Letter from the Pastor
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August 21, 2021
This is the last Sunday we will hear from St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 6. Next Sunday we return to hearing St. Mark. These past 5 weeks we reflected on the most wonderful gift of the Eucharist. We Catholics have been given a great gift. With that gift comes the responsibility to show great reverence to the Eucharistic presence of the Lord.
St. John 6 points to our need for the Lord in the Eucharist. He is the joy of our lives. He is the One who gives meaning to life. He is the Way, Truth and Life. And in His great love for us, He has given Himself to us.
One of the saddest things I hear is when someone tells me they abandoned the faith and went to some protestant or evangelical or nondenominational church. Usually it is because the music is lively and great, they feel the presence of the Lord, and there is less talk about morality, everyone feels welcomed, everyone knows each other by name, it’s very emotional etc. When you analyze the reasons, many times it comes down to “how it makes me feel.” Nothing about worshipping God, giving God His rightful due, rather it’s all about me.
For a Catholic to leave the Catholic Church, one is leaving the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Sadly, it has been this way from the very beginning. In the Gospel today, many left the Lord because the “saying is too hard.”
Some people will say that this or that ecclesial community has communion services; so they have not left the Eucharist. Actually, they have. The various denominations with communion services do not view the bread and wine as the Real Presence of the Lord. If they did, they would certainly not discard or destroy whatever is left over after their service, it is for them just bread and wine. That is why one doesn’t see tabernacles in Protestant Churches. Also the reason, Catholics are forbidden to receive “communion” in a non-Catholic community, (Orthodox Churches under certain situations, is the only exception).
We as Catholics must treasure the gift of the Eucharist. For centuries, Catholics have embraced death rather than give up their devotion to the Mass and the Eucharist. Priests and lay people were routinely tortured to death for the crime of celebrating Mass or receiving communion.
It should be our daily prayer that we will always have a deeper understanding, a greater love, and stronger reverence for the marvelous gift of the Eucharist. And in charity, we pray for those who have left the Catholic Church that they return to the Lord and the Sacraments of His Bride the Church.
I came across an amazing video on YouTube. It’s called “Baby Olivia.” It is a video, which shows in graphic detail the miracle of life in the womb. Live Action, an organization dedicated to building a culture of life and advancing human rights, produced it. They brought together visual artists and medical experts, to create the newly released video. It is the most realistic and medically accurate animated representation of a child developing in the mother’s womb ever made.
The video shows a baby’s progress from a single-celled human to a human with a beating heart, brain waves, fingers and toes. The computer-generated 3D animation uses motion capture technology of real human movement. It’s an incredible witness to the humanity of unborn children.
The video can certainly be shared with chil dren. Besides showing the humanity of an unborn baby, the video gently explains the science of prenatal development and where we all came from. Check it out today either on YouTube or on Live Action.org.
Good Luck in College
We also remember our college-bound parishioners who are going off to college for the first time or returning for another year. Know of our prayers for you, stay loyal to the Faith, go to Mass on Sundays and call your mother.