3rd Week of Easter 2025 - Friday - The Bread of Life Nourishes, Cleanses, Strengthens, and Sanctifies

 

Last week, remember, we read through the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in which Jesus speaks of supernatural birth for his followers, a second birth, in which we are born anew to the supernatural life of the Spirit. 

This week, we’ve read through the Bread of Life discourse in which Jesus teaches us not of supernatural rebirth, but supernatural food—food that will sustain the life of the spirit.

This morning, our newly elected Pope, Leo XIV celebrated the Eucharist with his Cardinals because the Eucharist truly is the bread of life; the Eucharist produces life in us because the Eucharist IS Jesus Christ who is Our Life

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 sustains supernatural life in us, as Jesus says, “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life within you.”

The Eucharist is our pledge of eternal life and resurrection: He who receives Eucharist, Christ will “raise up on the last day”. St. Ignatius of Antioch said is “the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ”, it is the “remedy for our mortality”.

The Eucharist restores the soul which has become weakened by venial sin. St. Ambrose said Holy Communion “is a remedy for our daily infirmities”. The damage we do to our souls through venial sin is restored through Holy Communion.

The Eucharist strengthens us to give witness to Christ and persevere in faith. St. Cyprian, writing in the early third century, describes how Christians imprisoned for their faith, awaiting trial at which they would likely receive a death sentence,  would plead for Holy Communion. “Give me Communion, so I’ll be able to resist.” 

The Eucharist helps us to persevere in faith at the hour of our death. This is why the Eucharist is brought to the dying. “Whoever eats this bread will live forever”, what a powerful promise to recall as one lay dying.

And the Eucharist increases sanctifying grace in our souls: helping us to love with the heart of Christ, making our lives more pleasing to God.

Through the Eucharist, may the life of Christ in us continue to be sustained, nourished, strengthened, and increased for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

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

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For newly elected Pope Leo XIV that the Eucharist may sustain, nourish and protect him in his new ministry for which we pray to be filled with many blessings and the unending guidance of the Holy Spirit.

That Christians may always approach the Eucharist worthily, in full communion with the teachings and practices of the Church. 

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 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.

3rd Week of Easter 2025 - Tuesday - "What sign can you do that we might believe?"

 

What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

In today’s Gospel the people were asking for a sign so they could believe that Jesus was really sent by God.

And Jesus said, I’ll give you a sign: bread. But not just any bread. Bread that is my flesh. Bread that is my body and blood and soul and divinity.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote about the Eucharist that “The Eucharist means God has answered:  The Eucharist is God as an answer, as an answering presence.”

In the Eucharist, God answers our prayers to know that He is with us in our challenges, crosses, temptations, doubts, and disappointments. He is with us in our struggle to love our enemies, forgive those who hurt us, give to those who ask of us. The Eucharist is God’s answer to man’s question “where can I find God, now, and believe in him”. 

In the Eucharist, the Word become flesh has made his dwelling among us, and we can see his glory. In the Eucharist, the Lord’s teaching is fulfilled that, “behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age”. In the Eucharist, we come to understand how Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

The Church’s use of John Chapter six during this easter season is so fitting, therefore, because it answers how the risen Christ, who appeared to the disciples, can now be glimpsed and approached and adored and received by us, by all people.

So many of our contemporaries are starving for God; they go from one unsatisfying pursuit to another, searching for God—even to the point of self-destruction in some cases. All the while, God is here, present on the altar, present in the tabernacle, able to be received by those who believe in Him. God has given the sign for all those able and willing to see.

During the Easter season we certainly pray for a deeper appreciation and gratitude for God’s answer to humanity’s longing, which is now such a source of strength and joy for the Church. But we also  consider how our Easter mission is to lead souls here—how God’s grace impels us into the world, to help souls find Christ in the Eucharist—so they like us can find the answer to desires and longing for God, for wholeness, and peace, and joy, and the promise of eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - 

 

Trusting in Christ’s true presence among us in the Eucharist, we present our prayers and petitions to our Heavenly Father.

That the Church around the world may be a visible sign of the light of the Risen Lord calling all people to new life and communion with Him, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance for the college of Cardinals as they prepare for the conclave and the papal election.

For leaders of nations, that they may be guided by the wisdom and love revealed in Christ’s Eucharistic sacrifice, promoting justice, peace, and dignity for all people.

For priests and those preparing for priestly ministry, that their hearts may be strengthened and their lives continually transformed by the Eucharist, the source of their joy and priestly identity, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

For married couples and families, that the self-giving love of Christ made present in the Eucharist may inspire and sustain their love and fidelity to one another.

For those experiencing spiritual hunger, loneliness, or despair, that they may encounter Christ, finding in him nourishment, peace, and fulfillment for their souls.

For those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, that they may draw comfort and strength from Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and from the charitable giving of the Body of Christ.

For our beloved dead, especially Pope Francis, that they may share in that eternal life promised to those who ate and drank the body and blood of Christ.

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.

 

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - Eucharistic Missionaries

 Back in 2022, the Church in the United States began a multi-year initiative of Eucharistic Revival. In the first phase of the Revival, each diocese had gatherings of the faithful. So back in June of 2022, members of the faithful, clergy and religious from the various parishes and institutions gathered with the bishop for a eucharistic procession and mass at the cathedral. We had four members from our parish attend that event launching the Eucharistic Revival.

I’ve continued to meet with those parishioners regularly. Our Light for Love program, in which we opened up the church for the evening, and invited passersby into church to pray with us in front of the blessed Sacrament was just one event that was born out of that diocesan eucharistic synod.

Following the launch of the Revival, each diocese around the country then began to prepare to send representatives to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, which was held last month. It was the first National Congress in 80 years! 

And what a week it was! There were about four to five hundred Catholics just from our diocese, including 8 from our parish, who joined the 50 to 55 thousand Catholics from around the country for the Congress. It was truly incredible to join so many of the faithful for prayer and worship and faith formation. And even though some of the music was…not quite my style…to join so many souls in prayer for an outpouring of grace—for the Holy Spirit to deepen our love and appreciation for the Eucharist—was truly a awe-inspiring. God is at work to invigorate Catholics in our nation that we may be a light shining in the darkness.  I do hope that our Eucharistic Missionaries will be able to share with you their experience in the coming months.

The Eucharistic Congress began the final phase of the Eucharistic Revival—what the Bishops are calling the Year of Mission which will last until July of 2025. The Year of Mission. Mission, of course, comes from the latin word – missa, which means to be sent. And it is the Bishops’ desire that for the next year we seek to deepen our sense of mission—that especially through the Eucharist God missions us, he sends us into the world. God strengthens us through the eucharist for a purpose, for a reason.

We gather for Mass every week, not simply out of obligation, but because through the Mass God does something—in us, with us, through us. At Mass, we encounter Jesus Christ—we receive him— as food for the journey, the journey out of the doors of the church, into the world, in order to witness, to draw souls to Christ.

