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June 4, 2024
Hi! How is each and every one? We started the month of June with the beautiful Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (Corpus Christi Sunday). Within the whole octave after, we will be celebrating the Solemn Benediction. Allow me, please, to share with you nos. 1374-1375; 1378-1381; 1396 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for better appreciation and understanding of this great mystery of our faith, you and I should never get used to.
1374 The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend."199 In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."200 "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."201
1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:
It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.202
and St. Ambrose says about this conversion:
Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed.... Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.203
1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."206
1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end,"207 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,208 and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:
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.209
1381 "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses,' says St. Thomas, 'but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.' For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 ('This is my body which is given for you.'), St. Cyril says: 'Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is the truth, he cannot lie.'"210
Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing
more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.211
1396 The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. In Baptism we have been called to form but one body.230 The Eucharist fulfills this call: "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread:"231
If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are you respond "Amen" ("yes, it is true!") and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true.232
You and I do not realize
that what gives meaning, intimacy and virtue to your life and mine and gives it
abundance is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Hence savor the above
explanation of the mystery in the silence of your moments with Our Lord in
prayer every day.
This morning at long last, I met a daily Mass attendee and participant in our parish. I would see her and her sister every time I would attend Mass there. They used to be sited on the right side of the Church. I would be sited on the left side along the aisle several pews behind them. We only smile at each other every time we cross our paths going to Holy Communion. This morning, for the first time, I found them on the same side where I would usually sit but two pews ahead.
After Mass she approached to compliment the color of my dress. Her sister went ahead. And we got into talking and knowing each other, tracing connections. We were schoolmates and of course we had common friends and acquaintances. I invited her to come and visit our place around the neighborhood. I am looking forward to more meetings with her and her sister.
Following is the continuation of our search for abundance by a conscious and intentional effort to live a meaningful, intimate and virtuous life (From Broken Gods, Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart, Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D. Ch 4).
Pride: Settling for Less
When we give in to pride, we adopt the attitude that “if we want to be happy, we have to take care of ourselves.” Because pride compels us to rely on our own limited power, we often feel that our lives lack the meaning they should have.
As a result, rather than experiencing the abundance God wants to teach us to experience, we are forced to settle for less. When we live without meaningfulness, intimacy, and virtue, our lives become smaller and smaller as our choices close in on us, we push people away, and our attempts at self-comforting fail us.
The conscious and intentional pursuit of meaningfulness, intimacy and virtue enables us to get the most out of every moment and come to value both ourselves and our life as the divine gifts they are meant to be.
Pride: I Will Not Serve!
Pride further corrupts our ability to pursue abundance by denying our radically communal nature. Pride says, “I will live my life for myself!”
It echoes Satan’s very own words at the dawn of time, “Non Serviam!” I will NOT serve! Rather than inspiring us to use what we have to be a blessing to others, pride says that we should be the sole benefactors of any advantages we have been given.
Instead of challenging us to see others as persons who have a right to be loved and from whom we may learn much, pride orients us to seeing others as inferior objects that have value only to the degree that they can serve us or fulfill our pleasure.
Instead of leading us toward learning and using the lessons life can teach us, pride tells us that life has nothing to teach us, that we are perfectly perfect just the way we are, and that we have nothing to do in response to life but be whomever we care to be.
But as the study we discussed earlier shows, the hedonistic pursuits pride inspires undermine the emotional, psychological, and even physical abundance we seek.
See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
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