Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
FRIDAY, December 3rd Mt 9.27-31 Alleluia Verse: “Behold, our Lord shall come with power; he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.”
In today’s Gospel Jesus heals two blind men according to their faith in Him! For those who have faith, Jesus heals our blindness.
…of sin that blinds us, through the Sacrament of Confession.
…of ignorance of Christ, through the Liturgy of the Word in Mass, as well as our daily Holy Hour praying with the Gospels.
…of blindness to Jesus’ real presence in His Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity in the Eucharist and Holy Communion—and in the tabernacles in all the churches around the world until the end of time. Faith is believing in what we cannot see on the word of the one who says it! These are Jesus’ own words: John 6:25-59 “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”
…and of blindness to Jesus present in our neighbor: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40)
JESUS COMES OUT TO MEET US—HOW? By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
On one occasion, Saint John the Baptist, seeing Jesus, fixes his eyes intently on Him and says: “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Two of John’s disciples see and hear Saint John pointing to Jesus and describing Him as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. These two disciples leave the Baptist to follow Jesus. They spend the rest of the day in Jesus’ company. This experience leaves a profound and indelible impression on their lives.
One of them is named John. The other, named Andrew, is overflowing with joy and enthusiasm and cannot contain himself, he has to share this impressive encounter. Andrew hurries to his brother Simon proclaiming that he has seen, met, and spent time with the Lord Jesus. When Simon encounters Jesus, He says: “You are Peter”… giving him a new name. Thus the friendship between Jesus and these early Apostles begins and grows for the rest of their lives, with more Apostles joining them.
Two thousand years have transpired since these encounters between Jesus and His first Apostles. These meetings with Jesus radically transformed their lives. They became followers, and all of the Apostles—with the exception of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, and John, the beloved disciple—were called by the Master to pour forth their blood as martyrs, giving powerful testimony to their love for Jesus, their Lord, God, Savior and Best Friend.
Is it possible for us now to have an encounter with Jesus—to meet Jesus, listen to Jesus, talk to Jesus, be a friend of Jesus, and fall in love with Him as the center of our lives? The response is a resounding YES!!!
At the Last Supper discourse, Jesus consoled the Apostles with these words: “I will not leave you orphans. I will send another, the Paraclete, to be with you”. (Jn 14:16, 18) Before ascending into heaven, He called the disciples to Him for the last time. Once again Jesus spoke to them with consoling words of reassurance: “Go now and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And behold I am with you always even until the end of time.” (Mt 28:19-20) Then before their eyes, Jesus ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father.
WHERE THEN IS JESUS? Jesus said that he would be with them always until the end of time, and immediately afterwards, He ascended into Heaven disappearing from their sight. Where is Jesus? He is in Heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified Body—never to leave His eternal dwelling place. However, Jesus is indeed with us now in a different, but still very real way!
THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will never pass away!” (Mt 24:35) Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He indeed is present in His Church, the Catholic Church, and will be until the end of time. The Church is His Body and we are His members. Indeed, Jesus is the Head of the Body, reigning from Heaven, and we are all individual parts or members of His Body here on earth.
THE CHURCH: RELIVES THE LIFE OF JESUS EVERY YEAR. Every year the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, relives the life of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How is this accomplished? Precisely in this manner, through the Church Liturgical Cycle.
We have a real and powerful encounter with Jesus every time we attend and participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass fully, actively, and consciously. The Lord Jesus plays out this powerful encounter especially in two ways: through Word and through Sacrament.
THE WORD. In every Sunday Mass, we have the privilege of listening to three Readings from the Bible, the Word of God—an Old Testament Reading, an Epistle/Letter often from Saint Paul, and of greatest importance, the Gospel, the very Heart of the Bible. Still more, we pray or sing the Responsorial Psalm after the First Reading. With ears and heart open, God is truly speaking to us. With the young Samuel in the Temple, we should humbly beg the Lord with these words: “Speak, O Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1Sam 3:10) As Jesus spoke to John, Andrew and Peter, so He desires to speak to us and we must attune our ears and listen attentively!
SACRAMENT. Different than our Protestant brothers and sisters, our spiritual nourishment is double: the Word of God, followed by reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Vatican II documents express this concept in terms of the TABLE. We are nourished at the first Table by the Word of God; then at the second Table by the Bread of Life, which we call the Eucharist, or Holy Communion.
If you like, our minds are inundated and flooded with light through the Word of God. Then our souls are inundated, penetrated and imbued with Jesus, the Bread of Life, every time we approach the Eucharistic Banquet in a state of grace. The graces we receive from this banquet are commensurate with our humility, purity of heart, confidence and, most important according to Saint Thomas Aquinas, our ardent hunger and thirst for Him.
THREE LITURGICAL CYCLES: THE SUNDAY MASS ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS. At times we hear critics of the Mass shouting out that it is always the same, expressing boredom and a frustrating monotony. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth! Indeed, variety is the spice of life. Every New Church Year, which commences with the First Sunday in Advent, the Sunday Mass Readings change. In fact there are three distinct Liturgical Cycles, manifesting a wide variety of differences!
YEARS A, B, C. The three different Liturgical Years are categorized by three distinct letters: Year A, Year B, and Year C. These differences last a full year! It is easy to understand! In Year A, every Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Gospel of Saint Matthew is proclaimed. Then Year B, the Church reads and proclaims the shortest Gospel—Saint Mark. Finally, Year C, the Church culminates with the Gospel of Saint Luke.
SYNOPTIC GOSPELS. These three Gospels that are read, Year A, B, and C are termed the Synoptic Gospels. By Synoptic is meant a certain similarity in the Gospels. Nonetheless, each Gospel manifests a different dimension or perspective of the Life of Jesus—the very center and Heart of all of the Gospels.
As a conclusion, Peter, Andrew and Saint John the Evangelist had powerful encounters with Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, over 2000 years ago. However, we can encounter the same Lord Jesus in His Mystical Body, the Church every day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
This is accomplished in the most efficacious manner by attentively listening to the Word of God which can flood our minds with the Light of Truth. But even more by opening our hearts and souls to receive Jesus the Bread of Life. Let us seek out Jesus, our Best Friend, He is anxiously waiting for us!
