|Fr. Chris - Corpus Christi - Homily

The Heart of Humanity

​Today we honour, give great thanks for, and reflect upon the magnificence of the most holy Body and Blood of Christ, his body which he gives to us in the Eucharist. This is the body which he sacrificed on the cross for us, the body which Apostle Paul tells us we are in fact members of, having been called to be his witnesses to the gospel, mutually loving and caring members of his one body, the Holy Church.


In 1 Cor 12.12-27, Paul says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into the one body. God arranged the body, so there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer; if one member is honored, all rejoice with it. You are the body of Christ and individual members of it.”


If we are individual members, and yet all one in the body of Christ, perhaps collectively we are also his new heart. Christ’s life-blood flowed forth from his heart to save humanity, a great sacrifice which we will be remembering and celebrating this Friday in the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. As his blood flowed to feed life-giving salvation to the members of his body, we, too, perhaps as Christ’s new heart, are called to feed love and care to each other, our life-blood the good deeds and positive efforts flowing through our joint efforts to bring love and life-saving nourishment to each other.


But this body is hurting now. One of its members is bruised, neglected, battered, parts of it now life-less. How can the body of Christ live and move and have its being when its heart is broken? Of course, this is in reference to the tragic and horrific discovery of 215 bodies found buried in unmarked graves connected with the Kamloops’ Residential School in British Columbia.


I am not a stranger to the history of the residential school system. I am also familiar with the noble, gifted, generous, loving people whose lives and culture have been devastated by it. Before my studies for the priesthood, my Jesuit spiritual director brought me to Wikwemikong or ‘Wiki’ on Manitoulin Island to accompany him in his outreach. The poverty was indeed disturbing, but the people were wonderful.


I first learned about the residential schools’ beginnings with the remains of an early establishment for indigenous youth built next to Holy Cross (1852) Catholic Church where I was stationed. It had burned down in 1913, so the school was re-established in ‘Spanish’, a small town north of Manitoulin, where it was thought the nearby railroad would provide better access to the youth. It was operated by the Jesuits, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, and the Canadian Govt from 1913 to 1965. The effects of this segregation from family and culture are obviously still being felt today, as they are from other such schools across Canada. Indeed, it was a sobering, wake-up call to their reality for one born safe in the arms of home and family.


Citizens, both families and friends of the victims, are understandably in shock, disbelief and bewilderment. Others are ashamed. Many are angry, but angry with whom? – The Government? The Catholic Church? Perhaps even God?


At a local ‘Sacred Fire’ gathering, organized in respect and consolation for victims and their families, I was blessed by the words of a coordinator who encourages us not to lose faith in the ‘Universal’ God. Our values of love and for life are the same. God our Creator exists with us and in us, together as one. Just as in Paul’s words, we are all one in the body of Christ. Let us learn from our mistakes, learn to better love and accept our differences, and together renew the face of God’s earth.


But what does this look like? Where do we start? As with so many conflicts and misunderstandings, it begins with ‘education’. In a CBC article, Eddy Charlie, a survivor of the ‘Kuper Island Residential School’ off the east coast of Vancouver Island, says we should stop asking how we can help, but just ‘listen’. “I just want people to sit, [and] hear the story about the residential schools.”


Therefore, I encourage all of us to listen to our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Learn from them. This is the first step to true reconciliation, to true healing. I, too, am here to listen to these stories, stories perhaps I can share to educate others.


The body of Christ, our ‘one’ body, is hurting. Humanity’s heart is broken. We must heal the heart in the body of Christ our Saviour for the joy and harmony of all.


– Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario