LIVING AND TRUE

The Holy Eucharist is at the root of all holiness. How many saints have advanced to holiness through the Eucharist? Holiness has always found its center in the Eucharist. Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. God recognizes the fact that we are material beings in embodied souls. God uses sensible signs to lead us to spiritual realities. This time, God did not just use a sign or symbol. Jesus offered bread and wine and turned it into His own body and blood. We remember the Holy Eucharist models, martyrs and saints who discovered the secret in the Body and Blood of Christ. We can not live without the Holy Eucharist. It is only though it that we can cope with the toil and exhaustion of this life journey. God is the source of every good thing and He pours it out on us from the moment of creation up to the present time. When we receive the bread and wine turned into the body and blood of Christ during the mass, He becomes a part of us. It is a call to love Him and be attached to Him. This invitation of God to all of us is not exclusive and in fact has already been started since the time of Genesis at the time of Abraham in today's 1st reading. Amen. Hallelujah!

Genesis 14:18-20

18 In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine...

We have a high priest in Jesus Christ our Lord who intercedes for us before God now and forever. God makes all things possible. He does not expect us to do impossible things. We have to enter into a level of intimacy with the Lord and the Holy Eucharist makes this possible. We need to realize as Catholic Christians the great gift of the Holy Eucharist that is given to us. What could be greater than this that Jesus the high priest in the line of Melchizedek, has offered us His own body and blood for our nourishment. Right here and now we should confidently decide without a cloud of doubt on which side we really are. The priests and monks who gave their life to serve God have come to a point where they realized that what they give up is really nothing compared to what God has in store for all of us. Their lives like the saints before us have become sign posts pointing to heaven. It helps us increase our zeal today as if we are beginning anew. All this life is nothing compared to eternal life so we must not be faint hearted. Nor think that we are doing anything great for the sufferings we encounter at present. It is nothing compared to the glory that is to come. The whole of earth is nothing compared to the kingdom of heaven. We should always be reminded that Jesus offered His own life for our sake and because of this we have already been given the gift of eternal salvation and can become part of His kingdom if we choose to accept and respond to that gift. Just like this fascinating story of a girl with her plastic pearls. One night her father asked her if she loves him so the girl replied ,"yes". The father asked for the pearls but the girl refused and offered her doll instead but the father said no and told her he loves her anyway. The following week the father did the same thing and the girl offered her horsy. Then another week later when the father asked the same question she tearfully handed him the plastic pearls and told her dad that he can have it. To her surprise the father handed her a beautiful box with the pearls of great value. Sometimes we keep holding on to something without realizing that God is offering us something great. May we be firm and focused in leading a life of holiness that no earthly attractions keep us from loving God. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4

R: You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.” (R) 2 The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion: “Rule in the midst of your enemies.” (R) 3 “Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor; before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”

God gave His only begotten Son, Jesus who already paid the price of our redemption at a great cost. His humility goes beyond the washing of the disciples' feet and extends up to His death like a criminal on a cross. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. There's no other way and we have no further excuse. He has given us the perfect example and a model to follow. In today's 2nd reading, St. Paul gives us instructions on the greatest legacy of Christianity, the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. A death freely accepted, Jesus left us a remembrance of His great love for us by giving up His body and blood. It is very important that we commemorate this as often as possible, by participating in the Eucharistic celebration during Holy mass.  God Himself has given His own body and blood as a gift to mankind. The Eucharist is a sacrament of God's everlasting love that is like a fire ever burning that consumes all of the selfishness and coldness in our flesh. He gave Himself to man as food, satisfying food that erases all kinds of hunger with no taste of bitterness. Amen. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

