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FEAST OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW AUGUST 24

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY, CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

INTRODUCTION

Today, the Feast of St. Bartholomew is my 85T^h birthday, so much to be thankful, so many blessings. This is also the Tenth anniversary of my blog, began July 2015.

BACKGROUND

Saint Bartholomew lived in the first century AD. His name means “son of Tolomai” Bartholomew and is one of the twelve apostles. He was sometimes called Nathanael which is a Hebrew name meaning “God has given.” Philipp was the one who introduced Nathaniel to Jesus John 1:43-51.

Bartholomew was born in Cana in Galilee. In each of the listings of the disciples, the names of Philip and Bartholomew are linked, which could mean they were good friends or even related. St. Bartholomew preached in India and Greater Armenia. He was martyred in Armenia where he was flayed and beheaded.

In art Bartholomew is most commonly depicted with a beard and curly hair at the time of his martyrdom. According to legends he was skinned alive and beheaded so is often depicted holding his flayed skin or the curved flensing knife with which he was skin

JOHN 1:44-51

The names of the twelve apostles^* are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;….Matthew 10:2

After Jesus called Philip to follow Him, Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” John 1:45

The next day Jesus went into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

REFLECTION

Come and see! This was Phillip’s call to his friend Nathanael. We too should reach out to bring others to Jesus and Jesus will do the rest. Nathanael is without deceit. Nathaniel worships the true and living God without the duplicity and hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his time.

Jesus saw Nathanael under a fig tree before he met him in person. Jesus knows Nathanael through and through. Nathaniel is a righteous man, clearly a son of Abraham probably reading Scriptures under the fig tree.

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael (Bartholomew) saw the attributes of divine omniscience and calls out, ““Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

Lord may I experience your Divinity as Nathanael did!

JESUS CALLS PHILLIP AND NATHANIEL

FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY INTO HEAVEN

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

BACKGROUND

The Feast of the Assumption is the oldest Marian feast of the Catholic Church, celebrated universally by the sixth century. The feast was originally celebrated in the East, where it was known as the Feast of the Dormition, a word which means “the falling asleep.”

For two centuries after the death of Christ, under pagan rule, every memory of Jesus was obliterated from the city of Jerusalem. The sites made holy by His life, death and Resurrection became pagan temples. It wasn’t until the time of Roman Emperor Constantine (c. 285-337) that Jerusalem began to be restored as a sacred cit

DORMITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol.

The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem that “Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven.”

Did Mary actually die or was she assumed into heaven alive? We don’t have a definitive answer to that question but as Catholics we are free to believe either.

What we must believe according to the teaching authority of the Church (Magisterium) is: Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven, without seeing corruption.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we celebrate on August 15, is a defined Church dogma. In 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption by an ex cathedra pronouncement—that is, an authoritative teaching “from the chair” of Peter.

Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary a dogma in these words, “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven, without seeing corruption.

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ASSUMPTION OF MARY INTO HEAVEN

Mary’s role is well described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “By her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity… CCC 967

Our bodies, created by God, are sacred and are essential to our human nature. “….At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:9-13

REFLECTION

Mary did not ascend into heaven like her Son did under His own power, but was taken up to heaven by God. The Assumption completes God’s work in Mary since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption.

As hard as life in this world is, Mary’s Assumption into heaven is confirmation that our struggles are not in vain. Whenever we help lift people up in our sphere of influence we are also sharing in the grace of the Assumption.

Wherever there is an out stretched hand in labor for others we are participating in the grace and mystery of Mary’s Assumption. God awaits those we lift and we, the lifters! Our heavenly home awaits!

Today we join Mary in her happiness. We look forward to the day when we too can share it with her. Like Mary, we must with profound trust say daily: “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

PRAYER

“All-powerful and ever-living God:

You raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul,

to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory.”

In Jesus’ name we pray.

1 Corinthians CHAPTER 13

SCRIPTURE

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

JOHN 3:16

If I speak in human and angelic tongues^* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal… And if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…

REFLECTION

How does my love measure up to 1 Cor. Chapter 13?

God is love. As we make an account at the end of our lives, God will ask how we have loved.

Made in the image and likeness of God, do I love as God loves?

Are there people I don’t love? Why? Do I wish them well or evil?

1 COR. CHAPTER 12

SCRIPTURE

One Body, Many Parts.^*

Now the body is not a single part, but many. If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body. Or if an ear should say, “Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended. But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary, and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety,

.Application to Christ.^*

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the church to be, first, apostles;^* second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then, gifts of healing…Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST

Unity and Variety.

…^* There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;^c there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy…But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

REFLECTION

Consider your body and all its parts. What kind of God must we have that has given us all we need to sojourn here on earth.

Christ is one mystical body too, made up of many members with specific gifts of the spirit to enhance and spread the gift of Christ. What is/are my gifts?

SAINT MARY MAGDALENE JULY 22

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

MARY MAGDALENE WASHES JESUS FEET

“Your faith has saved you; go in peace!” Luke 7:44-50

In the 6^th Century, Saint Pope Gregory the Great identified St. Mary Magdalen as the woman who anointed Christ’s feet with perfume in the home of Simon the Pharisee

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment;…He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” But he said to the woman, your faith has saved you; go in peace!” Luke 7:44-50

REFLECTION

Instead of addressing His critics, Jesus addresses the repentant woman and praises her for her great love and faith and sends her on her way sanctified and redeemed. Her Faith has saved her not on her own but through the grace of God. Pray for that faith.

Jesus asks Simon, “Do you see this woman? Jesus has told us “they have eyes but do not see and ears yet they do not hear” Mark 8:18

Pray for a discerning heart to see the world as Jesus sees it.

THE CRUCIFIXON

…by the cross of Jesus were his mother and Mary of Magdala. John 19:25

Mary Magdalene remained faithful all the way through the Passion of Jesus. Do I embrace Jesus on the cross or avert my eyes from His passion and death?

Mary Magdalene followed the burial of Jesus to the tomb and saw where He was buried, and came on Sunday to anoint Him.

Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary then went and announced to the apostles, “I have seen the Lord, and what he told her”. John 20: 15-18

DO NOT CLING TO ME John 20:17

When Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene,”Do not cling to me.” Jesus invites Mary Magdalene and us to enter into the experience of faith which goes beyond what can be discovered by our “senses.”

“Blessed are those who have not seen and believe.” John 20:29

Saint Mary Magdalene is an example of true and authentic evangelization; she is an evangelist who announces the joyful central message of Easter,” He is Risen!

Do I evangelize?

Our first parents, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden spread death where there was life. Mary Magdalene in the garden of the Resurrection announced life from the Holy Sepulchre, a place of death. The first spread death where there was life; the second announced life from a sepulchre, the place of death.

PRAYER:

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS, MARY MOTHER OF GOD

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

JULY 16

BACKGROUND

Mt. Carmel is located in Palestine between Tyre and Caesarea about 20 miles from Nazareth, home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. On Mt. Carmel, the prophet Elijah witnessed God’s triumph over the pagan gods of Ba’aal. Carmel is the place where not only Elijah and Elisha lived and prayed but many hermits after them lived lives of prayer and sacrifice. It is a place described as a place where one is alone with God.

Elijah preached conversion and repentance and turning away from pagan gods. Elijah was the prophet and instrument of God to preserve the true religion of Israel. Perhaps the most exciting and dramatic event in the story of Elijah, the prophet is his confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel and the prophets of the pagan god, Ba’al on Mount Carmel. I Kings, chapter 18.

Elijah challenged Ahab’s prophets to a dueling sacrifice of bulls to see whose God was more powerful, “You shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one young bull and prepare it first, for there are more of you. Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire,” The prophets of Ba’al called upon their god from morning until evening to no avail. Elijah, rebuilt the altar of the Lord with twelve stones, prepared a holocaust and even surrounded it with water.

MOUNT CARMEL

He cried out to the Lord “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that thou, O Lord, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back.” The LORD’s fire came down and devoured the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust, and lapped up the water in the trench. Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said, “The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”

The Spirit of Carmel allows the love of God to increase in us, so like St. John the Baptist, we can say, “He must increase, I must decrease” John 3:30

REFLECTION

Silence and special places can assist us in our prayer time to deepen our relationship with Jesus and His Father. When we are aware of our own weakness that is when God is most likely to fill us and make us strong.

Listen to that small quiet voice of the Spirit and pray for discernment.

What is that voice really telling me? It may not be what I wanted to hear or expected. Sometimes it even says wait awhile

God dwells within the human person. Hence, one need not go out of self in search for God but enter progressively ever deeper within oneself to be with God who dwells at the very center of our being.

Carmelite spirituality proposes silence and solitude as necessary pre-requisites for prayer and contemplation. Silence is the condition for listening attentively to the still small voice of God.1 KINGS 19:11 to focus more attentively on the soft whispers within us is reminiscent of Elihah’s experience..

Carmelite Spirituality also focuses on practices of austerity as a means of freeing one-self from the tyranny of self-will. Detachment is a way of placing God first above all creatures.

From the cross, Jesus gave Mary to be our Mother. As our Mother she intercedes with her Son that He may gift us with all we need that we may be saved. . Mary is our maternal mother.

Mary is a very important intercessor on our behalf. From all eternity God chose Mary as the means to bring Christ into the worl. Christ could have entered into the world any number of ways. But God chose Mary as the vessel through which all grace would Pray for Mary’s intercession.

EPILOGUE

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL BROWN SCAPULAR

On July 16, 1251, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock who was Prior General of Carmel. St. Simon Stock had prayed fervently to the Blessed Mother for assistance as the Order of Carmel was enduring difficulties. Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Brown Scapular in her hands, saying to him, “Whoever dies invested with this Scapular shall be preserved from the eternal flames. It is a sign of salvation, a sure safeguard in danger, a pledge of peace and of my special protection until the end of the ages.”

Today, any priest has permission to enroll a lay person in the brown scapular. Please note that there are no special prayers or good works that are necessary to receive the promise. The Scapular is a silent prayer that shows one’s complete consecration and dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Scapular is a devotion whereby we venerate Mary, love her, and trust in her protection, and we tell her these things every moment of the day by simply wearing the Brown Scapular.

BLESSING AT TIME OF ENROLLMENT

Holy Father, you have wished that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ should take our human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the working of the Holy Spirit; grant to this son/daughter of yours who is about to wear devoutly the Scapular of the family of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel the grace of being clothed in Jesus the Lord in all the circumstances of this life and thus to attain to eternal glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 2:6-15

SCRIPTURE

The True Wisdom.^*

We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.

Rather, we speak God’s wisdom,^* mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory,

It is written: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” God has revealed to us through the Spirit…

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.

And we speak about them not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Spirit, describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms.^*

Now the natural person^* does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgment^* by anyone.

REFLECTION

We walk in faith not sight! Heaven united to God is even beyond our imagination. Trust in Jesus!

May the Holy Spirit guide me home!

May my wisdom image God’s to see the world as God sees it.

WHO SEES ME SEES THE FATHER

MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD MONTH OF JULY

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD

WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD

JOHN 1:29

BACKGROUND

John points to Jesus as the one who has come to be sacrificed for our salvation.

Devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus is as old as Christianity. The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, and that the sacraments were brought forth through His Blood.

Just as Eve, the mother of all life, was taken from the side of Adam, the Church and all the life-giving sacraments flow from the pierced side of Jesus. In the first century, Pope St. Clement I wrote “Let us fix our gaze on the Blood of Christ and realize how truly precious it is; it was poured out for our salvation and brought the grace of conversion to the whole world.

REFLECTION

The Bible regards blood as the symbol and source of life. “For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Leviticus 17:14 .

In the book of Leviticus chapter 16 we are told the story of the scapegoat. Two goats are brought to the temple high-priest for sacrifice. He sends one off into wilderness with the sins of the people to die alone and the other goat, without blemish, he will sacrifice and sprinkle its blood on the temple and on the worshippers. The lifeblood of a sacrificial animal offered in sacrifice represented the life of the individual making atonement

God’s holiness and justice demands atonement. Atonement for our offense against God requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice. Jesus Christ is that perfect sacrifice, human and divine… he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed. Isaiah 53:5

This is My blood, the blood of the covenant,

which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

Matthew 26:28

BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, You became Man that you might suffer your Passion and Death, even to the draining of your most precious blood so you might prove to us your love for us.

Protect us, dear Jesus. Strengthen our weak human wills so that we will not run away from the cross, but welcome every opportunity to shed our blood in spirit in union with your Precious Blood, so that, dying to ourselves in time, we might live with You in Eternity. Amen

FEAST OF SACRED HEART OF JESUS

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

JUNE 27, 2025

BACKGROUND

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries we find the first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is of great antiquity in the Church. It was St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, however, who made this devotion widespread. In Jesus’ appearance to Margaret Mary in the 17th century, June 1675, Jesus disclosed he wanted to share the wonders of His love and the treasures of His goodness to all the world.

Jesus told Margaret Mary, “Behold the Heart that has so loved men. Instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part of mankind only sacrilege, contempt, indifference and ingratitude.” Jesus asked her for a feast of reparation to His Most Sacred Heart.

Revelation of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

COMMENTARY

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This specific feast day is celebrated the first Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi. . The “heart” has been the symbol of love almost forever. Valentine cards are filled with hearts, boxes of candy come in heart shape boxes, we cover our hearts at the national anthem so is it any surprise that Jesus divine and human wants us to focus on His heart pierced for our salvation.

After Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque received apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus she told her Mother Superior and asked what she should do. Mother Superior advised Margaret Mary to tell the Priest in Confession and ask his advice. The priest told Saint Margaret Mary to ask Jesus what he confessed in his last confession. Next confession the priest asked Saint Margaret what Jesus said. Margaret Mary answered, “Jesus said “I don’t know, I have forgotten them!”

REFLECTION

In today’s culture of death, let us pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to lift up our Nation, indeed the whole world, to the One in whom we place all of our trust. His Heart still beats with Mercy and Love for the world.

Jesus suffered, He felt pain, He literally laid down his life for us …. The cross is not about how much Christ suffered but how much God loves us. Suffering (passion) is part of human condition. Love and suffering go together, like hand in glove. You love until it hurts, just ask a caregiver caring for a loved one.

.ADORABLE Heart of Jesus, source of true contrition and ever merciful to the penitent sinner, impart to our hearts the spirit of penance, that we reject our sins now and for the rest of our days. Strengthen our weakness, confirm our resolutions of amendment, that nothing in life or death may ever again separate us from Thee. Amen.

JESUS MEEK AND HUMBLE OF HEART

MAKE MY HEART LIKE UNTO THINE

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI THE BODY OF CHRIST

CATHOLIC FEAST DAYS

For 700 years and more, the Church has celebrated with great joy the Feast of Corpus Christi, the great gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us at the Last Supper.

I am the living bread from heaven…whoever eats this bread will live forever…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I w ll raise him up on the last day…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” John 6:48

THIS IS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN

JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST AT THE LAST SUPPER

CATECHISM OF THR CATHOLIC CHURCH *1323 “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again. Jesus entrusted his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity…

1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same…the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner . . .

Note “unbloody manner” means the “accidents” remain. Accidents are those things that appeal to our senses, touch, sight, taste,etc. The “substance” of the Eucharist is changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus and remains in “real presence” as long as the “accidents” remain. This is why the Blessed Sacrament may be reserved in the tabernacle for adoration and sick calls.

BACKGROUND

The feast of Corpus Christi was established on September 8, 1264 by Pope Urban IV as a universal feast of the Church, to be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. Today in the United States the feast is celebrated on following Sunday.

For centuries after the celebration was extended to the universal Church by Pope Urban IV, the feast was celebrated with a Eucharistic procession. The faithful would venerate the Body of Christ as the procession passed by. In recent years, this practice has almost disappeared, though some parishes still hold a brief procession around the outside of the parish church

.REFLECTION

I am the living bread from heaven…whoever eats this bread will live forever…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” John 6:48

Just as we need to nourish our physical bodies in order to have strength to work; and to live well, so too we need to nourish our souls to have spiritual strength, to live well now and for eternity. Nourished by this heavenly food we carry on the work of Christ and His Church.

If we want to have a closer friendship with Jesus. The best place to meet Jesus is in the Eucharist. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. John 6:56.

When we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, the Priest says, “the Body of Christ” and we say “Amen.” Our “Amen” means we recognize and acknowledge the real presence, body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, in all the tabernacles of the world. Yes, in our parish. He awaits us. Let us go to meet him in adoration.

TAKE AND RECEIVE,

THIS IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,

All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.