#mass of our lord's supper

[virtie333]

Holy Thursday 2023

[milksuu]

'Maid' in Heaven | Hiccup x Reader | Part 6

Pairings: Hiccup 'Horrendous’ Haddock III x fem!servant!reader

Chapter Content/Warnings: minor angst and fluff

Summary: After a hostile raid from The Hairy Hooligan Tribe, you were captured and forced into indentured servitude at a young age. Luckily, the God’s had blessed you to be the household thrall of the Haddock family; to serve your kind young Lord, Hiccup ‘Horrendous’ Haddock III. Oh Thor, what to do?

an: thank you for waiting! unfortunately, due to linking my ao3 on my master post, tumblr has hid all the linked parts before this + my masterlist (sad face). please click on the 'maid in heaven' tag for previous chapters, or view the pinned masterlist post on my blog. again, thank you to anyone whose taken the time to read, comment, like, and reblog! they make me so happy and motivated. any love is much appreciated.

There was a great discussion had within the Haddock residence later that evening. Supper was served at the single table, near to the crackling fire, and blazing with conversation about various topics. The first one attended to was the matter related to the unmissed trial of your questionable innocence. From the guilt that hung like a grey cloud above your head, Stoick sought to investigate the actual truth of the matter.

Hiccup spoke on your behalf. There were some truths, possible half-truths, and perhaps a frilly white lie in between. Whether Stoick believed the lipped wit of his son or not made no difference. The Chief’s admonishing response showed a mind already made. And the folk lesson long prevailed: it paid very little to argue with stone.

“I can’t have any more mishaps, regardless of whose fault,” Stoick said with a fistful of torn meat. “Our people are on edge, and for well enough reasons. And I’m not about to let one loose sheep, or another, cause further unrest. Do you both understand?” 

From your standing spot at the end of the table, a cinch of fault tightened your waistline. You bobbed your head and, with fingers coiled around the handle of a water pitcher, mouthed the word with a strained breath. Your attention crossed the table, catching your young Lord’s pinched features of rebellious reluctance. When your gaze met, you angled a chin and spoke through batted lashes for him to oblige. The request sent his eyes rolling backwards. Luckily, you didn’t need to pray for his life. To your relief, his father was too preoccupied with his plate to notice.

“Understood,” he said, and took a reproachful sip of his drink. You assumed he’d done so to keep him from taking back the word. 

“Good,” Stoick said with a satisfied grumble. “Tomorrow you’ll join me to pay a visit to the farmsteads. We’ll be needing a count of all the livestock and expected yield of crops before Winter. Consider the numbers for rationing. Always best to prepare for the worst.”

“Sure, doomsday prepping sounds like fun,” he said with a lop-sided pin of his lips. “But I was thinking, after we’re done counting with our fingers and toes, you’d talk with me and Gobber. We have some ideas to export new saddles.”

Stoick nodded and spoke in a tone of allowance rather than agreement. “Time will be made tomorrow, then.” 

The table quieted to small-talk, clinking tableware, and requests for another pour from your pitcher. When Stoick finished, he wiped his mouth clean with his fingers, and announced his retirement for the night. When the mass of his form disappeared beyond the aching stairs, you fetched yourself to attend the mess.

“Let me help you,” he said, taking a few hurried bites and tossing the cooked tail end of his fish to Toothless. He barely swallowed when he stood. “I just finished.”

“Although I’m grateful for your offer, I must decline you,” you said and seized his plate before he could. “You’ve done enough for me today, Lord Haddock. I’m sure the least I can do in return is my own job.” 

“I don’t think there should be a limit for helping anyone,” he said rationally, “unless you think I’m wrong?” 

“I think you’ll end up causing more trouble for yourself,” you punctuated your words with the lift of your nose. “Make no mistake. The road to Hel is paved with good-intentions. I don’t wish for you to end up there, of all people.”

He chuckled with a shake of his head. “Does that mean I’ll be in trouble with you?” 

“Not me.” You wiggled a finger in front of your nose. “But your father—no, worse yet—an entire village. I'm afraid your father's right. The scorn of a single man is enough to give courage to his like-minded neighbors.”

“If anything else happens, I’ll take care of it,” he said indulgently.

“That is exactly my point. I don’t want for something else to happen, and for you to have to do anything about it. You’ve worked too hard for your good reputation to be ruined. How could I ever sleep at night, knowing I should be the reason to have it questioned?”

“You like to worry more about my reputation than I do. At the end of the day, I just do what I think is right. Even if that means upsetting a few people who probably don't agree with me. Besides,” he fought to dismiss the quarrel with a boyish grin. “I’ve heard Hel has nice warm weather all year round. Wouldn’t mind paying a visit sometime. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be Chief there instead.”

“There you go again with your jests,” you muttered, digging your nails into the dish. “Ignoring every bit of my concerns for you. But what does what I think matter? I suppose it doesn’t. I’m only a servant, after all. Nothing about me deserves a second thought of consideration.”

“Come on, it’s not like that,” his eyes softened, cupping your tense hands.

The agonizing brush of his touch loosened your hold on the clay dish. It collided with the wood below, breaking into unmendable parts at your feet. You paled, bending to clean up your recklessness. Your Lord motioned to join and you thrusted a curt hand to stop him. “Don’t—” you choked on the shame. “Please, my Lord. This… this is all I have. If you respect me at all, then you’ll let me do it myself.”

“I’m sorry.” With pained regard, he placed a single broken chip in your palm and rose to take his leave. “I won’t bother you anymore.” 

He swept up the stairs, beckoning Toothless to follow. When the door of his bedchamber closed, you shut your eyes against a wave of remorse. Gods, you wished it would drown you. Perhaps then, the regret would no longer be tangible. You drew in a quivered breath, wishing to pick up more than the shattered fragments of a mere plate.

When morning came, you stood beside yourself, looking solemnly at the same dress and apron spread out on your cot. The same dull white smock, same plain brown kirtle, and the same serviceable apron. Stiff and ugly, you thought. All these same things punctuated how perfectly unpleasant you were on the inside. The display of your behavior the prior evening brought a taste of black licorice, which not even lye soap could rinse from your mouth. For your Lord’s sake, it would’ve served him to cut out your tongue with one of the sharper pieces of platter.

Even if deserved, there was never a sliver of imagination to conjure this—his kindness made no room for unbearable thoughts. 

  ⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

When the morning chores were completed without a word and, without complaint, you set off to the docks. With your new piece in tow, you trailed down the trodden path to a landscape filled with thatched roofs, until the hill steeped with long fisherman houses laden with crates of tackle and bait. 

“My, my, little miss! Seems fate and fortune have brought us to trade once again.” Johann raised his hands to indulge the sky, descending the boat ramp. “I take it you’re faring well, even after yesterday’s dire tribulations. Oh, you should have been there to witness it—Master Hiccup was positively vexed when he landed on my ship and requested for my immediate aid. Why, I had never seen him in such a state! Made me believe ‘twas a matter of life and death. Thank the stars it was not the latter of the two.”

