Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time June 27th, 2010
Our readings today point out what God demands of those who desire to follow His ways, from Elisha in the Old Testament to the disciples of Jesus in the New. The demand of God for His followers is really a call to Holiness. This call has been issued by God from the most ancient of times-“be holy as the Lord your God is holy.” In our own day, especially through the Second Vatican Council, God again gives this “universal Call to Holiness,” to all believers, young and old and in between.
Unfortunately, however, so many think holiness as a negative, as entailing a loss of freedom. In other words, they think holiness is basically life minus the fun. There was a recent survey given to a group of 5th graders, that I think illustrates this very well.
In this survey the 5th graders were asked to rank in order, the desirability of 35 listed careers. They were given such choices as doctor, teacher, lawyer and others. They were asked to list in order which ones they most wanted to be. Interestingly, one of the 35 vocations listed was saint. Any idea where saint was listed by these boys and girls?.... Sadly, it was second to the last—thirty-fourth! The only less desirable position was that of a…garbage collector. (No disrespect intended to Garbage collectors, even they can become great saints). When asked why saint was listed so low, the children said that being a saint was a negative, unhappy life.
Our Gospel today gives us the same choice as the survey of 5th graders. Each one of us is basically being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up? Unlike the fifth Graders, today God is asking each one of us to answer, “I want to be a saint, I want to be holy!”
First we must ask the question, what is a saint- what does it mean to be holy? Well holiness is surely not something we can directly measure…we can’t weight this person or that person to see if their holy. Holiness instead is measured by how much we love God. Yes, we show our love for God by how we live our lives on the outside, but first and foremost our love for God is a disposition of our heart. Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean.
St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the little flower, on the outside seemed to be an ordinary nun living in her convent. On the outside there was really nothing special about her…saints in the real world do not have a heavenly look on their face, nor a halo over their head. St. Therese was so ordinary on the outside, that when the investigation started for her cause for sainthood, the nuns who knew her were rather shocked. Her?, they said. “There was nothing special about her!” She just did not meet any of the definitions of holiness that those nuns could see. Yet, her writings revealed a heart which was on fire with the love of God. She desired so very strongly and intensely to love God over and above all else. And so she did and became holy, became a great, in fact the greatest of saints. She did everything for love of God, even acts as mundane as scrubbing the floor. She taught that God doesn't expect us to do great things only small things with great love...this is sanctity.
Now that we have understood that holiness first and foremost consists in the love of God, and doing everything for love of Him, we discover what it really means to be a saint. It all begins with the heart, with desire. One saint said, “If we are honest, the reason we are all not already saints is because we really don't desire to be a saint.” We human beings too often instead desire pleasure, wealth, health and financial security, we think these things will bring us freedom..happiness. However, even when we have these things, we are still miserable. Look at the super rich and famous- are they the super happy? Would any one of us here really liked to have gone through what Tiger Woods recently went through?
And so we discover in the so often miserable lives of the rich and famous, that if we truly want to be free and happy, our first and greatest desire must be to love God and to love Him so much that we want to be a great saint. Again, a story from the life of St. Therese: She did not want to just barely get into heaven, as if it were the last pew in the Church. She never said, “I desire to be mediocre and lukewarm.” No, she desired to be not only a saint, but a great saint. She desired it with all her heart. She looked at all of the vocations within the Church- she wondered what she should be when she grew up- she wanted to be the greatest missionary, the greatest mystic, the greatest evangelist, the greatest one to help the poor. In the end, she desired to be love in the Church. And so, it is no accident that she is not only a great saint, but one of only two women to be named a doctor of the church because of the heights of her holiness.
Yes, it is true there is a negative in our answering God’s call for us to be holy. At least it appears to be a negative at first. Each and every one of us is being asked, demanded to give up anything that we cling to and love more than Jesus. How do we know if we are attached to something, and so love something more than Jesus? Sometimes this questions helps to clarify what I mean, “What is it in this life that we can’t live with out? If we answered with anything but Jesus, this thing is a possession we must rid our heart of.
We are to let go of it, however, only because things can never bring us true happiness, only Jesus can bring us true happiness. We let go of lesser things only to obtain something, Someone…much greater—God Himself; and in the end obtain all other things besides. You see, Jesus doesn’t want us to set our hearts on things that eventually pass away, He wants us to set our heart on Him, He who will never pass away. Our hearts were made for Him and not for things (things are only to be use to help us to draw closer to Jesus). We have been created for greatness, that is, we have been created for Jesus.
Back to St. Therese for an example, she let go of all her possessions in this life in order to obtain her Jesus and she became a saint, but far from this leading to a negative, unhappy life, as the fifth graders believed, she like all saints was incredibly happy, with a out of this world happiness. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in our times echoes the same thing. She lived as the poorest of the poor; she lived in a situation we would find abhorrent- yet she was the most joyful of persons. People who came in contact with her were absolutely overwhelmed by how joyful she was; they saw Jesus in her.
Now, I am not saying that we all must physically get rid of all that we possess, as did St. Therese and Mother Theresa and become a religious or monk. What I am saying, again, that interiorly, we must free our heart of all that we have placed before Jesus. We are to “let go” of our possessions, our idols, in order to obtain, like St Therese and Mother Theresa, the supreme possession which is Jesus Himself, He from Whom all good things come.
So now maybe this saint thing, this holiness thing seems more attractive to us, but what is it that still holds our heart back, what still keeps us from giving our whole self to Jesus? Perhaps, we think that holiness is not for lay people- if I desire to be Holy, then I have to be a priest or nun; its easy for you to talk about holiness father, after all, you’re a priest. Someone recently told me a parishioner was talking about me and said, “That Father Lange he wants us to be as holy as He is…I responded by saying, Good God No!, I want you to be holier than I am… Holiness is for everyone, there are no exceptions. In the Gospels, Jesus called all to come follow Him in Holiness. Many saints in our Church were lay people- starting with the early martyrs, who were almost all lay people.
Perhaps, in the end, we’re just plain afraid to desire to be holy. If I desire to be holy, it means I have to follow Jesus along the same path he trod and so I must pick up the cross and follow Him. This causes us to quake in fear- we are so weak. I think this is a natural reaction- we all fear suffering. Yet, look at our lives- suffering is already there. There is not one person in this Church today who has a suffering free life; there is not one person here who will escape suffering no matter how many possessions and money he may have.
So, if we decide we need to be Holy and to love God above all else, we can desire to be a great saint. Right here, right now in our parish and in our family- we can desire to be a saint- in the ordinary circumstances we find ourselves in everyday life. The grace of God is there for us, we just gotta wan it as the saying goes. We have to confess that we have not loved Jesus the way we should have in the past, but now, with the help of His grace, we want to love Jesus over and above all else to possess Him fully. This is what it means to be a saint; and this is the greatest vocation in life, this is where, and only where true and lasting happiness lies.
In our Holy Mass today, may we all desire to be great saints. We will receive the fullness of grace in Holy Communion to help us, for in Holy Communion we receive God Himself-Jesus, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. May our Holy Communion today be an occasion where all our desires are met by the God that we receive hidden in the little white host.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Luke 7; 36-8;3 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary time. June 13th, 2010
This past Friday we celebrated the great Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In fact, the whole month of June is dedicate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "To celebrate the Heart of Christ means to turn toward the profound center of the Person of the Savior, that center which the Bible identifies precisely as his Heart, seat of the love that has redeemed the world. (Sunday, June 24, 2002 Angelus address)."
Before this great solemnity was inaugurated the Church for many centuries had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but this beautiful devotion took on a new life in the 1600s due to the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). Jesus appeared to her several times, and granted her the same privilege he had granted to St. John, and in a vision to St. Gertrude: St. Margaret Mary was allowed to rest her head upon Jesus' Heart.
In His message to St. Margaret Mary, Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of His Heart of flesh, as well as by frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour. Jesus said to St. Margaret, ‘Behold the Heart that has so loved men . . . instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude . . .’, He then asked her for a feast of reparation on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.”
As I said in my Homily on Friday, Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more than just a devotion to a pretty picture of Jesus. It is devotion to a person, the Divine Person of Jesus truly present in His Human body with His Human fleshy Heart in the Holy Eucharist. What husband would venerate a picture of his wife if she was standing right next to Him. And so while we are apart from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we venerate His image, either the image of the Sacred Heart or the modern version of the Divine Mercy. But when we are in the presence of His very Person in the tabernacle or on the Sacred Altar our love and devotion should be poured out on Him because there He pours out His love on us.
And this is really the message of today's Gospel. Jesus wants the ointment or the perfume of our life poured out on Him. He wants to be the sole object of all of our devotion and love, for only in Him, only in His Sacred Heart can we find refuge and strength...Love!
Our Gospel today shows the beautiful affections of this sinful woman and the coldness and indifference of the Pharisee, a sinners love for the one who granted her forgiveness; and, the hardness of heart and lack of love of a prideful man who did think he needed to be forgiven of anything.
When a guest would enter a house in the time of Jesus three things were always done as good manners demanded. The host placed his hand on the guest's shoulders and gave him a kiss of peace, especially if that guest was a distinguished Rabbi such as Jesus. Cool water was then poured over the guest's feet to cleanse and comfort them, from the dust and the difficult and dusty roads of the day. And then either a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of perfume of roses was placed on the guest's head. In this case none of them was done, thus showing the great ingratitude of Simon, in contrast to the sinful woman, who many believe was Mary Magdalene.
This woman was truly a bad woman, a notoriously bad woman, a prostitute. Nevertheless, she for her part made up, that is made reparation for the ingratitude of the heart of Simon and for her own sins. She had heard Jesus speak and had seen in Him the hand, the power, that could lift her from her pit of shame and despair. Round her neck she wore, like all Jewish women, a little phial of concentrated perfume; they were called alabasters; and they were very costly. She wished to pour it on his feet. It was all she had, and so it's pouring out signified the pouring out of her heart, all her love, herself to Jesus; in other words, the giving of her heart to the heart of Christ.
As she saw Jesus, tears came and fell upon his feet washing them. And then to comfort his feet she dried them with her hair. For a woman to appear in public in those days with her hair unbound was an act of the gravest immodesty, yet in this woman's case it signified, not immodesty, but that she had forgotten everyone but Jesus; He was now the sole object of her desires.
What was at the heart of the difference between this sinful woman and Simon. Well, Simon was conscious of no need and therefore felt no love, and so received no forgiveness. Simon's impression of himself was that he was a good man in the sight of men and of God.
The woman however was conscious of nothing else than her great need of Jesus and His forgiveness for her sins; and therefore she was overwhelmed with love for Him who alone could supply it, and so she received forgiveness for her great love.
If there is one thing that cuts man off from God it is self-sufficiency. The more we realize our complete dependence on God, our need for His forgiveness the better off we are; and strangely, the better we become. St. Paul spoke of the sinfulness of men, of whom, he would say, I am foremost. St. Francis of Assisi could say, "there is nowhere a more wretched and more miserable sinner than I." In fact, we could say, the greatest of sins is to be conscious of no sin; but a sense of need, the need for forgiveness, the need for the love of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist the more the door is open, the door of our hearts, to the forgiveness of God. Because God is love and love's greatest glory is to be needed.
Today we ask ourselves do we really see our great need for God and for His love and forgiveness? In what ways has our heart grown cold and indifferent as Simon's heart? Do we desire, as did the sinful woman, at this Mass and every Mass, to pour out the ointment, the perfume of our lives, of our love onto Jesus by offering in sacrifice our heart to His Sacred Heart fully contained in the Holy Eucharist?
This desire is shown by our faith, reverence and devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Last Sunday, close to 200 of you processed in the Corpus Christi procession proclaiming to the whole world your belief, adoration, hope and love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the whole Person of Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist. This by the way, is also what lies behind the offering and sacrificing of the best we have to beautify this sacred place with precious items to be used in the worship of God. I have notice as a priest that many times more than anything else you will be criticized for spending money for beautiful vestments and vessels and decorations for the sanctuary. We so many times decorate our own houses better than the house of God; we give the best to ourselves and give seconds to Jesus. What a shame.
But like the costly perfume ointment of the sinful women poured out onto Jesus' feet as a sign of her love and her great need for His love and forgiveness, doesn't beautiful things for the altar and the intensity and generosity our offering signify our great love for Jesus and our even greater need for his love and forgiveness. It was St. Francis of Assisi the apostle to the poor who said, "When it comes to the worship of God we need to use our very best to do so, our most precious metals and jewels, our finest linens and workmanship. When need to sacrifice these things, our best, not to mention our time and talent, for the worship of God, not because God needs them but because we do. The exterior beauties are like the ointment of the women, a sign of the interior offering of the beauty of our love our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. This is why if we don't practice stewardship and give generously of our time, talent and treasure we are not loving Jesus; for again, love is shown by deed, not by sweet words.
And doesn't our time spent before the heart of Jesus present in the tabernacle or on the altar at Mass or at Holy hours show our love for Jesus. Jesus ask us for our love, he who has loved us so much. Just think of the love of God that would find a way to keep His human fleshy heart on earth in order to remain with us and with which to love us and save us. Isn't it sad, in fact, reprehensible, that this love is in most cases met with indifference and ingratitude. Let that never be the case with us.
Jesus asks for Holy Hours and frequently communion, which also implies frequent confession in order to make up for the indifference of the hearts of so many men. Does our love for Him make reparation for so many others lack of love; is it strong enough? Maybe he will grant to us, the gift of resting our head upon His Heart; but only if we place ourselves frequently in the presence of His human fleshy heart and believe, adore, hope and love, begging pardon for those that do not believe, adore, hope and love His Sacred heart truly present in the Holy Eucharist the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
Let us ask our Blessed Mother to help us to pour out the ointment of love onto Jesus by offering our hearts, and so all that we have and are, totally at this Mass in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus to our heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. And then, it will no longer be our heart that beats in our chest, but Jesus Heart that beats within us.