The very word Mass, comes from the same latin word, missa, mission. Jesus gathers us in order to sent us out.

In the first reading, the prophet Elijah is being sent by God on a very long mission—a forty day journey to the mountain of God, Mt Horeb—and what does God say to Elijah--"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!" 

Similarly, in our journey to the mountain of God, heaven, Jesus gives us his flesh to be our food for the journey—because our human strength is insufficient. The Eucharist is the strength we need—it is the spiritual food for the spiritual journey—the journey of being a disciple of Jesus Christ every day—carrying our cross, forgiving our enemies, bearing wrongs patiently, and being attentive to the needs of others, sharing the truth.

The Eucharist strengthens us for the journey, but there are also a lot of things that weaken us on our missionary journey—which can even cause us to fail to finish the race. St. Paul lists some of them in our second reading: “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.” Why MUST they be removed? Because they weaken us, they cause us to stumble in the journey. These attitudes, these choices, must be set aside, or else we will not progress in the spiritual life; they diminish the life of God in us.

The Church teaches that Mass is the most important thing we are to do every week. And likely, many of us are not getting as much out of Mass each week, because we are unwilling to let go of those habits and attitudes that the word of God urges us to let go of. 

One reason to make a good holy hour each week, or to make a regular confession, is to humble ourselves before the Lord in order to let go of things that you need to let go of. So often, we are confused about God’s plans for us, or we don’t see the improvement of our relationships with family and friends as we’d like, or we’re bored or unfulfilled. It’s because of those things we are unwilling to let go of. 

But when we trust the Lord to lead us out of those toxic, sinful habits and attitudes, we come to enjoy a freedom, a reconfiguration and realignment, and a discovery of the mission for which God made us—which is the source of joy that nothing in the world can provide.

Speaking of mission and missionaries, today we welcome a true missionary, a sister of the missionaries of the holy rosary, and we will have the opportunity to support the missionary religious orders like hers in our second collection. I now invite sister to the ambo.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - Last Supper and Eucharist foreshadowed

This weekend, we begin a five-week stretch of reading from chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel in which the Lord feeds the large crowd through the miracle of multiplication then teaches them about the Bread of Life. This passage introduces us to concepts the Lord will realize at the Last Supper when he institutes the Eucharist.

Many non-Catholics deny that the Gospel of the miraculous multiplication has any connection with what Catholics the Sacrament of the Eucharist. But the connections are overwhelming.

First of all, notice that John records Jesus performing this miracle on Passover. Passover—the same jewish feast on which Jesus institutes the Eucharist at the Last supper.

Secondly, note that for this miracle Jesus sits down with his disciples on the mountain, just as later he sits with disciples on Mount Zion to celebrate the Last Supper. His posture is a connection with the Last supper.

And not only his posture, but note that commands the people to recline. At the last supper we read of St. John reclining on the breast of Jesus. It’s the only other time that posture is highlighted in the entire Gospel. 

Fourthly, note that at the heart of the miracle account, John describes Jesus multiplying the loaves by utilizing specific actions. he takes the loaves and gives thanks—identical actions to those at the Last Supper. And recall that the Greek word for giving thanks is “Eucharisteo”, which was the early church word for the celebration of the Mass.

John also describes the remains that were left over after the multiplication—the klasmata—in the Greek—the parts broken off—which echoes the Last Supper accounts of Jesus “breaking the bread” into fragments.

In the teaching that follows throughout the remainder of John chapter 6, which, again, we’ll be reading over the next four weeks, we’ll see even more themes that are repeated in the Last Supper. For example, in two weeks, we’ll hear of Jesus teaching about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. Jesus foreshadows his own changing of bread and wine into his flesh and blood at the last supper and commanding his disciples to do this in memory of him.

With so many clear connections to the Last Supper and our church doctrine on the Eucharist, why do non-Catholic fail to get the point? Why do these insist on a non-Eucharistic reading of John Chapter six? It’s likely because they have separated themselves from the Church’s celebration of the Eucharist. They have done away with bishops who can ordain priests who alone can confect the Eucharist. So they falsely interpret the scriptures based on their separation from the deposit of faith.

But the Catholic Church, going all the way back to the apostolic age, has taught the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Consider the words of St. Justin Martyr from the year 150, whose feast day was back on the first day of June.

And this is a bit of a long passage, but it’s so fascinating. St. Justin writes, “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles (the Gospels), or the writings of the prophets (like our first reading) are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the presider verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things (as I’m doing now, in the homily). Then, we all rise together and pray (like we’ll do in the general intercessions), and…when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the presider in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings…and the people assent, saying “Amen”; and there is a distribution to each, and a partaking of the eucharisted substances, and to those who are absent, a portion is sent by the deacons.

So already in the year 150, we see the structure of the mass that we celebrate today.

And this food is called among us eucharistia, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things we teach are true…For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but…we have been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word…is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks said, “Do this in remembrance of me, this is my body” and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is my blood” and gave it to them alone."

So the doctrine of the real presence, is also clearly articulated in 150, just a few decades after the death of the last apostle.

Now consider what our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians adds to the conversation here. In the second reading Paul urged the Ephesians to strive for unity. This is why denominationalism and schism are not from God—Christians are not to separate ourselves from the teachings of the apostles. St. Paul urges unity, because Jesus at the last supper taught his apostles to remain as one, as he and the Father are one. 

And it is not a coincidence that the Lord’s own teaching on unity occurred while he was instituting the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the great sacrament of unity in which all people of all places are invited to believe and partake. Now of course, you should not partake, as St. Justin said, if you do not believe, if you are not part of the communion of the Catholic church. 

This is why we have the RCIA process each year. Every year hundreds of thousands of non-Catholics around the world hear the Lord calling them to the communion he emphasized at the last supper in order to be fed with the Bread of Life. 

Here at St. Ignatius RCIA, which will be called OCIA henceforth, the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, will begin mid-September. So get praying now for that non-Catholic friend who is searching for a spiritual home. Perhaps say a novena for them, or a daily rosary for them, or make a holy hour for them, come and kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pray that they can respond to Jesus’ invitation. And then, give them the OCIA flyer in a few weeks. Tell them that you’ll accompany them, if they’d like—how they’ll no doubt find the thing that they have been looking for, here. 

Last week, I asked you all to read through and try memorizing the 23rd Psalm. I’d love to hear how that went for you. But, consider how even that Psalm foreshadows the Eucharist. How our Divine Shepherds walks with us through the dark valleys and leads us to the table at which he feeds us for our earthly journey that we make come to the eternal banquet of heaven. There are so many souls whom he wants to lead here, to the table of the Eucharist. By our Eucharistic celebration may become effective instruments of our shepherd, instruments of Eucharistic faith, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

First Friday Holy Hour - July 2024 - The invitation to follow Christ in mercy and sacrifice

 

Like St. Matthew in the Gospel today, the Lord has given us an invitation: “follow me”. And that invitation has led us here, to the Lord’s Eucharistic presence.