This information did you no favors. It further troubled your features, tense and painted with dismal lines of fault. When strings of thankfulness for his help sprang from your lips, they resonated more as apologies. “I’m sorry—truly, I am. I hate to be more trouble than I’m worth.”

“Now, now, my dear. Let’s not sit idle in the past and wallow in it like a cold bath,” he dismissed it, beckoning you closer with his hands. “Let’s get on with business, shall we?”

“Of course.” You swallowed the hot lump in your throat, extending your tapestry.

“Absolutely remarkable,” Johann yammered on when he took the fabric. He twiddled with the coins in his hands before giving them to you. “This reminds me! Oh, you must listen to this. Whilst journeying from one trading dock to another, I came upon the most curious and wealthy buyer. So enraptured by your work, they were compelled for me to have a good word with you. They have offered quite an exuberant amount of coin for a commissioned piece, should you accept.”

“May I ask who this person is?” 

“The buyer has chosen to remain anonymous for the time being. I’m a respectable tradesman, and not inclined to give out customer details should it be personally requested of me not to do so. I assure you, I have a keen eye for scoundrels. This buyer is anything but.”

“It sounds like a gracious opportunity,” you trailed off, fiddling with the scant coins in your apron pocket. With someone of your luck, or rather misfortune, certain things were too good to be true. “May I think it over?”

“By all means,” Johann said. “We’ll remain in touch. I shall send a letter by mail tomorrow and eagerly wait for your response.”

A response would have to wait. Your mind wandered to the more pressing matters of keeping yourself in your young master’s good graces. How could you think of anything else when your conscience pricked at you insistently? There was only one remedy for this, and it was a whimsied gesture from childhood—surely, he would remember the meaning.

Picking up your feet, you scampered upward from the spindly dirt paths to pebbled roads. With allowance in hand, you passed through the open market, pinching your way to purchase the sweetest apple from a cart. You paid no mind to a flock of young women whispering curiously about you. The business of gossip would exist whether or not you gave credit to it. There wasn’t a need to give the webs spinning from their mouths any attention. You imagined being a curious fly was very tiresome. 

You came up to the Blacksmith, clanking with sounds of clashing metal, and pluming with smoke from the forge. From the open stall window, you rapped against the wood. When nothing but hammer to iron responded, you insisted with more egregious thumping. “Get outta the way, Grump!” A guttural curse or two struck the air. After a stumbling moment, Gobber’s rotund frame hobbled to view.

“Quit ye’r knockin’, I’ll be right there.” Gobber poked his eyebrows up at your small face peeking through the window. He cleared the indignation from his throat. “Sorry, lass. Didn’t expect ye’w of all people to stop by. What can I do for ya’h?” 

With a woeful face, you placed the apple on the counter. 

“The ol’ apology apple, eh?” He said with a scratch of his furrowed brow. “Can’t say I understand it myself, but the two of ye’w always had a way of managing. I’ll be sure ta’h give it to the lad when I see ‘em.” 

“Thank you ever so much.” You dipped your chin, turning to take leave.

“Hiccup’ll forgive ya’h,” he called out with sympathy. “Always does.”

Hope fluttered your heart, and you thanked the man twice over. 

Whisking back to the Haddock Residence, you took out your nerves in the form of extra sweeping and dusting. You did so until you were choking on the splinters raised from the floorboards. With your habit of carrying on with meaningless distractions, you hadn’t noticed the afternoon light spilling from the open window. You lamented on the time and hurried to simmer a pot of stew over the kindling hearth. 

A wind danced inside, grazing the back of your neck. A delicate reminder to shut the window before the cool of night waltzed in unannounced. 

You turned and spotted a sheen of red gleaming by sunset hue on the sill. When you went to greet it, you picked up the plump portion of a half eaten apple. You pressed a smile to the remaining flesh of it. Taking your own bite, you sighed against the burst of sweetness. The taste of licorice no longer soured your lips.

You leaned into the cheerful air, enriched with slopes of green and spiced with a dusky glow.  And as if the breeze could carry words, you spoke:

“I’m glad we’re still friends.” 

Reconciliation was a word you hadn’t thought of tasting so sweet.

[apenitentialprayer]

Even a theology oriented to the concept of [Apostolic] Succession, such as that which holds in the Catholic and in the Orthodox Church, need not in any way deny the salvation-granting presence of the Lord in a Lutheran Lord's Supper.

the future Pope Benedict XVI, in a letter addressed to Johannes Hanselmann, then-Bishop of Bavaria for the Evangelical Lutheran Church, from 1993.

Christ can still be present, in a really rich way, in a Lutheran Lord's Supper; just not in the same way that He's present in the Mass.

Joe Heschmeyer (Is Christ Present in Protestant Churches?)

The brethren divided from us also use many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These most certainly can truly engender a life of grace in ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or community. These liturgical actions must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation. It follows that the separated Churches and communities as such, though we believe them to be deficient in some respects, have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church. Nevertheless […] it is only through Christ's Catholic Church, which is "the all-embracing means of salvation," that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation. We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God.

Unitatis redintegratio, §3b. Bolded emphases added.

[autistictortoise]

Church people in my country singing Czech translation of "The Last Supper": Oh Lord, please give us strength, we wanna start living according to your words, the world would be a desert without you, without you our lives wouldn't have a goal...

Me: It's a song about getting drunk while the supposed Messiah ugly breaks up with his boyfriend, why are we singing it during mass

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Roman Catholic Church insists that Jesus must be sacrificed every time mass is conducted and then some of them have the nerve to accuse Protestants of dishonoring the Lord's supper. How about insisting that Jesus's once for all sacrifice is not enough to save all the elect? Does that sound like it honors the death of our Lord and Savior?

[tpanan]

July 27, 2024 - REGARDING THE MOCKERY OF THE LAST SUPPER OF JESUS CHRIST

Most Rev. Andrew H. Cozzens, S.T.D., D.D.

Bishop of Crookston

Chairman of the Board of the National Eucharistic Congress

“If then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and heal their land.” (2 Chr 7:14)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

At the opening Holy Hour of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, on Wednesday July, 17, 2024, I prayed these very words, inviting tens of thousands in the stadium and thousands more watching virtually to join me in asking the Lord to pardon our sins and heal our land.

Then on Friday evening, July 19th, we all united around Our Eucharistic Lord again in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to make reparation for our sins. We humbled ourselves in the presence of Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Recognizing that if one member of the Body of Christ suffers, we all suffer, we prayed together for healing and forgiveness. We were lead through a litany of healing and repentance in the Eucharist by Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B. Many people told me that this moment of communal penance and reparation was a moment of great healing for them. It was amongst the most powerful experiences of grace for me personally during those holy days.

