3rd Sunday After Easter on Eucharist
The Emmaus Journey
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Let’s look closely at the Emmaus supper. Our celebration of the Lord’s Supper , Holy Mass, divides into four parts, or rites: the Gathering Rite, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Dismissal Rite.
We find the same four rites present in the Emmaus supper. The gathering Rite for the Emmaus Supper took place on the Road. When Jesus and the two disciples came together and greeted one another.
The Liturgy of the Word took place when Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two disciples.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist took place in the house of one of the disciples. When Jesus “was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”
Finally, the Dismissal Rite took place when Jesus “vanished from their sight,” and the disciples went forth to bear witness to their encounter with Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
The evangelist says; they "recognized him in the breaking of the bread." (Lk. 24:35) Here is our problem: dear brothers and sisters Do we really believe and see Jesus when we break the bread of Life?
A Czech priest, Father Peter of Prague, lost his faith in the reality of Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist. It might surprise some people to think that a priest might lose his faith in the Eucharist, but sometimes it does occur. Father Peter felt like a hypocrite celebrating the Eucharist while having some doubts about whether the Lord Jesus was truly there. But he hadn’t yet lost his faith in God and, hence, decided to give God the opportunity to give him that faith by doing something quite drastic. In 1263, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome, to pray at the tomb of his patron, St. Peter, for the gift of a renewed faith in the Eucharist. When it came to be Sunday, members of the group asked Fr. Peter if he might celebrate Mass for them. More out of courtesy than faith, he assented. They stopped at a small Church dedicated to St. Christina in Bolsena, Italy, and celebrated Mass on a side altar. During the Mass when Father Peter broke the host, as a priest always does to put a particle into the chalice, the host in his hands began to bleed profusely. It bled over his hands. It bled on the corporal and on the altar cloths. It started to pour down the altar onto the steps. The people, beholding the miracle in front of their eyes, started to shriek. The priest of St. Christina’s came to see what all the commotion was about and beheld the miracle with his own eyes. In 1264 Pope Urban IV declared that it is a Eucharistic miracle. Every time we celebrate Mass, what occurred in Bolsena — and in so many other Eucharistic miracles across the centuries — can occur here. Regardless of whether he chooses to do so or not, the reality is the same: we receive the same Christ who bled on the Cross, who bled in Father Peter’s hands. And our reaction to the Eucharist should be the same, whether a dramatic manifestation occurs or not, because it is Christ, God, whom we receive.
That’s why the Church asks all communicants to make a profound bow or genuflection before receiving the Eucharist, to help them to recognize inwardly that they are about to receive the Lord of Lords . I always wonder whether those who leave Mass early after having received the Lord really know that they’ve just received God, or, if they know that, whether they really love him. This time with the Lord here is so much more important than anything else we might want to do after Mass.
When it comes to believing in God we need to surrender our intellect to faith. As St. Paul says, in the Christian life we go by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Can you be humble enough to admit that you do not know it all, and that not knowing it all it is possible for bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Jesus while keeping the same appearance? There is a beautiful chant, “Trust, surrender, believe, receive.” Surrender your logic to God and receive the love of God for you! Surrender to God and receive his love.
To some extent, I would suggest, we are, all of us, on an Emmaus journey. We may be perplexed by events in our own lives, disappointments, loss of a job, Loss of a best friend, failure, collapse of a relationship, shattered dreams, and betrayal by friends. We are certainly very, very deeply disturbed by things that are happening in our own personal life and around. And we may feel as helpless and as hopeless as those two disciples did. If so.... if so, we need community. We cannot fight depression alone. We cannot make sense of things alone. We need to lean on one another for support. We need to search the Scriptures together to see what answers they may have for us. And then we can go out and spread this good news.
Sunday Eucharist, should never, never be from a sense of obligation that comes from some Church law, but rather of obligation that comes from a love of Jesus Christ and from a real consciousness that we need this companionship; we need one another; we need to be in community.
A teacher once asked her students which part of the Eucharist or Mass was the most important part. One Student said: the dismissal Rite is the most important part of the Mass.” “Why do you say that?’ the teacher asked.
The Student replied: - “the purpose of the Eucharist is to nourish us with the word of the Lord and the Body and Blood of the Lord, so that we may go forth to bear witness to the Lord and to bring the Kingdom of God into existence. “ He continued ; “the Eucharist does not end with the dismissal Rite. In a sense, it begins with it. We must go forth and proclaim to the world what the disciples of Emmaus did. We must proclaim that Jesus is risen. We must proclaim that Jesus lives on.”
Pope John Paul II wrote in his letter to the priest in 2004 “We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole Church lives from the Eucharist…we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood: it is born, lives, works and bears fruit “de Eucharistia.” There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist.” And dear brothers and sisters I will add to that there is no catholic faith without the Eucharist. Without believing that Jesus is really and truly and substantially present in the Eucharist.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Let’s look closely at the Emmaus supper. Our celebration of the Lord’s Supper , Holy Mass, divides into four parts, or rites: the Gathering Rite, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Dismissal Rite.
