Corpus Christi (Day of Thanksgiving for the Eucharist)
Corpus Christi (Day of Thanksgiving for the Eucharist)
God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament hath left unto us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Corpus Christi (Day of Thanksgiving for the Eucharist)
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
✛
A Voice of Thanksgiving
audio_file: 364974
Christian, Will, Elias, Nathan, William, and Henry: Today is a bitter-sweet day for you all. It is bitter because this is the last time you will sing in the front row of the choir stalls. It is sweet, because you are getting ready for a big adventure as you move to High School. You have been part of the Community of Saint Thomas of which the Choir School has been your home away from home for several years now. Living in community with the faculty and staff of the Choir School, and with the clergy, and alongside the staff and parishioners of the Church means that you have been part of a large family, and I hope that Saint Thomas Church will always feel like home for you.
Two weeks ago, all six of you renewed your baptism vows before the Bishop and he confirmed your faith. You took your place as mature Christians not only in the church, but also in the world. The baptismal covenant is not just about personal faith; the baptismal covenant includes promises about our responsibility to others and to the world in which we live, summed up in the last three promises:
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- Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
- Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
- Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
The time you have spent at our school and in our church has given you tools to put those promises into practice. Your tool bags are filled with all kinds of gifts and skills to help you in the future and Jami Floyd, in her address during the Commencement Exercises yesterday, reminded you of one of those tools – how you use your voice – with the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and how to “find a voice in a whisper.” The mission of Saint Thomas Church is to worship, love, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ through the Anglican Tradition and our unique choral heritage. You may not be putting your ruffs on any more, and you may find yourselves in very different communities in the future, but the first part of our mission you can continue to promote wherever you – to worship, love, and serve Jesus – through your own voice and by putting it into action.
Today we keep the Feast of Corpus Christi, when we give thanks for the Eucharist. It’s a bit of a misnomer to describe today as the Day of Thanksgiving for the Eucharist. Eucharist (as you know from your Greek lessons) means Thanksgiving. So, we are giving thanks…for thanksgiving! Saint Thomas is often described as a community with the Eucharist at its heart, and we celebrate the Eucharist every day. It is the pattern of our life together as a community which is why we can also be described as a Eucharistic Community. In other words, we are a community characterized by a life of thanksgiving. As we were going to the reception after the celebration in Church yesterday, Ms Floyd said to me that she wondered if she should have talked yo you about kindness. Oh no, I said, that is one thing that our boys school teaches and practices – kindness – another tool that you take with you.
Yes, Henry, William, Nathan, Elias, Will, and Christian – as you leave us, and enter the next stage of your lives, you will encounter indifference and apathy. You may also encounter more disturbing things such as prejudice, bitterness, mistrust, or even hate. That’s when you need to remember that you have been formed in a community that has thanksgiving at its heart. The greatest antidote to apathy is joy! The greatest weapon against prejudice is kindness! Resist the temptation to ‘go with the flow’ and stand up for what you hold dear and what you promised before the Bishop and the whole Church two weeks ago. Continue to worship, love, and serve Jesus even when you are not singing with your voice.
The Eucharist has a number of rites within it – gathering, praying, making peace, dismissing – but there are two main parts of the service – the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. In the first, we hear the stories of our faith always culminating in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus – the Good News. We respond to those stories with psalmody, hymns, alleluias, the creed, prayers, and a breaking open of those stories through the sermon, connecting them to the world in which we now live. The second part of the service is when we take the bread and the wine and place them on the altar, and pray what we describe in our service leaflet as the Great Thanksgiving. You see, my friends, the Eucharistic Prayer is a pattern of the Christian life for, within that Thanksgiving is the four-fold action of the Eucharist. The bread and wine are taken and offered; they are blessed and consecrated; the bread is broken; they are shared in communion. Christian, William, Elias, Nathan, William, and Henry – that is the pattern of the Eucharist – of the Great Thanksgiving that is now the pattern of your lives as you leave this community. It would be very easy for you all the be proud of your gifts and talents and achievements – of the tools you take with you – and to guard them jealously; to keep them just to yourselves. That is selfish and not what you have been taught in school or here in church. Keep those things close to you and they will not make any difference to others; use them for the benefit of others and you can potentially change the world. Yes, Henry, William, Nathan, Elias, Will, and Christian – your lives need to be offered, blessed, broken, and shared just like the bread and the wine of the Eucharist. In so doing, you will be fulfilling your baptismal promises and honoring the mission of Saint Thomas Church to worship, love, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.
And I want to say to all of you who are joining us online today. You, too, are part of our eucharistic community and we know how many of you have a sense of belonging. Many of you participate with us in many things – from bible study, to our Pilgrims Course, to education classes, to daily prayer and worship. Now, of all times, we need your help. Our Choir School is a jewel in the crown of our liturgical life. It is a cultural icon in this city and the only such school left in North America where the choristers make up the student body, and 90% of the cost of running the school comes from the parish’s invested funds and from annual giving. For 105 years, we have celebrated the difference that this school has made to children’s lives, and it has enriched the worship not only of this place, but of New York, and inspired people all over the country and the world. You know that the time has come to change the way we finance this cherished part of our institution. If you treasure this tradition, then we need your help and support. If we continue to work together, we will be able to keep the core of our cherished tradition alive and well and properly financed. That is not simply fiscally prudent, it is our fiduciary responsibility. Yes, it will mean some things will have to change, but change does not have to be something to be feared – it can be an opportunity for growth, and a discovery of renewed purpose and mission. Over these coming months, we are committed to finding a way forward, and we want you, especially those of you who are part of our online community, to be a part of that renewed purpose and mission.
Henry, William, Nathan, Elias, Will, and Christian; may God continue to bless you. Thank you for all you have given to Saint Thomas Church over the past few years. May your commitment be an inspiration to others, and may your singing be only a small part of your ability to change the world.
Sermon Audio
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