The Happy Priest - God is With Us: The Gift of the Holy Eucharist
with us throughout our entire existence; believe that the Father sent his only Son to save us from our sins; and believe that this Son is truly with us in the miracle of the Eucharist.
However, do we really believe in miracles?
The Eucharist is the most visible miracle known to the human person.
Thousands anxiously seek strange devotions and apparent extraordinary phenomena. But Jesus is really with us. Why don't we go to Mass every day? Why don't we make visits to the Blessed Sacrament? It is because we really don't believe. We believe that God is a distant God. But, he is not distant. He is really with us.
What a consoling thought. God is with us. We can say goodbye to all of our anxieties.
In this Sunday's first reading from the Book of Kings, Elijah had had enough. ".but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat" (1 Kings 19: 5).
The lesson is clear. We will find strength for the journey of life through the Eucharist. The more intense our Eucharistic life is the greater strength we will receive.
"There is no surer pledge or clearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells, than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated the work of our redemption is carried on and we break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1405).
The intense battle of our secular culture against Christianity and the dramatic unraveling of order will become even more intense. Deacon Keith Fournier continually reminds us that we are living in a new missionary age.
The way that you can live a life filled with profound Christian joy and hope is to center your life on the Eucharist.
Daily Mass; adoration; visits to the Blessed Sacrament: that's the answer. At the tabernacle and at the altar is where we need to be. It is Jesus who will give us the strength that we need to resist the culture of death and transform it into the culture of life.
Perhaps the one thing that is going to save our beloved nation from self-destruction is the constant and authentic smile of every disciple who truly believes that God is truly with us through the mystery of faith, the awesome gift of the Holy Eucharist.
Let the name of Jesus be praised now and forever, and may many souls find salvation in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
"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" (John 6: 51).
How awesome is our Catholic Faith.
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Father James Farfaglia, is a contributing writer for Catholic Online and author of Get Serious! - A Survival Guide for Serious Catholics.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: Sunday homily, catholic spirituality, father james farfaglia, deacon keith fournier, eucharist, mass, adoration, pope benedict, miracles, hope, joy
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Dear Father,
I made a comment sometime back on another article you wrote on the Eucharist but it was not published, I was not out of line nor out of topic just an observation yet it was rejected I wonder why? Do I touch a nerve when I make a comparison of the old Latin Mass versus the New Mass.
I always wondered why the Latin Mass was done away with if there was nothing wrong with it & a new prostestant mass was introduced claiming to be Catholic. Why fix something that isn't broken? We go to church to worship & please God & the mass is the sacrifice of our Lord yet when I attend my church it feels as if I'm at a rock concert, people are chatting af if we're at the market No respect!!! I can't help but wonder why people are behaving this way now & they weren't during the old Latin mass. Something to do with Vatican Council II ????
Doesn't look like good fruit to me but bad!!
Dear Father, Excellent article! I am sending it to my adult children. I also agree with Tom McGuire. Not only was there disbelief and scandal, but lives that were broken fall, and continue falling to this day like a domino effect. And Yes, there is the Big Bad world of Secularism.
"Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Have Mercy On Us". Blessings...
Thank you Father. This is a truly much needed homily. May God be with you always and our Blessed Mother protect you. We need priests like you for our turbulent era.
Just how do we increase our faith? Paragraph 2518 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us clue, quoting St. Augustine "by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe." Confession is one of the best ways to purify ones heart though sadly neglected by Catholics and priests. I wish we had more John Vianneys and Padre Pios as priests who would sit for hours at the confessional box waiting for penitents. As for communion, many Catholics are not aware that we can always receive communion every hour if we want through spiritual communion by simply praying and asking Jesus to give us His body, blood and divinity spiritually. Remember, nothing is impossible to God and our God is a father who gives generously especially to those who sincerely believe in Him.
Yes, Father, I know exactly what you mean by the irrevence at Mass, before, during and after. Many people go to Mass out of habit, afraid that if they are not seen in Church, they will be chastised by their friends. People walk out of the Church right after receiving communion, or engage in conversation with those sitting next to them while the rest of the congregation is receiving communion. It makes me angry sometimes and then I have to ask forgiveness from the Lord but it hurts more when the celebrant does nothing to stop the practices. We just have to continue praying that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the Church.
A response to Michael - Michael you are missing the whole point of the homily.
Dear Father...you write that "The Eucharist is the most visible miracle known to the human person." Wrong, dear father...the Mystery of the Blessed Sacrament lacks that essential element of a miracle, namely, that it strikes the senses with wonderment. But as St. Thomas Aquinas states. "what our senses fail to fathom, Faith must serve to compensate." Yes, there are Eucharistic miracles where actual human flesh miraculously appears or Sacred Hosts begin to bleed, but these are rare indeed. At Holy Mass there is truly the tremendous act and mystery known as Transubstantion, but it is not noticed by the senses at all making it not a miracle, but an object of Faith.
Yes people do seek strange devotions. That says to me they are looking for the meaning of life which includes life after death. Maybe one of the problems is the witness of so many leaders of the Church who celebrate Mass everyday, but harmed children or allowed children to be harmed. This contributed at least in some to why many catholics have turned away from Eucharist as a summit and source of life.
Wow! God was making sure I understood Him loud and clear this weekend. I experienced a healing through the Eucharist on Saturday and this morning I am privileged to read your inspiring words. Thank you for speaking Truth and reminding us that Christ is indeed the Living God.
Like a child joined in its parents cannot be Biologically separated, so also is Apostle Paul saying of the manner "Nothing can separate us (the Apostles)from the love of Christ Jesus" & if by faith that can be said then what would it be when we become Joined by Him to be in Him as Him, in the Spirit & the body to the fulness which is in the holiness, unto God.