Just one week later, on July 26th in Paris, where the newly restored Cathedral of Notre Dame stands as an iconic reminder to our belief in the importance of the Mass, which makes spiritually present to us the Last Supper, nearly 1 billion men, women and children, in person and through live telecast, witnessed the public mockery of the Mass, the “source and summit of the Christian life” (LG, 11). During the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, the famous DaVinci Masterpiece The Last Supper was depicted in heinous fashion, leaving us in such shock, sorrow and righteous anger that words cannot describe it.

Brothers and sisters, we know that what the enemy intends for evil, God uses for good. We know that “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom 5:20).

Throughout salvation history, the Lord and his prophets have called us—the people of God—to respond to the darkness of evil with the light that comes from the Lord. At the heart of this call are prayer and fasting. Jesus told us that some demons “can only come out through prayer [and through fasting]” (Mk 29:9). He modeled this for us when he spent 40 days in the desert before beginning his public ministry, praying and fasting, begging God the Father to prepare him for all that lay ahead—including his perfect gift of self through his death on the Cross.

We believe that the Last Supper is united with the death of Christ on the Cross and, together with the Resurrection, these events are all one in the Paschal Mystery. This passover, which begins at the Last Supper, is the most sacred moment in the life of Jesus. This is when Jesus offered his life for us so that we could share in his divine life forever.

Jesus experienced his Passion anew Friday night in Paris when his Last Supper was publicly defamed. As his living body, we are invited to enter into this moment of passion with him, this moment of public shame, mockery, and persecution. We do this through prayer and fasting. And our greatest prayer—in season and out of season—is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

As the Church throughout the world gathers tomorrow at the Lord’s Altar, let us do so with renewed zeal. Let us pray for healing and forgiveness for all those who participated in this mockery. Let us commit ourselves this week to greater prayer and fasting in reparation for this sin. Perhaps you could attend Mass once more this week or do an extra holy hour?

We may also be called upon to speak about this evil. Let us do so with love and charity, but also with firmness. France and the entire world are saved by the love poured out through the Mass, which came to us through the Last Supper. Inspired by the many martyrs who shed their blood to witness to the truth of the Mass, we will not stand aside and quietly abide as the world mocks our greatest gift from the Lord Jesus. Rather, through our prayer and fasting, we will ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us with the virtue of fortitude so that we may preach Christ—our Lord and Savior, truly present in the Eucharist—for the Glory of God and the Salvation of Souls.

Let us, strengthened by Christ, be the Eucharistic Missionaries we are called to be.

+In Christ Jesus,

Most Rev. Andrew H. Cozzens, S.T.D., D.D.

Bishop of Crookston

Chairman of the Board of the National Eucharistic Congress

[fr-martin-gospel-reflections]

18th August - ‘Whoever eats me will draw life from me’, Reflection on the readings for Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (John 6:51-58)

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the verses in Patrick Kavanagh’s well-known poem, ‘A Christmas Childhood’, goes as follows, ‘A water-hen screeched in the bog, Mass-going feet Crunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes, Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel’. He is nostalgically looking back at the Christmases of his childhood in his native Monaghan. I have always been struck by the line in that verse, ‘Mass-going feet crunched the wafer-thin ice on the pot-holes’. There may be less ‘Mass-going feet’ these days that there were when Patrick Kavanagh wrote his poem. Yet, many of us still feel drawn to gather to celebrate Sunday Mass, as we are doing here this Sunday.

Why do we come to Mass on a Sunday when there are many other things we could be doing? Perhaps in the past, people went to Mass because it was something everybody did. There was an element of cultural and family pressure. That is certainly not the case today. You have come to Mass this Sunday because you have chosen to do so. In many ways it is a counter cultural choice. It is going against the general trend. People may ask you, ‘Why are you still going to Mass on a Sunday?’ It is a question that is worth asking and pondering over. Perhaps today’s gospel reading points us in the direction of an answer. There Jesus calls on us to eat his flesh and drink his blood and promises us that if we do so we will draw life from him. His language of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is quite startling and provocative. The question people asked in the gospel reading is an understandable one, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Jesus is clearly referring to what we have come to call the Eucharist. His words point ahead to the last supper, when he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘This is my body’, and when he took a cup of wine, blessed it and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘This is my blood of the covenant’. In speaking of his flesh and blood, his body and blood, he was referring to his whole self, who he was and what he stood for. He gave his whole self to us out of love for us on the cross. At the last supper he gave his whole self to his disciples under the form of bread and wine, in anticipation of the gift of himself he would make the following day on the cross. At every Mass, the risen Lord continues to give us the gift of his whole self. There is no greater gift he could give us. He gives us this gift of himself to nourish us spiritually, just as a baby is physically nourished their mother in the mother’s womb. As the unborn child draws life from the mother, so, in the words of Jesus in the gospel reading, when we receive him in the Eucharist we draw life from him, just as he draws life from God his Father. The life that we draw from him is not just physical life but the life of God, a life that endures beyond this earthly life.

Why do we go to Mass, especially on a Sunday? We go because the Lord has left us this wonderful gift through which he continues to give himself to us in love so that we may have life and have it to the full. We go because we recognize that we need this gift to sustain us on our journey of faith, just as the unborn child needs the mother’s flesh and blood for physical sustenance. The Lord gives himself to us in the Eucharist to nourish our relationship with him, to sustain that relationship in a world where that relationship is so often put to the test. He renews the gift of his whole self to us at every Eucharist so that we can renew the gift of our whole selves to him. In the words of the gospel reading, through the Eucharist he comes to live in us, so that we can continue to live in him. The only reason we come to the Eucharist is because we have personally chosen to be in relationship with Jesus and we want that relationship to be sustained and nourished. We gather at the Eucharist as a community of disciples, all of us at different stages of our faith journey. Our relationship with the Lord is personal and unique to each of us. Yet, wherever we are on that journey, we all have a place here. We are all welcome here. The Lord wants to give the gift of his whole self to all of us because we all need the spiritual sustenance that only he can give. Like the Woman Wisdom’s feast in the first reading, the invitation is extended to all from the city’s heights.

The Lord gives his whole self to us in the Eucharist to empower us to bring his whole self to others. We receive the Lord’s body in the Eucharist so that we may be his living body for others. We are sent forth from the Eucharist to live lives that redeem the present age, in the words of the second reading, lives that allow the Lord to be present to all whom we meet.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

29th July >> Fr. Martin's Reflection on Toda's Mass Readings for Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus (Inc. John 11:19-27) ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.

Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Gospel (Except USA) John 11:19-27 I am the resurrection and the life.

Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

Gospel (USA) John 11:19-27 I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died]. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

Reflections (7)

(i) Feast of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus

We don’t often have the feast of two sisters and a brother. John’s gospel suggests that Jesus had a warm, friendly, relationship with this family. Earlier in the chapter from which our gospel reading is taken, the evangelist tells us that ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus’. When the sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was ill, their message was, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill’. Later on in this same chapter, when Jesus saw Mary weeping because her brother Lazarus had died, it is said that, ‘Jesus began to weep’, and those present said, ‘See how he loved him’. Martha, Mary and Lazarus are beloved disciples of Jesus. To that extent they represent us all. What Jesus said to his disciples at the last supper in John’s gospel is said to us all, ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love’. Beloved disciples, like Martha, Mary and Lazarus, are not spared the trauma of profound loss in the face of physical death. Jesus himself, the beloved Son of God, experienced the cruellest of deaths on a Roman cross. Yet, Jesus’ words to Martha in today’s gospel reading assures her, and all beloved disciples, that the bond which his love for us and our faith in him creates will not be broken by death. Rather, that bond will be deepened as we come to share in his own risen life. ‘If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Yes, the Lord’s beloved disciples will die, as he did, but beyond death they will live, and, therefore, they will never die in the ultimate sense. According to our first reading, the essence of God is love, and God’s love for us was revealed when ‘God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him’. This is the hope which the feast of this beloved family gives us.

And/Or

(ii) Feast of Saint Martha

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Martha. She appears in two of the four gospels, Luke and John, in each case in the company of her sister Mary. In one of the two gospel readings for today’s feast, the one from John, Martha is portrayed as a woman in grief, because of the death of her brother Lazarus. Martha, her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus are referred to as loved by Jesus, as friends of Jesus. This is a family of disciples who have experienced the love of God present in Jesus and have responded to that love. Martha’s grief at the death of her brother Lazarus is the grief of a disciple, of a believer. Her opening words to Jesus on his arrival seem to express her disappointment at Jesus’ absence at the time of her brother’s death, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died’. She symbolizes every believer who struggles to come to terms with the apparent absence of the Lord in the face of the stark reality of the death of a loved one. Yet, her grief does not leave her hopeless, as is evident from her subsequent words to Jesus, ‘I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you’. To the grieving, yet hopeful, Martha, Jesus reveals himself as the resurrection and the life and he then makes a wonderful promise that has spoken to grieving believers down through the centuries. The promise declares that all who believe in Jesus already share in Jesus’ risen life, and that the moment of physical death will not break that life-giving communion with Jesus. The question Jesus addresses to Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’ is addressed to every believer, and we are all asked to make our own Martha’s response to Jesus’ question. ‘Yes, Lord, I believe...’.

And/Or

(iii) Feast of Saint Martha

Martha was the sister of Mary, according to today’s gospel reading from Luke. It might strike us as strange that we have a feast of Saint Martha but no feast of Saint Mary, Martha’s sister. This is all the more strange when we consider that on hearing that gospel reading most people think that Martha comes off worse than Mary. After all, according to Jesus, it is Mary who ‘has chosen the better part’. Yet, Jesus addresses Martha in a very striking way in that gospel reading as ‘Martha, Martha’. It is very rare that Jesus addresses someone by their personal name twice in the gospels. Jesus calls Martha by her name twice. In doing so, he reveals his love for her or, as the first reading expresses it, God’s love for her revealed in himself. ‘God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son’. There is clearly a great goodness to Martha. She seems like a woman who puts her heart into everything, just as she was putting her heart into providing hospitality for Jesus. Yet, there was something no quite right in her life. Jesus addresses her as a woman who worries and frets about so many things. She is consumed with anxiety when there is no need for it. For all her goodness, she has something to learn from her sister Mary with whom she is clearly angry. She can learn from her sister than sometimes being is more important than doing and listening to others can be a greater form of service than providing for them. Martha is a really good woman who hasn’t quite got the balance right in her life. In that way she can be an encouragement to us all. There can be great goodness in us, even though we are far from perfect. There can be much in our lives for the Lord to admire, even though we still have a journey to travel. We are all on the way, just as Martha is on the way in today’s gospel reading. The important thing is to value the good that is in all of us and to invite the Lord to bring his good work in our lives to completion.

And/Or

(iv) Feast of Saint Martha

The gospels give the impression that Jesus was very close to the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He often found a welcome in their home. They were among his friends. We can forget that because Jesus was fully human he had the same need for human friendship as every other human being. There is an intimacy to the scene in today’s gospel reading that we associate with a gathering of friends. Jesus is welcomed by Martha into her home. She gives expression to her friendship of Jesus by preparing a meal for him. She is evidently a good and generous host. Mary, Martha’s sister, expresses her friendship for Jesus in a different way. She sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to him speaking. Hospitality and friendship can take more than one form. We can be very active on friends’ behalf, such as by preparing a fine meal for them, or we can simply be present to them and listen to them. The gospel reading suggests that Martha did not appreciate the way that Mary was giving expression to her friendship of Jesus. She wanted Jesus to put pressure on Mary to help her in preparing the meal. It is an example of the tensions that can emerge in all close relationships. Jesus shows his love for Martha by addressing her twice by her own name, ‘Martha, Martha’. However, he does not comply with Martha’s request but declares that on this occasion Mary has chosen the better part. Jesus seems to have wanted someone to listen to him more than someone to feed him. The Book of Qoheleth declares that there is a time for everything under the sun. In the light of today’s gospel reading, we might say that ‘there is a time to be still and a time to be busy’. When Jesus entered their home, it was Mary who recognized that it was a time to be still. There are times in our lives when all the Lord wants from us is that we be still in his presence and listen to his word.

And/Or

(v) Feast of Saint Martha

One of the most profound statements ever made about God is present in today’s first reading, from the first letter of Saint John, ‘God is love’. Those three words express the fullest possible insight into God. At this point in his letter, the author wants to stress not, what he calls, ‘our love for God’, but, as he says, ‘God’s love for us’. He also states that God revealed his identity as ‘Love’, his love for us by sending his Son into the world so that we could have life through him. All authentic love, all self-giving love, is always life-giving for others. This is supremely true of God’s love for us. It is a love that is life-giving in the sense that it brings us into a sharing in God’s own life, what we call eternal life. This is the promise that Jesus makes to Martha in today’s gospel reading, in the wake of the death of her brother Lazarus. It is a promise that has given hope to believers ever since in the face of death, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Jesus acknowledges there the reality of physical death those who believe in him, ‘even though they die’. Yet, he affirms that our life-giving communion with him which our faith creates will not be broken by death. Rather, our communion with the Lord will be deepened beyond the moment of physical death and, so, we will come to share more fully in his risen life. Martha, the woman of faith, whose feast we celebrate today, was the recipient of that great promise of Jesus on behalf of us all. In speaking to her, the Lord was speaking to each of us. Her question to her is addressed to each one of us, ‘Do you believe this?’ Today’s feast of Saint Martha is an appropriate moment to make our own her response to Jesus’ question, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who has come into this world’. To Martha’s answer we can add, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the resurrection and the life’.