With those two simple words, “Follow me”, Jesus transformed Matthew’s life. And Matthew? He responded without hesitation, leaving behind his old life to follow Christ.

Leaving something behind in order to follow Christ always leads to the transformations God wants for us. 

In the Eucharist, we see the same Jesus who dined with tax collectors and sinners. He continues to invite us – sinners though we are – to His heavenly banquet. Just as He transformed bread and wine into His body and blood, He seeks to transform our lives through the Eucharist—in our adoration of the Eucharist and of course our reception of the Eucharist at mass.

The Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with sinners. Yet here we are, sinners ourselves. As Jesus said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do." In the Eucharist, we find our divine physician, healing our souls and nourishing us for our journey of faith.

Christ's words, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," take on profound meaning in light of the Eucharist in which Jesus offers Himself as both the mercy we receive and the sacrifice that saves us. He invites us not because of our worthiness, but because of His limitless love and mercy.

As we adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, let us reflect:

How is Christ calling us to follow Him more closely through our devotion to the Eucharist?

What must we leave behind to respond more fully to His invitation?

To whom are we being challenged to extend the same mercy to others that Christ extends to us?

How is God calling me to sacrifice more fully my time, talent, and treasure for the mission of the Church?

May this time of adoration deepen our love for the Eucharist and strengthen our resolve to follow Christ. Let us allow the transformative power of His presence to change us, just as it changed Matthew, so that we may become living witnesses of His love and mercy in the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

First Friday Holy Hour - June 2024 - Sacred Heart and Eucharist

 Today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

In 1928, Pius XI wrote a beautiful encyclical called Miserentissimus Redemptor, On Reparation to the Sacred Heart in which the Holy Father described veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the epitome of our entire religion. The sacred heart he wrote, “the sum of all religion” and “the pattern of perfect life.” 

What a bold claim! But, consider: the Sacred Heart represents the entirety of Christ's love and sacrifice. In venerating the Sacred Heart, we are honoring the very core of Jesus' mission - His infinite, redemptive love which led Him to offer His life for our salvation. Thus, the devotion encapsulates the essence of Christianity.

The Sacred Heart is a symbol of the Incarnation. The human heart of Jesus, united to His divinity, is a powerful reminder of the central truth of our faith: that God became man out of love for us. Honoring the Sacred Heart is a way of affirming and celebrating this mystery.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart leads us to a deeper participation in Christ's life and mission. By contemplating His pierced Heart, we are moved to greater love and reparation for sin. We are inspired to imitate His virtues of charity, obedience, and self-sacrifice. In this way, the Sacred Heart becomes a "pattern of perfect life" for us to follow.

And so what a fitting day for us to come to church, to kneel and pray before the Eucharist.

For, the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Christ's love. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us His Body and Blood, the very life that flowed from His pierced Heart on the Cross. The Eucharist is the ultimate expression of His love, the love symbolized by the Sacred Heart—his Body and Blood given out of love for us. As Pope Benedict XV wrote in his encyclical on the sacrament of Charity: “"in the Eucharist Jesus does not give us a "thing' but himself; he offers his own body and pours out his own blood"

So, Eucharistic adoration is an extension of devotion to the Sacred Heart. When we adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we are in the presence of His Sacred Heart, burning with love for us. 

As we gaze upon him with love this evening, we pray to be more and more transformed to be like him, to be conformed to His Sacred Heart, learning to love as He loves. 

Recall the words of Pope Leo XIII as he consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart. He wrote,  “There is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another.”

May our time with Jesus this evening truly conform our hearts to his for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Easter 2024 - Friday - New Life through Christ's Flesh and Blood

 Early last week, we read of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, in which the Lord speaks about being born again of the Spirit— the new life that comes from being his disciple. The Church fittingly reads of that conversation about spiritual rebirth and spiritual life during the Easter season—in which we celebrate the risen life of Christ and consider how we are to share in that life—through discipleship and the sacraments and through the life of the Church.

That theme of sharing in Christ’s life continues in John chapter 6—the Bread of Life discourse—in which the Lord teaches that in order to share in his life—and in the life of his Father—on earth and in eternity—we must eat his flesh and drink his blood: “unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life”

Discipleship of Jesus Christ is the path, the only true path to eternal life. That discipleship involves a living relationship with Christ—which includes faith that He is God, acceptance and practice of his moral teachings—including the avoidance of sin and the practice of works of charity, and a true sharing in his very life through the Sacraments of the Church.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles how Paul's sight is restored when he is baptized and given food. New life was given to Paul himself through the Sacraments.

Baptism, in which we are born again by water and the Spirit—begins that life. And eating his flesh and drinking his blood in the Eucharist, sustains that life. Receiving his Body and blood devoutly is part of our Easter proclamation that in Christ is found life—sanctified earthly life that leads to the blessedness of eternal life with God—that there is no other way to eternal life with God than through Christ.

It is a horrific tragedy that so many Catholics who should know better, deprive themselves of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, choosing to skip Mass, and fill their lives with so much garbage that does not satisfy, that does not give life. 

Part of our Easter mission is to witness to them that the Eucharist is part of the constant spiritual renewal that God wants for his children. 

In one of his last encyclicals, Pope St. John Paul wrote about how the Eucharist is the source of our life. He writes, “In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope”

May we witness to our hope in Jesus Christ by receiving the Eucharist devoutly, allowing it to bear so much fruit in our lives—signs that Christ is alive in us and desires life for the world for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life, and that during this time of intentional Eucharistic Revival, our faith may be deepened, grace may increase, and our mission may be furthered. 

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

For those who suffer from physical or mental illness, addiction or grief; and for the consolation of all the afflicted. 

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], 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.

Holy Thursday 2024 - Three Indispensable Gifts

 Knowing that within hours his passion would soon begin, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples.  Within hours, he would be sweating blood in the garden of gethsemane, and his disciples would abandon him. Within hours, he would be arrested, falsely accused, tortured and mocked, and before long he would be carrying his cross up the hill of Calvary where he would hang in anguish, and die.

Jesus, at his last supper knew he was about to die, and yet,  in the face of indescribable suffering, the Lord in his goodness bestowed upon His Church three precious gifts: the gift of the Eucharist, the Gift of the Priesthood, and the Commandment of Charity. 

These gifts were not arbitrary; they were given with profound purpose—that his mission would continue—the mission of the Church might succeed through the centuries. Together, these three gifts embody the Church's sacramental, hierarchical, and moral dimensions, guiding our mission to evangelize, sanctify, and serve in the name of Christ.

Let’s reflect upon these three gifts. First, the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Lord’s gift of his body and blood—through which the Lord remains with his Church really and sacramentally until his glorious return. Through the Eucharist, Jesus transforms our altars into Calvary from which the blood of salvation flows throughout the whole earth.

The Eucharist is indispensable to the life of the Church. It would be easier for the earth to survive without the sun, than for the Church to survive without the Eucharist. It is indispensable to our identity, our mission, and our spiritual life. Without the Eucharist, the Church would lose its most profound connection to Christ, the source of our unity, and its sanctifying power in the world. On Holy Thursday, we thank God for the gift of his body and blood in the Eucharist.

Secondly, at the Last Supper, the Lord gave us the gift of the priesthood. And the sacramental priesthood is indispensable to the Catholic Church. 

Priests are the only ones who through sacramental orders are capable of consecrating bread and wine so that they may become the Body and Blood of Christ. Similarly, only priests can absolve sins in the name of Christ through the Sacrament of Confession. Priests have also been tasked by the Lord to ensure that the liturgy is celebrated properly and reverently, fostering the active participation of the faithful and enabling them to encounter God in the sacraments.

Priests, too, have the divine mandate to teach the faith. Through the preaching, teaching, and pastoral guidance of priests, the Lord Jesus helps his flock understand the Gospel and the Church's teachings, and to live out the Gospel in daily life. When priests are lax in their duties, the mission, identity, worship, and sanctification of the church suffers.

So on Holy Thursday, the we thank God for the gift of the priesthood, and we pray for our priests.

Thirdly, at the Last Supper, the Lord gave us the commandment of Charity. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" And of course, the commandment of Charity is indispensable for the Church. 

The commandment of charity encapsulates the essence of being a follower of Christ. It defines the Christian identity not by doctrines or rituals alone but by love—a love that is sacrificial, unconditional, and mirrors the love of Christ for humanity. This love is a visible mark of Christian discipleship, as Jesus Himself said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another"

Charity, as commanded by Christ, is the foundation upon which Christian community is built. It fosters unity, mutual care, and the sharing of goods and burdens within the Church. This love is not merely an ideal but a lived reality that is witnessed in the acts of service, kindness, and generosity among the members of the Church.

The commandment of charity is indispensable to the Church's mission in the world. The witness of love is perhaps the most powerful evangelizing tool, as it reflects the very nature of God, who is Love (1 John 4:8). Through acts of love, especially towards the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40), the Church makes visible the Kingdom of God and draws people towards Christ.

Tthe Lord's commandment of charity is indispensable to the Catholic Church because it animates our life, directs our mission, shapes our community, and witnesses to the reality of God's love for the world. Without this commandment, the Church would lose her distinctive character as the community of love that reflects the very heart of the Gospel.

As we reflect on these gifts, we are called to respond to them and cherish them. To receive the Eucharist is to welcome Jesus into our hearts and to be transformed by His love. To honor the Priesthood is to recognize Christ's presence among us, guiding, sanctifying, and teaching through His ordained ministers. To live the commandment of love is to see Christ in every person and to serve Him in them, especially the least of our brothers and sisters.

Tonight, as we commemorate the Last Supper, let us deepen our appreciation for these divine gifts. Let us pray for the grace to live them out more fully, so that, united with Christ in His sacrifice, we may share in the glory of His Resurrection.

As the Lord rose from supper and began to wash the feet of his disciples as an example to follow, I now invite those who have been chosen to come forward for the washing of their feet. In this beautiful ritual ponder the presence of the Lord in the gifts he has left the Church, in the Eucharist, in the priesthood, and in the command to love one another for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

13th Week in Ordinary Time 2023 - Friday - Power in the Blood

 There is an old southern Baptist hymn that goes “would you be free from your burden of sin?  There’s power in the blood. Would you over evil a victory win?  There’s wonderful power in the blood.  Would you be free from your passion and pride? There’s power in the blood.  Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide.  There’s power in the blood.”

The month of July is traditionally devoted to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. 

I like the lyrics of that old hymn because it expresses how the Blood of Jesus has powerful effects.

The blood of Jesus frees us from the burden of sin. It helps us win victory over evil. It frees us from our passions and pride. And it is an encounter with the Lord on calvary.

Our Faith tells us that the Lord loved us so much that he poured out his blood for us, for “the forgiveness of our sins”. The Blood of Jesus has relieved us of a burden, a terrible burden, the heaviest of burdens—the weight of sin--which keeps us from heaven. And now, freed from the weight of sin by the blood of Jesus Hebrews says Christians are able to “run with endurance the race that is set before us”. The burden of unforgiveness no longer weighs us down, and now we are able to persevere in the ways of God with a newborn lightness. 

I don’t know about you, but it’s a lightness I feel every time I go to confession, and often when I receive Holy Communion. A lightness to persevere in the faith.

Secondly, the hymn says the blood of Jesus helps us win victory over evil. This is consistent with the old Baltimore catechism, which taught that the eucharist—the sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus—was instituted To lessen our evil inclinations. The blood of Jesus in the Eucharist preserves us from future sins by lessening or loosening evils grips on us. 

The blood of Jesus frees us from our passions and pride. The power of our passions are often very strong, but the blood of Jesus is stronger, the power of God is stronger, and helps us not to be ruled by our passions. Many people believe that happiness is found by following every passion that arises in their hearts and bodies. But because of sin, our passions do not always point to happiness and holiness. And the blood of Jesus helps us to resist those sinful passions, in order to follow what is truly good for us.

Finally, the hymn tells us “come for a cleansing to calvary’s tide. When we receive the blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, we are cleansed of our venial sins, as if we are kneeling at the very cross of calvary. In fact, when we come to Mass, we are made spiritually present to Calvary, the source of our salvation, which is why we call the mass, the sacrifice of the mass, because the mass makes us present at the one saving sacrifice of Christ, in which blood is shed for our salvation.

May Christians truly open their hearts and souls to the true power of the blood during this Eucharistic revival for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty, may every prayer of our heart be directed, for it is His will that all humanity should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

For the Church during this time of Eucharistic Revival: for a deeper love and reverence for the Bread of Life; that the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist will help us to live out our vocation to holiness with greater zeal, self-sacrifice, and trust in God.  

That during this month of July dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus: we may grow in gratitude for the gift of our salvation and more zealous for souls. 

For our nation, that we may be always grateful for our freedom, and that with God’s help we will work to preserve that freedom and to use that freedom to build up the city of God.

That our young people on summer vacation, for their protection from physical and spiritual evils, that faith may be practiced in their homes, that their parents may raise them rightly in the faith, teaching them to value the things of heaven over the things of earth.

For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  

For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ.  

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Graciously grant our petitions, we beseech thee, O Lord; may your grace sustain us always in your service, through Christ Our Lord.

First Friday Holy Hour - June 2023 - Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 

The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The reason June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart is primarily because during this month we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart on the Friday after Corpus Christi. This year that will be June 16. Is it a coincidence that June is also the middle of the calendar year, or the heart of the calendar year.

But during this month with seek to deepen our devotion to the Sacred Heart—the heart of intense love for us.

