fasting, like dressing properly, helps to put us in the right frame of mind for Mass. We realize we’re about to do something that’s sacred.

And then we have the internal preparations that need to be made before we come to the Lord’s table:

Number one: As is the case with other meals, we’ve got to come to Mass willingly. Once again, it’s common sense--if we don’t want to be here (like my nephews didn’t want to be in those restaurants a few years ago) then we will not profit spiritually by the experience. Yes, we will receive Jesus in the Eucharist, but that communion will not bear good fruit in our lives.

Number two: We’ve got to appreciate the food that’s being served. Here we need to remind ourselves that we’re not talking about fried chicken or pot roast, we’re talking about Almighty God, humbling himself and coming to us to be our strength. As one non-Catholic put it: "If I believed that Jesus was truly present in that host, I’d crawl on my knees up the aisle to receive Him."

And number three: Our relationship with the person or persons we’re dining with is extremely important. In the Eucharistic meal, Jesus Christ himself is both our food and our host. We dine with him. Therefore we need to make sure that our relationship with him is what it should be. That must be an essential part of our internal preparation. St. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 11: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord. A man should examine himself first; only then should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Paul is warning us there about receiving the Eucharist if we have mortal sin on our soul--or if our marriage is invalid. Those things need to be dealt with first--before we approach the altar to receive. Some Catholics seem to think this teaching has changed in the Church since Vatican II. It has not!

And one last thought: Even if a person has properly prepared himself both internally and externally for a meal, there is one thing that can still ruin it all: not digesting the food--getting up too quickly and running out the door! I’ll leave you to figure out how that applies to the Eucharistic meal.

I will conclude today with something that Jesus reportedly once said to Blessed Sister Faustina: "Know, my daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul." May we always be open to every one of those graces, by preparing ourselves properly to receive our Savior at Holy Mass.