Not to believe this is to fail to understand the Love of God which propels Him to give Himself to us as our heavenly food.

Solemnity of Corpus Christi

In the past we have spoken about how we are to be perfected in agape love in this life in order to be able to share now, and fully in the life to come, the inner life and love of the Blessed Trinity, Father Son and Holy Ghost. Today, we speak of the very source of this love…the pierced heart of Christ truly present in the Holy Eucharist; the Holy Eucharist is truly the human heart of Christ pierced out of love for us in order to show us the Father’s love. And so Corpus Christi is the feast of God's love; the feast of the Holy Eucharist in which we celebrate the Body and blood of Christ truly made present at each and every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If we really knew what the Holy Mass is and what the Holy Eucharist is, we would die of joy just to think about it, much less to be present at it.

In order to help us, to the extent we can, understand this greatest of all God’s gifts-the Holy Eucharist, there have been literally hundreds of what is known as, “Eucharist Miracles” throughout the centuries. We are in fact here at St. Patrick's working on getting a display of all 160 documented Eucharistic Miracles. This display, which would be printed in high quality and on vinyl could be an new apostolate of St. Patrick's dedicate to spreading Eucharistic adoration, not only in our parish, but in other parishes as well, as anywhere we could by displaying them. If after looking at the miracles if you are interested in helping us to fund this apostolate, let me know.

We have examples of just seven of those 160 documented miracles in the back of Church today. Please take a look after Mass..
Today, I want to share just one of these Eucharistic Miracles with you that occurred in the village of Blanot France.

The village of Blanot is situated in a long, narrow valley surrounded by picturesque mountains. Inconspicuous because of its location, it was nevertheless favored by God, who honored it with a Eucharistic miracle. The physical evidence of this event is still preserved in the church in which it occurred.

Before relating the miracle, it would be best to recall the manner in which Holy Communion was distributed in the 14th century and still is in many, many places yet today. In fact this way is really considered to be the most reverent. This is by the way a practice that the Church desires us to return, in fact it was never meant to be discontinued.

During Holy Mass, when the time approaches for the distribution of Communion, the communicants approach the altar railing which separates the body of the church from the holy of holies, the sanctuary. Taking their places side by side along the length of the railing, the faithful kneel to show and express their humility and faith.

Then, two altar boys approach the railing and take their places one at each end. Reaching down for a long linen cloth that hangs the length of the railing on the side facing the sanctuary, each takes his end of the cloth and flips it over the top of the railing. The communicants then place their hands beneath the cloth, following a 6,000 year old spiritual law of both the Old and New Testament, that only consecrated hands touch consecrated and so sacred things.

The priest, holding the ciborium containing the consecrated Hosts, approach one end of the railing and distribute the Hosts as he moves along its length. At the time of the miracle this was the way in which Holy Communion was received at Blanot. and still is at the Extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Mass.

The miracle occurred on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1331, at the first Mass of the day, which was offered by Pastor of the Parish. Because of the solemn occasion, two men of the parish named Thomas and Guyot were also serving in addition to the altar boys. At Communion time the two men approached the altar railing, took their places at each end and turned the long cloth over the railing. The parishioners took their places, held their hands under the cloth and waited for the approach of the priest.

One of the last to receive was a woman named Jacquette. The priest placed the Host on her tongue, turned, and started walking toward the altar. It was then that both men and a few of the communicants saw the Host fall from the woman's mouth and land upon the cloth that covered her hands. As the priest was then placing the ciborium inside the tabernacle, one of them men approached the altar and informed the priest of the accident. The priest immediately left the altar and approached the railing; but instead of finding the Host, he saw a spot of blood the same size as the Host. The host had dissolved into visible blood.

When the Mass was completed, the priest took the cloth into the sacristy and placed the stained area in a basin filled with clear water. After washing the spot and scrubbing it with his fingers numerous times he found that, far from becoming smaller and lighter, it had actually become larger and much darker.