During this month we seek to understand and be grateful for and encounter more deeply and spread for easily the human and divine love of Jesus for the world. And so this devotion gets to the heart of our Faith, the heart of Christianity. God loves us, and commands that we love each other. Love is the Lord’s first and greatest commandment. God asks for our love because He wishes to be the God and Master of our hearts through love. Our Lord has loved us with an infinite love, even unto death, and still loves us without limit. He wants to be loved by us. He appeals to our hearts and bids us love Him in return.

St. Margaret Mary to whom the Lord revealed the devotion to his Heart writes, “He made me see that it was the great desire He had of being loved by men, and of withdrawing them from the road of perdition, that induced Him to conceive this plan of making His Heart known to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification, and of salvation, in order that those who wish to render and procure Him all the honor, glory, and love of which they are capable, might be abundantly and profusely enriched with the treasures of the Heart of God.”

Some amazing things in that one statement. First, Jesus revealed to St. Margaret Mary that he desires to be loved by us. God wants our love. God wants signs of our love. God wants us to spend time with him. He wants to hear our words of adoration and receive the silent gaze of adoration.

In the Eucharist, he has certainly given us this opportunity. For when we kneel in Eucharistic Adoration we are able to express our love for God through words and in silence, in simple loving attention. In fixing our hearts on his, present in the Eucharist, our hearts can be set ablaze like his.

And that’s the other thing from that passage from St. Margaret Mary: we are abundantly and profusely enriched with treasure from the heart of God when seek to love God as we can. This gets to the very heart of who God is. God is love. And he enriches us as we seek to love Him. We become better and richer when we love, because by doing so we become like Him.

To know and love Jesus Christ is our highest gain both for time and eternity. No sacrifice could be too great to attain it. And yet, we have this simple blessed hour, which is more like a gift than a sacrifice, to know His love and to seek to love Him more. May this time be blessed, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

2nd Week of Easter 2023 - Friday - Invitation to the table of the Lord

 Having read through the entirety of Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus from chapter 3 of St. John's Gospel over the past four days, we now begin a week long reading of John Chapter 6.  St. John's sixth chapter is comprised of two miracle stories—the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and Jesus walking on the water—and the great Bread of Life discourse.  I encourage you to read and reflect upon the entire chapter to get a sense of what's coming over the next 8 days.

With Nicodemus, Jesus spoke of the waters of spiritual rebirth—unless you are born again by water and the spirit you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, providing us with the reason why we take baptism so seriously. Well, if the first set of Gospel readings after the Easter Octave point to the importance of the Sacrament of Baptism, this second set of readings, from John 6, is going to point to the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood, the Eucharist. 

The Catechism explains: “The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigures the superabundance of [the] unique bread of his Eucharist.” The connection between today’s gospel passage of the multiplication of the loaves and the sacrament of the Eucharist was clear even to the early Church. In second-century catacombs, we find artistic representations of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves to symbolize the Eucharist.

Easter sends us out into the world to proclaim the good news, to call the multitudes of the peoples of the world to the waters of baptism, and also to the table of the Lord’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. 

Just as the Lord fed the hungry crowd, the Lord feeds man’s deepest hunger with the Eucharist. All of us hunger for truth, justice, love, peace, and beauty. In a word, we are hungry for God. And that hunger is satisfied, here at the table of the altar. 

Sadly many Christians, like ill-natured children, refuse to eat what they are served; many refuse to sit at the table and sup. But here at the altar, we are sent out to them, to draw them back here, to Christ.

Unless you are born again of water and the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, he told in Nicodemus. And unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life within you.

May the Eucharist, our food, our life, our joy, continue to sustain us for the work of the Church, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the desires of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our lord.

First Friday Holy Hour - July 2022 - The Eucharistic Physician

 

In the Gospel for today (friday of the 13th week in Ordinary Time), the tax collector Matthew leaves behind an old way of life to follow the Lord., and immediately upon beginning this new life, Matthew welcomes Jesus into his home for a meal. 

There is something healing about a good meal. This is especially true when two people, who are enemies, who are estranged from each other in any way, sit down and share food, and conversation, and intimacy together. If you are willing to sit down and have a meal with someone, the healing has already begun.

This is why, at the meal in the house of Matthew, the Lord Jesus identifies himself as a physician, a healer. “I eat with tax collectors and sinners because the sick require a physician.” Jesus dines with sinners for the same reason a physician goes to the sick—to heal—to heal our estrangement from God, and from one another.

I think of that beautiful scene in the story of Babette’s Feast. At the death of their pastor, this small Christian community had become estranged from one another, division and bickering had entered into their daily lives. And so the french chef, Babette, provides a meal, and through good food, some of the divisions within this community begin to melt away; they begin to laugh together again, and share memories of happier times. The meal became an occasion for God's mercy and healing to work.

At the sacred meal of the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus is encountered as the Divine Physician, who heals those parts of us that are estranged from God, and within our community. 

In the section regarding the Eucharist, the Catechism quotes St. Ambrose, who speaks of the Eucharist as a remedy for sin and concludes, “Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.” Sinners, like us, need that constant medicine which the Lord gives us. 

One of the reasons we do well to spend time in Eucharistic adoration, in addition to receiving the sacred medicine of the Eucharist at Mass, is that sometimes we take the Eucharist for granted, and adoration helps to open us up to the power of the Eucharist again. 

Sometimes during the celebration of Mass be can become distracted from the healing power of the Eucharist: crying babies, off-key cantors, tangential preaching, not to mention the busyness of Sunday morning, which hinders us from coming to mass with proper recollection of our sins—with the proper interior silence.

But the blessed moments of silence during Eucharistic adoration can help us identify those parts of our lives, our psyches, our egos, our souls, that the Lord wishes to heal, the burdens of daily life, the fractured relationships.

Before our Eucharistic Physician tonight,  we express our desire for the healing the Lord wants for, to strengthen us in holiness, and to strengthen the bonds of charity among us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Corpus Christi 2022 - Why Eucharist?

 During my eighth year of seminary, we devoted an entire semester simply 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 St. Luke's feeding of the multitude, as we heard today, influenced the early Christians. We studied some of the ancient Eucharistic Prayers. We studied the medieval Theologians, especially Thomas Aquinas, who composed the prayers and hymns for today’s feast.

And at the end of the term, after hours and hours and hours of reading ancient texts and obscure theologians and the church’s most recent documents, our professor, Fr. Michael Woost—now Bishop-Elect Michael Woost tells us that 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.

So I studied the 9th century Eucharistic Controversies, Thomas Aquinas, Pope John Paul II, and what cutting-edge theologians were writing about. Exam-day arrived and I was ready! So we get to the classroom and Fr. Woost passed out the blank exam booklets which we’d use to answer the exam questions. But, he then explained that the exam only had one question. He then 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?” 

Fr. Woost said, “you have two hours, I suggest you use it wisely.”  I see my classmates open their exam book and start writing. And I just sort of sat there stunned for a moment. What do you mean, “Why Eucharist?” I’ve studied Hugh of St. Victor, St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, 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 just stunned me.

