MASS READINGS AND MEDITATION | AUG 2, 2020

Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread;
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.

R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Brothers and sisters:
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.  
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honoured as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.

“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2nd   Mt. 14: 13-21   “When he saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them.”

PART ONE… Reflection on the Miracle of the Loaves and Fish

PART TWO… GOD’S GREATEST GIFT… by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

• All the disciples had was five loaves and two fish to feed a vast crowd! “Being them to me” Jesus said. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over – twelve wicker baskets full. There were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.”
• He takes, He blesses, He breaks, and He gives. This miracle is a prefigurement of the Eucharist. Jesus said these words at the first Mass on Holy Thursday. He said these words at the second Mass with the two disciples He met on the road to Emmaus.
• Today, the priest says these words in persona Christi at every Mass. Eucharistic Prayer 1 : On the day before he was to suffer, he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying: “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.”  
• At every Mass an ordained priest, through the power of the Holy Spirit, changes bread and wine into Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! This happens every day throughout the whole world, feeding far more than 5,000! Whether we receive a consecrated host or a particle of the consecrated host, or drink from the chalice, we receive the whole Christ – His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! Jesus cannot be divided and He cannot be exhausted!
• In each Holy Communion we receive the entire Christ… the baby in Mary’s womb… the child helping Joseph in the carpenter shop… the young teacher of the elders in the temple… the guest at the wedding feast performing His first miracle… the iterant preacher teaching and healing with His words, with His touch… the savior of the world scourged and crowned with thorns… nailed to cross by His executioners and by our sins… already forgiving us, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing”… giving us His Mother as our Mother… and Christ triumphant, resurrected and sitting at the right hand of the Father, and at the same time present in all the tabernacles throughout the world!
• May we thank Jesus every day for this greatest of all miracles! May we receive Jesus in Holy Communion fervently and frequently! May we kneel before His Eucharistic Presence in adoration often! May we stop for a short visit to Him in the tabernacle when we pass by a Church! Finally, may we thank Jesus every day for the gift of the priesthood, praying earnestly for priests and for vocations! May we never forget that without the priest, we have no Eucharist!
• “I will ponder with great affection how much God our Lord has done for me.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola).

PART TWO… Delving deeper into the Holy Eucharist…

GOD’S GREATEST GIFT: THE HOLY EUCHARIST by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV

I Kings 19: 3-8:
ELIJAH FLEES.  Filled with fear and dread of being murdered, the Prophet Elijah fled from the wicked Queen Jezebel who planned to murder him because Elijah killed the false Prophets of Baal. After a days’ journey on foot heading towards the Holy Mountain, the mountain of God, Elijah was consumed by the spirit of desolation and discouragement and fell into a deep slumber, not even close to arriving at his destination.

GOD’S ANGEL.  Concerned about the Prophet and his long journey, God sent an angel to comfort, encourage, and motivate Elijah and in this fashion. The angel woke Elijah from his deep slumber encouraging him to keep on his journey because it was a long one.

THE BREAD AND NOURISHMENT FOR THE JOURNEY.  With the words of encouragement, the angel offered Elijah some bread to eat because the journey indeed was going to be a long and grueling one. Elijah ate the bread, but instead of rising and undertaking his long trek, he returned to his slumber. Once again the angel woke Elijah insisting and encouraging him to eat more bread and to walk until he arrived at the holy mountain where he would find safety, security, and a sure haven in the presence of God.

ELIJAH OBEYS, EATS AND WALKS!  Obedient to the angel, Elijah once again, for the second time, eats the bread offered to him by the angel and from the strength that was derived from that bread—which he ate not once but two times—he walks. The distance was long: he walked forty days and forty nights from the energy and strength that came from the encouragement of the angel of God, but also from the bread that filled him with new life!

HOLY MOUNTAIN.  Elijah’s destination was the holy mountain of God. God spoke to him not in the hurricane, nor the fire, nor even in the strong impetuous wind. Rather, God spoke to Elijah in the gentle and sweet breeze. This holy mountain is symbolic of our eternal destiny: heaven! Once arrived at, we will be with God forever and be able to talk to Him as our best of friends, face to face. Like Elijah, we should all strive to undertake the long and grueling journey to arrive at the holy mountain where God awaits us, so as to be with Him for all eternity.

ELIJAH AND OUR OWN LIVES.  Like the Prophet Elijah, we all have our struggles, our battles, our dreary days, our temptations, our moments of desolation, and times in which we simply want to throw the towel in and give up! The key is that we must rise up and eat, not just a plain or ordinary bread, but we must nourish ourselves on the Bread of Life. Not once or twice but as often as possible. Indeed, if it is within our means to nourish ourselves on the Bread of Life even every day.

Let us enter into a topic that has a transcendental value and importance in our lives in the short time we have in this earthly pilgrimage to our eternal destiny. We will take the Biblical passage and person of Elijah as our model and example. If we really desire to arrive at our eternal destiny which is heaven, then we must nourish our minds, hearts, and souls on the Bread of Life as frequently as possible, but also as fervently as our heart and soul can exert.

Therefore, this short literary work will focus upon how we can upgrade, improve, and magnify the effects of the reception of Holy Communion in our lives. In a word, the most important action that we can carry out on this side of eternity is to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life, in the Sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist. No action of the human person can supersede it in importance. This being the case, let us set up action points and guidelines to receive Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Communion with increasing faith, devotion, fervor, and love.

1. FAITH IN THE REAL PRESENCE.  Over the past fifty-years, statistics have pointed out that huge numbers of Catholics either do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, or at least have a very unclear and foggy notion of WHO is truly present in the Consecrated Host! After the double consecration in the Mass, Jesus is truly and substantially present in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is not merely a symbolic presence, as in the case of Protestant services, but rather it is JESUS’ REAL PRESENCE!!! Due to materialism and living in a neo-paganist and secular society, we must constantly remind ourselves of this most august and sublime reality!

2. THEOLOGICAL CONCEPT: DISPOSITIVE GRACE!  One of the most important theological concepts in living out Sacramental theology is that of Dispositive Grace. In brief, this means that the grace that comes to us, especially from the reception of the most Holy Eucharist, is commensurate with or in direct proportion to the disposition of our soul. In other words, the fault is not in the Sacrament, rather the fault is in the recipient of the Sacrament. Why? For the simple and unequivocal reason that your reception of the Holy Eucharist, your reception of Holy Communion, is the reception of Jesus Himself—the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, God of Gods, True-God and True-man! It has been said that one Holy Communion well-received could transform you into a saint!

3. PREPARE YOURSELF BETTER.  A natural follow-up to the concept of Dispositive Grace is that of our preparation before receiving Holy Communion. Indeed, it should be a constant task and goal in our life to work on making better preparations to receive Holy Communion. Being honest with ourselves, we must admit and confess with the utmost sincerity and humility that we all can make progress, and a lot of progress in our preparation for receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. 

4. HUMAN EXAMPLE: THE BRIDE AND HER WEDDING.  In the Diary of Saint Faustina on Divine Mercy, in the last book of the Diary—Book VI—she gives excellent guidelines on how to receive Jesus better in Holy Communion. (Diary of Divine Mercy in My Soul #’s 1804-1828) One of the comparisons or analogies that Saint Faustina brings forth is that of a Bride preparing to meet and marry her spouse. On a human level all of us understand this analogy. How many details, countless details does the future bride implement so as to make this the happiest day in her life. Just to name a few: the dress, its size and color and texture, the beauty parlor, the makeup, the manicure of her nails, the shoes, the crown. Not only her  physical appearance, but many other details: the guests, the Banquet Hall, the Church, the rug, the choir, the priest, the Readings and the homily, the altar servers. How much time, money, and energy is employed for the wedding day, which is hopefully the happiest day of her life!!! Building upon this analogy, Jesus is the Wedding Bridegroom of our soul every time we receive Him in Holy Communion. Should we not be more demanding upon ourselves in the time, the effort, the manner, and the details in which we receive Him into the inner bridal-chamber of our soul???

5. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS: THE SAINTS!!!  The most famous musical group, the Beatles, composed a song titled With A Little Help From My Friends. Our true, faithful, and most authentic friends are the saints. They are bright luminaries that point us to Jesus, the Light of the world and to Heaven where the Face of Jesus will be our eternal lamp and light. The saints are the ones who really received Jesus with a fervent and loving disposition in Holy Communion. Consequently, upon dying, Jesus received them warmly, enthusiastically, and lovingly into Heaven. Their greatest desire on earth was to love God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Their whole life was centered around Holy Mass and reception of the most Holy Eucharist. Therefore, a most efficacious means to make better and more fervent Holy Communions is to humbly beg the saints in heaven to pray and intercede for you that your Communions will become fiery explosions of love for the Lord Jesus!