On removing the cloth from the basin he was surprised to find that the water had turned bloody. The priest and his assistants were not only astonished, but also frightened, and exclaimed, "This is the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ!" and then fell to their knees in adoration. The priest then took a knife and, after washing it, cut from the cloth the piece bearing the bloody imprint of the Host. This square piece of cloth was reverently placed in the tabernacle.

The Hosts that remained in the ciborium after the distribution of Holy Communion on that Easter Sunday were never used, and were carefully reserved in the tabernacle. The reason for this is not known, although one might speculate that the priest wished to avoid a possible repetition of the prodigy.

In 1706 these Hosts, preserved in good condition after 375 years, were taken in a five-hour procession around the parish of Blanot in observance of the anniversary of the miracle. Taking part in the ceremony were many prelates and a great many people of the parish and the surrounding areas. At the conclusion of the procession, the silver ciborium holding the Hosts was returned to the golden box in which it was kept. This was carefully placed in the main tabernacle of the church. To this day, each year on Easter Monday, according to ancient custom, the relic of the Eucharist Miracle is solemnly exposed in the church of Blanot.

This brings us to today's great feast. Corpus Christi is the feast in which each of us should examine our faith in the true presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We should also examine our love for Jesus there, and see if that Love is carry out in deeds, mainly by examining how we are receiving Jesus. Are we receiving Him with the utmost reverence, devotion, and love, as if we truly believe that the Host is indeed Jesus, our Lord and our God?

The Church is again working to restore again the most reverent way to receive Jesus, as at the time of the Eucharistic Miracle of Blenot. We for our part have to be careful we are not receiving Jesus irreverently or carelessly. And so; it is out of love for Jesus, and pastor care and concern for you, that today I ask all of us to examine the way we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. And so on this beautiful feast day, I think it would be a good opportunity to take some time to go over proper reception. The Eucharist is too great gift to tolerate any depreciation or ambiguity.

Shortly after Vatican II the U.S. Bishops asked Rome for a temporary permission to allow the faithful to receive communion in the hand; Rome granted this temporary proviso but only if those who wish to receive communion in the norm of the Universal Church, which is kneeling and on the tongue, would not be prevented from doing so.

The bishops said if the Holy Communion was to received on the hand, the following procedure was to be followed by all who chose to do so.
* Proper reception on the hand…-If you receive on the hands, you hands must be elevated and made into a throne to receive a king, because you are receiving a King, THE King--Jesus. You should bow reverently as the person in front of you receives Jesus. Then step up and receive Him saying Amen after the priest says the "Body of Christ."; and then step immediately to the side, so as not to hold up the line (making a act of reverence if you wish after you receive Jesus; and place Him in your mouth.

Some things to avoid in order to prevent improper reception on the hand:

*It is not permissible to say anything but "amen." Not, "I believe", not "my Lord and My God; not "Amen Father." or "thankyou." But only amen. All these things are contained in the "Amen."
*Do not place Jesus in your mouth as you walk off. This is disrespectful and the priest can't tell if you received Jesus, for some sneak into Mass to steal the Sacred Host. Simply Receive, step to the side, place Jesus in your mouth first and then walk off.
*Hands too low; If the Eucharist is God, then we should not receive
Him at our waist, not to mention it kills my back to bend over to
place Jesus in your hand. Jesus should be received with your hands in
front of your face. This is the beginning of what we hope for to see God
face to face, not waist to face.
*Flap Jack Jesus.
*The Jesus Shuffle…totally irreverent and risks dropping
Jesus…dropping Jesus doesn’t hurt Him, but hurts our belief. Right
Handed receive on the left and pick up with right and vice versa.
*Hands not open
*Hands at an angle (what do I do with this).
*Thumbing. Thumb onto Host and onto my finger (this is annoying)
*Hand to mouth
*The sneak attack….No grabbing, not just wrong, it’s impolite…
*And if you do receive Jesus on the hand, please make sure you check your hand for particles….the Church teaches that the smallest of particles is the whole Jesus (we heard this in the sequence; which should be studied by everyone by the way) and so if there are particles on your hand and you don’t pick them up and consume them, they fall to the ground to be trampled on…again it doesn’t hurt Jesus, it hurts us, because if we believe its him, we don’t want to have him fall on the ground, it hurts our belief; and we are responsible for any lost particle if we are not at least making an attempt to make sure none fall on the ground…

Of course, the other way to receive communion is on the tongue. In fact, the Church has recently said that this is the preferred way, the most reverent way to receive Jesus; "For if a the name of Jesus every knee shall bend what about before the very Person of Jesus?".

The Church says, that (the) manner of distributing Holy Communion by which the minister himself would place (the Eucharist) on the tongue of the communicants must (continued to) be observed, not only because it rests upon a tradition of many centuries, but especially because it is a sign of the reverence of the faithful toward the Eucharist. The practice in no way detracts from the personal dignity of those who approach this great Sacrament and it is a part of the preparation needed for the most fruitful reception of the Lord’s body…

By the way, one of the greatest supporters of communion on the tongue was Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She felt that nothing has destroyed the belief of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist more than communion in the hand. Many people want to receive Jesus on the tongue but feel uncomfortable or self-conscience, that’s okay, pray about it.

Let's speak of proper reception on the tongue"
Say amen; open your mouth (wide) stick out your tongue and say clearly "amen" Let the priest place Jesus on your tongue and then simply pull back your tongue and then close your mouth.

Some things to avoid in order to prevent improper reception on the tongue.
*Not opening your mouth
*Not sticking out your tongue (the only time you can stick out your tongue at a priest and get away with it.
*Avoid biting the host with your teeth or tongue (I have known priest to lose fingers :o) . )
*Biting down with lips. (might not lose fingers but nonetheless yuk!)
*Biting down with your front teeth on your tongue.
*Saying amen after you receive on the tongue (risk accidently spitting Jesus out; besides it is not polite to talk with Jesus on your tongue!)

I want to add here, even more important to the proper reception of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, is not just whether you receive Him on the hand or on the tongue, but whether you receive Him with your soul clean, that is in the state of grace with no mortal sins on your soul. We have to use the Sacrament of confession regularly if we are going to, not only to receive the fruits of grace from the Eucharist, but avoid doing ourselves harm by receiving improperly. St. Paul told the Corinthians, “That the reason why many of them were weak and ill, and some had died was because they were eating the Eucharist to their condemnation because they were not discerning that it was the Body and Blood of Christ.” And so if you not in the state to receive, it is okay to stay at your pew and make a spiritual communion, asking Jesus to come into your soul spiritually and telling Him how much you desire to receive Him. Not every one needs to come up to receive communion, its okay not to receive, if you not in the proper state.

One final point about our Eucharistic reverence and that is silence in Church. Because Jesus is truly present at all times in this Church in the Holy Eucharist, we must keep a reverential silence in this sacred place. The place to visit is in our beautiful and big vestibule; and not in the this Sacred Place. And so out of respect for Jesus Eucharist presence and for those who are praying to Him, please keep silence in this Sacred place, not only during Mass, but before and afterwards as well.

Thank you all very much for your humility shown by your openness to what I have just said. Now I want you to be at peace as you receive Jesus today, I don’t want to approach nervously, I am not going to yell at anyone who makes a mistake…but I am asking that you just try to receive, as I know you want to, to receive Jesus with as much reverence and devotion as you can, but most importantly with as much love as you can…

Let us ask the Holy Spirit through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist to help us to receive Jesus with as much love as possible…We are not just receiving a piece of blessed bread in Holy Communion we are receiving a Person, A Divine Person, God Himself, Jesus, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Not to believe this is to fail to understand the Love of God which propels Him to give Himself to us as our heavenly food. And so this day, let us cry out with firm faith and hearts full of love, “O Lord I am not worthy to receive you under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed….