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Sunday, November 25, 2018

November 25th, 2018 - Christ the King - Why the Eucharist? - Mass Series #17

Happy Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe!  Our King comes to us in different ways.  Why did He come to us in the Eucharist?  Listen to my homily and find out!  This is the last homily in my homily series on the Mass.  I hope you enjoyed the series!


Click here to download the homily.


Readings:  DN 7:13-14; PS 93:1, 1-2, 5; RV 1:5-8; JN 18:33B-37


This homily was the 17th in the series.  Click on the links below for the other homilies.

Related Bulletin Article:


Why the Eucharist?
Why did Jesus want to make Himself truly and actually present in what looks like ordinary bread and wine?
He did this out of love for us.  When we love someone there is a desire to remain with that person.  Jesus wanted to remain with His disciples even though He knew that He would soon be crucified.  By instituting the Eucharist, His is able to be truly present not only in His Divinity, but also in His Sacred Humanity, even though He ascended into heaven.
When Jesus became human, He allowed Himself to be limited by space and time such that He could only be present for a limited amount of time at any given place.  Thru the Eucharist, Jesus can be present to all the generations of faithful followers that would be born after His Ascension.  He is present all over the world in the tabernacles of churches. 
Jesus wanted to be physically present with His bride, the Church.  His Sacred Humanity comes into contact with the faithful Catholics who are members of the Church (Christ’s bride) at Holy Communion.  We call it communion because we are being united to Christ through it and thru Christ we are united to each other.
When we eat ordinary bread, we are physically nourished.  When we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we are spiritually nourished.  We receive an increase of Sanctifying Grace, an increase of charity, the strengthening of the presence of God within us, and more. 
The Eucharist is the very act of Christ on Calvary where He gave all that He had for us to be cleansed of our sins.  He gave this perfect gift to the Church to give to the Father, through which we receive His blessing.  When we unite our offering to His, how can God the Father refuse to accept it?
In the Eucharist Christ can remain fully present to us, be perpetually present all over the world, unite us with Himself, spiritually nourish us, and give us a means to please the Father and receive His blessings.

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Monday, November 5, 2018

November 4th, 2018 - 31st Sunday of OT - Creed and Petitions - Mass Series #16

What do you believe?  At Mass we declare what we believe every time we recite the Creed.  Do we know what we are saying?  Do we know that that means?  Listen to my homily to learn more about the Creed and the Petitions.


Click here to download the homily

Readings:  DT 6:2-6; PS 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; HEB 7:23-28; MK 12:28B-34


Additional homilies related to the Creed:
August 6th, 2017 - Transfiguration - Jesus is both God and Man
May 27th, 2018 - The Most Holy Trinity - One God, but Three Persons

This homily was the 16th in the series.  Click on the links below for the other homilies.

Related Bulletin Articles:


Creed
Our creed sets us apart from the rest of the world.  Our culture today is one of relativism, which suggests that knowledge, truth, and morality are all relative to culture, society, historical context, or even relative to each individual person; but are not absolute in themselves. 
Relativism is wrong because if there isn’t truth beyond ourselves, then medicine and even science itself would be impossible.  Medicine and science require the belief in a universe that has an order to it, truth that is independent of our choices.
Our creed reveals a world that was created by God, who has a plan for our happiness and eternal life.  It reveals how that plan was played out so far and how it will be fulfilled.  That we were separated from God and in need of a Savior to forgive us of our sins and reconcile us with God.  There is a cosmic battle going on between good and evil.  How we live our lives determines the outcome for ourselves and affects those around us.  There is no neutrality in this battle.  We either take the side of God, or we will be on the side of Satan. 
The decisive blow to the enemy came when God became man in Jesus Christ.  This is such an important part of the battle that when we recite it in the creed we all bow.  Jesus Christ worked out our salvation through His passion, death, and resurrection, and in the end, He will come to judge the living and the dead.  Those who chose Him and fought on His side by following the way of life He showed us and helping others to do the same, will receive eternal life.  Those who chose anything else, including themselves, are in actuality opposed to God and will be in eternal damnation. 
When we profess the creed and mean what we are saying, then we are choosing God’s side.  We recite the creed every Sunday and Solemnity as a renewal of what we believe and a recommitment that we will live by this belief. 

Prayers of the Faithful / Petitions
After professing our faith, we then exercise it by praying the Prayers of the Faithful.  These are the petitions or intercessions.  If we didn’t believe in God and that He loves us, then we wouldn’t bother asking Him for help.  We are also exercising hope, since we are desiring that He fulfill His promises to answer our prayers. 
Interceding for ourselves and each other is supported by Sacred Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-7), the first letter to Timothy (2:1-4), the first letter to the Thessalonians (1:2-3) and the second letter to the Corinthians (1:11).  Tradition also up holds the practice of praying for each other, even at Mass.  St. Justin Martyr described the Mass as it was celebrated in the 2nd century and in it he includes the petitions:  “Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves… and for others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.”  [CCC 1345] 
The intercessions are also helpful to us to overcome our tendency toward self-centeredness.  When we pray for others we are focusing on them and their well-being.  As such, we are also exercising charity, which is the love of God and love of others.  Love is willing what is truly good for the other.  As we pray for others we are loving them.  

Additional information about the Creed can be found on our website:  asc.church

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