IMMACULATE CONCPETION -2018

Genesis 3:9-15, 20; Eph. 1: 3-6, 11-12; Luke 1: 26-38)

In 1492, Columbus discovered America. He sailed in a ship called Santa Maria de Conception (St. Mary, the Immaculate Conception). He named the first Island he landed San Salvador, in honor of our Savior. Columbus named the second island Conceptio in honor of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. The fearless French explorer Fr. Marquette who explored the 2300 miles long Mississippi River, flowing through ten states, called it River of Mary Immaculate.  In fact, all the early American Catholics were so proud of the great truth we celebrate today that the American bishops in 1829 (25 years before the promulgation of the dogma), chose Mary Conceived without Sin as the patroness of the United States. Hence, this feast is the feast of the country’s Heavenly patroness.

All Our mothers predate us. And we all love our mothers. Now, suppose that you could have pre-existed your own mother, in much the same way that an artist pre-exists his painting. Furthermore, suppose that you had the infinite power to make your mother anything that you pleased, what kind of mother would you have made for yourself? Would you not have made her, so far as human beauty goes, the most beautiful woman in the world; and so far as beauty of the soul goes, one who would radiate every virtue, every manner of kindness and charity and loveliness; one who by the purity of her life and her mind and her heart would be an inspiration not only to you but even to your fellow men, so that all would look up to her as the very incarnation of what is best in motherhood?

There is only one person who predated his own mother, that is Jesus Christ. And since he is the creator of his own mother we can imagine that he created her flawless in every way. She is made full of grace. That is what we celebrate by the feast of Immaculate conception. Mary was protected by God from the stain and effects of original sin. And if I had a way to protect my mother from death or corruption, I would certainly do that for her. Jesus did that to her by assuming her into heaven at the end of her life. Like sun rays that pass through window glass does not break the glass, so Mary gave birth to Jesus without losing her virginity.

Why did the Church make this Solemnity one of the seven days of holy obligation?

There are two reasons.

First, the Immaculate Conception reminds us of the most basic truth of the Catholic faith and of human existence: we need a Savior.

After our rebellion against God, we needed him to reach out to us, we needed a Savior. The Immaculate Conception reminds us of this, because Mary didn't do it herself. This miraculous privilege of being completely protected from the stain and effects of original sin, of being created "full of grace", was a pure gift of God. He filled her with grace from the very first moment of her existence in order to make her a fitting mother for the coming Savior.

When Adam disobeyed, he wasn't alone; Eve was with him. Adam and Eve together were created in God’s image, and together they were entrusted with caring for the world, and together they gave into temptation and caused the fall. And so, when the time came for God to redeem the fallen race, he considered it appropriate to give us not only a new Adam, Jesus, but also a new Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Jesus alone is the Savior, because he alone is divine, but he has chosen to involve Mary in his work of salvation in a special way. That is why she was preserved from the stain of original sin, from the very first moment of her existence.

Since Jesus has given her as our mother from the cross, we can confidently ask for anything through her. At the miracle of Cana, Jesus said his time did not arrive for a miracle, but when she insisted he did. Even though God’s time may not have arrived for granting a petition, when Mary insists Jesus obliges.

The great victory of the war of Lepanto on October 7th, 1571 is a historical evidence of Mary’s powerful intercession. The Arabs almost conquered Europe and finally Rome, but at this juncture Pope Pius V ordered the churches of Rome opened for prayer day and night, encouraging the faithful to petition the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the recitation of the Rosary. As a result of the prayers the Holy League won the battle and drove the Muslims back to Turkey. When word reached the Pope Pius of the victory of the Holy League, he added a new feast day to the Roman Liturgical Calendar- October 7th would henceforth be the feast of Our Lady of Victory. Pope Pius' successor, Gregory XIII would change the name of this day to the feast of the Holy Rosary. Had it not been for the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary, we would not have been praying here but would be facing Mecca when we would be praying.   

The Immaculate Conception was God's way of giving Jesus a worthy mother on earth, and of giving us a worthy mother in heaven. We should thank him for this great gift, and the best way to do that is to follow in our mother's footsteps, answering every call that God sends to our hearts and consciences in the same way that Mary answered her call, by saying: "May it be done to me according to your word."

Every mother wants her children to inherit or acquire all her good qualities. Hence, our Immaculate and holy mother wants us to be holy and pure children. The original sin from which Mary was preserved is the original sin from which we, too, have been freed. Mary is significant for us because the central factors in her life are the central factors in our own. On this feast day, let us ask Mary conceived without Original Sin, to be with us, to guide us, to protect us through her prayers of intercession with her Son, and to share her privilege with us, making our bodies worthy resting places for her son. 

XXXVIII.

Very often we do not think how grave it is to avoid the Sunday celebration. We often think it is not a sin at all.

Mathew Kelley in the prologue to his book Rediscovering Catholicism explains how ungrateful we would be if we don’t attend the Sunday Mass.

Imagine this, he says:

You're driving home from work next Monday after a long day. You turn on your radio and you hear a brief report about a small village in India where some people have suddenly died, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but four people are dead, so the Centers for Disease Control is sending some doctors to India to investigate.

You don't think too much about it — people die every day — but coming home from church the following Sunday you hear another report on the radio, only now they say it's not four people who have died, but thirty thousand, in the back hills of India. Whole villages have been wiped out and experts confirm this flu is a strain that has never been seen before.

By the time you get up Monday morning, it's the lead story. The disease is spreading. It's not just India that is affected. Now it has spread to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and northern Africa, but it still seems far away. Before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere. The media have now coined it "the mystery flu." Everyone is wondering how we are ever going to contain it.

That's when the President of France and Prime minister of England make announcements that shock the rest of the world: The disease breaks out in major cities in their countries.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it, then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms, and then you die.

On Tuesday morning the President of the United States makes the following announcement: "Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from the United States have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come home until we find a cure for this horrific disease."

Within four days, America is plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are wondering, what if it comes to this country? Preachers on television are saying it's the scourge of God. Then on Tuesday night you are at church for Bible study, when somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, "Turn on a radio!" And while everyone listens to a small radio, the announcement is made: Two women are lying in a hospital in New York City dying of the mystery flu. It has come to America.

Within hours the disease envelops the country. People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote, but nothing is working. The disease breaks out in California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

Then suddenly the news comes out: The code has been broken. A cure has been found. A vaccine can be made. But it's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected. So you and I are asked to do just one thing: Go to the nearest hospital and have our blood tested. When we hear the sirens go off in our neighborhood, we are to make our way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospital.

Sure enough, by the time you and your family get to the hospital it's late Friday night. There are long lines of people and a constant rush of doctors and nurses taking blood and putting labels on it. Finally, it is your turn. You go first, then your spouse and children follow, and once the doctors have taken your blood they say to you, "Wait here in the parking lot for your name to be called." You stand around with your family and neighbors, scared, waiting, wondering. Wondering quietly to yourself, What on earth is going on here? Is this the end of the world? How did it ever come to this?

Nobody seems to have had their name called; the doctors just keep taking people's blood. But then suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital, screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. You don't hear him at first. "What's he saying?" someone asks. The young man screams the name again as he and a team of medical staff run in your direction, but again you cannot hear him. But then your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me. That's my name they're calling." Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute. Hold on!" you say, running after them. "That's my son."

"It's okay," they reply. "We think he has the right blood type. We just need to check one more time to make sure he doesn't have the disease."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging each another; some of them are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week. An old doctor walks up to you and your spouse and says, "Thank you. Your son's blood is perfect. It's clean, it's pure, he doesn't have the disease, and we can use it to make the vaccine."

As the news begins to spread across the parking lot, people scream and pray and laugh and cry. You can hear the crowd erupting in the background as the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your spouse aside to say, "I need to talk to you. We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we . . . we need you to sign a consent form."

The doctor presents the form and you quickly begin to sign it, but then your eye catches something. The box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty.

"How many pints?" you ask. That is when the old doctor's smile fades, and he says, "We had no idea it would be a child. We weren't prepared for that."

You ask him again, "How many pints?" The old doctor looks away and says regretfully, "We are going to need it all!"

"But I don't understand. What do you mean you need it all? He's my only son!"

The doctor grabs you by the shoulders, pulls you close, looks you straight in the eyes, and says, "We are talking about the whole world here. Do you understand? The whole world. Please, sign the form. We need to hurry!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?" you plead.

"If we had clean blood we would, but we don't. Please, will you sign the form?"

In numb silence you sign the form because you know it's the only thing to do. Then the doctor says to you, "Would you like to have a moment with your son before we get started?"

Could you walk into that hospital room where your son sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Could you tell your son you love him? And when the doctors and nurses come back in and say, "I'm sorry, we've got to get started now; people all over the world are dying," could you leave? Could you walk out while your son is crying out to you, "Mom? Dad? What's going on? Where are you going? Why are you leaving? Why have you abandoned me?"

The following week, they hold a ceremony to honor your son for his phenomenal contribution to humanity … but some people sleep through it, others don't even bother to come because they have better things to do, and some people come with a pretentious smile and pretend to care, while others sit around and say, "This is boring!" Wouldn't you want to stand up and say, "Excuse me! I'm not sure if you are aware of it or not, but the amazing life you have, my son died so that you could have that life. My son died so that you could live. He died for you. Does it mean nothing to you?"

Perhaps that is what God wants to say, when we don’t bother to come to church or avoid church just for sports which would give you enjoyment for maximum 10 years or less but not caring for your life that is eternal. Think about the sacrifice God’s son made for you and me, before we can shrug off on the Sunday Mass.

With this I am closing the explanation on the Mass which was going on for last 38 weeks.

XXXVII

Mass Intentions.

The intention of the Mass is also determined by various factors: The Church may stipulate the particular intention; for example, all pastors are required to offer one Mass on Sunday for the intentions of the living and deceased parishioners of a parish. A priest may also have his own particular intention in offering a Mass, such as the repose of the soul of his parents. Finally, a person may ask a priest to offer a Mass for a particular intention; usually, a stipend is given to the priest for offering the Mass, which thereby in justice creates an obligation which must be satisfied.

We find not only the origins of this practice dating to the early Church but we also clearly recognize its importance. When we face the death of someone, even a person who is not Catholic, to have a Mass offered for the repose of his soul and to offer our prayers are more beneficial and comforting than any other sympathy card or bouquet of flowers. To have a Mass offered on the occasion of a birthday, anniversary or special need is appropriate, beneficial and appreciated.

It is the sacrifice of sacrifices, because it is the sacrifice of God for US.  There is NO better activity that anyone in the entire world can do than attend a Mass in the state of grace, and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we become living tabernacles of God after Communion!  Through time and space, we connect with the original Last Supper (the Church does not re-sacrifice Jesus at each mass;  rather, each Mass is a re-creation of the original Mass). 

 What are the purposes for which the Mass is offered?

First, to adore God as our Creator and Lord.

Second, to thank God for His many favors.

Third, to ask God to bestow His blessings on all men.

Fourth, to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against Him.

At the hour of death the Holy Masses you have heard devoutly will be your greatest consolation. 

Every Mass will go with you to Judgment and will plead for pardon for you.

By every Mass you can diminish the temporal punishment due to your sins, more or less, according to your fervor.

By devoutly assisting at Holy Mass you render the greatest homage possible to the Sacred Humanity of Our Lord. ...

Through the Holy Sacrifice, Our Lord Jesus Christ supplies for many of your negligences and omissions.

He forgives you all the venial sins which you are determined to avoid. He forgives you all your unknown sins which you never confessed. The power of Satan over you is diminished. 

By piously hearing Holy Mass you afford the Souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief.  

Through Holy Mass you are preserved from many dangers and misfortunes which would otherwise have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory by every Mass.

When you hear Holy Mass devoutly, offering it to Almighty God in honor of any particular Saint or Angel, thanking God for the favors bestowed on him, etc., you afford that Saint or Angel a new degree of honor, joy and happiness, and draw his special love and protection on yourself.  

The benefits of even one holy Mass are infinite and include the whole world. The blood of the new and everlasting covenant was "shed for you and for all."  

In every Mass that is offered the Church remembers before God "those who take part in this offering, those here present and all your people, and all who seek you with a sincere heart." In a special way those who have holy Mass offered and those for whom a Mass is offered partake of the grace of the Eucharistic sacrifice.  

The Church which offers Mass each day includes not only the faithful on earth, but the saints in heaven, as well as the suffering souls still awaiting entrance into heaven. 

XXXVI

Why the Holy Mass is So Powerful?

The Mass is the most powerful prayer and its place in the Church is central.

"The following true story was related to Sister Mary Veronica Murphy by an elderly Nun, who heard it from the lips of the late Reverend Father Stanislaus, SS.CC.

...One day, many years ago, in a little town in Luxembourg, a Captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with the butcher, when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted.
 

She had come to beg for a little meat but had no money. The Captain was amused at the conversation which ensued between the poor woman and the butcher.
 "Only a little meat . . ."

 "But how much are you going to give me?"

 "I am sorry I have no money, but I'll hear Mass for you."

 Both the butcher and the Captain were very good men, but very indifferent about religion, so they at once began to scoff at the old woman's answer.

"All right, then," said the butcher. "You go out and hear Mass for me, and when you come back, I'll give you as much meat as the Mass is worth."

 The woman left the shop and returned later. She approached the counter and the butcher seeing her, said, "All right, then, we'll see,"

 He took a slip of paper and wrote on it, "I heard a Mass for you."

He then placed the paper on the scale and a tiny bone on the other side, but the paper was showing as being heavier than the bone... Next he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier.

 Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery but continued their game. A large piece of meat was placed on the scales but still the little piece paper held its own.

The butcher, exasperated, examined the scales, but found they were all right.
"What do you want, my good woman? Must I give you a whole leg of mutton?"

At this, he placed the leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. A larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper.

This so impressed the butcher that he was converted, and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat.

 As for the Captain, he left the shop a changed man, an ardent lover of daily Holy Mass. Two of his sons became Priests, one a Jesuit and the other a Father of the Sacred Heart.  Father Stanislaus finished by saying,  "I am
the religious of the Sacred Heart, and the Captain was my father."

 From that incident the Captain became a daily Mass goer and his children were trained to follow his example. Later, when his sons became Priests, he advised them to offer Holy Mass well every day and never miss the Sacrifice through any fault of their own.
(CREDIDIMUS CARITATIS- Let us never forget the end of our Faith and the Holy Mass: CHARITY in the truth and the truth in charity...")

XXXV

Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is a powerful time for us. We sing a communion song, raising our voices in joy and thanksgiving for this gift that we are receiving in the Lord. We also take time for silence, to listen to Jesus and what he wants for us. We need both the singing and the silence to fully express our love for this gift we have just received from the Father – his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, now present within us!

AFTER COMMUNION:

After communion, the priest, deacon or acolyte will purify the ciboria and cups ensuring that every particle and drop of the Body and Blood of Christ is reverently consumed before the vessels are washed. After the purification has taken place, everyone stands while the priest prays the Prayer after Communion. This prayer is not a concluding prayer for the Mass! Instead, it is a prayer on our behalf that the communion we have received bring us spiritual strength and growth in holiness. At the end of the prayer, we all respond, “Amen.”

THE CONCLUDING RITES:

The concluding rite of the Mass is very short but is nonetheless important! The priest gives us God’s blessing before we are dismissed to “go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Both the blessing and dismissal are important! We are given the graces of God’s blessing that we will need as we live out our lives during the week. The dismissal reminds us that the Mass may be concluded, but our call to live out our Catholic identity goes with us to work, school, our family and friends! While we have been dismissed, it is a mark of respect to allow the priest and assisting ministers to leave first.

Someone said that Christians enter the church to love God and come out to love their neighbors.

As the deacon (or priest in his absence) announces the dismissal, the faithful are reminded that what we do in the Sacred Liturgy does not end when we leave the church. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us – the liturgy is the source and summit of the Christian life. As the source, we find our nourishment in the Most Holy Eucharist, so that we can be empowered to enter into the world and proclaim Christ crucified, died and risen! 

In each of the four options for the dismissal the word “go” begins each. It is no coincidence that the Lord Jesus prior to concluding His time on earth and ascending into Heaven also used the word, “Go!” He said to His disciples in Matthew 28:19: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Having just marked ourselves with the Sign of the Cross in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, we are reminded that we are to go into the world proclaiming the Gospel in both word and deed, so that all the nations will come to know the One who has loved us beyond all our imagining — to make disciples of those around us. While each option of the dismissal is slightly different, at the heart of each is this message — this mission of the Church and of all her members. 

XXXIV

Who can doubt the Real Presence? For those who still have doubt about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, there is a story or incident that happened a few years ago. Even sniffer dogs can recognize Jesus’ living presence in the Eucharist.

On the evening of the last day of his October 1995 visit to the United States, Pope John Paul II was scheduled to greet the seminarians at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. It had been a very full day, beginning with Mass at the Oriole Park in Camden Yards, followed by a parade through the downtown streets, a visit to the Basilica of The Assumption, the first cathedral in the country, lunch at a local soup kitchen, run by the Catholic Charities, a prayer service at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in the north Baltimore area, and finally a quick stop at St. Mary's Seminary.

The schedule was tight so the plan was to simply greet the seminarians while they stood outside on the steps. But Pope John Paul II made his way through their ranks and into the building. His plan was first to make a
visit to the Blessed Sacrament. When his wishes were made known, security personnel quickly flew into action ahead of the Pope. Their activities included a sweep of the building, paying closest attention to the chapel
where Pope John Paul II would be praying. For this purpose, highly trained dogs were used to detect any persons who might be present.

The dogs are trained to locate living people in collapsed buildings after earthquakes and other disasters. These intelligent and eager canines went through their rounds in the halls, offices and classrooms quickly, and
were then sent into the chapel. They went up and down the aisles and past the pews, and finally into the side chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. Upon reaching the tabernacle, the dogs sniffed and whined and
pointed, refusing to leave; they were convinced that they discovered SOMEONE there and firmly remained, their attention riveted to the tabernacle, until called out by the handlers. The dogs were right; they found a REAL LIVING PERSON in the tabernacle! (Snopes.com)

In the reception of the communion, we receive the living Christ. St.Augustine says in the reception of the communion, it is Christ who is receiving us and not us receiving him. If you look into the nature, you notice that the higher principle consumes or absorbs the lower principle. The grass absorbs minerals. Cow eats grass and grass doesn’t eat a cow. Tiger eats cows and cows don’t eat tigers. So in receiving communion Christ, God, eats us and we are eaten by him out of love. Just like a mother out of love feels like nibbling her baby, so Jesus out of love for us eats us. But if he eats us we are not going to be alive, therefore he allows us to eat him externally, and allows us to grow in him. Each worthy reception of the communion makes us grow in him and each unworthy reception will make us sick more and more just like junk food or poison eaten little by little can kill us. Therefore communion can be an elixir or venom for us depending on our attitude and disposition. Last supper proved fatal for Judas.

XXXIII

Black Mass

One of the things that strengthen my faith in the real presence in the Holy Eucharist is derived from the affirmation of Satanists in the real presence of Jesus in the sacred species.  There have been a number of stories in the news lately of small Satanic groups publicly performing so-called “Black Masses.” These rituals are based on the Catholic mass but are inverted toward Satan and often involve the desecration of a Eucharistic host.

There are two types of Satanists: “LaVey Satanists,” and “theological Satanists.” LaVey Satanists are atheists who don’t believe in Satan, and use “Satanism” as a tool to harass and provoke Christians (unlike“theological Satanists,” who believe in Satan and worship him). And it is worth pointing out that when Satanists (of both kind) want to mock a religious ritual, you can bet that it’s going to be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that they target. How often do you hear about Muslim or Hindu or Jewish (or even Protestant) services being subjected to such intense Satanic mockery? None, Never. Nor is this Satanic targeting of the Mass anything new. As far back as the fourth century, St. Epiphanius of Salamis described a sect of Gnosticism performing a perverted mockery of Mass. The Mass, which is the central form of worship of Catholicism being the target of Satanic ire, is a good reason to believe that Catholicism was the true religion.

Satanism was structured specifically as the opposite of the Catholic Church. It possessed its own sacraments, all of which were evil opposites of the Catholic sacraments, and it performs dark rites with the Black Mass being its primary, which was a backwards parody of the Catholic Mass.

The host that the dark priest blesses is black and has three points; he consecrates no wine, but instead he drinks the water of a well into which the body of an unbaptized infant has been flung.

The Black Mass’ main objective is the profanation of a consecrated host that has been stolen from a Catholic Mass. Jesus’ body, blood, soul, and divinity under the appearance of bread is profaned by means of some ritual related to sexual practices. There are unbelievable horrors that go on in a black mass and I won’t mention them to protect the innocent minds.

Most Satanists and Bonafide (real) Witches can discern a Consecrated Host among thousands of unconsecrated hosts. It needs to be understood that people who can do this has made a direct pact with devils enabling them to inhabit one and use their powers which are much superior to the abilities of ordinary humans. Black mass is performed not only to dishonor God, but to get favors through Satan. 

XXXII

There are numerous eucharistic miracles verified and attested by the Vatican. 

One at Santarem Portugal 50 miles from Fatima is one that I have seen during my last visit to Fatima.

A woman living in Santarém, Portugal in the 13th century was distressed over the unfaithfulness of her husband,  and decided to consult a sorceress for help. The sorceress told her the price of her services was a consecrated host.

She went to Mass at the Church of St. Stephen and received the Eucharist on her tongue, removed the Eucharist from her mouth, wrapped it in her veil, and headed to the door of the church. But before she got out, the host began to bleed.

When she got home, she put the bloodied host in a trunk. That night, a miraculous light emanated from the trunk. She repented of what she had done and the next morning confessed to her priest. Her priest came and retrieved the host and took it back to the church.

The bloody Host was taken in procession to the Church of St. Stephen, where it was encased in wax (to contain the blood and the Host) and secured in the tabernacle. Sometime later when the tabernacle was opened, the wax that had encased the Host was found broken into pieces, and the Host was found miraculously enclosed in a crystal pyx, along with the precious Blood. After the investigation and approval by the Church authorities, the Church of St. Stephen was renamed "The Church of the Holy Miracle."

Argentina-miracle-of-the Host

Back in 1996, when Pope Francis was formerly Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, a miracle of the Host occurred in Buenos Aires. On August 18, 1996, three days after the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, a woman came up to Fr. Alejandro Pezet after Holy Mass in a local church, and pointed to a discarded Host on a candleholder at the back of the church. Unable to consume the Host, Fr. Pezet put it in a container with water and placed it inside the tabernacle.

On August 26, a week later, as he opened the tabernacle, he saw that the Host had turned blood red. He informed Bergoglio, who immediately had it photographed. On September 6, the photographs revealed that the Host “had become a fragment of bloodied flesh and had grown significantly in size”. For years, the Host was kept secretly in the tabernacle. On October 5, 1999, Bergoglio, now an Archbishop, seeing that the Host did not decompose, sent it for scientific analysis in New York City through his representative Dr. Castanon.

Dr. Castanon purposely did not give any background about the Host to Dr. Frederic Zugiba, a well-known cardiologist and forensic pathologist, who did the examination. His findings revealed that it was “real flesh and blood and containing human DNA. Zugiba testified that the material was a fragment of the heart muscle responsible for contraction to supply blood to all parts of the body.

Dr. Zugiba reported that the examined material was inflamed flesh containing a lot of white blood cells, indicating that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken. Dr. Zugiba added that white blood cells would die in a matter of minutes if the heart was no longer alive and functioning. The white blood cells had penetrated the tissue, indicating that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had a trauma of being beaten on the chest. This reminds us of the pain and trauma of the Crucifixion of our Lord.

Finally informed that it was a Host, Dr. Zugiba was shocked and said, “How and why a consecrated Host would change its character and become living human flesh and blood will remain an inexplicable mystery to science.”

Every day, on the altars of Catholic churches around the world, the greatest miracle possible takes place: the transformation of bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ.

Nonetheless, when we receive Communion, we can only touch its true nature with our faith, because our senses only perceive bread and wine, physically unaltered by the consecration.

XXXI

MAKING A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

Receiving communion is the climax of the Eucharistic celebration. Jesus said:  Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you (Jn.6:53).

If we cannot receive Holy Communion physically, either because we cannot make it to Mass or because we need to go to Confession first, we can pray an Act of Spiritual Communion, in which we express our desire to be united with Christ and ask Him to come into our soul. A spiritual communion is not sacramental but prayed devoutly, it can be a source of grace that can strengthen us until we can receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion once again.

As we saw earlier, the Eucharistic species is real presence of Jesus and not symbolic presence. He told his disciples, if you do not believe that it is true, you also can leave me like others did. He did not welcome any compromise on that belief. There had been several miracles over the centuries by which Jesus wanted to convince us that it is his real presence, his real flesh.

 A famous Eucharistic miracle took place in Lanciano, Italy, in the year 700. A monk who feared he was losing his vocation was celebrating Mass, and during the consecration the host turned into flesh and the wine turned into blood. Despite the fact that the miracle took place almost 1300 years ago, you may still see the flesh in a monstrance which is exposed every day and the blood in a glass chalice. The blood has congealed and is now in five clots in the glass chalice. In 1971 and 1981 a hospital laboratory tested the flesh and blood and discovered that the flesh is myocardium, which is heart muscular tissue, so we could say it is the heart of Jesus, the Sacred Heart, and the blood is of the blood group AB. In 1978 NASA scientists tested the blood on the Turin Shroud and interestingly also discovered that it is of the blood group AB. (The Sudarium, Face Cloth of Christ, in John 20:6 is also of the blood group AB.) Despite the fact that human flesh and blood should not have remained preserved for 1300 years, the hospital lab tests found no trace of any preservatives. One final interesting point about the five blood clots in the chalice is that when you weigh one of them, it is the same weight as all five together, two of them together weigh the same as all five. In fact no matter what way you combine the blood clots individually or in a group to weigh them, they always weigh the same.  (This shows that the full Jesus is present in a particle of the Eucharist no matter how small.)

There are at least over 100 Eucharistic miracles approved by the Vatican.  We will see a couple more of them next weekend.

XXX

Many Non-Catholics do not understand why the Catholics don’t share communion with other Christians while they are ready to share their Lord’s supper with the Catholics. They say the Catholics are very rigid and very unchristian in not sharing their Eucharist with them.

First of all, a priest does not have that power to do it as the Canon 844 says a Catholic Priest can licitly administer sacraments only to Catholics. Therefore he would be violating the law when he does give communion to Non-Catholics. The Eucharist belongs to the Church, not to the Priest. Therefore he cannot do as he wishes even though he may like to. If he thinks of being charitable with what does not belong to him he will be unfaithful to the Church.

Eucharist is the sharing of Christ and the Church. The Eucharist can be received only in the Church and not outside the Church. Therefore those who are not members of the Catholic church cannot share the Eucharist.

The Church is the bride of Christ as Apostle Paul clearly says. Receiving the Eucharist is having a spiritual communion. It is something like having sex between a husband and a wife. Sexual union is permitted only between a husband and a wife. It is not permitted between friends, even if they are the best of friends. Christians of other denominations are like friends or neighbors or relatives. Only those who are in the Church become the bride of Christ. Those outside, even though they may be having a very good relation with Jesus, are not permitted to have that spiritual sexual union with Christ. Not only Catholic mystics but even Hindu mystics say that human soul is feminine and the soul accepts God in Christ in the communion like a bride accept groom in sexual union. Bride takes the role of receiving which a member in the Church takes.  All through the bible God compares himself as the Husband of Israel, the wife. There are numerous references for that in both the Testaments. John the Baptist mentions Jesus as the bridegroom and him as the friend of the bridegroom. The book of revelation ends with the marriage of the lamb and his bride the church in glory.

For most non-Catholic Christians this deep level relationship understanding is not there. They think it is just a piece of flesh of Jesus and it is the symbol of the body of Christ. Therefore in most denominations after the Lords supper they put all the remaining hosts back with the old stock. And they consider it as like unconsecrated. This is not the Catholic understanding. Once consecrated it remains consecrated till the quality of the bread remains, a bread.

Therefore even if a non Catholic is holier than a Catholic he is not permitted to receive the Holy Eucharist from a Catholic Mass, because he does not believe what the Catholic Church teaches.

There are some former Catholics who think they can receive communion whenever they show up at the Catholic Mass. For Instance when a Catholic who marries outside the Church because he or she does not want to go through the regulations of the Catholic church, he or she is not allowed to receive communion. I sometimes think of them as someone who refused to invite his mom for his wedding and then shamelessly show up next day at mom’s kitchen and eat the food what his mom prepared. He did not want his mom who gave him birth and brought him up to be part of his most important event in his life but he wants the food his mom prepared. Catholic Church has given this person birth in Christ by baptism and fed him with the Eucharist and strengthened him with other sacraments and when he got married he refused to have the Church a part of his life. Actually they are spiritually dead members of the Catholic Church. Such people can receive communion only after rectifying their marriage and making a confession and then can receive communion. But we sometimes see that at weddings and funerals just show up and receive communion. It is mostly due to lack of understanding of the real nature of the Eucharist. 

XXIX

Can a non-Catholic  receive Communion at a Catholic parish or a Catholic may take the "Lord's Supper" at a non-Catholic church?

Canon 844 of the Code of Canon Law makes it clear. That canon has five sections. The first says that "Catholic ministers may licitly administer the sacraments to Catholic members of the Christian faithful only and, likewise, the latter may licitly receive the sacraments only from Catholic ministers." But there are exceptions, and those are handled in the following three sections of the code.

Section 2 permits a Catholic to receive Communion in a non-Catholic church if that church has a valid Eucharist. Since no Protestant church, including the Anglican, has a valid Eucharist, Catholics who sit through the "Lord's Supper" at, say, a Baptist church may not partake of the bread and wine there.

The problem is that the bread and wine are just that bread and wine and not the body and blood of Christ. Protestant churches have no valid Eucharist because they have no valid priesthood, because the l6th-century reformers did away with the episcopacy.

By contrast the Eastern Orthodox churches have maintained a valid episcopacy and priesthood and thus have all seven sacraments. These are the non-Catholic churches at which a Catholic might receive Communion provided "it is physically or morally impossible" for the Catholic "to approach a Catholic minister." This could occur if the Catholic were living for a long time in an area, such as Siberia, where there are few or no Catholic parishes.

Section 2 is not applicable to Catholics in this country who simply want to "sample" another religion. The permission is given only when "necessity requires" and "provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided. Almost no American Catholic will ever be in a position to take advantage of Section 2. After all, if a Catholic in the United States can make it to an Eastern Orthodox parish, he likely can make it to a Catholic parish.

Section 3 deals mainly with Eastern Orthodox who want to receive sacraments at a Catholic parish. It says that Catholic ministers may give penance, anointing of the sick, or the Eucharist "to members of the oriental churches which do not have full communion with the Catholic Church."

This holds also for members of other churches, which in the judgment of the Apostolic See are in the same condition as the oriental churches as far as these sacraments are concerned. 

Non-Catholics who qualify under Section 3 must "ask on their own for the sacraments" this means there can be no general invitation to them and they must be "properly disposed," which means in the state of grace.

The possibility of a Catholic receiving from the minister of another church, when the first three conditions are fulfilled, is limited to the Orthodox Churches, other Oriental Churches, Old Catholics, Polish National and others whose sacraments are recognized by the Holy See.

Section 4 applies mainly to Protestants. (Anglican, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist etc.), none of whom have valid sacred orders, and therefore, a valid Eucharist. This Section says that "if the danger of death is present or other grave necessity," and if the diocesan bishop approves, Catholic ministers may give the three sacraments to Christians who are neither Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox. Such people must not be able to approach a minister of their own community, must ask for the sacraments on their own (again, there is to be no general invitation to non-Catholics to "come up and receive Communion"), must be in the state of grace, and must "manifest Catholic faith in these sacraments."

This means their understanding of the Real Presence, for example, must be the Catholic understanding. Several Protestant churches describe what they have as the Real Presence though in fact none of them have it and they do not mean by the term the same thing we mean. This causes no end of confusions.

Some Protestants who profess belief in the Real Presence have in mind a "really meaningful" symbolism. Others say Jesus is "really," though only "spiritually," present at their churches' celebration of the "Lord's Supper." Not a single Protestant church teaches the Catholic doctrine, though a few individual Protestants have come to accept the Catholic understanding on their own. It is for them that this Section makes provision. Section 5 says that no diocesan bishop or conference of bishops may institute general norms regarding the four preceding sections of Canon 844 "except after consultation with at least the local competent authority of the interested non-Catholic church or community."

We don't want to step on anyone's toes, and we don't want anyone to step on ours.

XXVIII

We are told in CCC 1377 that Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.”  It is not easy to grasp how this takes place but we can understand with different similes.

Some time ago, a preacher who knew how to make religious truths come to life was faced by a hostile crowd. One of them demanded, "How is it possible for bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Christ?" The preacher looked calmly at the stout questioner for a moment and answered, "You have grown somewhat since you were a child and have more flesh and blood than you had then. Surely, if a human body can change food and drink into flesh and blood, God can do it too." "But how," countered the heckler, "is it possible for Christ to be present in his entirety in a small host?" The preacher glanced up at the sky and down at the street before them and answered, "This city scene and the sky above it is something immense, while your eye is very small. Yet your eye in itself contains the whole picture. When you consider this, it won't seem impossible for Christ to be present in his entirety in a little piece of bread." Once more the heckler attacked. "How, then, is it possible for the same Body of Christ to be present in all your Churches at the same time?" The preacher answered: "In a large mirror you see your image reflected but once. When you break the mirror into a thousand pieces, you see the same image of yourself in each of the thousand fragments. If such things occur in everyday life, why should it be impossible for the Body of Christ to be present in many places at once?

Another example could be, when a speaker speaks to a congregation each member listens to all of what the speaker speaks. Each listener listens to all of what he says in its entirety. The speaker had to speak only once. Or say, when a person comes on TV he is seen on all the TVs all over the world tuned to the channel. The person present in one place is present in all the TVs is an example how one glorified Jesus is present in all the pieces of the Eucharist in his entirety.

XXVII

Not only one hour fasting and interior disposition would suffice, but exterior reverence is also important to the Eucharistic Presence.

“The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.” (CCC 1377; cf. Council of Trent, Session XIII, Canon III)

From this doctrine, we know that our Savior is present, whole and entire (body, blood, soul, and divinity), in the whole Host. Further, we know that the whole Christ is present in each part of the Host. Hence, it is clear that the whole Christ is real and truly and substantially present in even a small particle of a Host or in a small drop of the Precious Blood.

And, we further maintain, no part of the Host is a mere part of Christ, but each part of each Host is the whole Christ present in his entirety.

Hence, if a Catholic believes in the Eucharist – that Jesus is truly present in the Host – then he is already acknowledging that a relatively small piece of what-looks-like-bread is, in fact, Jesus. Now, if a regular Host can become the whole Jesus, why would we doubt that a small Host can be the whole Jesus?

Therefore, those who are not careful with the Eucharistic particles, or who outright deny that Jesus is present in even small pieces of the Host, either do not believe in the Eucharist at all or are very foolish (since their own reasoning is self-contradictory).

A piece of the Host which is visible to the human eye (under usual conditions and without assistance) as what appears to be a piece of bread, is surely Jesus. However, those particles which are so small as to be invisible to the human eye, or to be indistinguishable from a particle of dust – these cannot any longer be the Eucharist. They do not have the bread quality in them.

The Church teaches that the Eucharistic Presence remains “as long as the Eucharist species subsist”. This means that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, so long as the Eucharist retains the accidental properties of bread and wine. Hence, if a Host is dissolved in water (as is done when the Host has become putrefied, as through vomiting after the reception of Communion), upon being dissolved it is not longer the Eucharist. Likewise, the Precious Blood, when the Chalice is purified with water is no longer the Eucharist.

In order to teach his disciples that the Eucharist is truly his own Flesh and Blood, he first instructed them to gather up the “fragments” which were left over from the multiplied loaves – if such care was taken for the mere symbol of the Eucharist, how much more must we care for the Real Presence!

Even in those cases where the particle is so small as to cause some doubt as to whether or not it is the Eucharist, the priest and the people ought to exercise extreme caution. This is one reason why communion in the hand was not permitted in the Church for so many centuries. If the minister of the body can feel any particle between the fingers, there is a bowl with water kept on the credence table to dip and clean your fingers before you leave the sanctuary. 

XXVI

The discipline of fasting before communion has a long history, as Pope Pius XII states in his 1953 apostolic constitution, "Christus Dominus":

"From the very earliest time the custom was observed of administering the Eucharist to the faithful who were fasting.

Abstinence from food and drink is in accord with that supreme reverence we owe to the supreme majesty of Jesus Christ when we are going to receive Him hidden under the veils of the Eucharist. And moreover, when we receive His precious Body and Blood before we take any food, we show clearly that this is the first and loftiest nourishment by which our soul is fed and its holiness increased. Hence St. Augustine gives this warning: 'It has pleased the Holy Ghost that, to honor so great a Sacrament, the Lord's Body should enter the mouth of the Christian before other food.'

Before the time of Pius XII the Eucharistic fast was from midnight onward and included water. This also meant that Masses were only celebrated in the morning.

Pius XII mentions some of the difficulties preventing many from receiving Communion. Among them are the shortage of clergy, especially in mission lands, and the pace of modern life in factories and offices which include night shifts. He also desired to open up the possibility of celebrating Mass in the evening on important feasts so that more people could attend.

Thus, among other things he established that water and medicine would no longer break the fast. He also mitigated the fast under certain circumstances. In 1957, with the document "Sacram Communionem," he changed the law again, to require only a three-hour fast.

Pope Paul VI brought in the present discipline in November 1964, and this forms the basis of Canon No. 919.

Canon 919
1. One who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion.
2. A priest who celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist two or three times on the same day may take something before the second or third celebration even if the period of one hour does not intervene.
3. Those who are advanced in age or who suffer from any infirmity, as well as those who take care of them, can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have taken something during the previous hour.

How many times per day can one receive Holy Communion?

One of the significant changes for the faithful in the Code of Canon Law which was promulgated in 1983 was the permission to receive Holy Communion more than once per day. In the past the law set certain conditions, such as participation in a funeral, marriage or ordination Mass. The new canon, however, simply states,

c.917 A person who has received the Most Holy Eucharist may receive it again on the same day only during the celebration of the Eucharist in which the person participates. 

920 §1. "After being initiated into the Most Holy Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year."

920 §2. "This precept must be fulfilled during the Easter season unless it is fulfilled for a just cause at another time during the year."

In the past, people spent a lot of time in mortal sin, or at least in a state unworthy to receive the Eucharist. Therefore for someone to receive it was a major life event. This kind of culture was undone by Pope St. Pius X at the turn of the 20th Century.

(One probable reason why the Church prescribed the law to receive communion at least once a year may have been that due to long fast the faithful may have been unprepared for receiving communion most of the days of the year.)

Frequent Communion increases our love for God and for our neighbor, which expresses itself in action, which makes us more like Christ.

Venial sins are forgiven when we receive the holy communion with proper repentance.

Physically, frequent Communion relieves us of our passions. Priests and other spiritual directors who counsel those who are struggling with passions, especially sexual sins, often urge frequent reception not only of the Sacrament of Confession but of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. By receiving Christ's Body and Blood, our own bodies are sanctified, and we grow in our likeness to Christ. In fact, as Fr. John Hardon points out in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, the Church teaches that "A final effect of Communion is to remove the personal guilt of venial sins, and the temporal punishment [earthly and purgatorial] due to forgiven sins, whether venial or mortal."

XXV

Reception of Communion

RECEIVING THE HOST:

When you come up to receive the Host, you have the option of receiving in the hand or on the tongue. If you choose to receive in the hand, remember to hold your hands to receive the Host instead of taking the Host out of the priest’s hands! (It is the gift of God. Gift is received not snatched) St. Justin Martyr described receiving in the hand as “making a throne for the Lord,” your left hand over your right, so that you can then pick up the Host with your right hand to consume the Body of Christ. (If you’re left handed, you may want to reverse the order of the hands.) The priest or extraordinary minister holds the host in front of you and says, “The Body of Christ,” to which you will respond by bowing your head (not your full body) and saying “Amen.” No other gestures of reverence are necessary. And you immediately consume it before moving away from the station.

If you choose to receive on the tongue, the priest or extraordinary minister holds the host in front of you and says, “The Body of Christ,” to which you will respond by bowing your head (not your full body) and saying “Amen.” After saying “Amen,” immediately open your mouth wide enough for the priest or EM to place the Host on your tongue. Make sure that the priest’s or EM’s fingers are out of your mouth before closing your mouth.  Some people say “thank you” instead of Amen. Don’t thank the priest, it is not his gift for which he is to be thanked. It is the body of Christ and ministers are only custodians.

RECEIVING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD:

At Masses where communion is also distributed from the cup, you have the option of receiving from the cup as well. Receiving from the cup is never required, as the complete Body and Blood of Christ is present in both the Host and the cup. When you receive from the cup, the deacon, acolyte, or extraordinary minister holds the cup in front of you and says, “The Blood of Christ,” to which you will respond by bowing your head (not your full body) and saying “Amen.” When consuming the Precious Blood, take only a sip, so that there is enough for all to receive. If you choose not to receive from the cup, you should stop and bow as you pass the cup out of reverence for the Precious Blood.

If you receive with your hands, you run risk of tiny particle, which still is Jesus Christ, falls from your hand is trampled upon by yourself and everyone else in Church. Christ died for our sins and gave us Himself in the Eucharist to be our food, not to be trampled again by the negligent.

(Pope Benedict’s preference for receiving Holy Communion on tongue: “I am not opposed in principle to Communion in the hand; I have both administered and received Communion in this way myself. The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive Communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an exclamation point. One important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kinds of Mass events we hold at Saint Peter’s, both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after receiving Communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of souvenir. In this context, where people think that everyone is just automatically supposed to receive Communion — everyone else is going up, so I will, too—I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention! This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to.")

The prerequisites for the reception of Holy Communion are 1) being in the state of grace, 2) having fasted for one hour (for the sick 15 minutes if possible, no fast if fasting is not possible), and 3) devotion and attention.

2.State of Grace. As St. Paul notes in his letter to Corinthians, reception after examining oneself is a prerequisite for worthy reception, otherwise Communion has the opposite effect from the desired union with our Lord. The scripture tells that Judas received the holy communion and Satan entered into him and he went out of the upper room immediately to betray the Lord. If you’re planning on committing a mortal sin in the days ahead, then you can’t repent. Holy Communion should not be received by people who are objectively contradicting the truth of Christ."

If our mind is still intent on doing the evil, and not ready to repent and the resolution not to sin any more we will get confirmed in the evil intention and the reception of the communion is going to fire back. God does not work against our will. If our will is to commit sin that will is not be changed to change by the reception of the communion.

This is why, out of respect for Christ and our own good, the Church obliges us to be in the state of grace when we receive. It should be noted, however, that some Catholics have the mistaken notion that they cannot go to Communion unless they go to Confession first. This is incorrect. Both the theology of the Church and her law oblige Confession ONLY when there is mortal sin. Confessions of devotion, however, are highly recommended. Thus, two errors are to be avoided, liberalism and rigorism.

If there is a grave sin and there is a practical impossibility to make the confession before receiving the communion, one may with true contrition receive the communion with the condition that one will make the confession at the earliest opportunity.

In "Ecclesia de Eucharistia," St. John Paul II teaches,

Along these same lines, the Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly stipulates that "anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to Communion."

Canon 915 forbids Holy Communion from being given to people who live such sinful lifestyles without repentance. "Those who have been ... obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion."

But the Church in forming Her disciplines never judges the interior heart of man, which is known to God alone. Rather, Catholic discipline has always focused on the external and public acts of man, which can be judged as being in accord or not with Church teaching. And when man's external actions are gravely at odds with the Church's unchanging moral truths, then Holy Mother Church bans such men from receiving Holy Communion to prevent them from spiritually harming themselves by making a sacrilegious Communion.

XXIV

Last Sunday we saw that the breaking of the bread symbolizes the death of Jesus and the commingling symbolizes his resurrection.

Why do we pray the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), and where does it come from?
    As the priest performs the Fraction Rite, the choir immediately intones the threefold Agnus Dei, “Lamb of God.” St.John the Baptist pointing Jesus to his disciples said, this is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1.29). This lamb is the pascal lamb, originally killed and eaten just before the Hebrews were delivered from Egypt. The blood of the lamb was smeared on the door posts so the angel who slew the firstborn of Egypt would Passover the Hebrew homes. This symbolism presents Jesus as the one whose blood is shed for the saving and deliverance of his people from evil and from death. The lamb is also mentioned in the Suffering servant Song of Isaiah 53. Here the main idea is that the servant of Yahweh takes upon himself the sins of the people, giving his life as an offering for their sin. John’s gospel records that Jesus was crucified at the very time the Lamb of God was sacrificed in the temple on the day of atonement, for the expiation of sins. The words of this great prayer should focus us on the Book of Revelation, a connection that becomes more explicit when the priest, after the Agnus Dei, says, “Behold the Lamb of God…” We have already seen the connection of our Lord to the Lamb of Passover, but here we see the connection to the Book of Revelation – a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem – which declares, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12). Here, in this vision, the angels praise the Lamb of God and we, who join in this heavenly liturgy by our own earthly liturgy, do the same and join with them in this praise, but also plead with him that he may show us mercy as we prepare to receive him in Communion. The priest then elevates the Body and Blood of Christ, proclaiming to all the faithful in words drawn from the Book of Revelation that truly this is the Body and Blood of Christ! How blessed are we truly to be invited to this foretaste of heaven (Revelation 19:1-9)!
    Why do we say, “Lord, I am not worthy…?”
    Now, we can truly understand the reason for our response to this bold proclamation. Here before us is the glory and grandeur of Jesus Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament, and we have the same reaction as the Israelites when they are faced with the sight of God’s glory – we dare not look, lest we die! Our words echo the sentiments of the Roman Centurion who realizes the true nature of Christ: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8). Why roof? Here we have a reference to our own bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit – we are not worthy that our Lord should enter under the roof of our own souls, the temple of the Holy Spirit. But with one word, he pours out his mercy upon us and draws us close to himself that we may be made worthy in his sight.

XXIII

 Why does the priest break the host at Mass?
    Following this exchange of peace, the priest begins the Fraction Rite, which includes the singing of the Agnus Dei or “Lamb of God,” the Breaking of the Bread and the Commingling. The Breaking of the Bread calls to mind the great account of the Road to Emmaus in which the disciples recognized our Lord “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:13-35). This account is clearly a eucharistic reference as the priest performs the same actions of the Risen Christ, who “took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30). The early Church Fathers, as well as the great saints and doctors of the Church, have assigned varied and beautiful spiritual meanings to the Fraction Rite. St. Thomas Aquinas gives a beautiful threefold interpretation of the Fraction Rite, illustrating that every liturgical action has a deep spiritual significance with multiple layers of meaning that can only be drawn out through much prayer and reflection. He writes that first it is the breaking of Christ’s body in the Passion. Secondly, it denotes the various states of the mystical body of Christ, the Church. Finally, it represents the distribution of graces proceeding from Christ’s Passion. The breaking of the bread reminds us as St. Paul tells us that we are one body, yet many members, all united in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17).
    Why does the priest place a small piece of the host into the chalice?
    After breaking the host, the priest takes a small piece of the Body of Christ and puts it into the chalice containing the Blood of Christ. As he does this, he prays, “May this mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.” This is known as the commingling and is derived from an ancient sign of unity with Rome. The pope would have a small piece of the host which he consecrated sent out to priests in the city of Rome, who would then place the host into their own chalices as an expression of unity. While this is no longer the case, its rich history can still be called to mind as a sign of that unity with Rome. The great liturgist, Dom Guéranger, also gives us a spiritual insight into this commingling: “Its object is to show that, at the moment of our Lord’s resurrection, his blood was reunited to his body, by flowing again in his veins as before.” This link to the Resurrection is a common insight in the Church. Another less common, but still beautiful, insight is that of St. Alphonsus Ligouri: “This mingling of the holy species represents, too, the unity of divinity with humanity, which was at first effected in the womb of Mary through the incarnation of the Word, and which is renewed in the souls of the faithful when they receive him in the eucharistic Communion.”

XXI

PEACE:

After the our Father, the priest says the prayer for peace with outstretched arms: Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant us peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This peace, this delivery from "anxiety" or "distress" is an important part of being Christ's people. As Jesus told his disciples he would soon be leaving them, he said "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." (John 14:27). This is one of the other prayers that is addressed to Jesus Christ himself, not to the Father.

The highly nuanced and simple beauty of the ritual in the Roman Catholic liturgy finds expression within the Sign of Peace. It is understood not only in the words that are said, but in the gesture, as well as in its location within the Sacred Liturgy.

To the greeting of the priest: the peace of the Lord be with you always, the people respond saying: And with your spirit.  It expresses the reality of Jesus Christ really present in the very person of the priest, who by the unique character he has received in the Sacrament of Holy Orders acts as an alter Christus (another Christ). In contrast, the General Instruction for the Roman Missal (the laws governing how the liturgy is executed) reminds us that when the laity offer peace to one another with the words, "The peace of the Lord be with you always," the response is "Amen." (GIRM 154).Not: And with your spirit.

In receiving the peace offered by God Himself and then turning to one's neighbor and offering the Lord's peace, the splendor of the Church as one Body united under Christ Her head is revealed. Within the expression of the gift of peace we also find the faithful fulfilling the Lord's command as seen in the Gospel according to St. Matthew: "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Mt 5:23-24)

The gifts of bread and wine are offered to the Father and in His paternal goodness He sends the Holy Spirit to transform them into the very body and blood of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. But before we receive the Sacred Body and Blood of the Lord, the liturgy has us offer peace to those around us, and thereby recall that we are to be at peace, we are to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters before we partake of the Eucharist.   

The manner in which the Sign of Peace is given varies from culture to culture, but no matter what its expression, it is the call to enter into a life of love — the life of God who is Love. 

The Sign of Peace was reintroduced into the Mass when the Liturgy was reformed after Vatican II. For some people, it was a wonderful opportunity to express their love and sense of community.

The congregation for Worship said, "if it is foreseen that it will not take place properly," it can be omitted. But when it is used, it must be done with dignity and awareness that it is not a liturgical form of "good morning," but a witness to the Christian belief that true peace is a gift of Christ's death and resurrection.

This is a telling moment! In a few moments, we will be sharing communion with those around us. We will come into communion  with - we will become the Body of Christ. This Rite - the Sign of Peace - forces us to realize what that means. Our Communion is not simply a private love-affair with our Beloved Lord. It demands that we recognize Him in those around us - those with whom we have shared communion - and those who are not able to share that communion.

In his book, “How to Understand the Liturgy”, Jean Lebon lays down a challenge: “It (the Sign of Peace) is a point where one sees whether the liturgy holds together. If the congregation has not really been welded together during the course of the Mass, then it is useless and inappropriate to perform this action.”

This seems very stern -but emphasizes the importance of what we say we are doing. If we are who we say we are - the Body of Christ - a gathered community - an assembly of God - a congregation of worshippers - then this is the time to show that that means we see one another and can reach out in love and the peace of Christ to our neighbour.