And/Or

(vi) Feast of Saint Martha

This feast has a certain significance for me because it is the anniversary of my father’s death. I was aware that he had a devotion to Saint Martha. There was a novena to Saint Martha over nine Tuesdays, with a candle lit on each Tuesday. A section of the novena prayer read, ‘Comfort me in all my difficulties, and through the great favour you enjoyed when the Saviour was lodged in your house, intercede for my family that we be provided for in our necessities’. I can see how that prayer would have appealed to my father, and indeed to any parent. The gospel reading from John for today's feast is often chosen for a funeral Mass, and it was the gospel reading for my father’s funeral Mass. We can sympathize with Martha’s gentle rebuke of Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died’. There was a recognition there of Jesus’ healing power, but also an expression of disappointment that he did not come sooner. We can all feel a little let down by the Lord when a loved one dies. The timing of death rarely seems right to us. Jesus’ response to Mary’s disappointment and grief has spoken to believers ever since as they struggle to let go of a loved one from this life, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die the will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. Jesus is declaring that our present communion with him, which his love for us and our faith in him creates, will not be broken by death. In virtue of that communion, we already live with his risen life, over which death has no power. The question Jesus then addresses to Martha is addressed to us all, ‘Do you believe this?’ On this her feast day we are invited to make her response to Jesus’ question our own, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe…’

And/Or

(vii) Feast of Saint Martha, Mary and Lazarus

In February 2021 Pope Francis approved a decree changing the liturgical feast of Saint Martha to include her sister, Mary, and her brother, Lazarus. The decree states that, ‘In the household of Bethany, the Lord Jesus experienced the family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus’. The change to the name of the feast recognizes that Jesus was befriended by a family. We all have individual friends, but it is a special blessing when a whole family befriends us. We come to share in the life journey of the family members, sharing in their joys and sorrows, their significant celebrations and their times of struggle. Jesus had a close relationship with this family of two sisters and a brother. They welcomed him into their home. Jesus’ relationship with this family is described in two of the four gospels. According to John’s gospel, when Lazarus was seriously ill, Jesus was immediately contacted by the two sisters. Although Lazarus died before Jesus arrived, Jesus brought Lazarus back from death to life and spoke a wonderful word of hope to Martha that has consoled believers ever since as they grieve the death of a loved one, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though they die they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die’. In Luke’s gospel, both sisters showed Jesus hospitality when he visited them. Martha’s hospitality took the form of active serving, preparing a meal for Jesus. Mary’s hospitality took the form of sitting at his feet and listening to him speaking. Martha did not appreciate Mary’s way of showing hospitality, judging her to be inconsiderate towards herself. Jesus did appreciate Mary’s way of showing hospitality. He was of the view that Martha had something to learn from Mary. Perhaps Jesus had something important to say and he needed a listening ear more than an elaborate meal. In our dealings with others, there is a time to sit and listen to them and a time to get busy serving them. There is a wisdom in knowing which form of hospitality is being called for at any given time. In our relationship with the Lord too, there is a time to sit and listen to him in prayer, and there is a time to become one of his labourers, by bringing his loving presence in practical ways to those we meet.

-----------------------------

Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA) John 11:19-27 I am the resurrection and the life.

Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

Gospel (Except USA) John 11:19-27 I am the resurrection and the life.

Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

Reflections (6)

(i) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Sometimes we may feel that our good efforts at something are bearing very little fruit. We can get into a frame of mind that says, ‘What good have I been doing with my life?’ We can feel that we have precious little to show for our endeavours. Yet, we can be doing a lot of good without realizing it or recognizing it. We can sometimes forget that even a little can go a long way. The little efforts we make, the little good we do, can have an impact for the better beyond our imagining. That seems to be the message of the two parables that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading. The mustard seed is tiny and yet it grows into a very large shrub. What looks completely insignificant takes on a life of its own and develops in a way that is out of proportion to the small beginning. Sometimes in our own lives, the little we do can go on to become something that we had never envisaged, and might never even get to see. The little bit of yeast that a woman places in a large batch of dough has a huge impact on that large batch. Again, in our own lives, the little good we do can impact on those around us in ways that would surprise us. Jesus says, that is what the kingdom of God is like. What is small and seemingly insignificant can turn out to be powerful and beneficial for many.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The two parables Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading are an image of his own ministry. His work in Galilee is like the mustard seed and the leaven; it is very small scale and to outsiders would have looked somewhat unpromising. Jesus has not been sweeping all before him. He has been going about his work quietly, without fanfare. Yet, the parables suggests that these small beginnings are the promise of something wonderful to come, just as the mustard seed becomes a tree where the birds of the air build their nests and the tiny leaven has a huge impact on three measures of flower. Humble beginnings can have an extraordinary outcome when the work in question is God’s work. There is an encouragement to us all to keep doing the little bit of good we are able to do. It may not seem much in our own eyes or in the eyes of others, yet God can work powerfully through whatever little good we do, in ways that will surprise us. We can all plant the equivalent of the mustard seed; we can all be the equivalent of the leaven. The little initiative, the small gesture, the offer of help, can all bear fruit in ways that we could never have imagined at the time. The Lord can work powerfully through our smallest efforts if they are done out of love for him. Our calling is often to plant some good seed and to trust that the Lord will do the rest.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

It is likely that Jesus spoke the two parables we have just heard as a word of encouragement to his disciples. God’s kingdom was not coming through the ministry of Jesus as quickly and as powerfully as many of Jesus’ followers might have expected. Indeed, the longer Jesus’ ministry went on, the more opposition and hostility he encountered, especially from those in powerful positions. In this setting of growing hostility, Jesus reassures his disciples that, in spite of the small and insignificant progress being made, God’s good work would come to pass, and God’s kingdom would come in all its fullness. The seed, small as it was, had been sown, and its growth is assured. Similarly, just as a small amount of yeast has a significant impact on a large amount of flour, Jesus’ ministry will eventually have an enormous impact for good. Jesus’ words of encouragement are as necessary for disciples today as they were for those original disciples. We can get discouraged by how things are with the church today and with our world, and even with our own lives as the Lord’s disciples. Today’s gospel reading assures us that a seed has been sown by the Lord and its growth is assured, a power for good has been released, the power of the Spirit, and its impact for good is not in doubt. There is no room for complacency, but there is also no room for despondency. As Saint Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians, God’s ‘power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus speaks two parables, one which features a man and the other a woman, a farmer who sows mustard seed and a woman who bakes bread. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus again speaks two parables that feature a man and a woman, a shepherd who looks for his lost sheep and a woman who searches for her lost coin. The experience of men and women were important to Jesus; both sets of experiences could speak to him about the ways of God in the world. In both of today’s parables there is a focus on the power of something very small. A tiny mustard seed can produce a large shrub in which birds can make their nest. A tiny piece of leaven when mixed in with three measures of flower can produce enough bread, it has been estimated, to feed a hundred people. Jesus may have been saying to his disciples that his own ministry might seem very small and limited. Galilee was a tiny region of the vast Roman Empire. Jesus had access to only a relatively small proportion of the people of Galilee itself. Even among those he had access to, he was already beginning to encounter opposition. Such beginnings could seem very unpromising. Yet, Jesus assures his disciples that such small beginnings will bring forth something wonderful that will leave huge numbers blessed, as we can all vouch for. The two parables also speak to our own small efforts to do what is right and good. Jesus is reminding us that if we allow the Lord to work through us in even the smallest of ways, we will be surprised at the great good that will come from such small beginnings.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

