3rd Week of Easter 2026 - Friday - Eucharist and Supernatural Life

Last week, remember, we read through the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in which Jesus speaks of supernatural and spiritual rebirth. Through baptism, we are born again through water and the spirit. What is spiritually dead in us is brought to new life, and not only that, but God’s supernatural grace raises—elevates—our human nature. The intellect is elevated by grace to know God not merely by natural reason, but by faith. The will is elevated enabling us to love God with charity, which is far beyond merely natural love or moral goodwill. 

Through baptismal grace we share in God’s own life and are now capable of acting in a way ordered to the ultimate supernatural end: union with the Trinity. Human nature, left to itself, cannot attain the beatific vision. No amount of natural intelligence, moral discipline, or sheer human effort can reach it. But through baptism, our earthly life can culminate in heavenly life.

But, in the Gospel today, Jesus explains that for the supernatural life to be sustained in us, we must eat supernatural food. “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” The Eucharist sustains the supernatural life begun at baptism. 

When the body is deprived of food it languishes and dies; and it is the same with the soul. The Eucharist does not merely symbolize supernatural life; it actually communicates it, because it is not ordinary bread but the living Christ himself. “I am the bread of life”, says the Lord. 

The Eucharist nurtures the deepening of supernatural life. Every time we receive the Eucharist, we are offered a greater share and participation in the life of God, for the Eucharist strengthens the theological virtues. It nourishes faith, because in Holy Communion we entrust ourselves to Christ’s word and presence even when hidden under sacramental signs. It nourishes hope, because the Eucharist is a pledge of future glory, a foretaste of heaven. It nourishes charity, because the life of God is one of love—self-sacrificial love, and in the Eucharist, we become what we receive, says St. Augustine—the very Christ who gave himself as a ransom for many.

Like medicine that strengthens the body weakened by illness, the Eucharist strengthens the soul against spiritual disease—enabling us to withstand the assaults, temptations, and lies of the enemy.

 St. Cyprian, writing in the early third century, says Christians imprisoned and tortured for the name of Christ received from the hand of the Bishop the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, so they would not yield to a Roman prosecutor and deny their faith. Before going on trial, they pleaded, “Give me Communion, so I’ll be able to resist.” From the very beginning of the Church, this was the reason Holy Communion was brought to the Christians in prison, that they could be strengthened in their persecution and temptations.

Whenever you present yourself to receive the Eucharist, do so with openness to be strengthened in the Christian life, fortified against sin, desiring to grow in the life of the spirit, in faith, hope, and charity, in the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, for the mission of the Church, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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By offering His Body and Blood for us, Jesus reconciles the world to the Father. Therefore, we present our needs to God with confidence.

That the outpouring of charity in Christ’s Eucharistic Self-Sacrifice will become manifest in all of the Church’s activity in the world, in all marriages, in all of our business relations, family relationships and  daily encounters, in our care for the downtrodden and most vulnerable; among friends, strangers, and enemies.  

For Catholics who have fallen away from the Eucharist, that they may know the grace of sincere repentance and return to the table of the Lord.

That all of God's children may have sufficient bread for their physical life and the Bread of Life for their spiritual life. 

That those who have died may share the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who feed on the Bread from Heaven. 

Gracious Father, hear our prayers. Nourish us continually with your Son’s presence in the Eucharist, and grant us the grace to lead others to this divine source of eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

9th Week of OT 2018 - Monday - Sharers in Divine Nature

The second letter of Peter contains one of the highest, sublime and mysterious promises found in the whole New Testament. Peter says, fidelity to the Gospel leads to us sharing in the divine nature (II Pet 1:4). We find similar promises throughout the New Testament. Hebrews says that we are called to “share” in God’s own holiness (Heb 12:10); and that we are made “partakers” of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes that we have “communion” with the Spirit (2 Cor 13:13; Phil 2:1); and “communion” with Christ in the Eucharist (1 Cor 10:16).

Peter’s promise here is quite lofty. Yes, through Christ we have friendship with God, restored communion with God, and new openness to the gifts of the Spirit. But Peter alludes to something else, doesn’t her? That through Christ we become “sharers in the divine nature.”

I don’t think I’m making a big deal about an obscure line of scripture here, either. II Peter 1:4 is cited at least eight times in the catechism. Very early on, in CCC 51, we read that God’s overall purpose for us, all his activity through history, including his incarnation, is that we can become “sharers of the divine nature.”

And Christians do not have to wait until our earthly journey has come to an end. Though, in a sense, it does begin when we begin to die to ourselves at baptism. CCC 1265 says “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature," member of Christ and coheir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

This language has even made its way into the rituals of the Mass. As the priest prepares the chalice, he pours wine into the chalice, and then adds a few drops of water, saying: “Through the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

Our “Sharing in the Divine nature” deepens as we receive the sacraments with well-disposed hearts, as we listen attentively to God’s word and become doers of the word, as we practice the virtues, as Peter says today, when you live the “faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.”

What a great vocation we have, what a great new identity. May we make “every effort” as Peter says, to cooperate with God’s work within us, that his power, his grace, his life, may be manifest in us and through us, drawing all men to Himself, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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Let us pray, imploring the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus..

For a deeper openness to the sanctifying grace of the Sacraments, for the return of all who have fallen away from the Church, and all those who lack faith. We pray to the Lord.

For our young people on summer vacation, that they may be kept safe from the errors of our culture and kept in close friendship with Jesus through prayer and acts of mercy.

That the protection for the unborn child may be enshrined in the laws of every nation and in every human heart.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, 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 all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord