June 22 2026 - St. Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

 

One of my favorite films of all times is “A Man for All Seasons” the historical drama about St. Thomas More who is honored today along with the English martyr, bishop John Fisher. The film does an amazing job presenting the political and religious tension in England when King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and amazingly captures the wit, intelligence, courage, and holiness of St. Thomas More, played by Paul Scolfield, who also portrayed the saint in the original stage version by Robert Bolt.

If you have a few free hours, check out “A Man for All Seasons”. And the title of the film and play raises an interesting question? Why does the author refer to St. Thomas More as “a man for all seasons”? Thomas More despite tremendous pressure from his friends, from his family, probably from a number of clergy, from the king of england, not to mention the threat of torture and martyrdom, remained true to his principals and Catholic religious convictions throughout all the seasons of his life.

Whenever I watch the film adaptation, I am so deeply impressed by Thomas More’s spiritual leadership in his family and community. He is a loving husband, a provident father, a fair employer, a lawyer who does not bend to corruption and bribes, a sound counselor, a learned man who saw through the empty philosophies of his day, whose convictions informed his decisions. He is depicted as “man fully alive” as Irenaeus would say, a man whose mind has been shaped and fortified by reason and the Gospel, a man whose moral compass is firmly set on Christ, a man who stands for Truth even when bishops and priests cower in fear. Every time I watch this movie, I think, that’s the sort of man I want to be.

The title “man for all seasons” also, no doubt, is a reference to the King James Bible translation of 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 2. St. Paul urges, the bishop Timothy “to proclaim the Word of God in season and out of season”…” convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.”

The Christian is to preach and teach the truth in every season, when the world is farily tolerant of us, and when the world hates us, when you are being pressured by the king, and when you are teaching your children, our your flock. The Christian is not to alter or water down, or ignore the Truth of Christ, and we are to witness to it, and live it out publicly, in every season.

That’s what makes St. Thomas more a man,  not just for 16th century England, but a man for all seasons of history. His virtues are for every age. His stance for Truth is needed in every age. We need Thomas More’s in every season. We need Thomas More’s now. We need Catholics who will remain true to their faith despite the pressures of the world, their families, their peers. Catholics of rightly formed conscience.

May St. Thomas More inspire us by his life and assist us with his prayers, especially when it is our time to stand for Truth, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

That our bishops and clergy may be zealous in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

That through the intercession of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, people of faith may remain vigilant in defending religious liberty and preaching the Gospel courageously.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and for X for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

 

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More & Public Witness

 

Tomorrow, June 22, on the liturgical calendar is the feast day of two of my favorite saints, two English saints, the martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More.

You may be familiar with the story which brought these two holy men to their martyrdom. King Henry VIII desired to divorce his wife because she was not bearing him a son.  At the time Henry was a Catholic; in fact, Catholicism had flourished in England for over a thousand years. Henry had himself written theological texts defending Catholicism against the Protestant Errors of Martin Luther.

But, the desire for an heir, a male son, became an all-encompassing pursuit for the King. Wanting to marry another woman who might bear a son, the King asked the Pope for an annulment. But, after a thorough examination, the Pope decreed that marriage was valid, there were no grounds for an annulment.

The King didn’t like being told what he could and couldn’t do, so King Henry made a bold claim. He claimed that it was not the Pope, but himself who was the head of the Church in England, and then granted himself the annulment.

In order to substantiate his authority, the King then forced all of the bishops and all of the government to swear publicly that the King was the head of the Church in England.

Now, you’d think that this heretical, schismatic claim would be met with clear denunciation on the part of England’s bishops; but no. And even though, it is clear from Scripture and the uninterrupted teaching of the Church, that our Blessed Lord while he still walked the earth made St. Peter and his successors the head of the Church, all save one of the Bishops folded to political pressure, and spoke the words the king wished to hear. One lone bishop witnessed to the true faith with his life, that bishop was St. John Fisher, a truly courageous man.

Thomas More had been chancellor of the kingdom, the highest office in the land next to the throne. Thomas, in fact, was a very good friend of the King and a close confidant. As a high ranking official, he too was being pressured to acknowledge the king’s claim to have this authority to redefine Christianity. But Thomas was a man of true faith. He resigned his office and stood up to the king. For this, like the bishop John Fisher, Thomas More was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.

Bishop John Fisher and the statesman Thomas More were faithful even when numerous bishops, priests, and government officials pressured them to contradict their faith. In fact, Thomas had been pressured by members of his own family. They were Catholic, they knew the faith, they tried to convince Thomas just take the oath publicly, while keeping the true faith in your heart. But he said, no, what is an oath but words of the heart spoken publicly, words spoken to God.

These two holy martyrs exemplify the teaching of Our Lord in the Gospel today, “The words that I’ve spoken in private, speak in the light, those words that you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”

Our faith, what we have been taught in our catechetical formation, is to be lived out publicly in the world. The martyrs, St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More, and so many martyrs and saints show us this. Christianity is not just about believing a set of principles in here—in the private recesses of our minds and hearts. The teachings of Christ are to be lived out, proclaimed, and shared in the world.

 We live in a very strange age. In some parts of the world, Christians courageously die for the faith, and in many parts of our own diocese, many would rather die than practice it!

Now, many of us will not likely be in a position where we face public martyrdom, but for all of us, what we do publicly, how we act, how we treat people in public, these things matter. Someone once said, you can tell a lot about what is in a person’s heart by how they treat a waitress, a cashier, a salesperson. We are to reflect the goodness of God, and the love of God, in public, to strangers, to our spouses, to our parents, to our children.  How we act at a restaurant, at the supermarket, in the parking lot, these things matter.

Also, though, we must be faithful in those opportunities the Lord gives us to share our Catholic faith. A St. Clare parishioner once shared how a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses once came to his door. He told them that he didn’t have time to talk with them, and that they aren’t going to convert him anyway, since he was solid in his Catholic Faith. I told him, of course they aren’t going to convert you, but your job is to convert them! That was an opportunity God was giving you to share your faith. He said, well, they gave me some reading material. And I said, that’s fine, but what did you give them? A Catechism, a holy card, a pamphlet on our Faith, anything? No, Father, I don’t have that, I didn’t have anything to give them, I just wanted to get back to my yardwork.

I know people who will not attend bible study or adult faith formation, they won’t volunteer at parish events or even pray the rosary on an airplane, because they don’t want to give off the impression that they are ”too religious”…” “one of those Catholics”.

Saints like John Fisher and Thomas More believed that there is nothing more valuable, nothing more important than our Catholic faith, and that’s our call as well. Why? Because without Catholic faith, our world falls into error, souls will live at a distance from God, without the divine assistance of sacramental grace, the knowledge of the love of God and closeness of God in their trials. We share the faith because we love, we would want the truth shared with us, if we were in error.

Now, some, when presented with the truth of the Christian faith might close their hearts, like Henry VIII, who died having beheaded God’s holy ones, not to mention a number of women who he counted as his wives.

But some, some will respond with faith, and they will be grateful because we helped them to know God. Each one of us here have benefited from someone loving us enough to share the Christian faith with us. May we do the same.

“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

11th Week in Ordinary Time 2026 - Wednesday - The prayer, fasting, and almsgiving of God's priestly people

 

At Sunday Mass, this last weekend, we read from the book of Exodus how God has formed his people into a kingdom of priests—a royal priesthood. Being the people God made us to be involves a priestly dimension. All of us, all of the baptized have priestly duties.

In his recent catechesis on the documents of Vatican II, Pope Leo talks about this priestly dimension of our lives—he says, “we exercise our royal priesthood through prayer, asceticism and active charity, and by doing so, we bear witness to a life renewed by God’s grace.” Those three priestly activities should sound familiar, they are the three Lenten practices—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—which we all strive to engage in more perfectly during the Lent season.

In our Gospel reading today, we read of Jesus teaching about these three priestly duties—a Gospel which we read on the first day of Lent every year—on Ash Wednesday. He says, “when you pray”, “when you fast”, “when you give alms”. His disciples are expected to engage in these activities not just during the season of Lent, but always. They are part of the ordinary priestly duties of the baptized.

The Lord doesn’t just tell explain THAT we are to engage in these duties, but HOW we are to engage in them: “when you pray, when you fast, when you give alms” don’t do so that others may see you, or to win the praise of others. Our intention for our priestly duties mustn’t be for worldly attention, rather, as Pope Leo explained, echoing the sentiments of Our Blessed Lord, “we exercise our royal priesthood through prayer, asceticism and active charity, and by doing so, we bear witness to a life renewed by God’s grace.”

Our intention must be to bear witness to God, to show others that the relationship with God transforms human life, renews us. Prayer directed to God, renews us, it is a sipping of the fountain of eternal life. Fasting renews us, for it is restraining the bodily appetites in order to focus on what truly matters—for man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And almsgiving, charitable work, renews us, because it is a participation in the life of God who is love—and that participation transforms us like gold in a furnace.

The priestly dimension of our Christian life is not simply a sacrifice to detracts from us—giving of our time and effort in order to pray, in order to fast, in order to give alms enables us to share in the very life of God.

May we engage in them more fervently, more seriously, but also in great joy, bearing witness to God for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

As God’s royal priesthood, we intercede for the needs of the world and the needs of the Church.

For Pope Leo, our bishops, priests, and deacons: that their ministry may strengthen the faithful to live their baptismal dignity with renewed fervor and joy.

For all Christians: that we may pray not for human praise, but from a sincere desire for communion with God.

That through fasting and asceticism, we may discover the freedom of living by the word of God.

For the poor, the lonely, the sick, and all who depend upon the charity of others: that the almsgiving and active love of Christians may reveal to them the tenderness of God. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our young people on summer vacation and those attending our Vacation Bible School this week: that they may be blessed with faith-filled homes, and protected from all physical and spiritual harm.

For the faithful departed: that, purified of every sin, they may share forever in the life and love of God.

Heavenly Father, you have made us your holy people through Baptism and called us to bear witness to your grace in the world. Hear the prayers we offer today, and strengthen us to live our priestly calling with sincerity, humility, and joy. Through Christ our Lord.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Pope Leo Vatican II Catechesis - Royal Priesthood

 

At the beginning of the New Year, Pope Leo began a new initiative. He announced that each Wednesday he would be offering catechesis on the documents of the Second Vatican Council at his weekly general audience.

So he began, first thing, first week of January 2026, and he explained his reasoning this series of teachings, now 60 years after Vatican Council II. He said, “as the years have passed, the Conciliar Documents have lost none of their timeliness; indeed, their teachings are proving particularly relevant to the new situation of the Church and the current globalized society.”

In other words, “the Church has something to say, a message to give, a communication to make” in our modern world and the Documents of Vatican II are important for interpretating what God is calling us to do, in this era of AI and global challenges.

The following week, the Holy Father began with a catechesis on the first of the Vatican II documents, Dei Verbum, the dogmatic constitution on Divine Revelation—how God’s revelation—how God’s revealed truth is imparted to humanity, particularly through Scripture and Tradition.

He then went on to discuss Lumen Gentium, the constitution on the Church, and he’s now onto discuss a third document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy—reflecting on the role of liturgy in the church, the reform of the liturgy that took place at Vatican II, and the way God uses the rituals, signs and symbols of the liturgy to impart his divine gifts to us. Exciting stuff.

But again, for a few months there, the Holy Father was teaching on Lumen Gentium—a very important document on the make-up of the Church,—so, the role of bishops, the role of priests and deacons, the role of the consecrated religious, and the role of the laity, including the role of the family—how all of us, together are called to fulfill the mission of the Church.

Why do I bring any of this up? Partially because Lumen Gentium, explaining the role of the people of God in God’s saving plan, heavily draws upon concepts we find in today’s scripture passages for the 11^th Sunday in ordinary time. And Pope Leo, in his current catechesis, really draws out some of these themes quoting even from our first reading today.

In our first reading, from the book of Exodus, the people of God at the time, comprised of the Israelites, are at the base of Mt. Sinai where God reminds them how he has delivered them from 400 years of Egyptian slavery  for a purpose—he chose them for a purpose. God chosen them to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation—in order to glorify God in the world. He chose them for a mission—a priestly mission—to sanctify the world.

Now, in this era of the Church—of course, God’s chosen people includes us—the baptized people of the nations of the world—from every place the Gospel has been preached. And we’re reminded today that we are a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood. Pope Leo, just a few weeks ago, spoke on this very idea. He said, “the Lord Jesus, through the new and eternal covenant, has established a kingdom of priests, constituting his disciples as a ‘royal priesthood’.”

The Holy Father says, we are formed into a priestly people at Baptism, which enables us to worship God in spirit and truth, and to “confess before men the faith which we have received from God through the Church” quoting Lumen Gentium 11. In other words, each of us is called to the priestly duty of worshipping rightly and teaching rightly, witnessing rightly.

Furthermore, through the sacrament of Confirmation, all the baptized “are more perfectly bound to the Church … and the Holy Spirit endows them with special strength so that they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith, both by word and by deed, as true witnesses of Christ”.

Why has God formed us into a royal priesthood? Because we have the mission—both ordained and lay—of sanctifying the world through the spreading and defending the faith.

The Holy Father goes on, “the exercise of the royal priesthood takes place in many ways, all aimed at our sanctification, first and foremost through participation in the offering of the Eucharist.” Every week we come to mass, not just to get an obligation out of the way—but to participate in right worship—offering ourselves along with the priest—as a living sacrifice to God the Father.

The Holy Father goes on, he says, we exercise our royal priesthood through prayer, asceticism and active charity—prayer fasting and almsgiving aren’t just for Lent, but are to be part of the ordinary priestly dimension of our faith, and by doing so, we bear witness to a life renewed by God’s grace. As the Council summarizes, “it is through the sacraments and the exercise of the virtues that the sacred nature and organic structure of the priestly community is brought into operation”.

We could do an hour lecture on this stuff, it’s so good. But for now, we do well to consider: why is Pope Leo wanting to remind us, now in 2026, that we are a priestly people. Because this is one of the great needs of our time. For you and for me, to more deeply fulfill the priestly duties of our baptism: to offer our life to God, to prayerfully intercede for the world, to sanctify the ordinary duties of daily life, and to bear witness to Christ as best as we possibly can, especially through works of charity.

Again, this priestly duty is not just for the ordained. Each of us have a priestly role—to pray, to preach and teach, to sanctify the world and to save souls.

The Catechism speaks particularly of parents priestly role. It says, “In a very special way, parents share in the [priestly] office of sanctifying “by leading a conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian education of their children.”

What does a priest do? He sanctifies. And so priestly parents have a special duty of ordering and orienting your children to God—through your holy example and holy teaching.

In the Church, God works powerfully through Holy Families. When someone asks you what it means to be Catholic, you should be able to say, come and spend time with my family. It’s a little chaotic yes, but, the Catholic family is the place where the Church in a vital way, lives out its call to daily love, care, hospitality, sacrifice, forgiveness, prayer, Christian education, and turning to God’s healing and grace in our brokenness. Look at how we pray together and for each other, look at how we forgive one another, look at how we are patient with each other’s smaller imperfections, look at how we study the faith together, and work together to meet the needs of the less fortunate and the suffering.

So, Pope Leo is offering some pretty powerful catechesis right now, which helps us to understand what God’s plan for the Church, for each of us, and how we are called to live out our call to holiness and the mission of the Church. The Holy Father’s messages, audiences, homilies, and encyclicals are available for free on the Vatican’s website. I highly recommend you check them out.

May God’s Divine Assistance help us be that royal priesthood and holy nation that God made us to be, enlightened by God’s Truth, washed in Christ’s Blood, united and animated by God’s Spirit for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

10th Week of Ordinary Time 2026 - Wednesday - Prophetic Role of the Baptized

 

In the first reading, we heard of one of the great spiritual showdowns of the Old Testament—the prophet of the God of Israel, Elijah versus the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal.

In dramatic fashion, Elijah proves that God is the One True God and exposes the futility of belief in the false god, Baal. When you hear the word “prophet” you might think of one who foretells the future. But in Scripture and in our Tradition, the role of the prophet is to do exactly what Elijah did in our first reading. The Prophet has the job of making the true God known to the world, which might include the occasional showdown with the false prophets.

So, who are the prophets these days? The Pope? The highly trained theologian? Well, not just them, of course. God has raised up, called, and anointed each of the baptized as prophets. Each of us has a role, a share, in the Church’s prophetic mission.

To highlight your prophetic role, when you were baptized, the priest or deacon who baptized you put oil on your head, and explained to you, that as God “has given you new birth by water and the Holy Spirit”…”he now anoints you, so that you may remain members of Christ, priest, prophet, and king”

The Pope has a unique role as teacher and leader, but every baptized person is called to be a messenger of God's truth and to proclaim the Gospel. This mission involves living a holy life, serving others, and speaking truth even when unpopular, following the example of the biblical prophets, and of course, Jesus, Our Blessed Lord Himself.

In the Gospel today, Our Lord himself connects good example and our role to proclaim the truth: “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

And so we should strive day by day to become the most effective prophets we can; by ensuring we are giving good example and by learning how to effectively teach the faith to people in the various circumstances of their lives. This includes the members of our families, being a good example for them, and also giving good Christian example when we are in public. That’s probably the most effective prophetic witness we can give—is to show people how God, how being Catholic can transform someone like me, into someone like Jesus—how Christianity helps people become more like Christ. That’s the task, just like Elijah, to point people to the one true God—through word, example, acts of charity, obedience, bearing spiritual fruit for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the holy Church of God, and that every Christian make take seriously their share in the Church’s prophetic mission.

