THE SACRAMENT OF TOTAL SELF-GIVING

 

 “I have nothing more to give you.” These are words engraved on the inside of a gold ring (most probably a wedding ring), together with a tiny drawing of a hand holding a heart. This beautiful ring was but one of the interesting finds from a sunken 16thcentury Spanish galleon, discovered and retrieved by deep-sea divers off the coast of Ireland.

“I have nothing more to give you.” It’s as if Jesus Christ Himself uttered these words when we consider today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord. Although of course you won’t find such a sentence in the Gospel, Jesus’ very life itself speaks of the statement, “I have nothing more to give you.” Yes, everything is already there in the Eucharist, in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is this kind of total and absolute quality of Jesus that also characterized His insistence to the Jews in today’s Gospel episode. No partial understandings or half-hearted commitments would ever suffice.

So should it be for us, too. How easy it is for us to take for granted the Holy Mass or the Eucharist; how easy it is to fall into apathy and indifference when it comes to this great sacrament. Our beautiful and even air-conditioned churches and chapels, the Masses conveniently held in malls and offices, the availability of priests for Masses on request — all these should never lull us to complacency. If only we approach each and every Holy Communion as if it were both our First Holy Communion and our Viaticum! What innocence we had back then when we received Jesus for the first time. As for the Viaticum, the term suggests the Sacred Host as our baon or food provision as we undertake our journey to  eternity.

Hopefully, we, too, will give God our all — our lives, our selves, our everything — totally and absolutely. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB  

 

Reflection Question:

In the Eucharist, Jesus gave His all. How do you receive Him?

 

May I always receive worthily Your most precious gift in the Eucharist, Lord.

 

St. Perseveranda, pray for us.

WHAT DOES GOD DO WITH OUR SIN?

The above question is a very interesting one to contemplate; the answer is very satisfying to hear. God cannot abide the presence of sin at all so we can know for sure that He will be banishing all sin from His presence. The next question concerns what is meant by banishment. Well, this is where the news gets even better. The Scriptures use a number of metaphors to describe what God does to our sin. Here Micah talks about sending it to the depths of the sea; you cannot get any deeper than that. The psalmist speaks of casting our sins as far as the east is from the west; there are no two distances further apart than this. Isaiah tells us that God takes our scarlet sin (obvious for all to see) and makes them white as snow. You cannot get a bigger transformation than that. Do you get the story here?

God is not at all interested in harboring judgment or unforgiveness against us; God is never petty and unforgiving. God wants us to be free from all the powers and effects of sin so that we can fulfill our potential as  men and women created in His image and likeness; God is not threatened by our potential for holiness in any way as He is the source and fountain of all that is good so it is impossible for us to surpass Him.

We see these attributes in the life of Jesus who reveals to us the love of God the Father. We do not have to go anywhere to find the love of God because He is the biggest beggar in the universe and has come to us in the person of His Son, Jesus. We could not ask for any greater incentive to repent of our sins than this. God has done all that it is in His power to redeem us while still respecting the gift of free will that He has given us. It is up to each person how to respond to His generosity.

In today’s Gospel of the Prodigal Son we have an image of a father’s love. Let us sit with it awhile and reflect upon how much our Father in heaven loves us. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

When was the last time I took the opportunity to repent of my serious sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Letus seek to use the sacrament more often.

 

Holy Spirit, help me to embrace the call to repentance in an ever deeper way. Inspire me to entrust my life into the loving                                                                                                                                                 

hands of the Father through repentance every day of my life.

 

St. Theodore, pray for us.