June 24, 2018

Nativity of St. John the Baptist M49: 1-6; Acts 13: 22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80 The readings ask today if I experience the hand of God in my life? I hesitate in replying..I could say ‘no’ from the outset…I could express my uncertainty…I could just say I need more time in reflecting on this. So now more questions: Do I regard my birth as something special? In thinking on this, and realizing that I am not a parent, I perhaps would respond differently than parents reading this blog. They would not look to deeply at their own birth, but I’m sure they remember in detail the birth days and events surrounding each of their children. Often parents put themselves down as they reflect on God’s gift to them seen in their children. How do I look at my birth…is it something special? I would say it is special because every birth is special. Each person is created in love by God to be love. Each day of my priesthood has confirmed this over and over again. That means that each person has been created to be on a ‘mission’ from God. It is that important. Do I focus on this? Do I believe this? Do I want to reflect on this at all? So many would say, no. I would do this too, but the reflection is necessary to get in touch with God in my life. Today’s readings, especially the first reading from Isaiah, have tremendous insights for each person. Isaiah is considered the greatest of the prophets. He had witnessed the collapse of the northern kingdom in the eighth century B.C. to Assyria. Twenty years later Isaiah received his call from God to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem; this is found in his sixth chapter. The Catholic Study Bible summarizes this call: “The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides the key to the understanding of his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, conversely, he gained a new awareness of human pettiness and sinfulness. The enormous abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and man’s sin overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: ‘Here I am, send me!’” In the later chapters Isaiah gives poems about an unnamed servant “whose mysterious destiny of suffering and glorification is fulfilled in the passion and glorification of Christ.” Todays reading comes from what is known as the Second Servant Song. “Listen…” I go back to my parents and how they got my attention: ‘listen to me…stop what you’re doing and pay attention…this is important’…I listened; the oracle calls us to do the same. “The Lord called me from birth…” Before my parents were married ninety years ago and before I was conceived, God was actively involved. I was not an accident. I’m part of God’s plan. Did I know this?…No. I have come to discover that I have been way more than honored to be a part of God’s plan for the world’s salvation. Over time I have been a witness to love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, healing. People have been touched by this which means they are being touched directly by God who is love. And God knew this would happen with each of these many individuals and God is gracious and pleased. This is the same for every person. When I love, others are loved, which is God’s love. My parents celebrated my birth and baptism. ‘What name to you give your child?’ There’s more to this question than what they planned to call me. What dreams did my parents have for me? The parents reading this: what dreams did you have for your children? How did these dreams align up with God’s plans? God called me and every time I pray He knows it is me since He knows my voice. Am I aware of God’s voice? “You are My servant, He said to me, Israel, through whom I show My glory.” What does it mean to be God’s servant? Do I consider myself ‘top dog’ or do I realize I have been called and this calling involves being what God needs of me, The Christian calling is one that has high expectation. Long before my parents started looking through books of baby names, each child is a child of God. “Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord…” God is a gracious God. The name ‘John’ means, ‘The Lord is gracious’. Why is this so? God’s plan, what He told the disciples, who missed it…what he announced through Isaiah and the prophets was being fulfilled. The plan was to restore His people…to bring them life…to let His love flow freely on them… It is God’s plan. It is all about God. God sent John the Baptist to help the people to get ready and be prepared for Jesus, the Messiah. John’s birth was miraculous…so was mine…so is each person’s…a gift from God. John’s dad, Zechariah had doubted God’s messenger. By the time John was born, his heart had been thoroughly changed. He had been full