6. EXAMPLE PAR-EXCELLENCE OF PREPARATION AND THANKSGIVING.  One of the saints who can serve as a brilliant luminary and example in the reception of Holy Communion is SAINT CHARBEL MAKLOUF. This Lebanese, contemplative monk, who was canonized by Saint Pope Paul VI, spent most of his life as a Religious-priest in a monastery in silent prayer and work. However, what is pertinent to our theme is his celebration of Holy Mass and his reception of the most Holy Eucharist. In a nutshell, his whole life was focused on the celebration of Holy Mass and the reception of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus the Lord. How, you might ask? Very simple! He was given permission to celebrate Mass at 12 noon every day. The whole of his morning was spent in preparation for Holy Mass and Holy Communion. Then after he finished celebrating his noon-day Mass, Saint Charbel would spend the rest of his day rendering constant thanks for Mass and Holy Communion. What an example for us! In a certain sense we should aim at this same objective and pursuit. Our life should be centered and focused on Jesus who is truly present in every Mass and every Holy Communion. May our lives be a constant preparation to receive Jesus with burning love, a most fervent reception, and then may the rest of our day be a living act of THANKSGIVING for this greatest of gifts. Incidentally, the word Eucharist actually means THANKSGIVING! With the Psalmist, let us lift our hearts in prayer: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.” (136:1)

7. COMMON PRIESTHOOD OF THE FAITHFUL—LIVE OUT THE OFFERTORY!  If you have a chance, view the movie The Greatest Miracle (El Gran Milagro). This movie in a clear, appealing, and dynamic fashion explains the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in claymation. All done in 70 minutes. Among the themes, worthy of highest praise is the presentation of how the Guardian Angel teaches the importance of the Mass by participating, fully, actively, and consciously and living out to the full the OFFERTORY of the Mass. By this is meant that the priest offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but the faithful who participate in the Mass are called to make their own offering in the Mass—called the OFFERTORY! This is done by making a spiritual offering of oneself and placing it on the altar, specifically placing it on the paten where the priest’s Host is deposited. Also each one is called to place their intentions in the chalice where the wine will be transformed into the Precious Blood of Jesus. If done seriously, your Communions will have infinite value and efficacy for you, for those for whom you pray, for the Church, and for the whole world, even the souls in Purgatory!

8. WHAT MIGHT BE ELEMENTS FOR MY OFFERING TO LIVE OUT THE OFFERTORY?  Actually you can offer anything that may occur to you. If offered with good will and purity of intention, God accepts all! The possibilities are infinite!!! However, there are three areas that might be employed to help you to live more fervently your Offertory and derive countless and untold blessings!

(1) THE SOULS IN PURGATORY.  The souls in Purgatory, these suffering souls, are already saved, but they must be purified by the fires of God’s loving justice. Remember the words of the last Book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation: “Nothing impure can enter the Kingdom of God.” (Rev. 21: 27) By far the most efficacious means to purify, to sanctify, and to liberate the souls detained in Purgatory is through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for these poor souls and the worthy reception of Holy Communion received for them. Saint Nicolas of Tolentino, O.S.A. desired to be a priest primarily so that he could help to free souls from the fires of Purgatory by offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for them.

(2) THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS.  What Jesus and Mary desire most in this world is the conversion and the salvation of sinners. By offering your Masses and Holy Communions for the conversion and salvation of sinners, the Hearts of Jesus and Mary overflow with joy.

(3) PERSONAL HEART-TRANSPLANT.  We all must work day and night upon our own personal conversion. There is no more efficacious and powerful means by which we can convert our hearts from hearts of sinners into hearts of saints than by the worthy, frequent, fervent, and faithful reception of Holy Communion. Indeed, every worthy reception of Holy Communion is a SPIRITUAL HEART-TRANSPLANT. In all truth, the Heart of Jesus takes possession of our heart and there is a real transformation! We become what we eat! We consume the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus and we become like Him. In time we will be able to say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

9. YOUR FIRST, LAST, AND ONLY.  In some convent sacristies there is a plaque on the wall that the priest is invited to read as he vests and prepares for Holy Mass that reads as such: “Priest, man of God, say this Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, and your only Mass.” What would happen if you made this decision starting today with respect to your participation in Mass and reception of Holy Communion—to receive your Holy Communion as if it were your first, last, and only???  Most likely your Holy Communions would be much more fervent. What do you think?

10. OUR LADY OF THE EUCHARIST AND HOLY COMMUNION.  As a concluding note, we should contemplate the Blessed Virgin Mary and beg for her most powerful intercession in our reception of Holy Communion. In a very real sense Mary received her first Communion when she said YES to the Archangel Gabriel with the words: “Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk. 1:38) Then the Gospel of Saint John states: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (Jn. 1:14) Pope Saint John Paul II made this parallel connection: “The Yes of Mary to the Angel and our Amen when we receive Holy Communion have a real similarity; both result in the reception of Jesus into the depths of the heart.” Therefore, let us humbly implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Eucharist, for the most special grace to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion with lively faith, with frequency, and with a burning fervor and love so that we will be able to set the whole world on fire with love of God!

Copyright 2020 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA