Anyway, this past Thursday, our Diocese’s newest priest, Fr. Jonathan Howell, spoke about his vocation, and he likened it to the journey that brought Moses out of the desert as a simple stuttering shepherd, to meet God in the Burning Bush. Fr. offered that after our own long journeys, we’re all apt to encounter the Lord in a stunning new way (Burning Bush), bringing us to our own humble knees (like Moses), with a truth that calls us to take God's message of freedom to a world full of Pharos (with Obstinate Hearts). While Fr. presented it in the context of stages of a vocation, I’d like to apply it here today as we’re being invited to understand a long held Truth of our faith and were being asked to consider how we will act on that faith beginning with a visit to our Ministry Fair down in the Parish Hall.
Here’s the subtle wisdom of the gatherings around our faith... It was true when Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner, fed the 5000 on the hill, and was truly present with us on the back porch at The Nook with Fr. Jonathan: We gather to rest, recline, and rejuvenate. This helps us refocus on the reality of our faith, and rejoice in its goodness, calling us to rethink things a little and ultimately recommit ourselves to journeying onward towards all that God has in store for us!
WE REST…
We’re called to rest on the Sabbath, and so we are here!
WE RECLINE…
We’re invited to gather around this table. We sing together. We worship with common posture, and are fed from the one bread & one body, the one cup & one blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not 5000, although it feels like it sometimes, when we’re stuck in traffic waiting to leave. LOL!
WE ARE REJUVENATED…
In today’s first reading, the Prophet Elijah is at his end, and the Lord sends his Angels to feeds him to strengthen him and continue his journey in the desert to the mountain of God... Horeb... The same same mountain where Moses met the Lord and heeded his call. We’re all a tad tired from our busy week, and some of us are tired because of some short or long term challenge or crisis... Like the Prophet, the Lord himself has given us the opportunity to be nourished and rejuvenated as we gather here, so we can go back out into the world ready to face those challenges and feed and nourish others, supporting their journeys by being Christ for the world!
WE REFOCUS…
Jesus asked the crowd to STOP Murmuring… That is, stop talking to just yourself, and converse with the Lord. Ask your questions, and consider that there are new answers and new truths in your midst that can guide you.
THE NOT-SO NEW REALITY…
The prayer we say after communion was added to the Mass here at St. John’s several years ago…See the inside front cover of your hymnal, and join me…
O Sacrament most holy, O sacrament divine
All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine
We believe that Jesus Christ is really, truly and substantially present
in Holy Communion, Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity
O Sacrament most holy, O sacrament divine
All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.
Let’s remind ourselves why we say this prayer… First, it’s not in the Missal, and it’s not part of some revised order of the Mass. It’s a prayer compiled by our previous Pastor, Fr. Phil O’Kennedy, and is the simple combination of the refrain from one of our traditional hymns, “O Sacrament Most Holy,” and a summary statement based upon the teaching of the Church, going all the way back to the Council of Trent, stating that the Eucharist is ”the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” (CCC #1374)
Why add the prayer? In 2010, a Pew Research Study concluded that 45% of Catholics did not know the Church’s teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Three years later, in 2013, a Georgetown Study adjusted that percentage to HALF. They went on to discuss that in spite of many not knowing the teaching, 63% of Catholics still BELIEVED in the real presence… The study concluded that of that 63%, 46% out of the 63% knew the teaching and believed in it, while 17% of the 63% did not know the teaching, but still believed... God bless those 17%. Remember Jesus’ response to Thomas’ doubt… “Blessed are those who do not see and yet still believe!” Meanwhile, 33% do not believe, and half of our American Church does’t know the teaching on the Eucharist... We pray so ALL may know!
It’s quite possible that John was writing to a similar group of people. John’s Gospel was the last of the four to be written, penned in the last decade of the first century... Between 90-100. The celebration of the Eucharist had been in place for at least sixty years, as evidenced in Paul’s references in his early letters. Was the concept of Eucharist becoming something other than what it was supposed to be? John was reminding the faithful that Jesus ACTUALLY said that HE WAS LIVING BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. Fast forward 1500 years, and we’ll see again a time when there were so many nuances on Eucharist that the Council of Trent needed to also set the record straight on the reality of this living bread, reaffirming the Church’s teaching at the time of the Reformation.