of self-reliance, now he relied on God alone. That happens to each person when we realize it is about God and not about me. And what does God do? “…and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord..I will make you a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” God loves us…Jesus said this, demonstrated it, lived it by His total love. He told us that God wants to save us, to lift us up into His presence. He shares ALL His graces with us if we will just believe and let God in and be seen through us. I have been called. Each person has been called. Am I listening? Do I respond? Reflecting on the Word from Living the Word says: “Most of us are not prophets like John and Isaiah. Called from our mothers’s wombs, we are formed to be servants of God, to announce the gospel of the Lord. Our lives herald Jesus Christ when we imprint the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, in our words, actions, and attitudes. Meeting us, people meet Jesus. Seeing us, they see Jesus. Encountering us, they encounter Jesus the Christ. By living Jesus, we prepare and point the way to the Lord, like John. Open your ears to hear God’s will. Open your mouths and let God free your tongue to proclaim the Gospel. Allow the hand of God to calm your fears and give you the confidence and trust that Zechariah and Elizabeth exhibited. Then praise God that you have been wonderfully made to imprint the gospel with your life.” So I reflect on: • Do I stop and reflect on the ways in which I announce the gospel of the Lord? • When I think of myself as God’s servant, how do I look at my accomplishments? • What is God’s message of salvation? What must I do to accept this? How do I help others do this? • What message do I bring to others by my words and example? • Who has pointed the way to Jesus for Me? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Today we celebrated the birth of John the Baptist. Like many Old Testament figures who played an important role in the history of our salvation, John is born to a sterile woman, in her old age. Our salvation is all God’s work. Our world is too self-sufficient to admit we need a savior, but perhaps the present situation—with so much violence and pain—may move more of us to ask God to save us. ‘’Indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.’ I certainly do not have such an important mission as John, but whatever I am being called to do, I know that the hand of the Lord is with me. I thank God for His powerful presence in my life, and i ask Him to strengthen my faith.

June 17, 2018

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Ezekiel 17: 22-24; 2 Corinthians 5: 6-10; Mark 4: 26-34 How do I feel about my spiritual progress? I never feel that: ‘I’ve got it!’ I am always growing and reaching out to those in my life that can help me bloom and flourish. Left to myself I easily have a negative tendency to think that I am shrinking, not growing closer to the Lord. So what is the cause of my shrinking: the weeds in my life! My weeds: my sins, the repeatable sins that keep returning, feelings of low self worth, low self confidence, the desire to be left alone, thinking that I’m right, not listening…my list continues on and on. I get on top of these and I lose them, or they grow deeper. They resemble weeds in that they seem to be almost indestructible. Jesus’ uses today’s parable of the seed to show God’s activity in everyone’s life and how God is the one that gives growth to the seed. Do I let God do this? Do I feel that God has forgotten about me? Do I feel that it’s way too hard for me to figure out God’s plan? I start out by looking at Jesus’ parable of the sower. First of all, many of the parables found in Mark’s fourth chapter are about seeds. Years ago the British New Testament scholar, C.H. Dodd called these the parables of the ‘Kingdom’. He contrasted the smallness and seemingly insignificant size of the seed to the large size of the finished product. The seed is tiny, what it produces is immense. The question, really the mystery is how did something so small produce something so big. Jesus is telling each of us that as far as His Kingdom is concerned, humans have no active role to play in its mystery. Growth happens because of God’s work and we can’t even see it happening. Humans enter at the end of the process when the seed grows, when the grain is ripe and ready for harvest. This harvest can only be produced by God…it is both a gift from God and a miracle from God. He explains it in the first line of the Gospel, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God.” Jesus second parable today is about the mustard seed. It is a very tiny seed. Yet it grows into a shrub bush about seven feet tall. It is not very attractive, it grows all over the place and only little birds will find refuge and sleeping places in it. The rabbis at the time wanted to explain God’s kingdom using images of large immense trees and contrasted these with the insignificance of the mustard ‘tree’ seed. But Jesus’ is saying that we can find His kingdom in ordinary common things of daily life. If we cannot find His Kingdom of kindness, of love, of forgiveness, of mercy of caring, of healing, of compassion in the common areas of human life, we will not find it at all. God is here within each person. Do I treat each person as a ‘child of God’… as ‘loved by God’ … as ‘God’s special gift’ to the world and to me? Am I listening to Jesus’ teaching? Do I see that I am an important, urgent piece in nurturing the growth of God’s kingdom in those around me? It is good to look at the growth of a seed: - A great deal happens between a farmer’s planting a seed and the eventual harvest that comes about from these seeds. - Even the ability to plant the seed and harvest the crop is a gift from God. We look at the patience and the faith involved in the process along with the knowledge of what one is doing. - The seed is growing way long before there is any evidence that growth is taking place. The farmer can take no credit for this…nor can he take credit for the rain and sunshine. - The days of growth far outnumber the time it takes to plant and also to harvest the crop. The farmer is ‘all in’ for the long term. - Even the mustard seed yields a growth far more than expected. The point is that God has called me and each person. We have been given the gift of life and His love is constantly nourishing this life so that we can be love. We can respond or we can be absorbed in ourselves. Do I realize that God has gifted me and needs me? God gives us the tools contained in His gift of total love. We can accept them…we can misuse them…we can refuse them. We can be love. What do I choose to do? Reflecting on the Word of today’s gospel, Living the Word says: “ St Augustine told us to pray as if all depended upon God and work as if all depended upon us. These words reflect what Jesus says about the Kingdom of God in today’s Gospel. A sower scatters seed and then sleeps while the seed sprouts, grows, and yields fruit. Then the sower gathers that fruit. Planting and gathering depend upon human work. Sprouting and growth depend upon God’s design. God takes what we do and puts even the smallest seed to magnificent use. Ezekiel proclaims that God takes a tender shoot and turns it into new growth, although God also brings low the high tree and withers the green tree. If we do not depend on God, walking by faith and seeking to stay close to the Lord, we can be brought low and withered, too. St. Francis de Sales gave similar advice. Our job is to plant and water and turn to God to give the growth. Turn to God: pray, read the scriptures, celebrate the liturgy, study Church teaching, and pay attention. That’s how we plant and water the seed of faith within us. Then contemplate what we have read, celebrated, and heard. God will give growth and help us embrace what we discover if we stay close to the Lord, seek God’s will, and invite God to produce good fruit in us. Ask yourself how you plant and water the seed of faith, or whether it is withering because you don’t invite God into your life. Take time to stay close to God, even allowing God to prune your branches where needed. That’s how we can pray as if all depends upon God. It does! And live as if all depends upon us. It does! It’s teamwork.” So I reflect on: • I take time and look at the different elements of my prayers and prayer life and how I cooperate with God to work within me. Do I let this happen? What keeps me from looking positively and honestly at myself? • I look at the times that I realize God’s closeness and I look at what I need to change so that I am still closer to God. What hinders this closeness in me? • I look at how my faith has been tested. How confident have I been during these tests? Am I afraid? Am I letting God be present with His love and His help? • How do I recognize my dependency on God for all that I am, possess and will be? • The Scout motto is “Be prepared” … am I? Sacred Space 2018 shares: “Jesus uses natural occurrences in our world to describe the kingdom of God. This kingdom does not float down, some alien form from outer space. It happens within the processes and daily actions we know well. Open my eyes, Lord, to see the kingdom as it grows in my life. Notice that the person scatters seed but then goes to sleep. The next day, it’s clear that the seed has sprouted during the night. God gives us work to do, but the outcome is God’s. We can do our work, and then rest easy.”

June 24, 2018

Nativity of St. John the Baptist M49: 1-6; Acts 13: 22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80 The readings ask today if I experience the hand of God in my life? I hesitate in replying..I could say ‘no’ from the outset…I could express my uncertainty…I could just say I need more time in reflecting on this. So now more questions: Do I regard my birth as something special? In thinking on this, and realizing that I am not a parent, I perhaps would respond differently than parents reading this blog. They would not look to deeply at their own birth, but I’m sure they remember in detail the birth days and events surrounding each of their children. Often parents put themselves down as they reflect on God’s gift to them seen in their children. How do I look at my birth…is it something special? I would say it is special because every birth is special. Each person is created in love by God to be love. Each day of my priesthood has confirmed this over and over again. That means that each person has been created to be on a ‘mission’ from God. It is that important. Do I focus on this? Do I believe this? Do I want to reflect on this at all? So many would say, no. I would do this too, but the reflection is necessary to get in touch with God in my life. Today’s readings, especially the first reading from Isaiah, have tremendous insights for each person. Isaiah is considered the greatest of the prophets. He had witnessed the collapse of the northern kingdom in the eighth century B.C. to Assyria. Twenty years later Isaiah received his call from God to the prophetic office in the Temple of Jerusalem; this is found in his sixth chapter. The Catholic Study Bible summarizes this call: “The vision of the Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible character on Isaiah’s ministry and provides the key to the understanding of his message. The majesty, holiness and glory of the Lord took possession of his spirit and, conversely, he gained a new awareness of human pettiness and sinfulness. The enormous abyss between God’s sovereign holiness and man’s sin overwhelmed the prophet. Only the purifying coal of the seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare him for acceptance of the call: ‘Here I am, send me!’” In the later chapters Isaiah gives poems about an unnamed servant “whose mysterious destiny of suffering and glorification is fulfilled in the passion and glorification of Christ.” Todays reading comes from what is known as the Second Servant Song. “Listen…” I go back to my parents and how they got my attention: ‘listen to me…stop what you’re doing and pay attention…this is important’…I listened; the oracle calls us to do the same. “The Lord called me from birth…” Before my parents were married ninety years ago and before I was conceived, God was actively involved. I was not an accident. I’m part of God’s plan. Did I know this?…No. I have come to discover that I have been way more than honored to be a part of God’s plan for the world’s salvation. Over time I have been a witness to love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, healing. People have been touched by this which means they are being touched directly by God who is love. And God knew this would happen with each of these many individuals and God is gracious and pleased. This is the same for every person. When I love, others are loved, which is God’s love. My parents celebrated my birth and baptism. ‘What name to you give your child?’ There’s more to this question than what they planned to call me. What dreams did my parents have for me? The parents reading this: what dreams did you have for your children? How did these dreams align up with God’s plans? God called me and every time I pray He knows it is me since He knows my voice. Am I aware of God’s voice? “You are My servant, He said to me, Israel, through whom I show My glory.” What does it mean to be God’s servant? Do I consider myself ‘top dog’ or do I realize I have been called and this calling involves being what God needs of me, The Christian calling is one that has high expectation. Long before my parents started looking through books of baby names, each child is a child of God. “Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the Lord…” God is a gracious God. The name ‘John’ means, ‘The Lord is gracious’. Why is this so? God’s plan, what He told the disciples, who missed it…what he announced through Isaiah and the prophets was being fulfilled. The plan was to restore His people…to bring them life…to let His love flow freely on them… It is God’s plan. It is all about God. God sent John the Baptist to help the people to get ready and be prepared for Jesus, the Messiah. John’s birth was miraculous…so was mine…so is each person’s…a gift from God. John’s dad, Zechariah had doubted God’s messenger. By the time John was born, his heart had been thoroughly changed. He had been full of self-reliance, now he relied on God alone. That happens to each person when we realize it is about God and not about me. And what does God do? “…and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord..I will make you a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” God loves us…Jesus said this, demonstrated it, lived it by His total love. He told us that God wants to save us, to lift us up into His presence. He shares ALL His graces with us if we will just believe and let God in and be seen through us. I have been called. Each person has been called. Am I listening? Do I respond? Reflecting on the Word from Living the Word says: “Most of us are not prophets like John and Isaiah. Called from our mothers’s wombs, we are formed to be servants of God, to announce the gospel of the Lord. Our lives herald Jesus Christ when we imprint the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, in our words, actions, and attitudes. Meeting us, people meet Jesus. Seeing us, they see Jesus. Encountering us, they encounter Jesus the Christ. By living Jesus, we prepare and point the way to the Lord, like John. Open your ears to hear God’s will. Open your mouths and let God free your tongue to proclaim the Gospel. Allow the hand of God to calm your fears and give you the confidence and trust that Zechariah and Elizabeth exhibited. Then praise God that you have been wonderfully made to imprint the gospel with your life.” So I reflect on: • Do I stop and reflect on the ways in which I announce the gospel of the Lord? • When I think of myself as God’s servant, how do I look at my accomplishments? • What is God’s message of salvation? What must I do to accept this? How do I help others do this? • What message do I bring to others by my words and example? • Who has pointed the way to Jesus for Me? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Today we celebrated the birth of John the Baptist. Like many Old Testament figures who played an important role in the history of our salvation, John is born to a sterile woman, in her old age. Our salvation is all God’s work. Our world is too self-sufficient to admit we need a savior, but perhaps the present situation—with so much violence and pain—may move more of us to ask God to save us. ‘’Indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.’ I certainly do not have such an important mission as John, but whatever I am being called to do, I know that the hand of the Lord is with me. I thank God for His powerful presence in my life, and i ask Him to strengthen my faith.”

June 10, 2018

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Genesis 3: 9-15; 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5:1; Mark 3: 20-35 How confident am I in God? Do I believe that He is always helping and leading me to His heavenly home? Do I realize that the devil definitely does not want me to believe in God? Do I believe that the devil is leading me away from God…away from His help…away from His love? Do I understand that one of the cruelest tricks of the devil is to say that God doesn’t care about me, so I better care about me all the time? (A side track—Thesaurus describes cruelest, an adjective as: ‘brutal, savage, inhuman, barbaric barbarous, brutish, vicious, bloodthirsty, wicked, murderous, sadistic, evil, etc. The devil never wants us to think he is associated with any of these words but he is.) The devil misleads us all the time! As we progress each day in the Spiritual life we have to name what is happening to us. The First reading from the Book of Genesis sets the scene for the ‘devil’s workshop.’ Up to this time everything has been fine in the Garden. Now for the first time things are not as God commanded. God told Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. This prohibition was to protect Adam and Eve from harmful consequences, one of them was death. They felt that they ‘knew better’ and listened to someone else’s advice, whom they found out, was not at all concerned with their welfare. This is exactly the pattern that has lead to my downfall and my tendency to sin. What happens when ‘I fall into sin?’ I blame myself…I beat myself up…I’m afraid of someone finding out that I am a ‘miserable person’. I’m embarrassed, I’m ashamed. Adam and Eve felt this, they hid from God using the excuse that they were ‘naked’. Beforehand they were comfortable being with God, now they are ashamed. THIS IS ANOTHER consequence from which God wanted to protect them. As we read along we see more consequences where God wanted to protect them: childbirth…the exertion of working in the fields, and return to the ‘earth’ from which they were taken that we see in the next verses from today’s reading. (Genesis 3: 16-18) We see another hurtful consequence…both Adam and Eve switch the blame, pointing the finger at the other and not admitting their own fault. They had God’s word to protect them and advise them and they chose differently. Not much has changed. We still are learning…when will it end. Msgr. Chet Michael frequently described the major sins of humans as: Pride, Possessions, and Pleasure… Fr. Richard Rohr adds, Prestige to this list. Where do my faults lie…in all of these areas…but God continually gives His grace and help to lead me closer to Himself and heaven. Thank You Lord, I need You every second of every minute. Paul switches the focus or more accurately adds to this theme by switching attention, “…to the one who raised the Lord Jesus”…and who “raise us also with Jesus and place us with You in His presence. Everything indeed is for You, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.” Msgr. Chet Michael repeatedly said that the way to ensure that we are on the right track to the Lord is by being grateful for God’s continued presence, His love and His grace. He would say, “Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude…and more gratitude.” Paul tells us to look ahead to the glory of life in God’s kingdom. Here on earth everything is transitory, it is to be replaced by what is eternal with God forever…Heaven, our home. Mark’s gospel passage continues to see what happens when we lose sight of God, His words, His way and His love. The religious leaders, the ones who were trained and educated in God’s ways felt they ‘knew it all’. They were the only ones who had insight into God’s commands, His ways, and His love. They lived by the axiom of, ‘who are you to think otherwise…we are the scholars, the one’s appointed by God.’ The crowds were coming to Jesus, not to these ‘experts.’ Even with all this popularity, Jesus’ family from Nazareth came to take Jesus away because “He is out of His mind.” There is no hint why they came to do this…perhaps they felt that the authorities would take Jesus away and put Him in prison or execute Him especially because of all that He did on the Sabbath. Maybe they were scandalized because of the family name. We just don’t know. What is present is that the people you would expect to support Jesus did not even support Him at this time of need. Now the scribes and religious leaders were quick to pick up on this by saying that Jesus was ‘possessed’. Jesus did drive out demons, but they said it was because He had demons inside of Him. Jesus says NO! Love and anger and hate do not go together. Jesus then makes reference to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as being a sin that can never be forgiven. People refer this to the ‘un-forgivable sin.’ They think that this is the sin in my past life that is so horrendous that even God cannot forgive this. This adds to the fact that they feel they are alienated from God or that God does not love them. THE REALITY is that SIN against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is unforgivable because it rejects the very source of forgiveness itself — God. So many times in my life I have felt ‘hopeless’ because I felt lost, or God just doesn’t love me because of my sins. I have neglected to pay attention to the gifts and tools that God has given me to ‘recreate’ my life as being a loving person. What has happened is that someone came and somehow touched me with love and I just couldn’t believe that I was lovable? This was none other that the Holy Spirit again affirming that God loves me. I don’t need to hide. Each day the Holy Spirit gives me the grace to stand before Him and allow Him to transform me and bring something good out of whatever I have botched up. The key to the readings and today’s message is found in the Psalm Response, “With the Lord there is mercy, and fulness of redemption.” Read Psalm 130, A Prayer for Pardon and Mercy. The last sentence says it all: “For with the Lord is kindness, with Him is full redemption, And God will redeem Israel from all their sins.” AND ME! So I reflect on: • What are some of the signs in my life that tell me that I am clearly connected to Jesus and the will of God? • When have I felt so cut up that evil seemed stronger that good? What brought me back to a realization that God is love? And God loves me? • I look at the times I have experienced God’s mercy and love. • Where do I fix my gaze: on what is seen or on what is unseen? Sacred Space 2018 states: “When we follow our spiritual path, sometimes our closest companions are not those in our own family—or even our oldest friends. Lord, help me let go of those who choose not to come with me as I walk with You. Jesus words probably upset expectations in a culture that was so family and tribe-centered. He was not criticizing His family, but expanding the definition of who His family was. Who is my expanded family, the one that includes those in God’s family?

June 3, 2018

Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Exodus 24; 3-8; Hebrews 9: 11-15; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 Most of us have been coming to the celebration of the Eucharist, the Mass as some of us grew up calling it, for a long time. It probably is a safe statement that many of us grew to loving the Mass, but it took time. My parents and the five of us children went to the 7am Mass every Sunday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Syracuse, New York. I remember it very well, even today. The first task my parents did was to ‘position’ the five of us. I was never near my brother, Thank You Lord. Since I was the youngest I didn’t pay too much attention to where my mom situated my three sisters and my brother. But I know she had very good reasons… then Mass began. What do I remember about these masses: first they were in Latin. English came into the Liturgy on July 1, 1967. I remember since I was ordained on May 20 that year and celebrated masses in Latin for the first month plus. But the question is a very good question: What do I remember about the mass when I was growing up? And what do I treasure now when I’m at Mass? Seamus Heaney (1939 - 2013) was one of the great Irish poets, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. A few years before his death he was asked to contribute to a book on the spiritual lives of major figures in the arts and sciences. He accepted the invitation reluctantly. He said that spirituality was the one part of his life about which he felt he was “woefully inarticulate.” Then he penned a poem, “Here, perhaps you can use this it in some small fashion in your book. He entitled this poem, A Found Poem. Part of the poem was his memory of attending Mass in his village church. “Like everybody else, I bowed my head during the consecration of the bread and wine, lifted my eyes to the raised host and raised chalice, believed (whatever it means) that a change occurred. I went to the altar rails and received the mystery on my tongue, returned to my place, shut my eyes fast, made an act of thanksgiving, opened my eyes and felt time starting up again.” This is not unlike most people I observe and myself as I celebrate. “This is My Body…This is My Blood…Do this in memory of Me.” These statements make us stop. The Consecration seems to be the absolutely quietest time at every Eucharist. We perhaps think about the words, the actions, wonder, try to get some handle on them hopefully to understand more of the mystery of Jesus and His redeeming of all people. “Do this in memory of Me.” What do we remember about Jesus? What part of His life captivates us? What part draws us to Himself? What part does the devil try to disturb us with, distracting us from this God who loves us all the time? It is always good for me to reflect on these questions: What am I letting God do in my life? Where am I afraid of God? The sixth chapter of John’s gospel has a section that is called, The Bread of Life Discourse.” He begins the chapter with the Multiplication the Loaves, followed by Jesus’ Walking on Water. Jesus had left the crowd, went up the mountain to pray while the disciples went across the Sea of Galilee at night. Jesus surprised them by walking on the water. The same crowd that had witnessed the Multiplication of the Loaves went around the lake and wanted to find out more about this miracle. This lead to Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse”. Here is the key section: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.” ( verse 51) This started a huge quarrel with the crowd, wanting to know how one could accomplish this since it seems to border on cannibalism. Jesus answered them and He tells us directly, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless You eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day.” For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I them. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (verses 53-59) As a result of this many left Him. “Do this in Memory of Me” makes us disciples of Jesus; there is no other way to interpret this. We are given Spiritual Food for our journey, Jesus Himself. In being a witness to this we also promise to live as witnesses to His Life and Resurrection. It really is not enough just to go to the Eucharist, we need to fulfill our commitment to live as Jesus lived. His life was a life of service, of love seeing in each person a brother and sister created in the image of God. To be a follower means that we must take care of those in need. I remember that age old sermon, ‘if you were accused of being a disciple of Jesus would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ In the first reading we see how the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai entered into a covenant with God. Now a covenant was a solemn agreement between two parties: God and the people. The key element for the Israelites is obedience to all God’s words and ordinances expressed in chapters 20-23 of Exodus which begins with the Ten Commandments. The people totally agreed saying, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us” and then again saying, “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.” Then Moses sprinkled the blood of the holocausts of young bulls on the people saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of His.” Paul explains to the Hebrews that Jesus’ sacrifice is superior to all others. He shed His own blood for the redemption of the world. Paul tells us today that this new covenant is greater than the first one. The death of the Lord delivered all of us from sin and opened up for us the way to heaven forever. We have the words of everlasting life. We are to live by them and God’s grace is sufficient for this. So I reflect on: • When has blood given me life? Has it ever been harmful to me? • How do I pour out my life in service to permeate my world with the Blood of Christ? • How have I given my life for the many?When has the celebration of the Eucharist been particularly powerful for me? What made it so? • St. Charles Borromeo said that our distractions at mass may be caused by what we do on the way to Church and what the 30 minutes are like before we begin? Are we God focused? • How focused am I on the community nature of the Eucharist? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Today’s feast of Corpus Christi is a revisiting of the liturgy of Holy Thursday with an emphasis on the institution of the Eucharist. We are reminded of the Jewish context of the Last Supper (Passover meal, sacrificial lamb). The terms ‘my body’ and ‘my blood’ of the covenant’ both express the total self-giving of Jesus for us. The Last Supper is the prologue to the Passion. Do I appreciate the ‘bread from heaven’ that Jesus offers us?”