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.

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.

- - - - - -  

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.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - God's grace and human effort

 This last week, we had a little cookout for the parish council and finance council over in the rectory courtyard. Always a nice event. Everybody brings something.. It’s one thing I love about being Catholic…the pot lucks! Our parish picnic too a few weeks ago, along with the wonderful company, of course, we had some really good food! Not only did we have enough to go around, but we even had some folks passing by along west blvd stop by and grab a plate.

In the Gospel, this weekend, we heard of a community meal of sorts: the feeding of the five thousand. 

In the 19th Century, there was a German Protestant biblical scholar by the name of Heinrich Paulus. And it seems he was the first to put forth the theory regarding this passage of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, that you may have heard.

Heinrich Paulus claimed that the real miracle occurred when the crowds saw the generosity of the boy who shared his lunch, that they all brought out bread that they had secretly stashed away, and shared it with each other. And that’s why there was really plenty of food to go around.

Now, I guess that’s a nice idea. The charity of one inspires charity in others. If ordinary Christians, like you and me, we were all just a little more generous and a little more trusting of each other, we’d have a lot more resources to share for the work of the church. A nice moral lesson.

And yet, is that the really point of the story? For, the passage itself indicates that the Lord Jesus did something ordinary people could not do. He effected a miracle in which twelve wicker baskets were filled, not with fragments stashed in everybody’s knapsacks, but from the five barley loves.  

To read this passage as if Jesus did not perform a miracle is to do violence to the Bible - it's distorting the words of the text, not interpreting them.

The text is clear: there was not enough food to feed everybody. Not even a year's salary (two hundred denarii) could buy enough for such a feast, as Philip nervously points out.

Again, what’s the point of the story? There are problems in this world that we cannot solve on our own—neither science nor politics nor simple humanitarian effort.  There are problems that money cannot solve. Man’s natural talents and ingenuity are incapable, ultimately, to defeat the forces of evil. Human strength is insufficient to overcome selfishness, lust, and greed that rage within the human heart. No amount of human cunning, cleverness, brute force, or application of natural resources are able to bring about a solution to sin or death.

Only when we put all that we have and all that we are into Jesus’ hands will we ever be truly fed, united, and delivered. Because Jesus is God. That’s the point of the story. We must go to God to be fed, united, and delivered and he is abundant in feeding us, uniting us, and delivering us when we bring ourselves to Him.

This of course is not to say that we should not exert great effort in feeding the hungry of the world, working for peace through political means, and seeking to heal the sick and relieve human suffering. Christians even need to work together with people of different faiths to accomplish these goods.

However, human endeavors ultimately fail, when they are not rooted in God. In vain do the builders labor, unless the Lord builds the house.

And yet, more is at stake than mere earthly, temporal peace. Ultimately, this passage is about eternal life. St. John begins the 6th chapter of his Gospel, which we will be reading through for the next five weeks with this miracle story. John wants us to know, that the Bread, the food, that brings eternal life, comes only through Jesus Christ. For in today’s Gospel Jesus is doing something that human beings cannot do on their own. For he is God. Only He can feed the multitude of the peoples’ of the world. 

And yet, it isn’t helpful to completely ignore the role of the ordinary people in today’s Gospel. Jesus in fact DID ask the apostles to bring to Him the little they had, and he did work wonders with what they gave him.

We are invited, commanded, taught to entrust to Jesus the little we do have. Grace accomplishes what human effort cannot, but human effort is still needed. For what is not given is not multiplied. What is not offered is not transformed.

He does ask of us to bring to him the little we have—the little time, talent, and treasure, which I know you’ve heard before. But when the little we have is given to God it is infused and multiplied by Him. 

Time in prayer, especially, given to God throughout the day becomes a conduit for God to reach into our lives and heal wounds, and transform hearts, and multiply our meager resources, physical and mental, clear away confusion. 5 Minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening with bible in lap, television turned off, phone set aside can do wonders. 

Father, I’m too busy to pray. False. You just haven’t given the Lord the little time you do have, in order for it to be multiplied. Make time for God and he will make time for you.

