WELL, STOP IT!!Obviously, we don’t mean to stop receiving Holy Communion. We just wanted to draw your attention to what may have become more of a habit of forgetting that the host we receive is actually the Body Of Christ who is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Creator of all that was, all that is, and all that will ever be! € John Chapter 6, verses 54 to 59: Jesus therefore said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread that has come done from heaven; not as you fathers ate the manna , and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.” If you are something like some of us, we do what we usually do when we wait in line -- perhaps look around, or think about what is on our docket for the rest of the day, or maybe we don't think about anything - we are just there, waiting for our turn. Then, when it is our turn, we mumble, "Amen", turn and shove the host in our mouth and stroll back to the pew. Sometimes we say a little prayer to ask God for a favor or to remind Him about something, or someone. Then we just kneel there and watch and wait until many have done the same thing that we just did. Maybe we sing the song that is being played. Finally, Father gives the last Blessing and we think, "I wonder if I can get everything done that I had planned to do after Mass.” If any part of this sounds something like you, too, we invite you to consider: The host which you receive may look and taste like a wafer of bread but if you can believe the miracles of the Resurrection, of the Loaves and Fishes, of all the healings, of saving Moses and all of the Jewish families who were able to cross the Red Sea and escape the entire army of the Pharaoh and enter the promised land and then sustain them for 40 years in a desert, why wouldn’t you believe that Jesus could allow bread and wine to become His Body and Blood? Suppose God announced from Heaven that Jesus, Himself, would physically appear on Sunday morning at a downtown church. And that He would perfectly recreate the Last Supper, including sharing a piece of bread which He proclaims is His Body and a sip from a cup which He proclaims is His Blood. Knowing what you already know about that first event, do you imagine that you would want to attend? Do you imagine that it would probably have a very dramatic effect on your life, especially spiritually? Well, there is some fantastic good news! Jesus gave the power to the Apostles who were there at the first Last Supper to do the same thing that He had done - to turn bread and wine into His very Body and Blood by calling upon the Holy Spirit at the Consecration of the Mass! The priest at that very moment becomes, as it were, Jesus Christ. Perhaps you remember about the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ from the Bible. There was a movie put out several years ago called, ‘Finding the Lost Ark’. In the Bible, which is the true and inspired Word of God, God told Moses how to construct the ‘Ark’. Because the Ark was to hold the Word of God, the bible of that day, which the people understood to be “God”, it had to be perfectly constructed. God gave the precise measurements and decorations which were to be followed exactly. ‘God’s House’ would be as perfect as man could make it because it was to be God’s House. Think about it! When we receive the Holy Eucharist, our body becomes a ‘House of God’. That is why we come to Holy Communion free from serious sin. And since none of us are even nearly perfect, we pray just before we receive Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the Word, and my soul shall be healed”. He, who is perfect, can declare to Himself, that we are healed of sin, and may actually receive Him, His Body and Blood, into our body as a ‘perfected Ark’. We invite you to read these comments and promote sharing the thoughts with one another in your family, perhaps at the dinner table. If questions arise and there are no ready answers, ask your Parish Priest. See: "Making the Case For Communion Under Both Species"
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