My first thought was to write, “Why Eucharist? Why Not!” and hand that in. But if I did that, I probably would not have been ordained. So, as my classmates were writing and writing and writing, I’m just sort of sitting there. I had no idea where to start.  How can you answer that question?  “Why Eucharist” is like asking, “Why did God give us the Eucharist?” and it seemed pretty arrogant to presume we can even come close to answering that. We don’t call it the “Mystery of Faith” for nothing. 

So, I sat there for what seemed like 15-20 minutes before writing a word.  I felt stupid.  And it probably took me a little too long to pray for inspiration. But when I did, I got an image. The image of kneeling in the chapel, in front of the monstrance, just prior to benediction. This is something that I had experienced hundreds of times. And I thought of the words of the priest, right after the Tantum Ergo. “Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood, help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” That is the prayer, prior to benediction, written by St. Thomas Aquinas…for today’s feast.

So when those words popped into my head, I thought, Thanks be to God, thank you St. Thomas. Because that prayer answers the question, “Why Eucharist?” So, you can tell I didn’t fail the exam, because…well, here I am.

So  hoes does today’s feast answer the question “Why Eucharist?” The Collect says it all. “Lord Jesus, you gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of your suffering and death” The Eucharist is given to us as a “memorial”. We are not angels, we have imperfect memories, we forget things, we need reminders. And the Eucharist is to help us remember that Jesus gave his Body and Blood for us on the cross.  Without that great labor of love, there would be no hope of heaven for any of us. 

When we celebrate Mass, we are transported to the Mount of Calvary; we kneel on the Mount of the cross, that we may be sprinkled with his cleansing blood. The Eucharist is the memorial of the Cross that Church has celebrated every week for 2000 years. For without this weekly reminder, Christians begin to drift away from the Church, we drift away from the power of the Cross; the power of His blood begins to dry up in our lives. “Do this in memory of me” the Lord says. And faithful to his command at the last supper, we come to mass every week for the Eucharist.

“Why Eucharist” The second part of that beautiful prayer, continues to answer that question “May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood, help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom.” 

The Eucharist is not an empty exercise. This act of worship has more power than anything else on earth to bring us grace and peace if we are open to it. When we come to Mass, and are open to it, we can experience deliverance from our sinful ways, help to face temptations, and the peace of the kingdom. We come to mass with the anxieties of uncertain futures and past sins, we bring our strained relationships, new loves, old hatreds and resentments, we bring our successes or distressing failures, our promotions at work and job losses, happy marriages, broken marriages, good health and impending deaths, our feelings of closeness with God, our feelings of His absence. 

Whatever is going on in our lives, we come here to the altar to worship, to experience grace and Christ’s closeness, that the power of the cross may flow into all those relationships, all those successes, failures, challenges, and temptations, that they might be transformed like the bread and wine. 

Why Eucharist? The Body and Blood of Jesus is the food of truth and spiritual life that sustains us on our earthly journey and mission. Without the Eucharist we will never overcome our sins, we will never love each other as we should, we will never spread the Gospel as we are tasked. “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you do not have my life within you.”

Thanks be to God for this great gift, left to us that we may never, never forget, and always, always know the fruits of his saving sacrifice for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Easter 2022 - Friday - "My flesh is true food..."

 

There is a short Eucharistic hymn from the 14th century, composed by an unknown author, possibly Pope Innocent VI, the fifth of the Avignon Popes. The hymn is called Ave Verum Corpus. It was sung often during benediction, when the host would be elevated in the monstrance for our adoration. While gazing upon, what appears to be ordinary bread, in the ornate golden monstrance, the choir would sing Ave Verum Corpus—"Hail true flesh born of the Virgin Mary who having truly suffered, was sacrificed on the cross for mankind, whose pierced side flowed with water and blood: Be for us a foretaste of the Heavenly banquet in the trial of death."  

St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that believing that bread is transformed—trans-substantiated—into the flesh of the Savior is a difficult doctrine. The Eucharist does not look like Christ, nor his flesh; thus it tests our faith—the doctrine requires faith.  But we believe it because this teaching comes from the Lord himself.

“unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood you do not have life within you.”

The non-Catholic denominations of Christianity have to do some pretty strange intellectual gymnastics to support their claims which contradict what Catholics have held as true from the beginning of the Church. The flesh and blood offered on the cross for our salvation becomes present on the altar under the appearance of bread and wine, and is given to us to eat and drink.

Already around the year 150, St. Justin the Martyr explains what was already well-established teaching about the transformation of bread and wine into the true flesh and blood of Jesus. He said, “We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving”—that is the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass.

It is a terrible horrific tragedy that so many Catholics, who should know better, deprive themselves of the Flesh and Blood of Our Lord, choosing to skip Mass, and fill their lives with so much garbage that does not satisfy, that does not give life. So part of our Easter mission is to urge them to return to the sacraments, so that they might not be deprived of eternal life.

May we find our nourishment in the Eucharist, and be strengthened in our mission by the Eucharist, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Church will deepen in her devotion to the Eucharistic sacrifice which is the source and summit of our Christian life.  

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

That the Eucharist will be for priests the source of their joy and their deeper configuration to Jesus Christ.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], 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.

 

 

First Friday Holy Hour - January 2022 - Impelled by the Sacrament of Love

 At mass this morning for the feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, I reflected upon how the love of Christ filled St. Raymond’s life. The “The love of Christ impelled” him, as St. Paul says in the epistle for today’s feast. 

The saints are animated by the love of Christ. The love we are to have for Christ impels us out into the world to share the Gospel, to work tirelessly for the spread of the kingdom, to make us ambarssadors fo Christ as Paul says, to seek reconciliation with God and conversion from our vices, to bear our crosses for the salvation of souls. But not just the love we have for Christ, but the love Christ has for us impels us.

When we recognize how deeply we are loved by Christ, that changes everything. Christ loved us so much that he died for our sake. But moreso, God wants you to know how much you are loved.

The Christmas season, which we conclude in a few days, is certainly a reflection of how deeply we are loved. the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem in the piercing cold for you and for me.

But also, the Eucharist, which we gaze upon and adore upon the altar during this holy hour is the Sacramentum Caritatis, the sacrament of love, the gift that Jesus makes of himself revealing his love for us. 

By the Eucharist, Jesus wants to show his love for us in the concrete situations of our present life. He wants you to know his love for you, on this cold January evening, with the challenges and sorrows of your life. He wants you to know his love for you with all the challenges the church is facing, all the challenges our country is facing, all the challenges are families are facing—his love is revealed in the Eucharist.

Here is Emmanuel—God-with-us, right here, in this 100 year old church, in this impoverished neighborhood, in a culture that is growing increasingly numb and ignorant to his presence. 

When we recognize his love for us, we are better equipped to share his love with us, to draw others to this font of love. May the time we spend in adoration, and the prayers we offer in holy devotion, impel us to great works of charity, and help us to know Christ’s love for us always, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

First Friday Holy Hour - November - Eucharistic Lessons from the Dishonest Steward

 As you know, for our first Friday Holy Hours, I like to draw some sort of Eucharist Lesson or insight from the readings or saint of the day. As, I mentioned this morning at Mass, today’s Gospel is very strange.

The Lord tells this parable about a dishonest steward who had been embezzling from his master’s business. The steward goes to the master’s debtors, who had been delinquent in paying their rent to the master, because the master, was an absentee landlord. The steward then falsifies entries in the books of accounts so that the debtors would be grateful to him, but also complicit in his fraud. Perhaps he would blackmail them later. And when the master discovers all this underhanded business, he’s actually impressed and praises the criminal mastermind for his shrewdness.

What Eucharistic lesson could we possible derive from this?

On one hand the lesson of the parables seems to be that Jesus wants his followers, like the steward in the parable, to employ cleverness, creativity, gumption, cunning, and ingenuity in and fulfilling our Gospel mandate.

On the other hand, Christians are not likely to be as cunning and shrewd as the “children of the world” as the Lord calls them, in dealing with worldly matters. We will not likely be as proficient with computers as criminal computer hackers or as sly and cutthroat as a corrupt politician. And that’s okay. We have other matters to do attend to: heavenly matters, spiritual matters. 

And that’s why we are hear tonight. We give up a Friday tonight, to pray, to kneel before the Lord, recognizing the priority of faith, strengthening and exercising faith, over all other earthly matters. We come to the Lord to be strengthened in what matters most, so that we can make inroads into the world, so that we can reach the minds and the hearts of the children of the world in bringing them to Christ.

We come here so that we can go out into the world in order to reach the criminal computer hacker, the corrupt politician, the drug addict, the pimp, and lead them to Christ. These people are not our enemy, they are our mission. 

And we kneel in front of the Lord recognizing our weakness, our lack of cleverness and capability, and facility with speaking, and timidity, and ask him to bless us, strengthen us, and embolden us to do the work he has for us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

30th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Friday - The Lord feeds, heals, and quenches

 All four Gospels contain accounts of the Lord eating and dining. All four record the last supper, for example. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the Lord’s supper in the house of the tax collector Levi and St. John is the only to record the Lord’s attendance at the wedding feast at Cana.

St. Luke is the only evangelist to record the meal in today’s Gospel passage in which the Lord heals the man with dropsy in the house of a pharisee on the sabbath.

This story is not the first time that the Lord has healed someone on the sabbath, but it is the first time he heals someone at a meal. He combines healing and eating. It’s also interesting who he heals. He heals a man with dropsy. Dropsy is a condition in which there is a build-up of fluid in a persons tissues, and so because of this imbalance with fluid, the person with dropsy is always thirsty—they are perpetually thirsty. And so here the Lord combines healing and eating and satisfying unending thirst.

What does that makes you think of? I don’t know about you, but this certainly makes me think of what we’re doing right now. In the celebration of Mass, the Lord feeds, the Lord quenches thirst, and the Lord heals

In the Eucharist, the Lord feeds us with his body and blood, giving us spiritual nourishment for the work of the Gospel and the pilgrimage to heaven. In the Eucharist, the Lord heals us of sinfulness, pride, grief, loneliness, division, and estrangement from God. And in the Eucharist the Lord quenches our thirst for the infinite God—like a dry weary desert our souls thirst for Him, and here that thirst is quenched.

Commenting particularly on the healing properties of the Eucharist, Pope Francis, said a few years ago, that the Eucharist is “powerful medicine for the weak”. We have many weaknesses: fear in preaching the Gospel, timidity in doing the work of the Lord, weaknesses of the flesh, the lack of willingness to suffer for Christ, temptations to sin, concupiscence. And the Eucharist is medicine for these weaknesses. And those who deprive themselves of the Eucharist, refusing to go to mass, deprive themselves of real medicine the Lord wishes to apply to their souls.

The Eucharist is also medicine for the greatest of our weaknesses: mortality. 

St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Ephesians said that the Eucharist is the “medicine of immortality…and the antidote  which  wards  off  death.” It “yields continuous life  in union with Jesus Christ.”

May we dispose our souls as often as possible to this food from heaven, the food that heals, the food that quenches for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

For those who are deprived of the Eucharist, for lapsed Catholics, for the unbelieving, for those who doubt the Lord’s real presence, for those who have hardened their hearts toward God, and for a deeper appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist among all God’s people. Let us pray to the Lord.

That young people will be blessed with good Christian example from their parents and fellow Christians, and that the word of God might be cherished, studied, and practiced in every Christian home. 

During and following this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession. 

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

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, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

26th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - The turning point

Today’s short Gospel passage is the turning point in the Gospel of Luke, literally. In the first half of Luke's Gospel, the Lord engages in his public ministry throughout Galilee. In today’s passage, Luke tells us that Jesus “resolutely determined” to go to Jerusalem. That’s kind of a watered down translation of the original Greek, which says, Jesus steadfastly fixed his face to Jerusalem. He sets his face, he directs his face, to journey to his suffering and death in Jerusalem.

So for the rest of the Gospel, much of what Jesus says will in be reference the meaning and importance of his Passion and Death.

The next part of the passage is a bit confusing, which says the Samaritans did not welcome him because his face was set to Jerusalem. Remember, Samaritans held that the proper place to worship God was on Mount Gerizim, whereas Jews insisted that it was in the Jerusalem Temple. Thus, for Samaritans, Galilean Jews on the way to Jerusalem, were Israelite heretics. 

James and John wanted to call down fire to punish these Samaritans, but the Lord stops them. The days are coming when God won’t be worshipped only on Mount Zion in the Jerusalem Temple, after all. After the Lord’s Passion and Death and Resurrection, worship of the One True God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not be limited to one geographical location. 

In fulfillment of the prophecy in our first reading: men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, will be able to gather in the New Jerusalem, the New Zion, the Church, which will spread to every corner of the world to worship God in spirit and in truth.

We don’t have to go to Jerusalem to meet God. Catholics know that we are able to fix our faces resolutely toward God whenever and wherever we celebrate the Eucharist, when the Eucharist is lifted up, when it is exposed in the monstrance, in the moment we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion.

Every Catholic is to steadfastly fix their faith in the direction of the Eucharist, at least every Sunday. For the Eucharist is meant to be the turning point in our lives, each week: turning to the Lord for strength and peace and mercy. For the Lord gives us the Eucharist as the memorial of his suffering and death, that we may be faithful in carrying our crosses, pouring out our lives in service to God with that same love and self-donation as He, that the same determined resolution to do the will of the Father will fill our hearts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the members of the Church may seek every deeper union with the Lord and surrender to the Divine Will through humble prayer and works of charity. Let us pray to the Lord.

For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government and educational institutions, businesses, and personal attitudes.

During this month of September, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray for all those who grieve, and that we may grieve sufficiently for our sins.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for deceased Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla, who will be buried today. We pray.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - Food for the journey

 

The Prophet Elijah is certainly one of the tenacious, courageous heroes of the Old Testament. Immediately preceding today’s first reading, Elijah had been led by God to confront the wicked King Ahab and Jezebel his Queen for forsaking the One True God of Israel and worshiping the Canaanite idol, Baal.

To prove the superiority of the one true God, Elijah challenges the priests of Baal to a sort of test. You know the story. Two altars were constructed: one for Baal, and one for the one true God of Israel. The prophet whose God consumed the sacrifices would be proved to be the true God. 

So the 450 prophets of Baal, begin to wail to the skies, crying out to their idol for hours, but to no avail. They then gashed themselves with swords and spears to invoke their God, but nothing happened, the altar remained. “Why don’t you scream louder” Elijah says, mocking them, “maybe Baal can’t hear you. Maybe he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s asleep and can’t get up.” Sweating, bloody, and exhausted, the prophets of Baal, gave up, doubting that Elijah could do better.

So then it was Elijah’s turn. God’s prophet began by drenching his altar with water. And then he prayed. God wishing that his glory be made known sent fire from heaven and incinerated the sacrifice. The audience cheered and proclaimed the God of Elijah as the True God. 

Queen Jezebel, however, rather than accepting Israel’s God became furious, and vowed to kill Elijah. So Elijah flees into the desert, where we find him at the beginning of today’s first reading. The desert, symbolic of Elijah’s situation. Success had turned to apparent failure—victory into defeat. Alone in the desert, distraught, hunted, abandoned. Elijah feels so forsaken, as we heard, he even prayed for death. In his despair, he cries out to God, and even though he found himself in the middle of this barren desert: God hears his plea and sends an angel, twice, to feed him.

Notice, Elijah is fed, not so that he can stay in the desert and wallow in his misery. Elijah is fed, so that he can begin a new journey. God had more work for him to do. And this journey was not going to be easy. It’s going to take him 40 days and 40 nights. But God would provide him food to strengthen Elijah for this journey. And Elijah walked 40 days and 40 nights to the mountain of God, Mt. Horeb, also called Sinai, where God gave moses the 10 commandments. And there on Horeb, you know this story too, Elijah looks for God in the wind, but God was not in the wind. Elijah looks for God in the earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Elijah looks for God in the fire, but God was not in the fire. Finally, Elijah hears a small whispering sound, and it is in that whisper for Elijah finds God.

What a roller coaster of a story. Elijah, is given a task by God in which he is largely successful. But then that task has serious consequences for Elijah and he encounters a real low place in his life. He prays to God, and God hears his prayer, and feeds him for a difficult journey. Finally, Elijah comes to his destination, and encounters God in a way he did not expect.

This story is so powerful because it’s our story. Our lives are filled with successes and failures. Times when we seem to be bringing about great victories for God’s kingdom, times when we are experience real consequences for our faith, and then times when we feel utterly useless. Times when God’s ways are not easy to understand, when he leads us on some mysterious journey,  even climbing uphill, with terrible forces set against us. And times when we are looking for God and he’s not where we expect to find him.

But in the middle of it all, in our Catholic life, is food, food for the journey. Like the angel who feeds Elijah with physical food, to build up his strength, the Lord feeds us with food from heaven, the Eucharist, to help us face all those tasks, all those challenges, all those low moments, all those uphill climbs, with strength that comes from Him.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Christians recognize in the Lord’s self-description as bread, God’s desire to feed us with the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist throughout our lives. 

Whatever we are feeling, whatever we are going through, our first reaction should always be to come to the Eucharist to be fed by God. In our great successes, like Elijah against the prophets of Baal, we come to give thanks and share the food of victory.. When we are chased into the desert by God’s enemies like Elijah and God is no where to be found, we must search him out here, where he has made his presence known under the appearance of bread and wine. And when he calls us on the mysterious journey, to enter into the unknown, to climb a steep mount, we must come here to be fed with the food for the journey.

It is an invaluable practice, when you come to Church, before Mass begins, to kneel down in your pews, facing the tabernacle and to make a little examination of conscience. This is important preparation for Mass. And kneeling there to ask yourself: why am I here?? What am I struggling with, at this very moment in my life? What are the blessings for which I’ve returned to this altar to give thanks? 

Am I at a low point in which God cannot be detected in your life? God help me to see you in the strange, mysterious events of my life? 

Kneeling before mass we do well to identify these things? What am I joyful about? What am I sad about? Angry about? Fearful about? It is important to get to mass early, to express these things to God. And to recognize that in the Eucharist we are about to celebrate is the answer to your prayers. The strength we need, the grace we need to remain faithful to God amidst all the challenges of life is given, in the Eucharist.

Also, praying before mass, we do well to identify those people, those closest to us, who have fallen away from God, who do not know, or have forgotten, that Jesus is here waiting for them. Before Mass call them to mind, bring to God their woundedness, their suffering, their confusion, their addictions. Ask God, through this Eucharist, to help you be the instrument of leading them home, here, to the family table, to Jesus who loves them and wants to feed them with the supersubstantial bread that will enable them to survive this earthly journey with our souls intact. 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

May the Eucharist we celebrate and share today help us to remain faithful to God throughout all of our challenges, to know God’s presence with us throughout those challenges, and be led through them, to eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

First Friday Holy Hour - August 2021 - Luminous Eucharist

 

Liturgically, we celebrate today the feast of the Transfiguration. This morning, I recalled how it’s been almost 20 years since Pope St. John Paul II gave us the luminous mysteries. So, in addition to the 15 joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries, now, we would add meditation upon Jesus Baptism in the Jordan, his self-manifestation at the wedding at Cana, his call to conversion through the preaching of the Kingdom, his Transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist

Of the five luminous mysteries he called the Transfiguration the mystery of light par excellence as it reveals to us the face of Christ shining with the light of divine glory. The transfiguration sheds light upon who Jesus is, what he has come to do: he has come to lead us out of darkness, he’s come to show us that in the darkest hour, even in the agony of his passion, the light of God still shines. He sheds light on the very darkness of death itself, that for faithful Christians, death is not the end. Bearing the cross with Jesus, dying in union with Him as Lord will lead to the luminous glory of the resurrection. 

Each of the luminous mysteries shed light upon who Jesus is and what he has comes to do. This includes of course, the fifth luminous mystery, the institution of the Eucharist—the Eucharist before which we kneel and pray this evening at this holy hour.

The Eucharist sheds light upon the nature of Jesus, the nature of God, that God gives us what we need in order to live—that he loves us so much that he gives his body and blood for us. Even though he had to endure ineffable suffering, even though many would turn their back on him, even though many would continue to engage in sacrilege upon sacrilege, he still wishes to give of himself that we might live.

The Eucharist sheds light upon the nature of God, that God is love, and gives and gives and gives us what we need in order to participate in that love for all eternity. “I am the Bread of Life, the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Let us drink deeply of God’s great love for us as we contemplate and worship the Lord in the Eucharist this evening. May his love fill us with his light and love for others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.