We find the same four rites present in the Emmaus supper. The gathering Rite for the Emmaus Supper took place on the Road. When Jesus and the two disciples came together and greeted one another.
The Liturgy of the Word took place when Jesus explained the Scriptures to the two disciples.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist took place in the house of one of the disciples. When Jesus “was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”
Finally, the Dismissal Rite took place when Jesus “vanished from their sight,” and the disciples went forth to bear witness to their encounter with Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
The evangelist says; they "recognized him in the breaking of the bread." (Lk. 24:35) Here is our problem: dear brothers and sisters Do we really believe and see Jesus when we break the bread of Life?
A Czech priest, Father Peter of Prague, lost his faith in the reality of Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist. It might surprise some people to think that a priest might lose his faith in the Eucharist, but sometimes it does occur. Father Peter felt like a hypocrite celebrating the Eucharist while having some doubts about whether the Lord Jesus was truly there. But he hadn’t yet lost his faith in God and, hence, decided to give God the opportunity to give him that faith by doing something quite drastic. In 1263, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome, to pray at the tomb of his patron, St. Peter, for the gift of a renewed faith in the Eucharist. When it came to be Sunday, members of the group asked Fr. Peter if he might celebrate Mass for them. More out of courtesy than faith, he assented. They stopped at a small Church dedicated to St. Christina in Bolsena, Italy, and celebrated Mass on a side altar. During the Mass when Father Peter broke the host, as a priest always does to put a particle into the chalice, the host in his hands began to bleed profusely. It bled over his hands. It bled on the corporal and on the altar cloths. It started to pour down the altar onto the steps. The people, beholding the miracle in front of their eyes, started to shriek. The priest of St. Christina’s came to see what all the commotion was about and beheld the miracle with his own eyes. In 1264 Pope Urban IV declared that it is a Eucharistic miracle. Every time we celebrate Mass, what occurred in Bolsena — and in so many other Eucharistic miracles across the centuries — can occur here. Regardless of whether he chooses to do so or not, the reality is the same: we receive the same Christ who bled on the Cross, who bled in Father Peter’s hands. And our reaction to the Eucharist should be the same, whether a dramatic manifestation occurs or not, because it is Christ, God, whom we receive.
That’s why the Church asks all communicants to make a profound bow or genuflection before receiving the Eucharist, to help them to recognize inwardly that they are about to receive the Lord of Lords . I always wonder whether those who leave Mass early after having received the Lord really know that they’ve just received God, or, if they know that, whether they really love him. This time with the Lord here is so much more important than anything else we might want to do after Mass.
When it comes to believing in God we need to surrender our intellect to faith. As St. Paul says, in the Christian life we go by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Can you be humble enough to admit that you do not know it all, and that not knowing it all it is possible for bread and wine to become the Body and Blood of Jesus while keeping the same appearance? There is a beautiful chant, “Trust, surrender, believe, receive.” Surrender your logic to God and receive the love of God for you! Surrender to God and receive his love.
To some extent, I would suggest, we are, all of us, on an Emmaus journey. We may be perplexed by events in our own lives, disappointments, loss of a job, Loss of a best friend, failure, collapse of a relationship, shattered dreams, and betrayal by friends. We are certainly very, very deeply disturbed by things that are happening in our own personal life and around. And we may feel as helpless and as hopeless as those two disciples did. If so.... if so, we need community. We cannot fight depression alone. We cannot make sense of things alone. We need to lean on one another for support. We need to search the Scriptures together to see what answers they may have for us. And then we can go out and spread this good news.
Sunday Eucharist, should never, never be from a sense of obligation that comes from some Church law, but rather of obligation that comes from a love of Jesus Christ and from a real consciousness that we need this companionship; we need one another; we need to be in community.
A teacher once asked her students which part of the Eucharist or Mass was the most important part. One Student said: the dismissal Rite is the most important part of the Mass.” “Why do you say that?’ the teacher asked.
The Student replied: - “the purpose of the Eucharist is to nourish us with the word of the Lord and the Body and Blood of the Lord, so that we may go forth to bear witness to the Lord and to bring the Kingdom of God into existence. “ He continued ; “the Eucharist does not end with the dismissal Rite. In a sense, it begins with it. We must go forth and proclaim to the world what the disciples of Emmaus did. We must proclaim that Jesus is risen. We must proclaim that Jesus lives on.”
Pope John Paul II wrote in his letter to the priest in 2004 “We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole Church lives from the Eucharist…we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood: it is born, lives, works and bears fruit “de Eucharistia.” There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist.” And dear brothers and sisters I will add to that there is no catholic faith without the Eucharist. Without believing that Jesus is really and truly and substantially present in the Eucharist.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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