In both parables in today’s gospel reading, Jesus draws a contrast between the tiny beginnings and the large scale of the final result. The mustard seed is the smallest of the seeds but within a year it has grown into a shrub large enough to provide a place for birds to nest. A tiny piece of yeast can leaven a huge amount of flour, three measures, enough to feed a hundred people. The yeast is not only tiny but it is powerful. It goes about its work silently and unobtrusively until it produces a result out of proportion to its size. The same could be said of the ministry of Jesus. He goes about his work as someone who is humble and gentle of heart, quietly and unobtrusively, and, yet, the final outcome of his work will be out of proportion to those humble beginnings. The same can be true of our own lives. The good work we do, quietly and unobtrusively, can bear fruit in a way that will surprise us. The Lord can work powerfully through our good efforts, even though they may seem of little significance to us. There is some good we can all do, no matter how small, that no one else can do, and that can make a difference for the better in the lives of others. Saint John Henry Newman wrote, ‘God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another’.

Regardless of where we are on our life’s journey, the Lord can work powerfully through even the smallest service we render to one another.

And/Or

(vi) Monday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

This morning we celebrate the first holy communion of Adam. We are all delighted to share this special day with him. We had the first holy communion of Harriet on Saturday and I mentioned then that I made my own first holy communion in Saint Peter’s Church, Phibsboro, because I went to St. Peter’s National School which is very close to that lovely church. The first reading today is the reading we would usually have for the First Holy Communion Mass. It is the earliest account of the last supper that has come down to us, from Saint Paul. At that supper, Jesus gave himself, his body and blood, under the form of bread and wine, to his disciples. On the night before he died, he gave them the most precious gift he could give them, the gift of himself. At that supper, Jesus also told his disciples to ‘do this in memory of me’. In every generation, his disciples were to repeat what Jesus said and did at the last supper, so that he could continue to give himself to his followers as Bread of Life. This morning, for the first time, Jesus is giving himself to Adam as Bread of Life. Just as parents brought their children to Jesus, according to the gospels, Adam’s parents and grandparents have been bringing Adam to Jesus in various ways since she was born. The first significant moment when they brought her to Jesus was on the day of his baptism. When they taught him to pray, they were bringing her to Jesus. In the language of today’s gospel reading, they have been sowing the mustard seed of the faith in his life. That seed has been growing in his young life and will continue to grow. Because, Adam has been brought to Jesus in various ways, Jesus was been meeting with him, blessing him with his presence. This morning, Jesus is meeting with Adam in a very special way, and blessing him in a way he has never blessed him before. He is coming to Adam in a very personal way as the Bread of Life. He is saying to Adam what he said to his disciples at the last supper, ‘Take and eat’. The Lord wants to come close to Adam, so that Adam can come close to him. His relationship, his friendship, with Jesus will deepen because of what is happening today. Adam’s first holy communion reminds us of how precious the gift of the Eucharist is for all of us. We have all received the Lord in Holy Communion many times, but we need to treasure each time we receive Jesus as the Bread of Life, as if it was our first time. Adam, this morning, you are helping us to appreciate this great gift of the Eucharist, the gift of Jesus, the Bread of Life, that we have all been given. On this special day in your life, we will be praying for you in a special way.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[natequarter]

[id: the our blessed homeland/their barbarous wastes meme edited to focus on religious conflict. the different descriptions of catholicism vs protestantism read: "our blessed beliefs/their barbarous heresies"; "our glorious pope/their wicked king"; "our great religion/their primitive superstition"; "our noble mass/their backward lord's supper"; "our heroic vulgate/their brutish vernacular bible". /end id]

pov you are a sixteenth century catholic

[church-history]

Medieval Latin Hymn Lauda Sion

"Lauda Sion" is a sequence prescribed for the Roman Catholic Mass for the feast of Corpus Christi. It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, at the request of Pope Urban IV for the new Mass of this feast, along with Pange lingua, Sacris solemniis, and Verbum supernum prodiens, which are used in the Divine Office

Sion, lift up thy voice and sing praise thy Savior and thy King, Praise with hymns thy shepherd true.

All thou canst, do thou endeavour yet thy praise can equal never Such as merits thy great King.

See today before us laid the living and life-giving Bread, theme for praise and joy profound.

The same which at the sacred board was, by our incarnate Lord giv'n to His Apostles round.

Let the praise be loud and high sweet and tranquil be the joy felt today in every breast.

On this festival divine which records the origin of the glorious Eucharist.

On this table of the King our new Paschal offering brings to end the olden rite.

Here, for empty shadows fled is reality instead here, instead of darkness, light.

His own act, at supper seated Christ ordain'd to be repeated in His memory divine;

Wherefore now, with adoration we, the host of our salvation consecrate from bread and wine.

Hear, what holy Church maintaineth that the bread its substance changeth into Flesh, the wine to Blood.

Doth it pass thy comprehending? Faith, the law of sight transcending leaps to things not understood.

Here beneath these signs are hidden priceless things, to sense forbidden signs, not things, are all we see.

Flesh from bread, and Blood from wine yet is Christ in either sign all entire, confessed to be.

They, who of Him here partake sever not, nor rend, nor break but, entire, their Lord receive.

Whether one or thousands eat all receive the self-same meat nor the less for others leave.

Both the wicked and the good eat of this celestial Food but with ends how opposite!

Here tis life and there tis death the same, yet issuing to each in a difference infinite.

Nor a single doubt retain when they break the Host in twain but that in each part remains what was in the whole before.

Since the simple sign alone suffers change in state or form the signified remaining one and the same for evermore.

Behold the Bread of Angels for us pilgrims food, and token of the promise by Christ spoken children's meat, to dogs denied.

Shewn in Isaac's dedication in the manna's preparation in the Paschal immolation in old types pre-signified.

Jesu, shepherd of the sheep Thou thy flock in safety keep living bread, thy life supply strengthen us, or else we die fill us with celestial grace.

Thou, who feedest us below source of all we have or know grant that with Thy Saints above sitting at the feast of love we may see Thee face to face amen. Alleluia.

The Gregorian melody of the Lauda Sion is borrowed from the eleventh-century sequence Laetabundi iubilemus attributed to Adam of Saint Victor. The hymn tells of the institution of the Eucharist and clearly expresses the belief of the Roman Catholic Church in transubstantiation, that is, that the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ when consecrated by a validly-ordained priest or bishop during the Mass. Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval sequences which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563).

[momentsbeforemass]

A moment with God

(by request, my homily from Sunday) *

How do you and I approach the Eucharist?

