Thank goodness we have better weather this weekend! Preaching during a thunderstorm is exhilarating, but I’ll take the sun. Drive-In Masses are on Saturdays at 5:00PM and the Livestreamed Mass is at 10:00. As always, you can catch the video on the St. Pat’s Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Here’s the homily.
There are certain phrases that I have come to greatly dislike. Among them are: “In these uncertain times…” and “The new normal…” I’m sure you can come up with a few of your own. One thing that is certain “in these uncertain times,” is that life is anything BUT normal. The life of our families, our society, our parish has been greatly disrupted. Perhaps one of the greatest disruptions was to our ability to gather in the Sacred Assembly for the Eucharist in Holy Mass. Perhaps for the first time, many of us realized how important the Eucharist is in our lives. To be deprived of it, if only for a time, caused a lot of anxiety. It’s nice to be able to receive again, even if we are gathering in more creative ways than before.
It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it, this sense of loss we all experienced. The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit’ of the life of the Church. (cf. Sacrosanctam conciliam, 10) Everything we do as Church flows from the Eucharist and everything leads back to the Eucharist. It has been said that once you understand the Eucharist, you can never leave the Church, not because the Church won’t let you, but because your heart won’t let you.
Indeed, the Eucharist is at the heart of all that we are as Church. Thus it speaks to the heart of the Christian in a way like no other. The main reason for this can be summed up in two words: “true presence.”
Christ is truly and substantially present in two places, in heaven and in the Eucharist. Whether in His dynamic presence in the Mass or his abiding presence in the reserved Sacrament, this true, substantial, sacramental presence is different than a mere physical presence. It is deeper and goes to the very level of who Christ is being joined to who we are. It’s about the heart of Christ being present to the heart of the believer. As St. Frances de Sales described it: “Cor ad cor loquitur—heart speaks to heart.” Is it any wonder that the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (this Friday) falls so closely to Corpus Christi?
[Fr. Tom Lilly Story.]
To be a people of the Eucharist is to be united to the heart of Christ. May our lives reflect the love of Christ for us and for the world as we go forth as witnesses of the Good News.