Exodus 24:3-8 / Hebrews 9:11-15 / Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
One of the greatest threats to Europe during the 5th Century came from Eastern Asia.
The Huns led by Attila had swept through Asia and in the year 452 was on the verge of invading Italy.
The Huns were savage and barbaric in every aspect, killing men, women and children, plundering, sacking and destroying.
Attila the Hun was especially and utterly cruel in inflicting torture, greedy in plundering and famous for ripping apart his enemies and drinking their blood.
Rome which was then the seat of the crumbling Roman empire waited in helpless terror for utter destruction.
The pope at that time, Pope Leo knew he had to defend his flock and so he decided to go and meet Attila the Hun at the risk of his life and try to negotiate for peace.
Before he set off, Pope Leo celebrated the Eucharist.
As he ate and drank the Body and Blood of Christ, he thought to himself: If Attila were to rip me apart and drink my blood, then he would also be drinking the blood of Christ and that might convert him.
So with that, the venerable and simple old man went forth to meet the merciless young destroyer who only knew how to kill and plunder.
It was a tense meeting as the Pope pleaded with Attila to stop the bloodshed and spare Rome and the innocent people, and at the same time wondering when he was going to lose his life.
Then in a spectacular and surprising turn of events, Attila ordered his army to stop attacking and return to their base camp.
Many speculations were offered for this sudden and unexpected change in Attila the Hun.
It would be that a sum of money was given to him to stop him from attacking.
Or that his army was short of supplies and worn out, and there was a famine and plague in Italy at that time.
But another story has it that when Attila’s servants asked him why he suddenly changed his mind, he told them this:
While the Pope was talking to him, there appeared above the Pope’s head, two figures with drawn swords, and they seemed to threaten Attila unless he consented to do as Pope Leo had requested. Those two figures were said to be St. Peter and St. Paul.
Well, the fact was that Attila and his savage hordes turned back and Rome was saved at the mitigation of Pope Leo.
The interesting point in all this is that although Pope Leo knew that he could lose his life, he also believed in the power of the Eucharist.
He believed that Christ was in him and that the Blood of Christ flowed in his veins.
This is also what St Augustine taught us: the Eucharist is the only food that changes us to become like what we eat. We partake of Christ’s Body and Blood, and we become like Christ.
Indeed, Jesus the Lord gives us His Body and Blood so that He can live in us and we in Him.
Today, we the Church celebrates the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is not just about the bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ after it is consecrated.
It is also about us who receive the Body and Blood of Christ at Holy Communion.
Yes, it is Holy Communion. We are receiving something very sacred. We are receiving Christ the Risen Lord.
And all this is happening at the Eucharist, at the Mass. And it is happening every day, and happening all over the world, because there is not just Sunday Mass but there is also weekday Mass. Yes, there is Mass every day.
And if we really believe what is happening at Mass, and if we really believe that we are receiving what Jesus is giving us, His Body and Blood, then we would be coming for Mass, not just on Sunday, but every day.
The following true story was related to Sr. M. Veronica Murphy by an elderly nun who hear from the lips of the late Reverend Father Stanislaus SS.CC. (The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary)
In a little town in Luxembourg, a Captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with the butcher when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted. She had come to beg for a little meat but had no money. The Captain was amused at the conversation which ensued between the poor woman and the butcher:
“Only a little meat,” the elderly woman pleaded. “But how much are you going to give me?” the butcher asked her.
“I am sorry,” the woman responded, “I have no money but I will hear Mass for you.” Both the butcher and the Captain were very indifferent about religion, so they at once began to scoff at the old woman's answer.
“All right then,” said the butcher, “you go and hear Mass for me and when you come back I'll give you as much meat as the Mass is worth.”
The woman left the shop and returned an hour later.
She approached the counter and the butcher, seeing her, said, “All right, then, now we will see.”
He took a slip of paper and wrote on it "I heard a Mass for you." He then placed the paper on the scales and a tiny bone on the other side but nothing happened. Next, he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier.
The Captain, who had decided to stay on at the shop to see how the small drama would end, looked at the butcher. Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery.
The butcher placed a large piece of meat on the balance, but still the paper held its own. The butcher, exasperated, examined the scales, but found they were all right. Placing an extremely large piece of meat on the scale, it still favored the weight of the paper.
Removing both items, he again checked the mechanism of the scale and then weighted several other items, and the scale proved to be exactly accurate.
Exasperated, the butcher said kindly to the woman, “What do you want my good woman, must I give you a whole leg of mutton?”
At this he placed the leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. An even larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper.
This impressed the butcher so much that he converted, and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat. He kept his promise and the business flourished more than it ever had before.
As for the Captain, he left the shop a changed man, and became an ardent lover of daily Mass. Because of that incident, he became a daily attendant at Mass and his children were trained to follow his example. Peace and happiness in the home increased as the love of God grew in the family. Two of his sons became priests, one a Jesuit and the other a Father of the Sacred Heart.
Later when his sons became priests, the Captain advised them to say Mass well every day and never miss the Sacrifice of the Mass through any fault of their own.
Father Stanislaus finished by saying “I am the Religious of the Sacred Heart, and the Captain was my father.”
This story is often called “The weight of the Mass”. And indeed what we receive at Mass outweighs anything that we can ever have or achieve on our own.
Pope Leo believed in the power of the Mass and that outweighed the terror of Attila the Hun.
Our faith in the Mass and in the Body and Blood of Christ will certainly outweigh all challenges and difficulties that we will ever face.
We just need to believe that we receive Christ and that He lives in us.