The Last Supper by Philippe de Champaigne

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Reflect

“Rabbi, where are you staying?” Each day the Church responds: Christ is present in the Eucharist, in the sacrament of His death and resurrection. In and through the Eucharist, you acknowledge the dwelling-place of the Living God in human history.

For the Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Love which conquers death.

It is the Sacrament of the Covenant, pure Gift of Love for the reconciliation of all humanity. It is the gift of the Real Presence of Jesus The Redeemer, in the bread which is His Body given up for us, in the wine which is His Blood poured out for all.

Thanks to the Eucharist, constantly renewed among all peoples of the world, Christ continues to build His church: He brings us together in praise and thanksgiving for salvation, in the communion which only infinite love can forge. Our worldwide gathering now takes on its fullest meaning, through the celebration of the Mass.

Dear young friends, may your presence here mean a true commitment in faith! For Christ is now answering your own question and the questions of all those who seek the Living God. He answers by offering an invitation: This is My Body, take It and eat. To the Father He entrusts His supreme desire: that all those whom He loves may be one in the same communion.

Pope John Paul II’s World Youth Day homily on Sunday, August 24, 1997 in Paris, France

Pray

Jesus, give me the grace to appreciate the Eucharist more in my life. Since it is your Body and Blood, I never want to take this sacred gift for granted. Give me faith when I doubt the real presence, and reverence when I’m tempted to be indifferent. Thank you for loving me so much that you want to be one with me in the Eucharist. Help me to share that love with everyone around me so that it’s not me they see, but You, Jesus, in me. Amen.

Do

Today we commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist and also the institution of the Priesthood. If you can, read and pray with John chapter 6, also known as the “Bread of Life discourse.” Say an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for all priests and an increase in vocations.

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Joanna and I became friends in college, when I was a junior and she was a freshman. Her family had converted to Catholicism when she was a teenager and she struggled to embrace their new beliefs. I was a theology major who loved my Catholic faith and a good discussion. Joanna would often knock on my door, offer me a pudding snack, and spend hours grilling me about the Church.

Not Just a Symbol

Joanna’s biggest issue with the Catholic Church was the Eucharist. Having been raised Episcopalian, she had celebrated the Lord’s Supper as a “symbol” since her childhood. The bread and wine they had shared at her church on Sunday had been just that – bread and wine.

In the Eucharist, Christ left the Catholic Church not a symbol of Himself but His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We believe the promise of Christ, that, “I am the bread of life . . . 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 6:48-51).

When Christ said this, many of his followers left, saying this idea of eating his flesh was too hard to accept (John 6:66). Had Christ intended for the Eucharist to be a symbol, he would have clarified. Yet he allowed them to leave. 2000 years later, we continue to live the words of Christ, believing what He taught and the Council of Trent clarified: “that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood” (CCC #1376). We call this transubstantiation: the substance changes while the appearance remains the same.

Everything My Heart Wanted

This was the explanation I constantly offered Joanna, yet she couldn’t wrap her mind around this idea of the Eucharist. It was “too out there . . . something we had convinced ourselves of.” Holy Thursday, I returned from classes to find her at my door. I felt defeated, that after a year Joanna still struggled to understand. Exasperated, I invited her to come to Mass with me that evening. Well, not so much invited as said, “We’re going to Mass. If God wants you to believe this, it’s His turn to show you. I’m done!”

I really was done. My explanations of the Church, Christ, and the Eucharist had failed to make Joanna believe. However, what I had forgotten was that belief didn’t come from me, but from the Holy Spirit. For Joanna, that moment happened at Mass that night. She explained, “The incarnation, the cross, the Eucharist . . . everything my heart wanted all in one place. I had known for a while but it came down to a choice. The choice to say yes, I do believe.” I thought it was my explanations that would change Joanna’s heart, but that moment of belief came from grace. Not me.

Go, Ask, Recieve

This week, we do things differently from our non-Catholic friends. We celebrate the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday. We remember Christ’s death on Good Friday. Catechumens will be initiated and we will remember our baptisms at the Easter Vigil. If you wonder why, find explanations. If you struggle to believe, realize that while explanations can offer clarity it is grace that aids belief. By going to Mass that night, Joanna put herself in a place to receive graces before she fully understood. Don’t be afraid to go to Mass. Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, even if you don’t fully understand or believe.