The gospel for today is about the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and feeding of the five thousand. They were hungry and satisfied. Jesus in the gospel today said "Give them some food yourselves." He said this to test them, because He himself knew what he was going to do.” It's a good thing His disciples responded and cooperated with Jesus. The same with us, we may be asked by God to go out of our comfort zones and practical outlook. You know why? So that God can perform His miracle in our life. It emphasizes the truth that God will never allow us to grow hungry and will always provide for our needs. There is no need to go anywhere else for nourishment. There is no need to go away and search elsewhere. We only have to go to God for only Him can satisfy all our longings and desires. We may all know about the story in today's gospel and  have heard it several times already but somehow lost the element of surprise already. But if we will look at it very closely we will discover much more amazing things than we already know. It was not just the satisfying and healing of the physical hunger and deformities that God can do for us but more than we are able to really comprehend. God can go beyond the satisfaction of our physical needs. There is really no one or nothing else we can rely and depend on more than God. We have a very generous God that He gives us more than enough and even went beyond our satisfaction levels. Which I gathered is symbolized by the number 12 which means perfect and was used to describe the fragments left over that they picked up. God assures in the readings for today that we will never go hungry or thirsty for anything at all be it physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Since today's readings emphasizes the fact that we will be fed and satisfied by the Lord this reminded me of our visit to Sis Ester's house for our block rosary. We were all so blessed to experience the generosity of Sis Ester in welcoming us in their home. She had gone out of her way for several days just to accommodate us in their home. We hadn't been just fed but also end up with “to go” treats. This outward display of affection on her part gives us much joy and makes us appreciate even more the goodness of God. Although a pale comparison to the fiesta galore or great banquet in heaven that we all look forward to but definitely a foretaste of the best that is yet to come. In the gospel, all they've got is the five loaves and two fishes which is nothing in proportion to the great crowd that Jesus wanted to feed. Well, I guess ratio and proportion does not apply to the limitless power of God. We may think that we are in a desperate situation or we are a hopeless case. We must not underestimate what God can do. We just have to go to God "as is where is" just like any other junk material that can be bought in whatever condition, God will take us exactly as we are and do the necessary work and miracle for us. God will not just provide for our needs but more. He is indeed a God who is more than enough! Just as Bishop Fulton Sheen was emphasizing in his talk that there is a need to see and live both sides of life. As there is a tragic and comic side to it, Jesus in today’s gospel also did the same thing. He attended to not only the spiritual need of the people but also their physical needs. If we sometimes feel that we are in a pitiful situation and nothing good is happening to us, we better think twice before we wallow up in self pity and depression. More than the miracle of feeding the five thousand, God is telling us to focus more on His compassionate heart that nourishes us physically and spiritually as well because only Jesus can satisfy us. We have a God who will not only satisfy one aspect of our life but all of it. In today's gospel, the vast crowd who followed Jesus in a deserted place despite of being late was not disappointed. It gives us the assurance that God will always rescue us and work for the good. Neither will he abandon or forsake us for He knows what we need even before we ask it. So no matter what our situations may seem to appear, whether we feel like we've been abandoned in a deserted place and things are running late, we should always trust God to give us everything we need and have been praying for. We are also invited to look at the beautiful truths contained in the gospel. This is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. The others appear only in 3 or less. We can gain insight and a deeper faith in God by focusing on these words, Bethlehem, manger and star. Bethlehem in Hebrew means “House of Bread”. Jesus is laid in a manger, and the root word mange means to much, chew or gnaw. The 3 wise men were led to Jesus by following a star. The star could represent the tabernacle lamp which is the guiding light that houses the Holy Eucharist. They would benefit us to contemplate on these things in relation to the gospel today. Jesus always mentions in the gospel that He is the True Bread who came down from heaven. John 6:33-35, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6:48-56, “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;  this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. We need to consume His True and abiding Presence. He teaches us to adore Him, Christ the Lord just as the shepherds did with the angels and the Magi on bended knees. Let us adore Him as well. Though we see and taste the bread and wine, it is no longer bread and wine but the Body & Blood of Christ. The Lord transforms what lies before us. The scriptures especially in John 6 are very clear so as not to judge it as a mere sign and symbol. Everybody left Him except the apostles because it is a very hard teaching and they could not accept it. It can’t be apprehended by the 5 senses but by faith. We must not doubt if it is true we just have to rely on the words of our Savior who is Himself the Truth. St. Cyril of Alexandria said that we have already been instructed in words and filled with unshakeable faith. Furthermore he said, “What our senses fail to fathom, let us grasp through faith’s consent.” We must not find it difficult to believe of Christ’s true presence in the Holy Eucharist as we believe that God is on earth as He is heaven. Let us not contradict God’s words and allow it to prevail over our reason and senses. It will be very meritorious to our souls if we hold on to His words because it will not lead us astray nor will it deceive us. Jesus declared it to be His True Body & Blood so who would dare question it. We need to be strong in faith that upon the blessing of the bread the very nature is changed so that what looks like bread is truly the Body of Christ. If we believe the Word made flesh and dwelt among us and created the world from nothing why can’t we believe that He can cause His own Body & Blood as in transubstantiation, to be present from something already existing as in the bread and wine. What a gift we have in the Holy Eucharist, the True Bread from heaven. We need to have a profound love of the Eucharist and be united and transformed by Holy Communion.  The faith required of the believer is more than just being fed physically and satisfied but has to go beyond it. How long will we be hard of heart? God is humbling Himself daily in the altar in the hands of the priest. As we see bread and wine with bodily eyes we should see it as the Holy Body and Blood, living and true while we remember what He said in the scripture, "Behold, I am with you even to the end of the world." Amen. Hallelujah!

Luke 9:11b-17

...Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.