Not only our time, but our talent is held back from God. Sometimes we minimize what we could do, so we don’t have to do it. But the Lord wants our meager talents, our parish needs live people showing up to do work. Our legion of mary, our svdp, our garden club, for example, could really use some new members. It’s becoming clear that the Lord is presenting us with some mighty challenges, some wonderful opportunities, but we need folks to show up. It just can’t be the same small handful of folks. Your pastor is appealing to you. Get involved. Bring your ideas, your talents, your words of encourage. In your daily prayer ask God, what can I do for you today that I’ve never done before?

And folks. I know. I’ve been there. I ask the Lord what do you want from me, an idea pops into my head, and I’m like…how about something else. Can’t I just do your will sitting in my office? Can’t I just stay at home? I’d have to rearrange my schedule if I were to do that…Lord, can’t you think of something more convenient for me?

But trusting in him, willing to give up our plans, our time, our treasure into his hands, he multiplies them, transforms them, making us his instruments for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

3rd Week of Easter 2021 - Tuesday (School Mass) - Jesus is the bread of life

 All of this week, our Gospel readings are taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus performs the great miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. People had followed him out into the desert, far from their homes, they were starving, and so Jesus performs a miracle to feed them. From just a few loaves of bread, Jesus feeds 5000 people. There was so much bread left over after his miracle, that the leftover filled 12 large baskets.

If Jesus can satisfy 5000 people with just a few loaves, imagine what he can do with all the bread of the world, if we but dedicated it to him. If we took all of our possessions, all of the goods of the world, and consecrated them to Jesus and his purposes. If we were less selfish with our things and gave them to God, how much more peace would we enjoy!

In today’s Gospel the people were asking for a sign so they could believe that Jesus was really sent by God. People aren’t just hungry for physical food, they are hungry for the food of heaven. They are hungry for the things that the world cannot supply: true peace, true joy, eternal life, truth and goodness. Politics and government can’t give us these things. Science and technology cannot grant them. As much as they try, they cannot. But we know we long for these things, so where will they come from?

And Jesus says, the world cannot grant these things, but my Father can.  Peace and truth and eternal life: this is the food my father gives, this is the food I’ve come to give. And the people respond, Jesus, give us this heavenly bread. And what does Jesus say? “I am that bread”.

You want peace, you want joy, you want eternal life, you want your life to be filled with truth, and goodness, and beauty, go to Jesus to be fed. Come to Jesus to be fed. Believe and follow Jesus. Becomes his disciple. Walk in his truth. Follow his teachings. Pray to him. Ask his help. Ask him, like the people in the Gospel, “Sir, give us this heavenly bread. Give us this bread, always.”

In the words of the Psalm “Be my rock of refuge” Jesus. “A stronghold to give me safety.” Jesus. Be my rock and my fortress” Jesus. “For your name’s sake lead me and guide me Jesus” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

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

For Pope Francis, all bishops and priests, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

That the peoples of the world may turn to God as the source of all true and lasting peace.

That the parish and school of St. Ignatius of Antioch, may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Jesus.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the good graces that come from Jesus’ Paschal Victory. Let us pray to the Lord.

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.

2nd Week of Easter 2021 - Friday - Abundance of Spiritual Food

 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 and a teaching: 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 on the entire chapter to get a sense of what's coming over the next 8 days.

For the past few days we've heard Jesus talk about the importance of believing in Him that we may have eternal life.  This miracle story seems to answer the question, “what kind of life does Jesus offer?”.  “What kind of life does Jesus offer?” Abundant life.  In the miracle of the multitude he takes the little that is possessed by the few and transforms it into a feast for the multitude.  What is brought to him, is multiplied into an abundance. 5 loaves are not only enough to feed five thousand, but there are twelve wicker baskets left over.

Similarly in the miracle at the wedding at Cana. The Lord doesn’t just transform a mug of water into wine. He transforms 120—150 gallons—of water into wine, more than they would need for the remainder of the wedding celebration.

Finding enough food for sustenance is not easy for a lot of people on this planet. And the Lord provides not only enough for sustenance, but abundance. This is particularly true in the spiritual life. 

Many souls wander around this planet trying to find something to sustain them—to give them courage, to give them inner strength, to give them what they need to make it through this vale of tears. They turn to the new age, they turn to popular psychology, modern philosophy, or the pharmaceutical industry. These may satisfy for a time, but in the end they always leave us exhausted and unhappy. 

But in Christ, we are finally able be fed spiritually in a deep and last manner; and not just with enough nourishment to satisfy us, but with more than we will ever need. The Christian life is an infinite mine in which the more one digs and explores the more one finds. This is evidenced in the life of the saints: abundant means for sanctification are available for those who seek it out. And the reason we are not holier than we are isn’t due to a lack of spiritual food, but because of our refusal to eat it.

“If you remain in me you will bear much fruit. (Jn 15:5)” “I have told you these things that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete (Jn 15:11)” “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance (John 10:10).”

Through prayer and good works may we dispose ourselves—open ourselves—to be fed by the Lord, sanctified by the Lord, who desires to perfect us and complete us by his abundant grace for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -  

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, especially we pray for the conversion of those who refuse belief in God and Jesus the Christ, His Son.

For our parish, and for the newly initiated, that we may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ.

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.

18th Sunday in OT 2020 - "Give them some food yourselves"

Each of the four Gospels contain different stories of Jesus eating with people: he attends the wedding feast at Cana. He took meals with tax collectors, prostitutes and public sinners—inviting the most excluded into the company of believers. He ate with Pharisees and Scribes challenging their preconceptions, urging them to acknowledge and repent of their hypocrisy. And of course he ate with his disciples—taking the Passover meal with them—changing bread and wine into his Body and Blood the night before he died. After his resurrection he eats fish with the apostles on the seashore.

Today’s Gospel passage about the feeding of the large crowd is found in all four Gospel. The Lord had been teaching and healing thousands of people out in the desert, and when evening came, as we heard, the disciples wished to dismiss the crowd so they could buy food for themselves. The Lord however, does not like to send people away hungry, not if he can help it. 

So, instead of dispersing this crowd, the Lord draws them together, intending to feed this vast crowd through a miracle. But notice, he involves his disciples in this miracle:  “you give them some food yourselves.”  The disciples solution was to send the crowd away to fend for themselves, but the Lord says, no, in the communion of the kingdom of God we bear each other’s burdens.  We don’t say “it’s your problem” and your problem alone.  We are in this together.  World hunger, it’s not someone else’s problem; poor understanding of the faith, it’s not someone else’s problem.  Laws being passed which are repugnant to the dignity of human life, or which erode religious freedom. it’s not someone else’s problem.

We have a tendency to want to pass the buck on to someone else.  We see a problem and say “someone ought to do something, someone ought to take care of this.”  Standing up for life, standing up for religious freedom or the rights of the oppressed, protecting our religious statues from an angry mob, feeding the poor, spreading the Gospel, it’s not merely the pope’s job, or the bishop’s job, or the pastor’s job; every Catholic bears the responsibility for the work of the Church and spreading the Gospel.

“You give them something to eat, you do something to solve this problem.” He speaks those words to you and me.  As members of the Church, God gives us the tremendous responsibility of being his hands and his feet out in the world, feeding the large crowd of the world with physical bread and also spiritual bread—the truth of the Gospel and relief for the suffering. 

Some of you might remember, that In the 1950s and 60s, a movement called Catholic Action which aimed at rallying the Catholic layfaithful for the work of the Gospel out in the world. And Catholic Action had a motto, very simple, three words. “see, judge, act.”  See, judge, act.  First see, open your eyes, what is going on in the Church and in society.  Second, judge: make a determination of what can I do, how can I help, how can I serve.  And thirdly, act—if you can do it, do it. “You give them something to eat.”

After issuing this command the disciples respond, “all we have are these five loaves, a couple fish, and there are five thousand people here, not counting the women and children.  So we are supposed to do something?”  True, sometimes all we can do is identify, that personally, I don’t have enough to do all this work myself. We need each other and we need God.

So the Lord responds,  “Give them to me!”  And he multiplies them in such a way that every person is fed and filled, and in fact, there are twelve baskets left over.

The spiritual lesson?  You give what you have, even if it is very little, to Christ and it will be multiplied.  Give Christ your mind, your will, your energy, your compassion, your earthly treasures.  See, judge act. Give it to Christ, and you will find that it becomes multiplied for his purposes.  

Catholic parishes, like ours, are just like that small group of disciples, looking at its meager possessions, saying, what can we do with these fives loaves and two fish. But coming together, despite our differences, we offer what we have to the Lord, and the Lord multiplies.

I’ve been so impressed over the last few months during COVID of the great generosity of our parishioners and friends. Parishes, larger than ours are having greater difficulty paying the bills, many have even had to cut back on some of their charitable outreach. But not St. Ignatius. We’ve seen our SVDP flourish and working very hard to meet the needs of the hungry and those who may have lost their jobs or having difficulty paying the rent. Our Legion of Mary has needed to set up extra chairs at our weekly meetings. Daily mass and first Friday holy hour have been very well attended. And of course our Garden Club, making our grounds look so splendid and beautiful. I’m also very happy to hear that a small group of parishioners have formed a new prayer group, the Seven Sister’s Apostolate, to pray for priests. 

We’ve had some challenges though. We are certainly in need of parishioners to step-up to take leadership on some of our fundraising efforts. Our golf outing, our gala committee, the clambash, we need some leaders to step-up. And of course, inviting some of those parishioners who have sort of fallen by the wayside over the last decade, back to Church. And of course, evangelizing, inviting non-Catholics, searchers and seekers, to come and see what we are doing in here.

So, I repeat the invitation I made a month ago when we announced Sister Dianne’s resignation, if there’s any ministry that you’d like to get involved in, please let me know. I invite you again, to see, judge act. To ask yourself and ask the Lord, what can I do to help, what can I do to serve, what do I need to entrust to God, that he may multiply it for his purposes.

But what is not given cannot be multiplied, what is not offered-up will not be transformed. So let us be generous with the Lord, with offering our time, talent, and treasure, our creativity, our passions, and our sufferings for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Tuesday after Epiphany 2020 - The bread of self-donation

Throughout the Christmas season, our daily Gospel readings expound upon the identity and mission of the Christ-Child born at Bethlehem. Yesterday’s Gospel told of the beginning of the Lord’s Galilean ministry. Jesus is revealed as the one who calls us to repentance, who is able to bring healing for all our physical diseases, but also our deepest spiritual disease. Jesus reveals to us the face of God who loves us, who desires our healing, our reconciliation with him.

What does today’s Gospel reveal to us about Jesus, about God? In the story of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus is attentive to the physical hunger of the people who have come to listen to him preach. They have come to listen to Him preach because of their deep spiritual hunger. So he attends to both physical and spiritual hunger. Here Jesus reveals the face of God who desires to give us what truly nourishes—both materially and spiritually—our “daily bread” for which he teaches us to pray.

And yet, what is the nature of the spiritual nourishment Jesus provides? Well, the Gospel passage hints at what is later fulfilled at the Last Supper. Notice, when his disciples speak to him about the hunger of the people, the Lord tells them to feed the crowd. You, do something, you work to satisfy their hunger. You give them some food yourselves. There is something spiritually nourishing when we feed others. When we engage in the works of mercy we receive something greater than the physical, material thing that is given away. The great paradox at the heart of this reading is that giving bread to others is bread to us. The babe born in Bethlehem, Hebrew for “house of bread” has become the the bread of self-donation, and teaches us to become like Him.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains, “my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.”

In the first reading this morning, when St. John says, “let us love one another because God is love” he is not talking about love as emotion. Love—Agape—in the Greek—means giving yourself to others, giving of yourself for the good of others. So we are to “give of our selves because God is self-giving love”. 

Especially in the Eucharist we see that God is the spiritual food for our spiritual hunger. When Jesus says, “do this in memory of me”, yes he is speaking of the need for us to celebrate ritually the Eucharist, but also the need for us to give of our body and blood, to give our lives away as a sacrifice to God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
We bring forth now our prayers of petitions.