Why do we get up to receive Holy Communion?

What’s going through your mind? What’s in your heart?

How do you and I approach the Eucharist?

Is it a reward for good behavior?

We went to Confession. We’re in a state of grace. Checked all the boxes, so it’s “good Catholic, here’s your cracker” time?

It is something we do because it’s expected of us?

If we don’t get up, will people think we’re big-time sinners? That we’re on our way out of the Church? That we’re trying to break grandma’s heart?

Is it just part of the stand-sit-kneel of Catholic calisthenics?

Another semi-random thing we do without really thinking about it. Because it’s on brand (like how we drag Mary into everything)? Because - Catholic stuff?

When you and I approach the Eucharist in any of these ways, what we’re really doing is missing out.

If we’re not calling to mind what – sorry, Who – the Eucharist really is? If we’re not opening our hearts to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?

And you’re thinking, “Wait, what was that Who-the-Eucharist-really-is” stuff? What do you mean by ‘real presence’?”

Those are fair questions.

This unconsecrated host? It’s flour, water. And that’s it. That’s the recipe. Not even salt.

It is the most basic cracker on the planet.

And yet, during the Consecration, the most basic cracker on the planet becomes the body and blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

How is that possible?

I’m just going to say the quiet part out loud. It’s not popular. But it’s the truth.

It is a miracle. It is literally a miracle. You and I get a miracle at every Mass.

It’s a miracle that Jesus explains in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. What we call the bread of life discourse. Jesus gives us the reasons for this miracle, that’s why we do it.

It’s a miracle that happens for the first time at the Last Supper. All of the, “this is my body, this is my blood” stuff from the Eucharistic Prayer? That’s where it comes from. Jesus shows us how to do it.

The Last Supper is also where we get told to do it. We’re following His lead.

But it doesn’t look any different.

True. The consecrated host that you receive when you come up for Holy Communion won’t look any different than this unconsecrated one.

But at the consecration there’s a change, a movement. It’s the same movement that Jesus shows us over and over in today’s Gospel – moving from surface appearances to the deeper reality.

So that the consecrated host that you receive will in fact be radically different from that unconsecrated one.

How is that possible?

It’s like this. Think of your spouse, your significant other, someone you really love. Who really loves you.

Now think about the first time they told you that they loved you.

What was going on inside of you, when they told you they loved you? What did that feel like?

It’s hard to describe, isn’t it? Because for you, the world changed in that moment. Everything inside you, everything you thought, everything you felt, just lit up.

Do you know what you looked like to them in that moment? The moment after they told you they loved you for the first time?

Just the same as you did the moment before they told you they loved you for the first time. Same eyes, same nose, same goofy smile.

And yet, somehow everything about you was different.

It’s kind of like that with the Eucharist.

Only the love behind it? Is even greater.

Let that sink in for a moment.

 If we’re not calling to mind Who the Eucharist really is? If we’re not opening our hearts to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?

Then we’re missing out. On the most intimate moment that you and I will have with the God who loves us on this side of eternity.

A moment with God that will change us, if we’re brave enough to let it.

If you’ve ever wondered why Fr. George is so big on us praying the Anima Christi together, this would be the reason.

So, what can we do, about how we approach the Eucharist?

Before receiving the Eucharist, remind yourself of Who is really present – of Who is waiting to be with you and wanting to be with you – in the Eucharist.

One of the best ways to do that is a prayer that comes from St. Blaise. You can find it at the end of my letter in the bulletin.

And it’s the perfect thing to pray while we’re in line to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist,

“Father of mercy and God of all consolation, graciously look upon me and impart to me the blessing which flows from this holy Sacrament. Overshadow me with Your loving kindness, and let this divine Mystery bear fruit in me.”

Sunday’s Readings

* If you’re thinking that this looks like a long version of something I recently posted, you are right. When I was praying (the Divine Mercy) before writing my homily for Sunday, God sent me back to that post. I don’t question His lead (at least not with this stuff - other parts of my life? let’s just say I’m a work in progress). I’ve learned that it means He’s got someone who needs to hear it. Besides, this is God’s thing, not mine.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

6th April>> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Maundy Thursday - Chrism Mass  (see also Evening Mass)

(Liturgical Colour: White: A(1))

(Here are the readings for the morning Chrism Mass:)

First Reading Isaiah 61:1-3,6,8-9 The Lord has anointed me.

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken;

to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord, a day of vengeance for our God,

to comfort all those who mourn and to give them for ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency, praise.

But you, you will be named ‘priests of the Lord’, they will call you ‘ministers of our God.’ I reward them faithfully and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 88(89):21-22,25,27

R/ I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I have found David my servant and with my holy oil anointed him. My hand shall always be with him and my arm shall make him strong.

R/ I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

My truth and my love shall be with him; by my name his might shall be exalted. He will say to me: ‘You are my father, my God, the rock who saves me.’

R/ I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

Second Reading Apocalypse 1:5-8 Jesus Christ has made us a line of kings and priests.

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation Isaiah 61:1(Luke 4:18)

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! The spirit of the Lord has been given to me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Gospel Luke 4:16-21 The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

--------------------------------------

Maundy Thursday - Evening Mass 

(Liturgical Colour: White: A(1))

(Here are the readings for the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper:)

First Reading Exodus 12:1-8,11-14 The Passover is a day of festival for all generations, for ever.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 115(116):12-13,15-18

R/ The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.

R/ The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful. Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds.

R/ The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the Lord’s name. My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people.

R/ The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ.

Second Reading 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord.

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation John 13:34

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! I give you a new commandment: love one another just as I have loved you, says the Lord. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel John 13:1-15 Now he showed how perfect his love was.

It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was. They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’ When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[apenitentialprayer]

A Prayer for the National Eucharistic Congress

Lord Jesus Christ, You give us Your Flesh and Blood for the life of the world, and You desire that all people come to the Supper of the Sacrifice of the Lamb. Renew in Your Church the truth, beauty, and goodness contained in the Most Blessed Eucharist.

Jesus living in the Eucharist, come and live in me. Jesus healing in the Eucharist, come and heal me. Jesus sacrificing Yourself in the Eucharist, come and suffer in me. Jesus rising in the Eucharist, come and rise to new life in me. Jesus loving in the Eucharist, come and love in me.

Lord Jesus Christ, through the Pascal Mystery of Your death and Resurrection made present in every holy Mass, pour out Your healing love on Your Church and on our world. Grant that as we lift You up during this time of Eucharistic revival, Your Holy Spirit may draw all people to join us at this Banquet of Life. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit; God, forever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Eucharist, pray for us!

