When I was growing up, I always wondered why we Catholics had a feast day for a city in Texas.
Well, now I know that it is a "solemnity" and that it was instituted after the Council of Trent as somewhat of a response to Protetsants who would say that the Eucharist (the Body of Christ) is a symbol.
I thought Father's homily tonight was wonderful. I wonder how much of it I can recall? He started off by saying that for many "satisfaction" is one reason that many people attend Mass. So that they can "satisfy" an obligation or so that they can be "satisfied" by receiving the Eucharist. But that is pretty low on the list of reasons and that even though the crowds in the gospel went away "satsified", there is something much deeper than that going on.
The Eucharist is not so much about satisfaction as it is about transformation. The bread and wine are not the only things that are transformed. When the gifts are brought forward, along with that are the things that we offer from our lives - our trials, our tragedies, our joys, sorrows, successes, and sinfulness. Offered imperfectly so that it can be taken and given back to us perfectly. It is not only the bread and wine that is transformed at Mass. We are also there on that altar, and we are called to be transformed, as well.
When the priest says, "take this all of you....this is my Body...given up for you", we need to adore Jesus (and not with our noses buried in the misallette) and give Him OUR bodies to do what He needs. When the cup is offered, "take this all of you and drink it..." We need to thank Him, acknowledge our sinfulness, ask for mercy, and offer ourselves to Him. Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
And when we receive the Eucharist - we need to realize that we are to become what we receive. It is about transforming our lives to become more and more like Jesus. And when we are transformed, then we are called to transform the world in which we live and work. God's deepest desire for us is that we become the gift we receive.
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I enjoy reading what your homily was about. I'm trying to go back to the parish where I grew up (with a better open mind this time!), and one of the priests this morning only talked about the "rules" of the Eucharist...he's a big rule-follower. He just has a hard time relating the gospel to every day life.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Let me guess... he's the one that could be "on the spectrum" as our speaker last week called it. I know I am fortunate with our pastor. Often, he will explain the context of the readings (and often manages to tie them together) and then ask, "So where does this leave us?" I could listen to him ALL day, but his homilies are always short and to the point.
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