First reading: Exodus 12:1-8,11-14
Psalm: Ps 116:12-13,15-18
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: John 13:1-15

“This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.—

Lord for us your wounds were suffered.
Oh Christ Jesus, have mercy on us

What does —reality— mean?

Wikipedia provides a definition for reality. Their website states that:

Reality, in everyday usage, means “the state of things as they actually exist.” Literally, the term denotes what is real; in its widest sense, this includes everything that is, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible.

The term reality first appeared in the English language in 1550, originally a legal term in the sense of “fixed property.”

The definition goes on to discuss different senses of the word reality, for instance truth and fact. They then talk about phenomenological reality. Phenomenology comes from the Greek, meaning the study of that which appears. If we take that literally, we can say that our faith is an exercise in the phenomenology of God —“ the study of God’s appearance to us in historical fact and in our personal experience.

Reality of Christ among us

Our phenomenology, our study of that which appeared, is more than an academic process. It is a path of discovery and of change. Our entire relationship with reality must move from a view centered on the world, on money, power, property, personal desires, the grievous sinfulness found in the world’s disregard for the commandments of God, to a reality centered on Jesus and His Gospel.

This is certainly a difficult path because it is so natural to be imitators of Jesus. Did I just say that being natural is difficult? Of course! Our entire humanness is directed toward God and a desire for closeness and likeness with Him. Unfortunately, by the allure of sin we fight our humanness every day. We fall.

Thankfully we have committed, by our presence in this community of faith, and in the larger Church, to be phenomenological. We have committed ourselves to humanness, to being defined by lives centered in the reality of God.

God’s desire to remain with us as real presence

Our commitment to being defined by lives centered in the reality of God would be sad if it were a one way street. If we had to rely on shadows and personal experience we would be subject to valid criticism. Thankfully, God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. The historical facts surrounding His life, death, and resurrection as well as the testimony of many witnesses centers our phenomenology, our study of God’s reality in observable and documented experience.

God desired to come among us, to live, and to interact. He made it so that we might live in the reality of who we really are; the naturalness of our humanity. He did this by teaching us what we are to do.

God’s reality remains present with us today. As we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist, we recall the phenomenology, the reality of God living among us, really present so that He might work within us to bring us back to our humanity; to make our reality real.

The sacramental nature of Church is grounded in reality

Our Holy Polish National Catholic Church is the full reality of God due to its sacramental nature. God remains real and present among us, working in us, affecting change, bringing us back to the easy road —“ to the road that calls us to live the reality we were intended to live.

Sacraments are all about reality. We are fed. We are washed. We are anointed. The food of the Holy Eucharist, the washing in Penance, the anointing in Holy Orders, Confirmation, and the sacrament of the Sick are a full on experience of God’s reality.

Catholicism is the full-on reality of God’s relationship

Our Catholicism is then the full-on reality of God’s relationship with us. This reality centers us and makes God’s touch real and present.

It is real in its components and in its totality

Our reality isn’t merely a study of cause and effect, or a theological tome on the nature of God, but a compressive encounter with God. This encounter, in both its historical fact, the testimony of witnesses, and in our experience tells us that every component of who we are is found in God’s reality. From Baptism to Viaticum —“ the last Communion someone receives before death —“ a lifelong encounter emerges. It is not just one reception of Penance, one anointing, one Communion, but a lifetime marked by these encounters with God’s reality.

Real food and Real drink —“ it is real responsibility

—If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.—

That is reality. Our phenomenological encounter with God, our experience of Him is real food and real drink. It is real anointing and real washing.

Because of our unfortunate choices, the paths we choose over the path we should choose, we often fail to do as Jesus asked this night, —as I have done for you, you should also do.—

We must couple the reality of God with our real responsibility, to become human in all our interactions. If we touch someone’s life, but cheat them out of the real food of our presence, if we shut them out of our charity and fail to anoint them for strength and healing, if we fail to wash away enmity, we fall short of God’s reality. We become inhumane, we lose reality.

Let us rather do this. Let us take this holy night and choose to reconnect to the reality of God, present here. Let us choose to change our reality from a fight against what we should do, to a choice for God’s natural reality. By faith we know the phenomenological reality of God among us. Let us be in God’s reality by our presence here and in the world. Amen.