Bishop Thomas Tobin joined the community on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, celebrating Mass and leading the eucharistic procession as part of the Humanitas Symposium. We include his homily here.

Bishop Tobin at Portsmouth (image: Hansen)

Once again, Abbot Michael, dear members of the Benedictine community, and dear brothers and sisters, thanks to one and all who have come together this morning to celebrate Holy Mass on this blessed and solemn occasion, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. And a word of thanks to everybody who has prepared for and is assisting with our liturgy this morning, as well. I am certainly very, very happy to be with you. As the Abbot mentioned before Mass, I am recently retired as the diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Providence. But as the documents of the church remind us, a bishop may be retired but he is never unemployed. It is for reasons like this, occasions like this that I am able to very gratefully enjoy being with you to celebrate the holy liturgy. It’s an opportunity for us and for the whole church today to focus on the precious gift that Jesus gave to the church – the gift of the holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament. And that’s important, I think, because sometimes we, as human beings, we just tend to take our gifts for granted. So many wonderful gifts we have that we just assume we will always have, and take for granted. The gift of our health, for example. If we’re healthy may we take it for granted and sometimes we don’t take care of ourselves the way that we should. The gift of our personal and religious freedoms. The gifts of our families, and our dear friends, that sometimes we don’t treasure as we should. And of course, the gift of our Catholic faith, which is a gift to us, that sometimes we just assume and take for granted. The Eucharist is certainly among the most precious gifts that God has given us, that we should never ever presume or take for granted. Because in this holy sacrament that we experience in a very particular and tangible way the constant presence and love of the Lord Jesus.

There is a reflection in The Imitation of Christ, the beautiful, spiritual classic of the 14th century, that speaks to us of our friendship with Christ. And in that reflection, Thomas à Kempis says, “When Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. He who finds Jesus, finds a rare treasure, a good above every other good. Whereas he who loses Jesus, loses more than the whole world.” When Jesus is near, all is well. He who finds Jesus finds a rare treasure. But he who loses Jesus, loses more in the whole world. Indeed, dear brothers and sisters, it is in the holy Eucharist that we find that rare treasure that is Jesus, our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, and our friend. Now it is true, of course, that God‘s love surrounds us every day in many different ways. If we but look and listen, we find the love of God in the love and the care of family and friends. We find the love of God in the beauty of nature and the world that God has created for us, the beautiful world of nature that so often we hear acclaimed and acclaimed in the psalms. We find the love of God in the moments even of sorrow and sadness and pain, because we know that then Jesus reaches out to embrace us and to carry us, as we share in his suffering and sorrow. And we find the love of God, of course, in our Catholic faith and all the elements of our Catholic faith and in prayer, and the sacraments and the devotion to the Saints, especially to our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary. But in all of this we experience, the love and the presence and the care and compassion of God, we find in many ways all of that is perfected and fulfilled in the holy Eucharist, in the body and blood of Christ.

And in that reflection I mentioned, Thomas à Kempis says that he who loses Jesus loses more than the whole world. And it can happen. We know that it does happen, that people drift away from Christ. Lose sight of him, take him for granted, turn their backs on him and abandon him. It happens and has happened to many Catholics in our own age and throughout time, perhaps some of our own family and friends. So many adults, young adults, have drifted away from the Catholic Church, who were baptized and raised Catholic, but have drifted away from the church and left Jesus behind. I think this time of year, of all the Confirmation students who have been Confirmed in this diocese in the last several months and throughout recent years even, certainly in my time. So many fine young people come to church in eighth grade, ninth grade tenth grade, usually they come to renew their faith in Christ and in the church. And in their commitment to the church they come to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, to renew and strengthen their faith. Then, surveys tell us, by the time they are 21 years of age 80% of them will have drifted away. It’s a great sadness and a great challenge. I am not sure – I know that I don’t have the answer – and I’m not sure that we have found the answer yet to avoid that. But so many people in our own Catholic faith, our own acquaintances and friends, have drifted away from Christ, have drifted away from the church. He who loses Jesus lose this more than the whole world. How does it happen? Well, I suppose it is through sin, and apathy, and selfishness, and carelessness. That’s why, dear friends we should never ever take our faith or our spiritual gifts for granted. If we have Jesus, we have everything. If we lose Jesus, we lose everything. What a great and precious gift we have in the Holy Eucharist, in the body and blood of Christ! From the very beginning, and in every age, the Eucharist has accompanied the church. The Eucharist has fed martyrs and missionaries, servants and kings, peasants and popes. The Eucharist has also accompanied you and me on our earthly pilgrimage, as well.

I think about my own journey of life, especially at this time in my life. I think of all the places I have lived, and the things I have done. Of the places I have lived: in Pittsburgh, the three different seminary communities that I lived in: in Erie, Pennsylvania; Loretto, Pennsylvania; in the North American College in Rome. I think about the dioceses that I have served in as a priest and bishop: in Pittsburgh, in Youngstown, Ohio, and for almost the last two decades here in Providence, Rhode Island. I think of the places I have traveled, the experiences that I have had, the people I have met, so many things that I have encountered in my 75 years – so many diverse opportunities and experiences. The one thing that has always been constant for me is the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Regardless of where I have gone or what I have done, whom I have met and what I have experienced, Jesus has always been present to me and available to me in the Holy Eucharist. That’s my journey in life. What about your journey in life? Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where have you traveled? Whom have you met? What are the experiences you have had? A great variety, isn’t it? There are things you reflect on, I hope, with great fondness, but perhaps sometimes some regret and sadness too. But, regardless of what you have experienced in your journey of life, whether it’s a few years or many years, the one thing that has been available to you, the one thing that has been constant to you, is the presence and love of God, the presence and love of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. A great reflection upon our own journey in life. And, what about the future? We can reflect on the past, but what about the future? Well, of course, the future is hidden from our eyes. We do not know what the future holds for us, in twenty years or ten years or next year, or even tomorrow for that matter. I see so many beautiful children and young people are here today. Think about their future, which will be much longer than mine! What does the future hold for them? What will the world be like? What will our nation be like? What will our church be like in twenty or fifty years? Nobody knows except the good Lord himself. But the one thing we know for sure with absolute certainty is that God will be with them, and Jesus will be with them, in the presence and the gift of the Holy Eucharist. And that should be a source for all of us of great consolation and comfort and peace. God will be with us. Jesus will be with us in the Holy Eucharist.

Dear brothers and sisters, after Mass today we will have a beautiful and brief procession around the campus area with the Blessed Sacrament. In a sense, we carry Jesus out into the world – as we should do with our lives with our faith, every day. By the way we live our faith, by the quality of our lives and our faith, we carry Jesus with us in a very real and tangible way every day. Today we do so in a liturgical procession. But this procession with the blessed sacrament today is also an icon of our journey of life. Let us pray dear brothers and sisters that we will always, always walk with Jesus. God bless you.

Mass on the Solemnity of the B