For the peoples of the world: that they may come to acknowledge and worship the one True God.

For the priests of the diocese who begin a new parish assignment this week, especially for the newly ordained, that they may be faithful Christ in every dimension of their ministry.

For our young people on summer vacation, for their protection from the evils of our culture, from all physical harm, and that the faith may be practiced and flourish in their families.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially for the sick and victims of war and terror and natural disaster.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

 

June 2026 - St. Anthony of Padua Novena Mass - Patron of the Lost

 

Saint Anthony of Padua has been honored since the 11th century by Catholics around the world. Anthony belonged to that first generation of the followers of St. Francis of Assisi known as the Friars Minor.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI gave a beautiful summary of Saint Anthony’s life and spirituality.  He said, “Anthony, in the school of Francis, always put Christ at the center of his life and thinking, of his action and of his preaching.”

Franciscan, doctor, preacher, priest. Yet, St. Anthony is of course widely invoked as the patron saint of lost things. The little jingle goes something like this: "St. Anthony, please look around; something is lost and must be found." This attribution comes from an incident from Anthony’s life.

As the story goes, Anthony had a book of psalms that was very important to him. This was in a time prior to the printing-press, so any book was of great value, but this book of Psalm in particular had notes and comments Anthony had made to use in teaching young novices of the Franciscan Order.

Upon realizing his psalter was missing, Anthony prayed that it would be found or returned to him. A novice who had decided to leave religious life had stolen the psalter. But after Anthony’s prayer, the thieving novice was moved to repentance. He returned the psalter to Anthony and returned to the Order, which accepted him back.

St. Anthony is invoked as patron of lost things, yet, this story highlights a connection with a patronage toward lost souls-- who have fallen to serious sin, like that young novice who had stolen what was not his. We rightly invoke St. Anthony for all lost souls, those who have abandoned the Church or have grown apathetic to the practice of the faith. And for this we should invoke him more often than those rare times when we lose our car keys!

When your heart is grieved over family members who have left the Church, pray to St. Anthony! For those young people who seem to be lost in a sea of sin, pray to St. Anthony! For those who are angry at the Church or preach a false Gospel, pray to St. Anthony!

Maybe some of you here were at one point lost—apathetic or hostile to religion, dabbling in the new age, or in a state of mortal sin. The Church was praying for you, the saints were praying for you. And thanks be to God, what was lost, has now been found. Stay that way!

And yet, even those in a state of grace can always use the help of the saints to find Christ in the poor, in our in our Sacred Worship, in our prayer, in our trials and crosses. For those, it would be wise to invoke St. Anthony for ourselves, to find and experience more deeply the depths of God’s love and the closeness of God’s presence.

St. Anthony himself no doubt had a great devotion to the Psalms, perhaps St. Anthony is urging you to seek Christ in the praying of the Church’s liturgy of the hours, in which the Psalm are offered to God throughout the day. Certainly, that great preacher of God’s word, St. Anthony is urging you to seek Christ in the Sacred Scriptures, through regular reading and reflection upon the bible.

May, the same light of faith and truth and charity which shined in the life of St. Anthony fill our lives, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of all the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

That the members of the Franciscan Order and all those consecrated religious may inspire us to strive for greater holiness.

For the priests of the diocese who begin a new parish assignment this week, especially for the newly ordained, that they may be faithful Christ in every dimension of their ministry.

For all those who have led and taken part in this St. Anthony Novena, that many graces may flow from this devotion for the good of our families, our parishes, the Church and the world.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief, especially for the sick and victims of war and terror and natural disaster.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Corpus Christi 2026 - Why Eucharist?

 

During my eighth year of seminary, we devoted an entire semester to study the Sacrament which is at the heart of today’s feast: the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist. We studied how the scriptures, like the great Bread of Life discourse from John’s Gospel, as we heard today, influenced the early Church’s understanding of the Eucharist. We studied some of the ancient Eucharistic Prayers and the early Church fathers.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, for example, around the year 130, wrote about how sad it was that there were some who claimed to be Christian but did not confess the Eucharist to be the real flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. We continued through the early Church fathers to the medieval theologians, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, who composed the prayers and hymns for today’s feast.

At the end of the semester, our professor, Fr. Michael Woost—now Bishop Woost gave us some advice for the upcoming exam. He said, the best way to prepare for the exam is to “study everything”, as the exam would be comprehensive of all the material we’ve covered since class one.