This past Friday we celebrated the great Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In fact, the whole month of June is dedicate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "To celebrate the Heart of Christ means to turn toward the profound center of the Person of the Savior, that center which the Bible identifies precisely as his Heart, seat of the love that has redeemed the world. (Sunday, June 24, 2002 Angelus address)."
Before this great solemnity was inaugurated the Church for many centuries had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but this beautiful devotion took on a new life in the 1600s due to the visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). Jesus appeared to her several times, and granted her the same privilege he had granted to St. John, and in a vision to St. Gertrude: St. Margaret Mary was allowed to rest her head upon Jesus' Heart.
In His message to St. Margaret Mary, Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of His Heart of flesh, as well as by frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour. Jesus said to St. Margaret, ‘Behold the Heart that has so loved men . . . instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude . . .’, He then asked her for a feast of reparation on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.”
As I said in my Homily on Friday, Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is more than just a devotion to a pretty picture of Jesus. It is devotion to a person, the Divine Person of Jesus truly present in His Human body with His Human fleshy Heart in the Holy Eucharist. What husband would venerate a picture of his wife if she was standing right next to Him. And so while we are apart from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we venerate His image, either the image of the Sacred Heart or the modern version of the Divine Mercy. But when we are in the presence of His very Person in the tabernacle or on the Sacred Altar our love and devotion should be poured out on Him because there He pours out His love on us.
And this is really the message of today's Gospel. Jesus wants the ointment or the perfume of our life poured out on Him. He wants to be the sole object of all of our devotion and love, for only in Him, only in His Sacred Heart can we find refuge and strength...Love!
Our Gospel today shows the beautiful affections of this sinful woman and the coldness and indifference of the Pharisee, a sinners love for the one who granted her forgiveness; and, the hardness of heart and lack of love of a prideful man who did think he needed to be forgiven of anything.
When a guest would enter a house in the time of Jesus three things were always done as good manners demanded. The host placed his hand on the guest's shoulders and gave him a kiss of peace, especially if that guest was a distinguished Rabbi such as Jesus. Cool water was then poured over the guest's feet to cleanse and comfort them, from the dust and the difficult and dusty roads of the day. And then either a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of perfume of roses was placed on the guest's head. In this case none of them was done, thus showing the great ingratitude of Simon, in contrast to the sinful woman, who many believe was Mary Magdalene.
This woman was truly a bad woman, a notoriously bad woman, a prostitute. Nevertheless, she for her part made up, that is made reparation for the ingratitude of the heart of Simon and for her own sins. She had heard Jesus speak and had seen in Him the hand, the power, that could lift her from her pit of shame and despair. Round her neck she wore, like all Jewish women, a little phial of concentrated perfume; they were called alabasters; and they were very costly. She wished to pour it on his feet. It was all she had, and so it's pouring out signified the pouring out of her heart, all her love, herself to Jesus; in other words, the giving of her heart to the heart of Christ.
As she saw Jesus, tears came and fell upon his feet washing them. And then to comfort his feet she dried them with her hair. For a woman to appear in public in those days with her hair unbound was an act of the gravest immodesty, yet in this woman's case it signified, not immodesty, but that she had forgotten everyone but Jesus; He was now the sole object of her desires.
What was at the heart of the difference between this sinful woman and Simon. Well, Simon was conscious of no need and therefore felt no love, and so received no forgiveness. Simon's impression of himself was that he was a good man in the sight of men and of God.
The woman however was conscious of nothing else than her great need of Jesus and His forgiveness for her sins; and therefore she was overwhelmed with love for Him who alone could supply it, and so she received forgiveness for her great love.
If there is one thing that cuts man off from God it is self-sufficiency. The more we realize our complete dependence on God, our need for His forgiveness the better off we are; and strangely, the better we become. St. Paul spoke of the sinfulness of men, of whom, he would say, I am foremost. St. Francis of Assisi could say, "there is nowhere a more wretched and more miserable sinner than I." In fact, we could say, the greatest of sins is to be conscious of no sin; but a sense of need, the need for forgiveness, the need for the love of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist the more the door is open, the door of our hearts, to the forgiveness of God. Because God is love and love's greatest glory is to be needed.
Today we ask ourselves do we really see our great need for God and for His love and forgiveness? In what ways has our heart grown cold and indifferent as Simon's heart? Do we desire, as did the sinful woman, at this Mass and every Mass, to pour out the ointment, the perfume of our lives, of our love onto Jesus by offering in sacrifice our heart to His Sacred Heart fully contained in the Holy Eucharist?
This desire is shown by our faith, reverence and devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Last Sunday, close to 200 of you processed in the Corpus Christi procession proclaiming to the whole world your belief, adoration, hope and love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the whole Person of Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist. This by the way, is also what lies behind the offering and sacrificing of the best we have to beautify this sacred place with precious items to be used in the worship of God. I have notice as a priest that many times more than anything else you will be criticized for spending money for beautiful vestments and vessels and decorations for the sanctuary. We so many times decorate our own houses better than the house of God; we give the best to ourselves and give seconds to Jesus. What a shame.
But like the costly perfume ointment of the sinful women poured out onto Jesus' feet as a sign of her love and her great need for His love and forgiveness, doesn't beautiful things for the altar and the intensity and generosity our offering signify our great love for Jesus and our even greater need for his love and forgiveness. It was St. Francis of Assisi the apostle to the poor who said, "When it comes to the worship of God we need to use our very best to do so, our most precious metals and jewels, our finest linens and workmanship. When need to sacrifice these things, our best, not to mention our time and talent, for the worship of God, not because God needs them but because we do. The exterior beauties are like the ointment of the women, a sign of the interior offering of the beauty of our love our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. This is why if we don't practice stewardship and give generously of our time, talent and treasure we are not loving Jesus; for again, love is shown by deed, not by sweet words.
And doesn't our time spent before the heart of Jesus present in the tabernacle or on the altar at Mass or at Holy hours show our love for Jesus. Jesus ask us for our love, he who has loved us so much. Just think of the love of God that would find a way to keep His human fleshy heart on earth in order to remain with us and with which to love us and save us. Isn't it sad, in fact, reprehensible, that this love is in most cases met with indifference and ingratitude. Let that never be the case with us.
Jesus asks for Holy Hours and frequently communion, which also implies frequent confession in order to make up for the indifference of the hearts of so many men. Does our love for Him make reparation for so many others lack of love; is it strong enough? Maybe he will grant to us, the gift of resting our head upon His Heart; but only if we place ourselves frequently in the presence of His human fleshy heart and believe, adore, hope and love, begging pardon for those that do not believe, adore, hope and love His Sacred heart truly present in the Holy Eucharist the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
Let us ask our Blessed Mother to help us to pour out the ointment of love onto Jesus by offering our hearts, and so all that we have and are, totally at this Mass in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus to our heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. And then, it will no longer be our heart that beats in our chest, but Jesus Heart that beats within us.
Friday, June 4, 2010
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….
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….
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Ever to be adored
Today is the first Sunday after Pentecost, which ends the Great Fifty Days of Easter. We are back to what is called Ordinary Time of the Church calendar. However, there really is no “ordinary time” in the life of the Church, because a single Holy Mass offered any-time is of infinite value. Every Holy Mass offered anytime gives us the opportunity to come in intimate contact with the Blessed Trinity; to become united to the Son, and through the Son, to be united to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Our Final Goal is in fact, the Holy Trinity and to be One with the Holy Trinity, Who is the God who is Love. And this is the reason why the truth of the Holy Trinity is the key pillar of the Christian faith and so why we celebrate liturgically this great Solemnity right after Pentecost. However, every single Holy Mass on Sunday or Weekday is a celebration of the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity.
It took a few centuries for Church to try to discuss the Trinity in ways that are true to the mystery; and as a result, we say that the Trinity consists of three persons with one nature in perfect unity. Personally, we can have a great deal of trouble trying to contemplate this Mystery of all mysteries and so it is very easy to fall into error. And many have fallen into errors in their understanding of the Blessed Trinity especially in our day.
For example, many in our own day think that Jesus was a great guy and a great teacher-prophet; and that he had a unique relationship with the Father, but nonetheless He was still merely just human like the rest of us, a person to admire but not a God to be adored. In the end, they deny that He is equal to the Father; that He is God and always was fully God and always will be God, the living God to be adored. Many such as the Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons outright deny the Trinity even though God Himself, Jesus revealed the Trinity; and as God He could neither deceived nor be deceived. Like all the Mysteries of our Faith we believe ultimately because Jesus said so; He revealed them with authority because He alone came from the Father.
In speaking of the Holy Trinity, simply stated, the mystery of the Holy Trinity states that there is one God in three Divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God, not three Gods, - one divine nature in three distinct divine Persons. The Divine nature is not divided between the persons of the Blessed Trinity; each person shares in the fullness of the Divine nature, yet the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, etc.
It doesn't work to think mathematically (i.e. one plus one plus one equals one). No we must think in terms of love to begin to understand the Trinity. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to think about the Trinity is their essential unity, a unity which comes from Perfect Love. The Three Persons of the Trinity are One in Perfect Love. Let's use the example of Human love to helps us understand.
We understand that when we love someone we want to be close to them; in fact if we really love them we want to be one with them- the expression of "one mind and one heart comes to mind." We say this because we love someone. Our love gives us the intention to live our lives with our loved one in a way that not only proves our undying love and fidelity, but moves towards a more perfect unity, a unity of love. We understand this intention and yet we understand how hard it is to accomplish. Yet, we do try; hopefully. For example, a man and a woman who love each other desire to give their whole selves to each other in marital love--to be one in mind, heart and spirit; when we see someone who loves like this we even say they are of one heart and mind.
For the Holy Trinity, however, love is not just intentional; it is completely real. In other words, They don’t just intend to love each other perfectly as we do, They are able and do love each other perfectly. Each member of the Trinity gives of Himself totally, perfectly to each other, nothing held back; and this total sacrificial gift of themselves unites them in perfect oneness, the oneness of perfect love.
The Fathers of the Church liked to say that the Holy Spirit is the substantial love between the Father and the Son. Their quality is essentially one- unity is the most important. God is Love, the Father is Love, the Son is Love, the Holy Spirit is Love; three persons united so perfectly in Love that they are a unity of one God; love unites--perfect Love unites perfectly.
The Holy Trinity is a mystery; however not to be solved, but to be professed and lived. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity reveals to us that we are called to greatness for we are called to the oneness of Love itself. We are actually called to share in the inner life and so the inner love of the members of the Blessed Trinity; to become one with the Trinity. The Trinity is our destiny. How important our understanding and belief is in the Trinitarian God. If we don't know what or for Whom we are made, how can we ever find our way back to Him, to live as one with Him. We are Made by Love and For Love; we are made to be One with Love--The Blessed Trinity.
And so we must in this life come to know the Blessed Trinity intimately. Before we can live in eternal Love itself--the Trinity, we must learned to love with perfection in this life, to be united in love with God and others for love of God. This is by the way, why unity is so important; unity in our families, unity in our Church on the Universal level, the local diocesan level, and the parish and unity among all Christians and among all men. There is no true love without unity; true love unites. This is why also, by the way, we must take an active part in family life; especially parish family life; giving of our time, talent and treasure...it's a matter of love.
To obtain this unity of love we must of course have contact, intimate with Perfect Unity Itself, Perfect Love Itself, the Blessed Trinity. The Blessed Trinity is the source of all unity and all love; He is the source of true and authentic family life because He is Family, not a family but The Family.
How do we have intimate contact with the Trinity? Well yes through prayer, but especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The Blessed Sacrament is the way to the Blessed Trinity of Divine Persons, for it is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus become Man. Through our adoration of the humanity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we can in faith touch the divinity of Jesus and so touch the Holy Trinity through the perfect Love and unity of the Son.
And then when we receive Jesus with faith in Holy Communion, He comes to us, in us; and through Him, the Father and Holy Spirit comes to us and in us as well and They make Their abode with us. As a result, when we receive Holy Communion worthily (and worthily is the key word here) we receive all Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. In the Holy Eucharist God gives Himself totally to us in love. And if in Faith, Adoration, Hope and love we offer ourselves to Him in return, we then begin to share already on earth, in the inner life and love of the members of Blessed Trinity. And the Trinitarian love is from whom we came and the greatness to which we are called to return.
Next we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is more than just of feast of the Son present in the Holy Eucharist because it is, as I have just said, the means by which we adore and commune with the whole Blessed Trinity. It is a chance for us to not only profess publicly our faith in the Holy Eucharist but our faith in the Whole Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Let us all celebrate that great feast day by coming to Mass and then joining in the Eucharist procession after the Tridentine Mass. The procession will begin at about 1:30pm. Join us as we take Jesus through our streets and by doing so profess our faith that He is really in the Holy Eucharist and that He is the Way to the Father, and the Truth by which we live.
In a little while when we profess the Creed of our Beautiful Catholic faith, we will profess our belief in the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, let us turn to the Blessed Mother to help us. By her powerful intercession she can obtain for us the grace to elevate our poor human understanding to contemplate the unfathomable mystery of the Blessed Trinity. to Holy Mary, Our Heavenly Mother, you who are the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede for us, pray for us poor sinners so that we may be united to Living God in Love and to one another in that same love. Amen.
Our Final Goal is in fact, the Holy Trinity and to be One with the Holy Trinity, Who is the God who is Love. And this is the reason why the truth of the Holy Trinity is the key pillar of the Christian faith and so why we celebrate liturgically this great Solemnity right after Pentecost. However, every single Holy Mass on Sunday or Weekday is a celebration of the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity.
It took a few centuries for Church to try to discuss the Trinity in ways that are true to the mystery; and as a result, we say that the Trinity consists of three persons with one nature in perfect unity. Personally, we can have a great deal of trouble trying to contemplate this Mystery of all mysteries and so it is very easy to fall into error. And many have fallen into errors in their understanding of the Blessed Trinity especially in our day.
For example, many in our own day think that Jesus was a great guy and a great teacher-prophet; and that he had a unique relationship with the Father, but nonetheless He was still merely just human like the rest of us, a person to admire but not a God to be adored. In the end, they deny that He is equal to the Father; that He is God and always was fully God and always will be God, the living God to be adored. Many such as the Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons outright deny the Trinity even though God Himself, Jesus revealed the Trinity; and as God He could neither deceived nor be deceived. Like all the Mysteries of our Faith we believe ultimately because Jesus said so; He revealed them with authority because He alone came from the Father.
In speaking of the Holy Trinity, simply stated, the mystery of the Holy Trinity states that there is one God in three Divine Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God, not three Gods, - one divine nature in three distinct divine Persons. The Divine nature is not divided between the persons of the Blessed Trinity; each person shares in the fullness of the Divine nature, yet the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, etc.
It doesn't work to think mathematically (i.e. one plus one plus one equals one). No we must think in terms of love to begin to understand the Trinity. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to think about the Trinity is their essential unity, a unity which comes from Perfect Love. The Three Persons of the Trinity are One in Perfect Love. Let's use the example of Human love to helps us understand.
We understand that when we love someone we want to be close to them; in fact if we really love them we want to be one with them- the expression of "one mind and one heart comes to mind." We say this because we love someone. Our love gives us the intention to live our lives with our loved one in a way that not only proves our undying love and fidelity, but moves towards a more perfect unity, a unity of love. We understand this intention and yet we understand how hard it is to accomplish. Yet, we do try; hopefully. For example, a man and a woman who love each other desire to give their whole selves to each other in marital love--to be one in mind, heart and spirit; when we see someone who loves like this we even say they are of one heart and mind.
For the Holy Trinity, however, love is not just intentional; it is completely real. In other words, They don’t just intend to love each other perfectly as we do, They are able and do love each other perfectly. Each member of the Trinity gives of Himself totally, perfectly to each other, nothing held back; and this total sacrificial gift of themselves unites them in perfect oneness, the oneness of perfect love.
The Fathers of the Church liked to say that the Holy Spirit is the substantial love between the Father and the Son. Their quality is essentially one- unity is the most important. God is Love, the Father is Love, the Son is Love, the Holy Spirit is Love; three persons united so perfectly in Love that they are a unity of one God; love unites--perfect Love unites perfectly.
The Holy Trinity is a mystery; however not to be solved, but to be professed and lived. The Mystery of the Holy Trinity reveals to us that we are called to greatness for we are called to the oneness of Love itself. We are actually called to share in the inner life and so the inner love of the members of the Blessed Trinity; to become one with the Trinity. The Trinity is our destiny. How important our understanding and belief is in the Trinitarian God. If we don't know what or for Whom we are made, how can we ever find our way back to Him, to live as one with Him. We are Made by Love and For Love; we are made to be One with Love--The Blessed Trinity.
And so we must in this life come to know the Blessed Trinity intimately. Before we can live in eternal Love itself--the Trinity, we must learned to love with perfection in this life, to be united in love with God and others for love of God. This is by the way, why unity is so important; unity in our families, unity in our Church on the Universal level, the local diocesan level, and the parish and unity among all Christians and among all men. There is no true love without unity; true love unites. This is why also, by the way, we must take an active part in family life; especially parish family life; giving of our time, talent and treasure...it's a matter of love.
To obtain this unity of love we must of course have contact, intimate with Perfect Unity Itself, Perfect Love Itself, the Blessed Trinity. The Blessed Trinity is the source of all unity and all love; He is the source of true and authentic family life because He is Family, not a family but The Family.
How do we have intimate contact with the Trinity? Well yes through prayer, but especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The Blessed Sacrament is the way to the Blessed Trinity of Divine Persons, for it is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus become Man. Through our adoration of the humanity of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we can in faith touch the divinity of Jesus and so touch the Holy Trinity through the perfect Love and unity of the Son.
And then when we receive Jesus with faith in Holy Communion, He comes to us, in us; and through Him, the Father and Holy Spirit comes to us and in us as well and They make Their abode with us. As a result, when we receive Holy Communion worthily (and worthily is the key word here) we receive all Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. In the Holy Eucharist God gives Himself totally to us in love. And if in Faith, Adoration, Hope and love we offer ourselves to Him in return, we then begin to share already on earth, in the inner life and love of the members of Blessed Trinity. And the Trinitarian love is from whom we came and the greatness to which we are called to return.
Next we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is more than just of feast of the Son present in the Holy Eucharist because it is, as I have just said, the means by which we adore and commune with the whole Blessed Trinity. It is a chance for us to not only profess publicly our faith in the Holy Eucharist but our faith in the Whole Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Let us all celebrate that great feast day by coming to Mass and then joining in the Eucharist procession after the Tridentine Mass. The procession will begin at about 1:30pm. Join us as we take Jesus through our streets and by doing so profess our faith that He is really in the Holy Eucharist and that He is the Way to the Father, and the Truth by which we live.
In a little while when we profess the Creed of our Beautiful Catholic faith, we will profess our belief in the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, let us turn to the Blessed Mother to help us. By her powerful intercession she can obtain for us the grace to elevate our poor human understanding to contemplate the unfathomable mystery of the Blessed Trinity. to Holy Mary, Our Heavenly Mother, you who are the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede for us, pray for us poor sinners so that we may be united to Living God in Love and to one another in that same love. Amen.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
The Holy Spirit is one who came with many gifts on Pentecost.
Homily for Pentecost Sunday--John 20:19-23
Today we celebrate the birth of the Church. It is the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles in the upper room. But not before they had spent the previous nine days in deep prayer with the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who is the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is a day of momentous change- the frightened apostles locked in the upper room, from this point on, become bold witnesses to the salvation found only through Jesus Christ. It was the power of the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit who made this remarkable change happen in the lives of ordinary men like you and me.
The Holy Spirit is one who came with many gifts on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit gave the apostles seven-fold gifts of grace. These were supernatural gifts-gifts that enabled them to live for God alone and to stand up for His truth and do great deeds in witness to Him. When the power of the Holy Spirit came upon they became great witness throughout the world.
On the day of Pentecost the twelve boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus- that he died and rose again to save us from our sins; that although He ascended into heaven, He at the same time still remained on earth in the Holy Eucharist to save those who believe, adore, hope and love Him there. Let us look closer at these supernatural gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to them and will also give to us, if we but ask in heartfelt prayer. These supernatural gifts are: WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, FORTITUDE, COUNSEL, PIETY, AND FEAR OF THE LORD.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are added to our human efforts also known as our human virtues. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us in our human attempts at being good, at living a virtuous life, a life of holiness and faithfulness to God. Like the apostles, we all lack virtues, we are all weak to some degree or another; we are all too worldly. However, God in His infinite generosity desires to give us the Divine help. This help we need from on High is the Holy Spirit that we receive, through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Holy Eucharist and through prayer.
The gift of wisdom gives us a spiritual awareness of the love of God and allows us to order and judge the things of this world from this perspective-we don’t put the things of this world before the Creator of things. The gift of wisdom helps us not only to know the things of God, but to experience them in our lives-to taste them so to speak through faith. Like St. Francis, through the beautiful things of creation, we experience the Creator. We know through the gift of wisdom that we live for God alone, and this deepens our adoration of Him.
In the gift of understanding, or also called the gift of intelligence, we are given the understanding of divine things, especially when we read the Holy Scriptures. With this gift, the Holy Spirit gives us the desire to know and understand better the truths of our Catholic faith and how they affect our relationship with Christ. We understand better God’s saving plan for our lives, it becomes relevant in our daily lives—We begin to see more clearly how to live our Catholic faith.
The gift of fortitude gives us strength. This strength is not just for doing extraordinary things; like martyrdom, but this gift also helps us in the ordinary struggles we have in life, especially our daily struggle against sin. With this gift the Christian does not compromise in fulfilling his duty even in the face of insults and unjust attacks. With this gift we become courageous and persevere on the path of truth and uprightness, in spite of a lack of understanding and hostility coming from others.
Another gift of the Holy Spirit that can help us in important decisions in our lives- what would be the best thing to do? This help comes from the gift of COUNSEL. The Gift of Counsel directs us in our everyday life. It helps us, to prudently choose the right thing to do in a given circumstance. The Gift of Counsel enlightens our conscience in the moral choices which daily life presents--we become moral persons. No matter how intricate and difficult the situation is, aided by this great Gift, we are better able to see what to do in a given situation.
The Gift of PIETY helps us to live out the commandment to love God and love our neighbor. True Piety is knowledge that God is love, that he loves us, and loves each person infinitely. Our response should be to love God more and to love those whom he loves. With this gift, the Holy Spirit heals our hearts of every form of hardness, and opens them to tenderness towards God and our brothers and sisters. With this gift, we feel urged to treat all people with great kindness and friendliness. We all need this gift, just think about how often each day we are called to love people who are hard to love.
Lastly, the Gift of the FEAR OF THE LORD is a special gift, which helps us to dread and avoid sin. The gift of fear is not like the fear we experience in a horror film or the fear of being hit by a lightening bolt from heaven. It is not a fear in which we are afraid of God. It is our sin, which causes us to fear God in this wrong way. The gift of fear from the Holy Spirit is a holy fear, a fear of not hurting someone who loves you. When we love someone, we want to avoid offending or hurting him. This is the type of fear we should have with our Lord This fear is like the fear of our child who loves his daddy so much that he fears doing anything that would offend Him. This gift of fear can help us to avoid sin, doing that what is offensive and displeasing to God and harmful to others and ourselves.
Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us with all of his gifts. We need these gifts so very much. He is an all knowing Expert who will guide us in our decisions and difficulties if we ask Him; He will help us to make the right choices in our lives, to choose this action or that; He will help us in our relationships, to get along better with those we love; He will help us in the times we have no idea what to do, situations that seem hopeless or impossible such as the death of a loved one, loss of a job, failure in finding employment. And when we feel lost, if we cry out to the Holy Spirit, He will show us the way.
And most of all, The Holy Spirit will be a dearest friend by enlightening us to those things that keep us from a closer relationship to Him and the Father and the Son. He will, as a true friend, show us our sins so that we can be healed of them in the Sacrament of Confession. He will then make us pure of heart so that we can, through faith, see the face of God in the Holy Eucharist , adoring Him and receiving Him with great love. So that the Holy Spirit with the cooperation of the Virgin Mary and our worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist can rebirth Jesus anew in us so that we can be His witnesses throughout all the earth bring souls to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and through Him to the joys of heaven.
Veni Creator Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed the Virgin Mary, your well beloved spouse. Amen.
Today we celebrate the birth of the Church. It is the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles in the upper room. But not before they had spent the previous nine days in deep prayer with the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who is the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is a day of momentous change- the frightened apostles locked in the upper room, from this point on, become bold witnesses to the salvation found only through Jesus Christ. It was the power of the Divine Person of the Holy Spirit who made this remarkable change happen in the lives of ordinary men like you and me.
The Holy Spirit is one who came with many gifts on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit gave the apostles seven-fold gifts of grace. These were supernatural gifts-gifts that enabled them to live for God alone and to stand up for His truth and do great deeds in witness to Him. When the power of the Holy Spirit came upon they became great witness throughout the world.
On the day of Pentecost the twelve boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus- that he died and rose again to save us from our sins; that although He ascended into heaven, He at the same time still remained on earth in the Holy Eucharist to save those who believe, adore, hope and love Him there. Let us look closer at these supernatural gifts that the Holy Spirit gave to them and will also give to us, if we but ask in heartfelt prayer. These supernatural gifts are: WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING, FORTITUDE, COUNSEL, PIETY, AND FEAR OF THE LORD.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are added to our human efforts also known as our human virtues. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us in our human attempts at being good, at living a virtuous life, a life of holiness and faithfulness to God. Like the apostles, we all lack virtues, we are all weak to some degree or another; we are all too worldly. However, God in His infinite generosity desires to give us the Divine help. This help we need from on High is the Holy Spirit that we receive, through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Holy Eucharist and through prayer.
The gift of wisdom gives us a spiritual awareness of the love of God and allows us to order and judge the things of this world from this perspective-we don’t put the things of this world before the Creator of things. The gift of wisdom helps us not only to know the things of God, but to experience them in our lives-to taste them so to speak through faith. Like St. Francis, through the beautiful things of creation, we experience the Creator. We know through the gift of wisdom that we live for God alone, and this deepens our adoration of Him.
In the gift of understanding, or also called the gift of intelligence, we are given the understanding of divine things, especially when we read the Holy Scriptures. With this gift, the Holy Spirit gives us the desire to know and understand better the truths of our Catholic faith and how they affect our relationship with Christ. We understand better God’s saving plan for our lives, it becomes relevant in our daily lives—We begin to see more clearly how to live our Catholic faith.
The gift of fortitude gives us strength. This strength is not just for doing extraordinary things; like martyrdom, but this gift also helps us in the ordinary struggles we have in life, especially our daily struggle against sin. With this gift the Christian does not compromise in fulfilling his duty even in the face of insults and unjust attacks. With this gift we become courageous and persevere on the path of truth and uprightness, in spite of a lack of understanding and hostility coming from others.
Another gift of the Holy Spirit that can help us in important decisions in our lives- what would be the best thing to do? This help comes from the gift of COUNSEL. The Gift of Counsel directs us in our everyday life. It helps us, to prudently choose the right thing to do in a given circumstance. The Gift of Counsel enlightens our conscience in the moral choices which daily life presents--we become moral persons. No matter how intricate and difficult the situation is, aided by this great Gift, we are better able to see what to do in a given situation.
The Gift of PIETY helps us to live out the commandment to love God and love our neighbor. True Piety is knowledge that God is love, that he loves us, and loves each person infinitely. Our response should be to love God more and to love those whom he loves. With this gift, the Holy Spirit heals our hearts of every form of hardness, and opens them to tenderness towards God and our brothers and sisters. With this gift, we feel urged to treat all people with great kindness and friendliness. We all need this gift, just think about how often each day we are called to love people who are hard to love.
Lastly, the Gift of the FEAR OF THE LORD is a special gift, which helps us to dread and avoid sin. The gift of fear is not like the fear we experience in a horror film or the fear of being hit by a lightening bolt from heaven. It is not a fear in which we are afraid of God. It is our sin, which causes us to fear God in this wrong way. The gift of fear from the Holy Spirit is a holy fear, a fear of not hurting someone who loves you. When we love someone, we want to avoid offending or hurting him. This is the type of fear we should have with our Lord This fear is like the fear of our child who loves his daddy so much that he fears doing anything that would offend Him. This gift of fear can help us to avoid sin, doing that what is offensive and displeasing to God and harmful to others and ourselves.
Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us with all of his gifts. We need these gifts so very much. He is an all knowing Expert who will guide us in our decisions and difficulties if we ask Him; He will help us to make the right choices in our lives, to choose this action or that; He will help us in our relationships, to get along better with those we love; He will help us in the times we have no idea what to do, situations that seem hopeless or impossible such as the death of a loved one, loss of a job, failure in finding employment. And when we feel lost, if we cry out to the Holy Spirit, He will show us the way.
And most of all, The Holy Spirit will be a dearest friend by enlightening us to those things that keep us from a closer relationship to Him and the Father and the Son. He will, as a true friend, show us our sins so that we can be healed of them in the Sacrament of Confession. He will then make us pure of heart so that we can, through faith, see the face of God in the Holy Eucharist , adoring Him and receiving Him with great love. So that the Holy Spirit with the cooperation of the Virgin Mary and our worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist can rebirth Jesus anew in us so that we can be His witnesses throughout all the earth bring souls to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and through Him to the joys of heaven.
Veni Creator Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed the Virgin Mary, your well beloved spouse. Amen.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Jesus is Heaven !
Luke 24; 46-53 Ascension. May 16th,2010
Today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. As you know, when we pray the Rosary, the Ascension is mentioned as the second Glorious Mystery. Remember, every mystery of the rosary has a particular grace assigned to it; and as we announce and contemplate the mystery of the Ascension, we pray for an increase in the grace of Hope. which is a Theological Virtue.
The celebration of the Ascension strengthens and nourishes our hope that one day, if we remain faithful Disciples of Christ by keeping His word, His commandments, His teachings, especially His commandment of love, we will join Him in heaven with the Father and all the saints. As Jesus has taken His human nature, his human body and soul to heaven, so too someday He will take to heaven those humans who have loved Him not only in word but also in deed.
Christ has gone before us into heaven and so we know that we are called there as well, this is the source of our great hope in this present life which in its great anxieties, trials, and sufferings can so often seem devoid of hope. Pope Benedict XVI writes, "The meaning of Christ's Ascension expresses our belief that in Christ the humanity we share (with Him) has entered in the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that man has found an everlasting place in God."....."we go to heaven to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him."
We could replace the word heaven in the pope’s comment with the word hope…we have hope to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. Heaven is a person: "Jesus Himself is what we call heaven. And so to be in heaven means to be one with Jesus in a bond of endless love. This is our hope because Jesus is our hope.
This brings up one of the mistakes that many can make in their understanding about Christ ascension into heaven. The mistake is to think that Jesus is no longer with us here on earth. We can wrongly picture Jesus standing before the apostles and then floating up into the clouds disappearing from their sight. This is not what the language of the Gospel means. We have to understand the words of today's Gospel mystically; because they are speaking of great mysteries.
Mystically speaking what does it mean, as we are told in today's Gospel, "and he was taken up into heaven."? Well first of all Heaven is not a place up in the sky somewhere beyond the clouds or beyond the stars at the edge of the universe; nor is heaven some type of other dimension or parallel universe talk of which is so in vogue now a days; heaven is not the stuff of science fiction. Heaven is all around us because God is all around us. There is however a veil that separates heaven from us. Heaven goes beyond our senses; even though it is all around it transcends our ability to see it, touch it, taste it, hear it or smell it. Yet is more a reality around us than which we can sense; heaven transcends our senses.
To be taken up into heaven means then to enter through that veil or to have the veil removed; it is to go beyond our sense perception and behold that which we can only see now through the eyes of faith. To be taken up into heaven is to behold that reality above all other realities which no eye as seen, no ear has heard nor has never even entered into the mind of man. It is to see that God who is all around as He truly is, to behold Him face to face, which means to become One with Him in a eternal union of unending Love. Heaven is the ultimate reality, more real than what we can see, smell, hear, touch, or taste.
At His ascension then Jesus in His human body, entered through that veil and became the way, in fact the only way for us to enter through as well. And so Jesus' humanity has become a type of doorway or bridge from earth to heaven. And so where He has gone in His human nature we can also go with Him, in Him and through Him.
Hang with me here... Because of the ascension, Jesus' Human body is now present both on earth and in heaven at the same time. And so in His Human body heaven and earth become one. In Jesus, heaven and earth unite. Where Jesus is, is heaven; Jesus is heaven. And so as I said at the beginning, Jesus is the way to heaven and so As Pope Benedict said, " we go to heaven to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him."
The fact of the matter is, and this is very, very important to understand....the fact of the matter is, Jesus is still on earth. Not just spiritually, not just in the minds and hearts of the faithful, not just mystically in his body the Church. Jesus is still present on earth in his human, corporal, physical and resurrected body. His human body, with all that makes up a human body: His hands and feet, His bones and blood and yes, His Human Heart alive and beating.
The ascension was merely the end of His visible presence on earth, not the end of His physical presence on earth. Don't ever say, "when Jesus was on earth; and if you hear someone else say that correct them immediately. To say when Jesus was on earth is heresy. Jesus is still on earth, He is still on earth; He is still on earth.
But where is the body of Jesus on earth as it is in heaven? In the Holy Eucharist of course. When we are in the presence of the Holy Eucharist we are at the same time both on earth and in heaven at the same time as well. Where Jesus is there is heaven. Whether we encounter the Holy Eucharist, which is Jesus in His resurrected and ascended body, at Mass or outside of Mass in the tabernacle or at hours of adoration through Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we enter through that veil that separates heaven and earth.
Yes we can't see with our human eyes the body of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist because we can't see Heaven. Yet, through faith we can know with certainty that He is really there and we can touch Him. "In faith God present in the Holy Eucharist can come to us, and show himself to the eyes of our heart."
Because Jesus is still on earth in the Holy Eucharist we discover that this, "The Mystery of Our Faith," is our hope in the present life of struggle and fear. But we must believe with our whole hearts and minds that He is really there in the tabernacle and on our altars after the words of consecration are spoken; and we must, we must, if we are to possess hope, live out that belief by adoring Him in the Holy Eucharist, falling on our knees and crying out in love, "Oh my God I believe, please help my unbelief. The Eucharist is our resurrected and ascended Lord. The Eucharist is Jesus and where Jesus is there is our hope, there is Heaven on earth.
Faith alone helps us to believe that just as Jesus is present in a human body at the right hand of His father, He will shortly be present in His human body on this very altar. And faith in this true bodily presence is the cause of our hope…Jesus in His body has never left earth, He is still here in His Body in the Eucharist. Those who believe this have hope, those who do not have no hope…Those who adore Jesus frequently in faith, not only at Mass but before His true bodily presence in the tabernacle, will have their hope increased that one day they shall see Jesus as He is, the veil of the appearance of bread and wine will be lifted from their minds and they will be with Him and in Him forever…Let us turn to Our Lady for help…Holy Mary, Mother of our hope, Queen of Peace, pray for us. Come Holy Spirit, Come by means of the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your well-beloved spouse. Amen.
Today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. As you know, when we pray the Rosary, the Ascension is mentioned as the second Glorious Mystery. Remember, every mystery of the rosary has a particular grace assigned to it; and as we announce and contemplate the mystery of the Ascension, we pray for an increase in the grace of Hope. which is a Theological Virtue.
The celebration of the Ascension strengthens and nourishes our hope that one day, if we remain faithful Disciples of Christ by keeping His word, His commandments, His teachings, especially His commandment of love, we will join Him in heaven with the Father and all the saints. As Jesus has taken His human nature, his human body and soul to heaven, so too someday He will take to heaven those humans who have loved Him not only in word but also in deed.
Christ has gone before us into heaven and so we know that we are called there as well, this is the source of our great hope in this present life which in its great anxieties, trials, and sufferings can so often seem devoid of hope. Pope Benedict XVI writes, "The meaning of Christ's Ascension expresses our belief that in Christ the humanity we share (with Him) has entered in the inner life of God in a new and hitherto unheard of way. It means that man has found an everlasting place in God."....."we go to heaven to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him."
We could replace the word heaven in the pope’s comment with the word hope…we have hope to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. Heaven is a person: "Jesus Himself is what we call heaven. And so to be in heaven means to be one with Jesus in a bond of endless love. This is our hope because Jesus is our hope.
This brings up one of the mistakes that many can make in their understanding about Christ ascension into heaven. The mistake is to think that Jesus is no longer with us here on earth. We can wrongly picture Jesus standing before the apostles and then floating up into the clouds disappearing from their sight. This is not what the language of the Gospel means. We have to understand the words of today's Gospel mystically; because they are speaking of great mysteries.
Mystically speaking what does it mean, as we are told in today's Gospel, "and he was taken up into heaven."? Well first of all Heaven is not a place up in the sky somewhere beyond the clouds or beyond the stars at the edge of the universe; nor is heaven some type of other dimension or parallel universe talk of which is so in vogue now a days; heaven is not the stuff of science fiction. Heaven is all around us because God is all around us. There is however a veil that separates heaven from us. Heaven goes beyond our senses; even though it is all around it transcends our ability to see it, touch it, taste it, hear it or smell it. Yet is more a reality around us than which we can sense; heaven transcends our senses.
To be taken up into heaven means then to enter through that veil or to have the veil removed; it is to go beyond our sense perception and behold that which we can only see now through the eyes of faith. To be taken up into heaven is to behold that reality above all other realities which no eye as seen, no ear has heard nor has never even entered into the mind of man. It is to see that God who is all around as He truly is, to behold Him face to face, which means to become One with Him in a eternal union of unending Love. Heaven is the ultimate reality, more real than what we can see, smell, hear, touch, or taste.
At His ascension then Jesus in His human body, entered through that veil and became the way, in fact the only way for us to enter through as well. And so Jesus' humanity has become a type of doorway or bridge from earth to heaven. And so where He has gone in His human nature we can also go with Him, in Him and through Him.
Hang with me here... Because of the ascension, Jesus' Human body is now present both on earth and in heaven at the same time. And so in His Human body heaven and earth become one. In Jesus, heaven and earth unite. Where Jesus is, is heaven; Jesus is heaven. And so as I said at the beginning, Jesus is the way to heaven and so As Pope Benedict said, " we go to heaven to the extent we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him."
The fact of the matter is, and this is very, very important to understand....the fact of the matter is, Jesus is still on earth. Not just spiritually, not just in the minds and hearts of the faithful, not just mystically in his body the Church. Jesus is still present on earth in his human, corporal, physical and resurrected body. His human body, with all that makes up a human body: His hands and feet, His bones and blood and yes, His Human Heart alive and beating.
The ascension was merely the end of His visible presence on earth, not the end of His physical presence on earth. Don't ever say, "when Jesus was on earth; and if you hear someone else say that correct them immediately. To say when Jesus was on earth is heresy. Jesus is still on earth, He is still on earth; He is still on earth.
But where is the body of Jesus on earth as it is in heaven? In the Holy Eucharist of course. When we are in the presence of the Holy Eucharist we are at the same time both on earth and in heaven at the same time as well. Where Jesus is there is heaven. Whether we encounter the Holy Eucharist, which is Jesus in His resurrected and ascended body, at Mass or outside of Mass in the tabernacle or at hours of adoration through Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we enter through that veil that separates heaven and earth.
Yes we can't see with our human eyes the body of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist because we can't see Heaven. Yet, through faith we can know with certainty that He is really there and we can touch Him. "In faith God present in the Holy Eucharist can come to us, and show himself to the eyes of our heart."
Because Jesus is still on earth in the Holy Eucharist we discover that this, "The Mystery of Our Faith," is our hope in the present life of struggle and fear. But we must believe with our whole hearts and minds that He is really there in the tabernacle and on our altars after the words of consecration are spoken; and we must, we must, if we are to possess hope, live out that belief by adoring Him in the Holy Eucharist, falling on our knees and crying out in love, "Oh my God I believe, please help my unbelief. The Eucharist is our resurrected and ascended Lord. The Eucharist is Jesus and where Jesus is there is our hope, there is Heaven on earth.
Faith alone helps us to believe that just as Jesus is present in a human body at the right hand of His father, He will shortly be present in His human body on this very altar. And faith in this true bodily presence is the cause of our hope…Jesus in His body has never left earth, He is still here in His Body in the Eucharist. Those who believe this have hope, those who do not have no hope…Those who adore Jesus frequently in faith, not only at Mass but before His true bodily presence in the tabernacle, will have their hope increased that one day they shall see Jesus as He is, the veil of the appearance of bread and wine will be lifted from their minds and they will be with Him and in Him forever…Let us turn to Our Lady for help…Holy Mary, Mother of our hope, Queen of Peace, pray for us. Come Holy Spirit, Come by means of the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your well-beloved spouse. Amen.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)