Have you had that awkward moment yet? I have. Actually, a couple times. Everyone around me remembered to grab their instructional pew cards. But no, I haven’t mastered that necessary skill I need to remember not to say “And also with you.” So there I stand, awkwardly sputtering the words my mind automatically supplies.

And what’s up with the creed? Consubstantial? As Steven Colbert put it, “We’re trying to get into Heaven here, not take the SAT’s!”

Have you figured out what that word means yet? Cause when we say it we’re professing what we believe. It’s as big a deal as it sounds so read about it here. Mark Hart’s explanation helps a lot.

I have to be honest – it’s been interesting trying to adjust. I found my favorite part of the new prayers though! It’s from the Eucharistic Prayer that the priest prays. He says, “Through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.” (Eucharistic Prayer III)

I love that!

I admit it’s easy to be negative about a lot of things. Such as being a little frustrated with my mistakes in praying the new Roman Missal. I can even find a way to be a downer about Advent! I think to myself, “Great . . . another liturgical season where I probably won’t do what I should do in order to fully participate and get the most out of it.”

You probably never have such negative thoughts, huh?

God only bestows good on us though! The new Roman Missal? Good. My mistakes that humble me? Good. The Advent season? So good – because even my shortcomings can lead to a more powerful surrender to Jesus at Christmas. I realized that when I accept my weaknesses I’m free be more authentic with God.

So peace be with you (hint: you say “And with your spirit”). Keep trying; keep praying the prayers. Listen closely and maybe you’ll find a part that really speaks to your heart as well. And have a great Advent, even if the only thing you do is surrender this season to Jesus, He’ll lead you to what’s good.

After all, that is what He loves to “bestow on the world.”

I’m praying for you.

I was celebrating a wedding, the first wedding in the parish where I was assigned as a newly ordained priest. It was for a couple that was not particularly faithful and whom I had never gotten to know because I had just shown up at the parish. The deacon of the parish was to assist me by preaching since he knew them.

We walked in for the entrance procession and everything went just swimmingly well and we’re still singing the opening hymn of the wedding Mass and I notice a man who I had never seen before walk in.

I thought it was kind of odd that he was coming to the wedding late; he wasn’t wearing a suit and he really wasn’t dressed appropriately. I thought that it was kind of odd that he was coming to a wedding if he wasn’t invited. But then I thought maybe he was just coming to Mass, however he still shouldn’t walk right down the center aisle and sit in the front row ’cause the bridal party is there.

He walked all the way up the aisle to the sanctuary, genuflected and then went to the left to the side chapel where the statue of Our Lady of Fatima is kept. He approached the statue and I thought “Well gosh, I guess he really wanted to pray in front of the statue.”

But he didn’t, he immediately walked to the statue (which is about 4 feet tall) and picked it up off of the pedestal. We’re now saying the opening prayer. So I say to the deacon,

“What is he doing?”

“What’s he doing with it?”

But at one point I’m thinking, “Is this some part of the wedding ritual in this parish that I don’t really understand?” After the man picks up the statue, he turns around and immediately walks out of the church with it. Middle of the Wedding. Just takes the statue out of the church.

We sat down for the first reading and I realize that the bride has to lay flowers at the statue of Our Lady – it’s in the program. And there’s no statue of Our Lady whatsoever because someone has stolen it from the church … during the wedding!

So I finally said the deacon, “You have to go get it, we have to have it.” And the deacon’s like, “Now?” and I say “Go! Now!”

So he goes during the middle of the reading and I can see out the back of the church through the window. He approaches the man with the statue in his arms.

And you can tell the deacon says, “Give me the statue.” And the man shakes his head “No!”

They’re fighting and gesturing and then the next thing I see – the deacon and the man are going fist to cuffs, there’s no other way to say it. He reaches for the statue and pulls it and the man pulls the statue back and I see all of this taking place whilst the cantor is singing the responsorial psalm of the wedding.

Finally the deacon takes the statue and pushes the man away. He processes in the church, down the center aisle, with the statue in his arms. He sets the statue on the pedestal where it belongs and walks immediately to the ambo and proclaims the gospel … without missing a beat.

Glorious.

The man decided that he wanted to pray the rosary with some friends in the parking lot because it would be a public witness for Our Lady of Fatima’s anniversary, but didn’t bother to tell anyone in the church that he was doing it and didn’t seem to care that there was a wedding.

“I desire to unite Myself to human souls, Know, My daughter, that when I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul.

Now you shall consider My love in the Blessed Sacrament. Here, I am entirely yours, soul, body and divinity, as your Bridegroom. You know what love demands: one thing only, reciprocity.” – Jesus to St. Faustina

Have you ever been to a wedding? There are a lot of people in the wedding. There is flower girl, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, wedding coordinator, etc. All of these people add to the celebration of the wedding.

However, if they don’t come, the wedding would still happen. The only two people needed for a wedding are the bridegroom and the bride. If one of them does not show up, the wedding doesn’t happen.

The Bible says that Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is His bride (Song of Songs, John 3, Revelation). At Mass, we are called to the wedding feast of Heaven where we are united to our bridegroom in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We can always count on the bridegroom showing up.

When we are at Mass, we renew our Covenant with Him – the New Covenant that he instituted with us at the Last Supper. It is this covenant – this promise made by the one who loves us – that allows us to one day spend eternity with our bridegroom in Heaven.

This covenant is something that has to be renewed every week on the Sabbath. Genesis 1 says that God created in six days and on the seventh day he rested. The number seven in Hebrew is “sheba” which is also the Hebrew word for covenant.

On the seventh day in the book of Genesis, God created a covenant with man and the seventh day would be put aside for creation to worship her Creator. This is also why God commands us to worship Him, to “keep holy the sabbath day” in the ten commandments (Exodus 20:8-11).

When we skip Mass on Sunday, we are violating our covenant with God. We are saying to God, “I don’t need to be united to you. I don’t need to worship you.” It may seem innocent, but we are actually declining His marriage proposal. We are not showing up for our own wedding.

When we make a decision to deny His invitation to covenant we are saying we don’t want a relationship with Him. Because our God loves us and is a gentleman, he allows us to do this.

However, it’s a grave sin to miss Mass.

If we have full knowledge that missing Mass is a grave sin and we fully consent to it (i.e. being sick or getting in a car accident on the way to Mass would be legitimate excuses for missing Mass), then we are in a state of mortal sin – we have cut off our relationship with God and need to seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation before we receive Holy Communion again.

Audio from Mark’s bible study talk at Life Teen Leadership Conference 2011.

Download the MP3 of Mark’s talk

Transcription of Mark’s bible study

Revelation 19:7. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory for the wedding day of the lamb has come, his bride (and the bride is the Church, that’s you and me) has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones. Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true. They come from God.”

Now a lot times we think the bride wears the white dress to show that she’s a virigin or that she’s pure, and that is part of the tradition. In this case, the linen garment shows in an outward way that on the inside is pure. This is one of the reasons that in Corinthians the Church says before you go to receive the Eucharist, you should be in a state of grace. You should not have serious sin. You should not have mortal sin in your soul. You should go to Confession before you go to Communion.

What the Church is trying to teach us, what God is revealing to St. John to reveal to us is Revelation. The book of Revelation is not a book of damnation and hell; the book of Revelation is about a wedding.

Literally, the whole first part is about the groom and the whole second part is about the bride.

Literally, the whole book of Revelation is trying to teach us that Jesus is the groom- the perfect groom, and He’s coming for His bride. And His bride is in a world that is filled with sin.

And this is where it gets hard, cause the guys are like “dude, I’m not a bride, I will be the best man. I will stand aside Jesus in a tux and I will look good doing it, but I am not the Bride.” That’s where we have to think a little bit higher for a second. That Jesus is the groom is coming for the Church, and the Church is the Bride and the Church is in a world that is surrounded by sin.

But the same way that the groom is going to come with the groomsmen with the saints and the angels… the groom is coming for the Bride. And He’s going to take the Bride back to where He is, but when He takes her back, Jesus and the Church, there is going to be a consummation.

People are starting to go, this is getting uncomfortable now… This is Biblical. Well you’re like- but it’s sexual. It’s more than sexual, because it’s truly intimate, it’s Biblical.

It’s that god wants to have this level of intimacy with us. The only thing more intimate than when my wife and I make love is when my wife and I pray, because we’re bearing souls- not just bodies.

This is one of those reasons too, I was going to say, I always encourage teenagers and young people to pray together- but I’m also going to say that you need to be really careful when you do, especially if you’re dating because it gets to this really intimate level- and sometimes we can mistake that intimacy. We always have to have barriers and boundaries. You have to be careful. It’s always good to pray in groups. Because there is an intimacy there, and you don’t want to let the evil one in and turn something beautiful, like prayer, into something it’s not, like a disordered action, premarital sex.

But this is what Jesus is trying to reveal to us and Jesus is saying, “I’m the groom and I’m going to come to where you are, so that we can be truly intimate.”

And Revelation is not just about the end of the world, or the end times, Revelation is about the Mass.

But people say it’s about a second coming, the word is parousia When he comes back at the end of time. Like you hear of all those people who say he’s going to come back. Remember a couple months ago, He’s coming back in May. The word Parousia doesn’t mean coming at the end of time, it means His coming… His presence.

When does Jesus as the groom crash into our presence? Every single day in fact, He’s going to be crashing into your presence in two hours you are going to your wedding. Ladies, you don’t have to wait another ten years. Guys in a weird way, we’re going to a wedding

When we go into that Abbey today, and every time you’re going into a Church, every time you go into your own parish- at Mass – it is a wedding. And what God is inviting you into is the most intimate relationship you’ll ever know. The only perfectly intimate and perfectly loving relationship you will ever know. Because He is perfect.

As awesome and as holy as your marriage is, if you’re called to marriage, it’s never going to be completely perfect. And it has no shot at it if God, who is perfection, is not at the center of it.

(So what’s going to happen is, we’re going to walk into a Church, and this is why I was saying- if you’re going to Communion you got to go to Confession, because you’re not going to be dressed right. Remember the first parable you read

Why did he get thrown out? He wasn’t dressed in wedding garments. He wasn’t dressed appropriately. But he was invited. Yeah we’re all invited … but we still have to dress appropriately.

When should that guy have figured out, even if he didn’t know or even if he had never been to a wedding before… when should he have figured out he wasn’t dressed right? By looking around, when you’re walking in, when you see everyone walking in and you think- that’s a nice tux or man that’s a pretty dress – I hope I’m okay in my cargo shorts and flip flops and my ripped up tank top. Like it should have occurred to him on the way in… or at least once he’s inside. )

So here we are in the Mass and it says, “rejoice and be glad that you’ve even been invited”. But it doesn’t stop there because God says, I want such intimacy with you that I’m going to stand at the aisle, like a groom. And the bride, the Church, is going to rise and walk forward.

And when the Bride rises and walks forward… the Bride is going to come face to face to Jesus, at the end of the aisle, like the groom

And the groom, there’s going to be an unveiling. It’s veiled. It looks like the host, looks like the bread. There’s going to be an unveiling and what’s really interesting… when we consume the Eucharist that’s the exact same root word for the word consummate.

So literally we’re going to consume the Eucharist and the two are going to become one. So now here we are in the house of God. And the two will become one.

And literally we are going to be able to receive Christ Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and His grace is going to come within us

And this is the way the Church looks at it… this is why it’s so important we have grace because we know what. When my wife and I- we consummate our relationship, and I’ll tell you what. We consummated and nine months later we had to name that consummation. Because it bore fruit. God was involved

That’s why when you contracept and God’s not involved you cannot bear fruit. You take out the purpose and we’re left with use.

So hear we are, we consummate and bear fruit Think about this.. God is saying I want you to have my grace and grace is God’s life. That’s what grace is. God’s life in you

And God says I want my life in you, so what I’m going to do. So I’m going to humble myself and come to where you re and unveil my presence and I’m going to allow myself to be consumed by you and truthfully while I’m allowing myself to be consumed by you, you’re being spiritually consumed by Me.

And you have God’s grace in you- so that when the two become one we are now going to go out of this church and you’re going to be impregnated with my life. That you’re going to bear fruit and share fruit with the world. And guys are so like, this is not comfortable

But you have to go to that higher level, A spiritual level, a mystical level

That literally what God is saying is, I am not okay with you just going around on your own, I want to be with you and I want you to come back to me often.

Because this is true intimacy and there’s time when you go to Mass and that is a consummation act- it’s intimate

I am not a morning person and I probably never will be. I like sleeping in and staying up late. I love my snooze button and don’t think scalding black coffee in my throat makes it any better. I like to joke that I live by this funny verse in Proverbs “When one greets his neighbor with a loud voice in the early morning, a curse can be laid to his charge.”

Throughout high school it took me from 7 in the morning until about lunch time to wake up. When I graduated, my sleep habits didn’t change. After three semesters I switched colleges and moved back at home. At this point I knew I needed to start being more disciplined about my prayer life. I had to make solid commitments to God.

I decided daily Mass would be the best start since I didn’t like waking up earlier than my schedule forced me to. I had gone a few times before because my friends had invited me, but not regularly. This time it was my choice. I knew I needed it.

It was by far the best decision I made in a long time. Daily Mass is so beautiful in its simplicity. There’s just one reading, then the Gospel, usually no music, an incredibly direct homily (usually) and most importantly the Eucharist is there for me. God truly blesses me with what I need and He knew I needed Mass to start my day. Ever since I started going to daily Mass my whole day has changed.

There is something about Mass being the first real moment of my day that I don’t think I could do justice describing. It changes my entire approach to the world around me. Someone might argue that it’s unnecessary to go everyday but if I could why wouldn’t I? The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith.

Receiving the Eucharist is more productive than anything else I could do in my whole day. It not hard to see how consuming Christ is more important than that extra moment of sleep or playing video games. He is all that I need. If I don’t go to Mass, I refuse an incredible invitation from the God of the universe!

My Lord helps me love the morning. I‘m still not a morning person but waking up isn’t as hard when there’s something worth the early start. Who need’s Folger’s when you have J.C.?

I hope by now you’ve heard that some of the words we say at Mass are going to be changing. The english-speaking world is getting a new translation of the Roman Missal – the book of prayers at Mass.

For the past couple weeks at my parish in place of the homily we’ve been listening to a teaching on the new words. Honestly, as I sit there on the hard pew with my eyelids getting heavier by the minute, I can’t help but ask myself, “Why should I care?”

The answer is simple: words matter.

I absolutely love words of affirmation. When someone compliments me, I remember it for a long time. I can’t always remember when they said it to me, or where we were that day, but I sure remember what they said.

You can leave a strong impression on someone with your words. Can you clearly remember when someone said something meaningful to you? How about the best compliment you’ve received?

I want to be sure I’m using my words as best as I can at all times, but especially when I’m praying to God. If He’s the most important person in my life, than my words matter the most with Him. The Church realizes this too.

The Church saw some places in the Mass where we could be using more accurate words than what we say now. These new words are deeper and more meaningful when we pray the Mass.

What’s cool is that when the words change on November 27th, we’re going to get this jolt in Mass and suddenly be forced to listen more closely. Right now the prayers are so automatic that sometimes I don’t even think about what I’m saying or hear what the priest is saying.

But as I learn the new prayers, I can’t wait for God to bring me to a new level of prayer.

Are you having a hard time caring about the changes too? Just be real with God. Tell Him (with your words!) and ask Him to help you appreciate the Church and her desire for our prayer to be deeper and more meaningful.

Because the Church cares about your soul.

I’m praying for you.

Ever wonder where the feast of Corpus Christi came from? In the 13th century a lot of people already had the idea to dedicate a day to the body of the Lord in the Eucharist. But some say it took a miracle for the Church to make it official.

Well, did you know that in 1263, a German priest named Peter of Prague was on a pilgrimage and stopped in Bolsena, Italy, a town about 70 miles north of Rome. Lately he had been having doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Was the bread and wine really transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus?

He said Mass at the Church of St. Christina. As Peter raised the Host and consecrated it blood started flowing out of it, onto his hands and the altar. God was telling him (and us) that yes, He is truly present in the host.

Peter was confused and tried to hide the blood. Then he excused himself from finishing the Mass and went to the nearby city of Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV was staying. He explained everything to the pope, who ordered the host and blood-stained altar cloth brought to the cathedral at Orvieto, where they are still enshrined today.

It is said that this miracle prompted Pope Urban to have St. Thomas Aquinas to write prayers for a Mass celebrating the Most Holy Body of the Lord, the Feast of Corpus Christi.

We celebrate the feast on June 7 (or June 10, if it’s moved to Sunday). You don’t have to wait that long, though, to appreciate and give thanks for the miracle of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Read more about all the Eucharistic miracles from different countries:

The Real Presence website- Eucharistic Miracles of the World, Vatican International Exhibition