FEAST DAY SEPTEMBER 5

INTRODUCTION

Saints are models for us. The saints are not only models for us, they are intercessors on our behalf. Mother Teresa is one of my favorite saints. Years ago she inspired our whole family, teenage girls included, to spend time in the poorest of poor nations, Haiti to work with the poor and dying. One of the places was a hospice run by the Missionaries of Charity the order Mother Teresa founded.

We have never been the same since. It is true when you give your life for another, you save your life and that life becomes more abundant. God keeps His promises. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25

BACKGROUND

Born in Skopje in 1910, MOTHER TERESA joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin in 1928 and was sent to India, where she began her novitiate. She taught at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta from 1931 to 1948, until leaving the Loreto order to begin the Missionaries of Charity.

Through her sisters, brothers, and priests, her service of the poorest of the poor spread all around the world. She won many awards, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. After her death in 1997, the process for sainthood quickly began and she was beatified in 2003 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.

In 1946, Mother Teresa had a mystical encounter with Christ on a train to Darjeeling September 26, 1946 in which He asked her to take her love for Him a large step further. He asked her to leave the convent of Loreto and begin an order which would serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

During the time of her mystical experiences leading to the founding of the new order, she experienced deep spiritual union and the sensible awareness of God’s Presence in her life.

Here is a small sample of Jesus’ words to her: “My little one – come – carry Me into the holes of the poor. – Come be My light – I cannot go alone – they don’t know Me – How I long to enter their holes – in your love for Me – they will see Me, know Me, want Me…. For them I long –Wilt thou refuse?”

During her lifelong service to the poorest of the poor, Mother Teresa became an icon of compassion to people of all religions; her extraordinary contributions to the care of the sick, the dying, and thousands of others nobody else was prepared to look after, has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world.

Mother Teresa’s passionate love for God motivated her throughout her life: “I want to love Him as He has never been loved before—with a tender, personal, intimate love.” With the permission of my confessor, I made a vow to God – binding under Mortal Sin – to give to God anything that He may ask, ‘Not to refuse Him anything.’”

As Mother Teresa’s life as a Missionary of Charity began, her mystical experiences and deep awareness of God’s Presence within her soul ended. With the help of her confessors she gradually began to see this darkness as a dark night of the soul that enabled her to identify more completely with the darkness and alienation of the people to whom she ministered.

There were indeed times when she thought the darkness was more than she could bear, times when she prayed desperately for healing and relief. But she learned to accept the darkness without allowing it to impede her work. Her determination is expressed beautifully in these words: “The greater the pain and darker the darkness the sweeter will be my smile at God” (“Come Be My Light” p.222)

QUOTES OF MOTHER TERESA

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Each person is Jesus in disguise.

I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy. I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus..

It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

At the hour of death when we come face-to-face with God, we are going to be judged on love; not how much we have done, but how much love we put into the doing.

CONCLUSION

We are each called and equipped by God to not only survive our personal Calcutta, but to contribute to those around us whose individual Calcutta intersects our own. There is no need, then, to travel to far-off lands to contribute… Wherever we are, with whatever talents and relationships God has entrusted us, we are each called not to do what Mother Teresa did, but– to love as she loved in the Calcuttas of our own life.

Made in the very image and likeness of God, We on earth, are God’s love, God’s compassion, God’s will, God’s caregivers, His smile, His tears. We must show the presence of God in this world because He is not coming again until the end of time.

So many have forgotten what saints of the Old Testament knew that God is one, Lord of all and there is no other. So many floods, fires. earthquakes pestilence, wars so many man-made disasters. Why aren’t our churches filled with a call for repentance and mercy from a God that loves us.

Mother Teresa’s 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech

Lord, make me a channel of Thy peace that,

where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that, where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that, where there is error, I may bring truth; that, where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that, where there is despair, I may bring hope; that, where there are shadows, I may bring light; that, where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted, to love than to be loved; for it is by forgetting self that one finds; it is forgiving that one is forgiven; it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

COMMENTARY

A GLIMPSE OF GLORY

On August 6th, we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. In this extraordinary event, found in the Synoptic Gospels and the 2nd Letter of St. Peter, Jesus is transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John. The evangelists record that our Lord’s face shone like the sun and that his clothes became white as light. Then, Moses and Elijah appears to them and conversed with Christ.

THIS IS MY BELOVED SON

WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED
MATTHEW 17:5
A bright cloud then casts a shadow over the group and a voice speaks saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” The disciples fall prostrate and are very much afraid. Jesus, however, tells them to rise and not to be afraid.

The voice of God the Father from the cloud hearkens back to the cloud that guided the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus is the New Moses. Elijah paved the way for Christ, announcing His coming, the true God among the pagans of his time. Christ fulfills what the prophets foretold of Him.

Both before and after the transfiguration, Jesus told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and die at the hands of the elders, saying, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matthew 17:22-23. The three disciples who saw the glorified Lord were given a vision meant to strengthen them for the difficult days ahead when Jesus would be arrested and crucified.

CONCLUSION

Jesus shows plainly that He is the King of Glory, the One sent by God to redeem Israel. St. Peter noted, Lord, it is good that we are here. Matthew 17:4 We too must cherish every moment we are in the presence of God.

Let us reflect back on the times in which we have caught subtle, or not so subtle, glimpses of the glory of our Lord. Perhaps while reading Scripture where we have encountered the majesty of God. Or perhaps moments that occurred at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or in our adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Hour.

In our prayer, ask Jesus to reveal himself more deeply to us. Simply enjoy His presence and peace. Let the Glory of God wash over you and fill you with fortitude to endure present difficulties in order to share in that Glory one day.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” Matthew 17:5. These words of the Father affirm Jesus’ mission. Ask yourself, “Am I confident in the mission God has for me?” If you are unsure of God’s will for your life, spend extra time in prayer asking that he reveal it to you.

Thank Him at the beginning and the end of each day. Praise His Name always! Jesus’ transfiguration gives us a glimpse of the transformation we will experience at the resurrection. On the last day, we too will be raised from the dead. Like Jesus on Mount Tabor, our bodies will be transfigured and glorified.

JESUS WELCOMES US INTO HIS GLORY

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…. a holy city, a New Jerusalem, coming down from God…,
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.
He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God..
He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain…
REVELATION 21:1-4

HAPPY FEAST DAY!

INTRODUCTION

Three Archangels are identified by name in Scripture, Saints Michael (Who is like God), Gabriel (The Power of God), and Raphael (God Heals.) Today, September 29 is their feast day.  Angels are pure spirits, but sometimes may appear in human form to talk to us who are in human in nature of body and spirit.

MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:7-9

GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,  to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”…  Luke 1:26-33

RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Tobit the father of Tobias was blinded by the droppings of a bird. Tobit and his son were righteous men in God’s eyes. Tobit wanted his son to marry Sarah.  Tobias was hesitant because Sarah had already married seven husbands and they all died.

But Tobit and his son both trusted in God.  Tobit because he was blind  instructed Tobias to hire a guide to accompany him on the journey; so Tobias enlisted the assistance of Azariah, who was really the archangel Raphael in disguise

When Tobias and Azariah reached the Tigris River, Tobias stopped to wash.  As he knelt on the bank, a great fish leapt out of the water and frightened him. Raphael instructed Tobias to seize the fish by the fins, kill it, and remove its heart, liver and gallbladder.

He revealed to Tobias that burning the heart and liver would drive away evil spirits, that possessed Sarah and that the gallbladder could cure blindness. So Tobias salted the organs to preserve them, and wrapped them safely for their journey.

“When the wedding celebration came to an end, Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him, “Son, see to it that you pay his wages to the man who made the journey with you and give him a bonus too.” Tobiah said: “Father, how much shall I pay him? …He led me back safe and sound, healed my wife, brought the money back with me, and healed you. How much should I pay him?”….Raphael called the two of them aside privately and said to them: “Bless God and give him thanks before all the living for the good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name. Proclaim before all with due honor the deeds of God, do not be slack in thanking him. Tobit 12:1-6

 CONCLUSION

Raphael has been called the Patron of Healing. also the patron of the blind, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers.  Read the Book of Tobit.  I believe you will enjoy another deliverance story of God’s people.

PRAYER TO THE ARCHANGELS

Heavenly King, You have given us archangels to assist us during our pilgrimage on earth. Saint Michael is our protector; I ask him to come to my aid, fight for all my loved ones, and protect us from danger.

Saint Gabriel is a messenger of the Good News; I ask him to help me clearly hear Your voice and to teach me the truth.

Saint Raphael is the healing angel; I ask him to take my need for healing and that of everyone I know, lift it up to Your throne of grace and deliver back to us the gift of recovery.

Help us, O Lord, to realize more fully the reality of the archangel and their desire to serve us. Holy angels, pray for us. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Today, the Feast of St. Bartholomew is my 80^th birthday, so much to be thankful, so many blessings.  I thought about writing about my story but that would be a book and not a blog so I decided to blog about the Feast Day I was born on, Saint Bartholomew, Martyr, and Apostle.

 BACKGROUND

Saint Bartholomew lived in the first century AD. His name means “son of Tolomai” Bartholomew is mentioned in the synoptic gospels and Acts as 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 skinned.

JOHN 1:44-51

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.”  And He said to him, “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.”

 

Scriptural References

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 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 the Resurrection-Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way.  Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons,^* and two others of his disciples. John 21:2

 After the Ascension  When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Acts 1:13

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. Jesus points out to the others that Nathanael is without deceit.  He is who he is.  He 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.  What is that about?  Jesus is God, omniscient.  He knows Nathanael through and through.  This 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.”  I am struck that  Nathanael is the first of the Apostles to call out Jesus’ Divinity!

 EPILOGUE

 A group of us have been meeting every Saturday for several years to share our faith and explore more deeply what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  We call ourselves Pilgrims on the Way.

Here is a prayer we say: Dear Jesus, we are pilgrims on the way, you are the way, the truth, and Life. Help us to persevere on our journey home and bear witness to others so that all will be saved.  In Jesus’ name we pray.

We pretty well have every generation covered.  We are in our 30s, 50s, 70s, and 80s.  I will share just a few of the topics we have covered lately that includes Church teaching, Modern Prophecy, Vatican II, and Scripture.

CHURCH TEACHING

 BURIAL VS CREMATION

During the many long centuries when Christians buried their dead, most saw the world through a sacramental lens. They recognized that everything in creation was made by God, loved by God, and had something to tell us about God. They knew that what God made was holy!

Today we live in a world that primarily sees the body as one of two things: a burden or a barrier. People, today,  see the body as a burden because it grows sick, it grows old, it dies.  What did the body really matter, once it had outlived its usefulness?

The Church considers the burial of the dead one of the “corporal works of mercy,” and that burial both encourages prayers for the dead and is a perpetual reminder of the communion of the saints. Cremation is permitted by the Church but burial is the preferred way for Christians to care for their bodies after death,

Cremation may falsely teach people lessons about the body that are directly contrary to what the Church actually believes. Cremation may teach that the body is disposable– not an integral part of the human person; that the body has no value once the soul is gone; that body has run its course, and there will be nothing more No resurrection. No transformation. No glorification.

A REMARKABLE PROPHECY THAT RINGS TRUE TODAY

 FRANCISCAN FATHER MICHAEL SCANLAN’S 1976 PROPHECY

Son of man, do you see that city going bankrupt? Are you willing to see all your cities going bankrupt? Are you willing to see the bankruptcy of the whole economic system you rely on now…?

Son of man, do you see the crime and lawlessness in your city streets, and towns, and institutions? Are you willing to see no law, no order, no protection for you except that which I myself will give you?

 The Lord God says, “Hear My Word: What I have not accomplished by blessings and gifts, I will accomplish by judgment and purification.  My people, My Church is desperately in need of this judgment. They have continued in an adulterous relationship with the spirit of the world.

They are not only infected with sin, but they teach sin, embrace sin, dismiss sin….Satan goes where he will and infects whom he will. He has free access throughout my people—and I will not stand for this….

So this time is now come upon all of you: a time of judgment and of purification. What has not been accomplished in the baptism and the flooding of gifts of my Spirit will be accomplished in a baptism of fire. The fire will move among you and it will burn out what is chaff….

SOUND FAMILIAR….GOD HAS TRIED TO GET OUR ATTENTION IN POSITIVE WAYS NOW MAYBE MOTHER NATURE WILL GET OUR ATTENTION BUT MAYBE NOT……

VATICAN II

DID VATICAN II FORBID LATIN, GREGORIAN CHANT, PIPE ORGANS, AND AD ORIENTEM WORSHIP IN THE MASS?

 No, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, did not forbid any of these things. .On the contrary, it preserved Latin as the official language of the Latin rite.

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.

In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.

It said nothing about liturgical orientation—that is, whether the priest celebrates the Mass ad orientem (facing the altar) or versus populum (facing the people).

 SACRAMENTAL ABUSES DURING THE PANDEMIC

 

A woman takes pre-packaged Holy Communion out of Pax Christi parish

and consumes it in her car

 INSTRUCTIONS AT PAX CHRISTI PARISH To minimize points of contact the ushers will dismiss you to receive Holy Communion at the rear of the worship space starting from the back of the church. In each section you will be directed to leave through the closest exit. The consecrated Communion hosts will be in individual packets on tables at the exit points. Take only one packet per person “

As you leave the worship space please do not linger around. Proceed directly to your vehicle and maintain a safe social distance of 6 to 10 feet keeping your mask on until you are in your car. Once you’re in your vehicle you may consume the host,”

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

 

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD  St. Paul views the transfiguration of Moses’ face and the trans figuration of Christ’s face as a sign of the transformation God wants to bring about in all our lives. “And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another…2 Corinthians 3:18 Through Christ’s transforming grace, we are called to live in a way that reflects the glory of God here on earth.

CORPUS CHRISTI THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

BACKGROUND

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is also known as the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to “Body of Christ.”  This feast originated in France in the mid-thirteenth century. and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264 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.

The Eucharist is foretold in many ways in Scripture.  In the Old Testament it is the chosen people fed in the desert with manna from heaven.  “Remember how for these forty years the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the wilderness, so as to test you by affliction, to know what was in your heart…: He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD” Deuteronomy 8:2-3

In the New Testament we have two miracles of multiplication of loaves and fishes to physically feed the people and the announcement of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at the well that He is the living water that gives life.  In John’s Gospel, chapter 6, we have the Bread of Life discourse.

BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE

 It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 

For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…..

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst

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 6:31-34, 48

The Eucharist is one of seven Sacraments.  “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.

 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…to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection…a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, and a bond of charity.

COMMENTARY

A new Pew Research survey finds that most self-described Catholics don’t believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. In fact, seven-in-ten Catholics (70%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion “are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” Just one-third of U.S. Catholics (30%) say they believe that “during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.” What a shame, so many missing Jesus’ own words.  In Jesus we trust!

The Priest, acting in the Person of Christ, and speaking Christ’s words at the consecration, transmits Christ’s words to make His presence real in the Eucharist. We call this transubstantiation.  Transubstantiation does no violence to the appearances of the bread and wine, but on the deepest level of their reality, they have been changed, becoming the Body and Blood of Christ.

The incarnate Logos (Word of God), Christ, is the fullest revelation of God that we can possess on earth. The Eucharist is the sacramental extension of the Incarnation. “Abide in me, and I in you” John 15:4. . . . I am the vine, you are the branches.” John 15:5   “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” John 6:54

Inasmuch as we participate in the Eucharist, we participate in Christ’s sacrifice. This communion with Christ in His sacrifice enables us to share communion with one another. This communion is the foundation and condition for the unity of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

 CONCLUSION

  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, the ability to learn and understand the ways of the Lord, and work for the building up of the Kingdom, to live well spiritually now and for eternity.  Nourished by this heavenly food we carry on the work of Christ and His Church.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. John 6:56   Jesus gave himself for you on Calvary and gives himself for you again in Holy Communion. It is the one sacrifice on Calvary extended through time to us at Mass. Some misunderstand and think Catholics say Jesus is sacrificed again during every Mass. No, it is the one sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary which is extended through time to us in every Mass

Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28

JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST AT THE LAST SUPPER

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, and by mystery we are part of that Mystical Body of Christ.

When we consume the Eucharist it is not us changing Jesus but Jesus changing us by sharing His divinity with us!

Though ascending into heaven after His resurrection, Jesus wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us “to the end,” even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us

The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease!

 THIS IS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN

TAKE AND RECEIVE, THIS IS MY BODY

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus,
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY PENTECOST SUNDAY

INTRODUCTION
Today is a special day to pay honor to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Most Holy Trinity. But the Holy Spirit must not be forgotten the other 364 days of the year. The Holy Spirit is a constant in our call to repentance and conversion.

The Holy Spirit is that special advocate that Jesus promised us before His Ascension into Heaven.. Jesus would not leave us orphans and indeed, He didn’t. The Holy Spirit daily inspires, encourages, and enlightens us in our way “home” to the Father. If you had a good thought, thank the Holy Spirit. If you did a good deed, thank the Holy Spirit. If you made a good decision, thank the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY

The Trinity is one. We do not profess three Gods, JUST ONE! We profess One True God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in One God. The three persons are one in nature.

Jesus is the Word made Flesh, the same substance as the Father. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of Life proceeding from the Father and the Son, the same substance as the Father.
(Council of Nicea 325 and Constantinople 381)

The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. The Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son. The Trinity is a model of communal love. From all eternity, without beginning there is One God in three Divine Persons. It is a mystery of our Faith that we can never fully comprehend or exhaust but we are able to speak about it.

“If a man loves me, says the Lord, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”(John 17:21-23) “Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him.” (John 6:44)

OLD TESTAMENT
The term Spirit comes from the Hebrew word, ruach, meaning breath or air. In the First Creation Story in Genesis 1:2 “the Spirit of God was moving over the face of deep waters,” bringing order out of chaos. In the Second Creation Story, Genesis 2:7, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the land and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.”

The Blessed Trinity is not complete without the Holy Spirit whom we adore and glorify with the Father and the Son. “Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever.”

When we speak of the Father as Creator, we do not mean to say the Son and the Spirit had nothing to do with creation. The same can be said about the Father and the Spirit in regard redemption. The same can be said about the Father and the Son in regards sanctification. No person of the Blessed Trinity is ever absent in a divine action. The source of all divine actions in the world is one Divine Nature.

In addition to the Creation stories we find other references in the Old Testament to the Holy Spirit. In Exodus 13:15, God dried up the waters by sending a dry wind, once the waters were parted the Israelites escaped the Egyptians on dry land.

The Spirit inspired Joseph’s dreams in Egypt (Genesis 37). The Spirit inspired the great prophets, Ezekiel, (Chapter 20) Jeremiah (Chapter 31), and Isaiah (Chapter 61) that the Spirit would renew and restore the chosen people if only they would repent and turn back to God.

NEW TESTAMENT

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the Word became flesh. “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you and therefore the Holy Being, Who shall be born of you, shall be called the Son of God.” (Lk. 1:35)

The Holy Spirit is poured out in fullness in Baptism – virtues given freely to all believers to sustain moral life of the Christian – that means you get them all ! The gifts of the Holy Spirit are freely given so we will fulfill the God-given purpose of our lives. In the sacrament of Confirmation we individually confirm our acceptance of these gifts, but often they are not “stirred up” into activity until we are “baptized in the Holy Spirit”.

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Wisdom – an understanding in our inner being that helps us develop the ability to make judgments about everything in our lives on the basis of a deep, personal union with the Lord and his abiding love.

Understanding – enlightenment of our minds and hearts with divine truth so that we can grasp the mysteries of the Lord. Signs of this gift are new insight into the Scriptures, increased depth in prayer, and renewed appreciation of the sacraments.

Counsel (Right Judgment) – the ability to receive and/or give good advice. It empowers us to make decisions in the Spirit in practical life situations. The Holy Spirit helps us discern good from evil, right from wrong.

Fortitude (Courage / Strength / Zeal) – enables us to face with strength the trials and dangers we encounter in our Christian life. It empowers us to choose consistently the right way to live in spite of disappointments and difficulties. It helps us resist the temptations of the world: money, power, and self-centeredness.

Knowledge – is having a deep trust and sureness about the Lord and knowing the truths of Christian revelation. This gift of tthe Holy Spirit produces in us a deep trust and sureness about the Lord. We grow in the gift of knowledge through daily study of the scriptures and the teachings of the Church.

Piety (Love) – Piety leads us to a true image of our Father as merciful, faithful, abounding in steadfast love, slow to anger – but also firm and just. We grow in piety through the practice of justice, attitudes of cooperation with authority, truthfulness, friendliness, and humility.

Fear of the Lord – an attitude of reverence and awe in the presence of God. It is not to be confused with the emotion of fear. This gift enables us to reverence all life as a reflection of God’s life. We grow in reverence by praying to God often, by being thankful for God’s gifts, and by respecting God’s name.

REFLECTION

1. How much time do I give to attending to my inner life?
2. Do I ever ask the Holy Spirit for assistance? What prayers do I use to stay in touch with the Holy Spirit?
3. How can my relationship to the Spirit assist me to overcome tendencies in pride, anger, lust, greed, envy,
excess, and laziness?
4, How am I using the traditional gifts of the spirit ?

PRAYER
Come Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life. Spirit of Wisdom inspire us to be courageous witnesses to the Truth. Come Holy Spirit dwell in us that we may dwell in Thee. Come Holy Spirit,, we adore you the same way we adore God the Father and God the Son. Praise and glory be yours, now and forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray.

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