Now I can be Deacon Positive and say that maybe the percentages have have improved, and more of you truly believe and understand the teaching set forth by Christ in the today’s Gospel, but it would be fair for you to assume the opposite.
BUT WE MUST REJOICE…
For Christ tells us in the Gospel that, “They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” Remember, after his call from the Lord, Moses asked the Lord, whom shall I say sent me? God's reply... “I am who am. Tell them I AM has sent me to you.” This is the name of the Living God, so it's fitting that the Son of God would say I AM the living bread come down from heaven!
RETHINK & RECOMMIT…
In the 4th Century, St. John Chrysostom wrote, “When the host is offered to us as “the Body of Christ,” and we open our hand to receive it and say, “Amen,” we are saying yes not only to receiving Christ’s Body but to being his Body. We are saying, in effect, “Amen, yes, I believe that this is the Body of Christ, and that this is the Body I am called to be. I receive him to become him, to be Eucharist for others.”
So this is why we gather today…
O Sacrament most holy, O sacrament divine
All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.
Let’s remind ourselves why we say this prayer… First, it’s not in the Missal, and it’s not part of some revised order of the Mass. It’s a prayer compiled by our previous Pastor, Fr. Phil O’Kennedy, and is the simple combination of the refrain from one of our traditional hymns, “O Sacrament Most Holy,” and a summary statement based upon the teaching of the Church, going all the way back to the Council of Trent, stating that the Eucharist is ”the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” (CCC #1374)
Why add the prayer? In 2010, a Pew Research Study concluded that 45% of Catholics did not know the Church’s teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Three years later, in 2013, a Georgetown Study adjusted that percentage to HALF. They went on to discuss that in spite of many not knowing the teaching, 63% of Catholics still BELIEVED in the real presence… The study concluded that of that 63%, 46% out of the 63% knew the teaching and believed in it, while 17% of the 63% did not know the teaching, but still believed... God bless those 17%. Remember Jesus’ response to Thomas’ doubt… “Blessed are those who do not see and yet still believe!” Meanwhile, 33% do not believe, and half of our American Church does’t know the teaching on the Eucharist... We pray so ALL may know!
It’s quite possible that John was writing to a similar group of people. John’s Gospel was the last of the four to be written, penned in the last decade of the first century... Between 90-100. The celebration of the Eucharist had been in place for at least sixty years, as evidenced in Paul’s references in his early letters. Was the concept of Eucharist becoming something other than what it was supposed to be? John was reminding the faithful that Jesus ACTUALLY said that HE WAS LIVING BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. Fast forward 1500 years, and we’ll see again a time when there were so many nuances on Eucharist that the Council of Trent needed to also set the record straight on the reality of this living bread, reaffirming the Church’s teaching at the time of the Reformation.
Now I can be Deacon Positive and say that maybe the percentages have have improved, and more of you truly believe and understand the teaching set forth by Christ in the today’s Gospel, but it would be fair for you to assume the opposite.
BUT WE MUST REJOICE…
For Christ tells us in the Gospel that, “They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me… Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” Remember, after his call from the Lord, Moses asked the Lord, whom shall I say sent me? God's reply... “I am who am. Tell them I AM has sent me to you.” This is the name of the Living God, so it's fitting that the Son of God would say I AM the living bread come down from heaven!
RETHINK & RECOMMIT…
In the 4th Century, St. John Chrysostom wrote, “When the host is offered to us as “the Body of Christ,” and we open our hand to receive it and say, “Amen,” we are saying yes not only to receiving Christ’s Body but to being his Body. We are saying, in effect, “Amen, yes, I believe that this is the Body of Christ, and that this is the Body I am called to be. I receive him to become him, to be Eucharist for others.”
So this is why we gather today…
- We gather here to rest and recline at this table with the Lord.
- We gather here to be rejuvenated with the Holy Eucharist, and refocus ourselves on knowing the reality of our faith.
- We gather here to rejoice that God is truly with us, calling us to rethink and recommit ourselves to get back up and continue our own journeys towards the mountain of God, being the Body of Christ to all we serve along the way!
- Finally, we gather here today to consider what that need or service might be. Please head down to the Hall and see what ministries there are, and discover how you can be Christ for our little corner of the world around us.
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