Well, exam day arrived, and I thought I was ready! Bishop Woost handed us a small piece of paper with the exam’s only question, which consisted of two words and a question mark.  The big exam question was “Why Eucharist?”

Bishop Woost said, “you have two hours, I suggest you use it wisely.”  I watched my classmates open their exam book and start writing, but I just sort of sat there stunned for a moment. Now I promise you, I had studied. I had studied St. Justin Martyr, St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Theodore of Mopsuesta, Blessed Sacrament Priest Eugene LaVerdie, Cardinal Ratzinger; I memorized the third Eucharistic Prayer, and most of the first and second ones. And this simple question, “why Eucharist?” just stunned me.

I sat there for 5 minutes, unable to write anything, kind of embarrassed. I’m 8 years into seminary, and I can’t think of where to start writing about the Most Blessed Sacrament. So, I prayed. “Dear God, help me. Why DID you give us the Eucharist?” And immediately an image popped into my mind: an image of the Eucharist contained in the monstrance. And I thought of the many holy hours that I had made as a seminarian: holy hours in the seminary chapel here in Cleveland, holy hours when I was a student in Rome, holy hours in my home parish. And at the conclusion of each of those holy hours is prayed the prayer composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for today’s Feast of Corpus Christi:

“O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption.” And then I was able to begin writing. Now, I didn’t always get A’s in my seminary classes, but that was one exam that it all seemed to come together.

What the Church believes is expressed in her liturgical prayer. And that collect prayer for Corpus Christi answered Bishop Woost’s question: “why Eucharist”. Firstly, God gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of Christ’s passion. And secondly, “so that we may experience in ourselves the fruits of redemption”.

Let’s look at those two parts of the Collect prayer. Firstly, the Eucharist is a memorial. Jesus, at the Last Supper said, “do this in memory of me”. On the night before he died, our Blessed Lord took bread and wine and transformed them into his Body and Blood, and taught us—commanded us—to do the same. “Do this” Jesus says, “in order to remember what I have done for you—in offering my Flesh and Blood to the Father for your redemption on the cross, in my Passion.”

At Mass, bread and wine are truly transformed into our Savior’s Body and Blood. And those with eyes of faith are able to see Him, know Him, and be in Communion with Him as we receive His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

And that brings us to the second part of that beautiful prayer:  Jesus gave us the Eucharist “so that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of redemption.”

When we receive the Eucharist with Faith, in a state of grace, that produces certain fruits, certain effects in us. The particular fruits we receive in the Eucharist flow from his saving passion. When we receive the Eucharist our venial sins are forgiven and we are strengthened in unity with God and each other. As the Lord taught in the Gospel today, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” Jesus is the Eternal Word, who has risen from the dead, and lives forever, and when we receive the Eucharist, our souls are united with His Eternal Divine Life, so we too, may live forever.

This is why St. Ignatius of Antioch called the Eucharist, the remedy for our mortality, it’s the antidote against death. “whoever eats this bread will live forever." That’s the ultimate fruit of redemption, the reason Jesus died for us on the cross was to obtain for us eternal life, and that eternal life is communicated to us through the Eucharist.

This is why it is so concerning when Catholics stop going to Church and receiving the Eucharist in a state of grace. Without the eternal life that the Eucharist nurtures in us, we become deprived of the antidote for the powers of sin and death which seek to corrupt us.

The pride and lust and greed and selfishness which seek to drive us away from God are counteracted when we receive the Eucharist with the desire to overcome them. The fruits of patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control grow in us, when we receive the Eucharist with openness to these grace.

Through the Eucharist, we become whom we are meant to be. Without the Eucharist, we are not complete. We lose our identity. For Christ defined Christianity at the Last Supper, to include taking, eating, drinking, remembering His Body and Blood. So we pray that all those separated from the Lord’s table may find their way home, here, to the altar, where we fed, nourished, and sanctified.

Dear ones, today we celebrate the greatest treasure Jesus left His Church—the gift of himself. He invites us to share in His divine life, to participate in His eternal sacrifice, and to carry that life to others.

Today’s feast reminds us of our great privilege, but also our great responsibility: to cooperate with the grace available here, to allow Christ to shape and form us, and to bear the fruit of conversion out in the world.

We offer ourselves along with the bread and wine to be transformed, that our lives may become Eucharistic, that we may become what we receive, as St. Augustine said, blessed, broken, and given, poured out for others, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.