[catenaaurea]

The Baltimore Catechism

Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer

Lesson Twenty-Six: The Holy Eucharist

343. What is the Holy Eucharist?

The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received. (John 6:51-52)

344. When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?

Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died. (Luke 22:19-20)

345. Who were present when Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?

When Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist the apostles were present. (Mark 14:17)

346. How did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?

Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist in this way: He took bread, blessed and broke it, and giving it to His apostles, said: "Take and eat; this is My body"; then He took a cup of wine, blessed it, and giving it to them, said: "All of you drink of this; for this is My blood of the new covenant which is being shed for many unto the forgiveness of sins"; finally, He gave His apostles the commission: "Do this in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19-20)

347. What happened when Our Lord said: "This is My body . . . this is My blood"?

When Our Lord said, "This is My body," the entire substance of the bread was changed into His body; and when He said, "This is My blood," the entire substance of the wine was changed into His blood.

348. Did anything of the bread and wine remain after their substance had been changed into Our Lord's body and blood?

After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into Our Lord's body and blood, there remained only the appearances of bread and wine.

349. What do we mean by the appearances of bread and wine?

By the appearances of bread and wine we mean their color, taste, weight, shape, and whatever else appears to the senses.

350. What is the change of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ called?

The change of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is called Transubstantiation.

351. Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the appearances of bread and under the appearances of wine?

Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the appearances of bread and under the appearances of wine.

352. How was Our Lord able to change bread and wine into His body and blood?

Our Lord was able to change bread and wine into His body and blood by His almighty power. (Matthew 28:18)

353. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?

The change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ, through the ministry of His priests.

354. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?

Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He made the apostles priests at the Last Supper by saying to them: "Do this in remembrance of Me."

355. How do priests exercise their power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?

Priests exercise their power to change bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ by repeating at the Consecration of the Mass the words of Christ: "This is My Body ... this is My blood."

356. Why does Christ give us His own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist?

Christ gives us His own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist:

to be offered as a sacrifice commemorating and renewing for all time the sacrifice of the cross;

to be received by the faithful in Holy Communion;

to remain ever on our altars as the proof of His love for us, and to be worshiped by us.

[mere-christianity]

Mere Christianity Podcast: Episode 6

Book 2: What Christian's Believe.

Chapter 5. The Practical Conclusion

The perfect surrender and humiliation were undergone by Christ: perfect because He was God, surrender and humiliation because He was man. Now the Christian belief is that if we somehow share the humility and suffering of Christ we shall also share in His conquest for death and find a new life after we have died and in it become perfect, and perfectly happy, creatures. This means something much more than our trying to follow His teaching.

People often ask when the next step in evolution-the step to something beyond man-will happen. But on the Christian view, it has happened already. In Christ a new kind of man appeared: and the new kind of life which began in Him is to be put into us. How is this to be done? Now, please remember how we acquired the old, ordinary kind of life. We derived it from others, from our father and mother and all our ancestors, without our consent-and by a very curious process, involving pleasure, pain, and danger. A process you would never have guessed. Most of us spend a good many years in childhood trying to guess it: and some children, when they are first told, do not believe it-and I am not sure that I blame them, for it is very odd. Now the God who arranged that process is the same God who arranges how the new kind of life-the Christ life-is to be spread. We must be prepared for it being odd too. He did not consult us when He invented sex: He has not consulted us either when He invented this.

There are three things that spread the Christ life to us: baptism, belief, and that mysterious action which different Christians call by different names-Holy Communion, the Mass, the Lord's Supper. At least, those are the three ordinary methods. I am not saying there may not be special cases where it is spread without one or more of these. I have not time to go into special cases, and I do not know enough. If you are trying in a few minutes to tell a man how to get to Edinburgh you will tell him the trains: he can, it is true, get there by boat or by a plane, but you will hardly bring that in. And I am not saying anything about which of these three things is the most essential. My Methodist friend would like me to say more about belief and less (in proportion) about the other two. But I am not going into that. Anyone who professes to teach you Christian doctrine will, in fact, tell you to use all three, and that is enough for our present purpose.

I cannot myself see why these things should be the conductors of the new kind of life. But then, if one did not happen to know, I should never have seen any connection between a particular physical pleasure and the appearance of a new human being in the world. We have to take reality as it comes to us: there is no good jabbering about what it ought to be like or what we should have expected it to be like. But though I cannot see why it should be so, I can tell you why I believe it is so. I have explained why I have to believe that Jesus was (and is) God. And it seems plain as a matter of history that He taught His followers that the new life was communicated in this way. In other words, I believe it on His authority. Do not be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary man believes in the Solar System, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority-because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: in fact, on authority. A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life.

Do not think I am setting up baptism and belief and the Holy Communion as things that will do instead of your own attempts to copy Christ. Your natural life is derived from your parents; that does not mean it will stay there if you do nothing about it. You can lose it by neglect, or you can drive it away by committing suicide. You have to feed it and look after it: but always remember you are not making it, you are only keeping up a life you got from someone else. In the same way a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put into him, and he has to make efforts to keep it. But even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam-he is only nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And that has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing that body. Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble-because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat (in some degree) the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or-if they think there is not-at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.

And let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being "in Christ" or of Christ being "in them," this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts, that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps that explains one or two things. It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution-a biological or super-biological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.

Here is another thing that used to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him, But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ's body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.

Another possible objection is this. Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it dial He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else-something it never entered your head to conceive-comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.

To be continued in episode 7, based on the works of CS Lewis.

A Christian apologetical book by the British author C. S. Lewis. The book consists of four parts: the first presents Lewis's arguments for the existence of God; the second contains his defence of Christian theology, including his notable "Liar, lunatic, or Lord" trilemma; the third has him exploring Christian ethics, among which are cardinal and theological virtues; in the final, he writes on the Christian conception of God.

[carolap53]

Intimacy with the Upright

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman

08/05/2024

For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright (Prov 3:32 NASU). It is human nature to want to be included into the inner circle. It means that you are qualified to hear things, experience things and be privy to information the masses are not allowed to see. Jesus had an inner circle of friends made up of Peter, James and John.  John had a very special relationship with Jesus. He was considered to be Jesus’ best friend. It was John who recognized Jesus after the crucifixion when He came to them on the seashore. "Then the disciple whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’"(John 21:7). The Bible tells us that John’s friendship was such that he could even lay his head upon his shoulder at the last supper when he inquired about the betrayer: "So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, ‘Lord, who is it?’" (John 13:25-26 RSV). Almost forty years after the last supper John wrote the final Gospel in A.D. 90,. He was chosen by God to receive "the vision" and record it in the Book of Revelation. When it came time for Jesus to leave the earth for good, it was Peter, James and John who had the privilege to see the transfiguration. "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus" (Mark 9:2). Do you long to have an intimate relationship with your creator? The Lord desires to have the same with you. He does not want you to have a mere form of religion, but a relationship whereby you experience His presence and power. Where you can see God perform His acts of power and love among others. One of the keys to intimacy is uprightness. Uprightness means we are living a life of obedience and submission to His will in our lives. When we live at this place we enter His inner circle. Pray for God to make your life upright and intimate with Jesus.