The Holy Eucharist; The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

This is the 19^th Sunday in Ordinary time.  The Gospel of Mathew today follows or continues that of  last Sunday wherein Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish with which to feed a multitude of people.  Following this occurrence, at nightfall, Jesus left the other disciple to go up into the hills and pray while the others got into a boat.  A storm came up in the night and Jesus saw their predicament and came to them walking on the water.

The Lord’s Last Supper, The Washing of the Feet

The Lord Jesus has gathered with His disciples in the upper room to share with them the Passover meal. Undoubtedly the one year old male and unblemished lamb had been prepared. This in commemoration of the blood of the lamb affixed to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses of the Jews so that when Yahweh passed through Egypt at midnight they would be passed over and kept from death.

The Lord commanded that this feast be observed annually in perpetuity by the Jews. This Christian feast of the Lord’s Supper is the observance of the establishment of the new and everlasting covenant of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and the following day on the Cross of Calvary. That exact sacrifice is enacted in each holy sacrifice of the mass that is celebrated by a priest. We are present at Calvary and Calvary is present to us.

Passion Sunday

Today is Passion Sunday, The beginning of Holy week. The plan of God begun with the covenant with Abraham, for the salvation of man in the Old Testament is coming to a climax in the events of this week. God had previously made a covenant with Adam and Eve and with Noah. And both were broken. God finally made a covenant with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments and pledged to be with the people in their journey from slavery to their occupation of the Promised Land, to be with them in the cloud by day and in the fire at night. The ark was built in which was placed the law and the manna which they carried with them for 300 years until they settled in Jerusalem under the kings David and Solomon.

The Man born Blind;The Anointing of David as King

Today is  Laetare Sunday, the forth Sunday of Lent , Laetare refer to the first word of the introit of the Latin mass which means rejoice, we rejoice today in the mercy and goodness of Almighty God.

The works of the Lord are directed toward our salvation in ways that are unexpected, unforeseen and which come suddenly. For our part we are to remain steadfast in our faith in Him. And we must continue to do our duty in patience and perseverance. We have two examples of that today, one in the first reading from First Samuel and the second from the Gospel.

Jesus, the Rock; The woman at the well

Today is the third Sunday of Lent. The theme of the Scriptures is on the glory of God that cannot be perceived by the senses buy only by faith. The beauty and order of the natural world is grasped by the senses which in turn can lead us to God, but the essence, the very being of God, once lost by sin and reestablished for us by the sacrifice of god’s Son is gained only by our participation in sanctifying grace. Water is the sign of that gift of grace.

Building our house on Christ, our Rock

This is the vigil Mass for the ninth Sunday in ordinary time.  The first reading is from Deuteronomy, the words of Moses to the people preparing to enter the land of Promise, Canaan.  “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”  I set before you the two ways, a blessing and a curse.  A blessing for obeying the commandments of the Lord and a curse if you turn aside from the way I ordain for you today.”

The Lord is a sure foundation.  He is the rock upon which we build the footings for our house.  He is the vine and we are the branches.  “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”

Preparation for Lent

Today is the forth Sunday in Ordinary time. Wednesday of this week is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the penitential season of Lent. The forty day period before Easter in which we accompany Jesus, through the desert and, in His temptations by the devil. The Church devotes February to meditation on the Lord’s passion.

The Holy Family

Today is the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, The Holy Family of Nazareth.

Five days ago we celebrated the feast of the Nativity, the birth of a baby boy to his mother Mary who had conceived  Him nine months earlier through the power of the Holy Spirit which took place when this young girl at the invitation of the angel at the Annunciation had said, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word.”

Christmas Day

The Lord Jesus is come. Today is His birthday. A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations and adore the Lord. For today a great light has come upon the earth.

This is the day the Old Testament prophets spoke of, Isaiah said “The virgin shall be with child and she shall bear a son and shall call him Emmanuel. That is God is with us.”

Jesus is the Difference

Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. We celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, day after tomorrow. Christians salute others with the words “Merry Christmas!”

But those who are indifferent or who live in the spirit of the world often say “Happy Holidays!” Over the years in the Western world which thru the centuries grew up Christian, the later greeting has gained ascendency over the former. Is there a difference and if so what is it?

The Immaculate Conception

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as proclaimed a dogma of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Many was, by the grace of God, conceived in her mother’s womb without, or absent, the stain of the original sin of Adam and Eve. In the eyes of God, she was perfect in holiness, made perfect for a reason, that when the time came she would be ready, through her own free will, to accede to the invitation of God as announced by the message of an angel to become the Mother of God, to give God’s son a human nature.

Christ is the One, There is no other ; Vatican II—the Spirit

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year of the Church, the beginning of our preparation for welcoming the birth of Christ at Christmas, the coming of the Lord to His people to set them free; free from error and from sin.

The theme of Advent is not only the coming of the Lord into the world at Christmas, the nativity, but the two comings-the second for which the first took place.