That the Church may be attentive to the physical and spiritual needs of all.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of January: that Christians, followers of other religions, and all people of goodwill may promote peace and justice in the world.

For those oppressed by hunger, sickness or loneliness, that through the mystery of the Nativity of Christ, they may find relief in both mind and body.

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

Tuesday after Epiphany 2019 - Feeding the spiritually malnourished

This week we are between two feasts: the Epiphany of the Lord and the Baptism of the Lord.  At the Epiphany Jesus as revealed as a light to all nations.  At the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River, Jesus will be revealed as the Only-begotten son of the Father.  When he is baptized, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and the voice of the Father says, “This is my beloved Son”.
These two feasts are linked in the mind of the Church by that theme of revelation—the revelation of Jesus’s true identity—his identity as Savior and Son and God.

This theme of revelation permeates the readings this week.  Yesterday we heard Matthew’s account of the beginning of Jesus’ preaching and teaching throughout Galilee.  The paralyzed, the possessed, the lame were brought to him for healing.  Jesus is revealed as the one who brings healing.

Today we proclaim one of Jesus’ most famous miracles: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Jesus reveals God’s great love for us, that he desires to feed the hungry.  He is moved with pity by our hunger.  And he doesn’t just feed us from afar, but has entered into our world of hunger, he has become one of the hungry, but is also revealed as the one capable of feeding.  For if he can feed five thousand from five loaves and two fish, he has the power to feed all those who come to him, in abundance. 

Jesus calls us to similar concern for the hungry, both the physically and spiritually malnourished.  So many people have lost their appetite for the spiritual nourishment of God’s Word and Sacraments because they have so deeply indulged in the food of worldliness.  Our job, perhaps, is to help wean them off the world by instilling a hunger for the truth of Christ, by presenting the truth, good, and beauty that only comes from him.

Also, notice that the Lord performs this great miracle of the feeding of the multitude by taking the little that is possessed by the people and transforms it into food for the multitudes.  What is not brought to him is not transformed.  But what is brought to him is blessed and multiplied and shared.
The Lord has real concern for our hunger, real concern for those who continue to turn away from his banquet.  And he will use us, if we bring him our time, talent, and treasure, for the feeding of hungry souls, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - - -

For a deeper devotion to the Eucharist among all Catholics, that our Eucharistic worship might inspire non-believers to seek and find the Lord.

For those spiritually malnourished souls who do not look to God to satisfy the longing in their hearts.
That our Catholic schools and PSR programs may be places where the Lord Jesus is sought out and discovered, where faith is instilled and charity is inspired.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, that many young people may respond generously to the Lord’s call to ordained and consecrated service.

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

17th Sunday in OT 2018 - The Eucharist in God's plan of salvation

Since the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, our scripture readings for Sunday Mass are organized into a three-year cycle.  The first year we hear from Saint Matthew’s Gospel, the second year from Saint Mark, and the third from Saint Luke.  Right in the middle of the Year of Saint Mark, for six weeks beginning this sunday, the Gospel readings are taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel, and we won’t hear from Saint Mark again until September.

The sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel is a crucial chapter; it contains what biblical scholars call Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse—the Lord’s teaching about the Bread of Life—the Eucharist.
In the upcoming weeks, we will hear again the Lord teach that He is the Bread of Life, and that all those who come to Him will never hunger, that those who eat the Bread of Life will live forever, and that the bread that he gives, the Eucharist, is his flesh for the life of the world.

John chapter six begins not with direct teaching, but with the story we heard today of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This miracle story, sets the tone for the Lord’s teaching on the Eucharist to follow, and contains some important lessons about the Eucharist as well.

The First lesson that we do well to reflect upon is this miracle and the teaching to follow was His idea, the Eucharist is part of God’s plan for the Church, it’s not a human invention. The Lord planned this miracle, he planned this teaching. As the Gospel told us today, “he knew what he was going to do” even before he did it. And so, the Eucharist is part of God’s plan for Human Redemption.

Anyone who has ever thrown a banquet or cooked a meal knows that some planning is involved. And what’s the purpose of the meal, to nourish and to bring people, to bring a family together. The Eucharist is a meal that God has planned for the same purpose, to nourish and to bring the human family together.

Because of Original Sin, the Human Family is malnourished and divided. We keep going back to addictions and earthly, selfish pursuits which don’t feed our spirit. And our enemy, the Devil, loves to keep us spiritually malnourished and divided.

One example, I think of the enemies tactics is how he has attacked the family meal. One of the saddest sights is to see a family at a restaurant, at a meal, where parents and children, instead of talking to each other, they are using their mobile devices. Use of cell phones, books, other distractions, have no place at the Christian table. (That goes for Mass too, by the way) Why? Because they keep the family from communicating, from communion, with each other. And they keep us from prayer, from communicating, and communion, with God.

So, the Eucharist, is part of God’s plan, for reconciling fallen humanity with himself, and with each other.

Secondly, from the Gospel story, we see derive another important lesson. We see God doing somethings for us we cannot do for ourselves. The crowds who followed Jesus had no food, the disciples had no money to buy food, the five loaves and two fish were not enough to do the job, the people couldn’t feed themselves and on their own the apostles were helpless to meet the needs of the people.

Some very poor scripture scholars argue that actually the people had plenty of food, but they didn't want to share it—that the real miracle is that somehow Jesus, by sharing what he had, convinced them all to do the same thing. Such an insinuation is nonsense, it distorts the biblical data.
The fact that Jesus really did multiply the loaves and fish is emphasized by today's First Reading, where the prophet Elisha performed a similar miracle for a hundred people. Only the power of God was sufficient to meet the needs described by these passages of the Bible.

It reminds us of another Old Testament passage where only God’s power was sufficient: when he sent the Israelites manna in the desert. That too was a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the true bread from heaven, as next week's Gospel passage will remind us. If Jesus hadn't intervened with his miracle, those people would have gone hungry; they needed bread, and only Jesus could give it to them.

The same thing goes for us today. Heaven is not reachable by human effort alone. Sinful man cannot redeem himself. Divided humanity cannot unify itself. We need God. Sinful man needs a Divine Savior, spiritually malnourished humanity needs a Divine Physician. Similarly, with the Mass, no Christian, priest or lay has the power to change bread and wine into flesh and blood by his own power. Only through the Lord’s gift of the Sacrament of Holy Orders can we have the Eucharist.
To live the lives of wisdom, courage, hope, faith, and self-giving that we are called to live, in a sin-infected culture that is like a desert, void of all those virtues, we need God's help.

This is why, from the very beginning to our present day, it is considered gravely sinful to fail to come to Mass when we aren’t hindered by illness or age. Something crucial, something absolutely vital, is missing from the Christian’s relationship with God when we fail to come to Mass as we should.

But also, for those of us who do come to Mass, we also have a responsibility to do our part to open ourselves to the spiritual nourishment, to the grace, of the Sacrament.

When little effort is made throughout the week to pray, to practice virtue, to repent of sin, to prepare our minds and souls for this great banquet, little grace is obtained. I know many Catholics who say, I don’t go to mass because I don’t get anything out of it. When little is put into mass, little is gotten out of mass.

But when you attentively listen to the sacred words of the liturgy, desiring to integrate the wisdom of God’s Word into your life, when you come to Church conscious of your blessings with gratitude to God for them, when you come here with trust that God will give you the strength you need to be holy and to remain faithful to Him throughout the week’s challenges, when you fully, consciously, actively unite yourself to the sacrifice of Christ made present on this altar, and when you come here with openness to being led by the Spirit to work for the spread of the Gospel outside these walls, you will get something out of mass, you will get the life of Jesus Himself, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

2nd Week of Easter 2018 - Friday - Hungry for God

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. Those who are immersed into the waters of baptism are immersed into the saving death and resurrection of the Lord. St. Paul explains this in his letter to the Colossians:  "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead"

Well, if the first set of Scripture 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.” This connection 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.

Part of our Easter faith and our Easter journey every year is to deepen our appreciation, love, and gratitude for the new life we receive through Christ: new life begun in baptism, new life strengthened in confirmation, and new life sustained 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.

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.
 
- - - - - - - -

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.