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The Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 15, 2007
SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST - 2007
Helpful Event:
One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to
door to pay his way through school, found he had only
one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he
would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost
his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal, he asked for a drink
of water. She thought he looked hungry and so she
brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly,
and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"
"You don't owe me anything," she replied.
"Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a
kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As
Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger
physically, but his faith in God and man was
strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and
quit.
Years later, that young woman became
critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They
finally sent her to the big city, where they called in
specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the
consultation. When he heard the name of the town she
came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her
room. Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see
her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the
consultation room determined to do his best to save her
life. From that day, he gave special attention to the
case.
After a long struggle, the battle was
won. Dr. Kelly requested from the business office to
pass the final billing to him for approval. He looked at
it, then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was
sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was
sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it
all. Finally she looked, and something caught her
attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:
"PAID
IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK....
"
(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her
happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that your love is
shed abroad through human hearts and hands."
We must be overjoyed at the wonderful
gift Jesus has left for us. His body and blood as food
for our soul and body is something remarkable that can
never be fathomed.
Jesus has left a beautiful memory, a real
gift, and a tremendous mystery to enrich us, which
perhaps is not so evident to our bodily senses, but is
so clear to our spirit in faith.
In his own words, St. Paul commanded the
Corinthians to "Proclaim the Lord's death until He
comes." [1 Cor 11:26] These words were not a fabrication
of St. Paul's mind. They were rephrased words that Jesus
commanded to His followers during the Last Supper when
He said, "Do this in remembrance of me." [Lk 22:19]
Today, we are celebrating the Feast of
the Body and Blood of Christ. This special Feast is
celebrated in remembrance of Jesus who gave His life for
our salvation. It is a Feast in remembrance of Jesus'
command to us to celebrate the Sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist. This feast helps us to remember the wonderful
task of his love for us through his death and
resurrection.
During His ministry on earth, Jesus said,
"I am the living bread that came down from Heaven.
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the
bread that I will give for the life of the world is my
flesh." [Jn 6:51] While these words were not understood
at the time when Jesus preached them to the multitude,
they were spoken in preparation for the sacrifice of His
Body and Blood that He was about to offer for the sins
of the world.
When the night of the Last Supper arrived, Jesus taught
His followers the manner in which the Sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist should be celebrated. Over and above
this, Jesus revealed that He would be physically present
in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
Before continuing, I would like to read
to you the definition of the Holy Eucharist that is
found in the Catholic Dictionary. This reading will
spiritually enrich your minds in the knowledge and
understanding of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
Eucharist (Gr., eucharistia,
thanksgiving), is the Sacrament and sacrifice of the New
Law in which Christ the Lord is Himself present,
offered, and received under the species of bread and
wine. The name is from the account of the last Supper.
The Catholic Church teaches that in the
Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the God-man are really,
truly, substantially, and abidingly present together
with His Soul and Divinity for the nourishment of souls,
by reason of the Transubstantiation of the bread and
wine into the Body
and Blood of Christ, which takes place in
the un-bloody sacrifice of the New Testament i.e., the
Mass.
Transubstantiation
is the word that was officially approved by the Council
of Trent as aptly expressing the marvelous and singular
changing of the entire substance of bread into the
entire substance of Body of Christ, and of the entire
substance of the wine into His Blood.
This Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is
proved from the literal interpretation of the promise of
Christ to give his Body and Blood, as found in St.
John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and from the four independent
account of the fulfillment of the promise at the last
Supper (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22; 1 Cor 11). From the same
accounts it follows that Christ is present by
Transubstantiation,
namely the entire substance of bread and wine is changed
into the Body and Blood of Christ, the accidents only of
bread and wine remaining.
"With the single exception of
Berengarius of Tours (in 1088 A.D.), none denied
this doctrine until the 16th century, when
the reformers put forth various errors of a mere
figurative or virtual presence, as also of the manner of
Christ's presence. They were all condemned in the
Council of Trent."
The accidents of bread and wine are therefore without
their proper substance, yet are real and not mere
subjective impressions.
The mode of Christ's presence is spirit-like, somewhat
as the soul in the body.
Jesus
is whole and entire in the whole Host and whole and
entire in every part thereof. At one and the same time
He exists in heaven and in many different places on
earth.
From the Real Presence it follows that He
is to be adored. It is evident that the Eucharist is a
Sacrament, for it is a visible sign of invisible grace
instituted by Christ. Its principal effect is the union
of the soul with Christ by love, and spiritual
nourishment by increasing sanctifying grace. It produces
also a certain spiritual delight, blots out venial sin,
and preserves from mortal sin by exciting to charity,
and as Christ explicitly promised is the pledge of a
glorious resurrection and eternal happiness.
My brothers and sisters in Christ,
keeping in mind all the undeserved graces that we
receive through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist,
with this Sacrament also comes responsibilities.
Our first responsibility is the manner in
which we receive the Body and Body of Christ. Prior to
approaching the Altar of the Lord Jesus to hold His Body
and Blood in our hands, we must be in a state of grace.
Those who neglect the Sacrament of Confession and
receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist while in a
state of mortal sin, they greatly offend the Lord Jesus.
On this subject, St. Paul tells us, "Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body
and blood of the Lord. Examine ourselves, and only then
eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat
and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink
judgment against themselves"
[1 Cor 11:27-9]
In other words, it is not acceptable to
receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion when one lives
in
mortal sins
and has no intention of changing his or her lifestyle.
Those who live common-law, they are not in a state of
grace and do not qualify to receive the Sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist. The same applies to those who live in
adultery, the prostitutes, practicing homosexuals, those
who are participating in abortions, and those who freely
commit other mortal sins as if they are on holidays.
Our second responsibility is to defend
our Catholic Faith. What I mean is that it is a sin
against the Body and Blood of Christ and against our
Faith
when
a Catholic receives Communion in another religion
or when
a Catholic invites a non- Catholic to receive the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in the Catholic Church.
According to the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, a
Catholic can only receive communion from a properly
ordained Catholic priest. It is a sin against the Body
and Blood of Christ because other religions do not
accept the truth that Jesus is present in Body and Blood
in the Holy Eucharist. To partake in the communion of
any religion that does not accept as truth that Christ
is present in the Holy Eucharist is to deny the Divine
Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament.
Jesus died for our sins so we may obtain
our salvation in His Most Holy Name. He gave us the
means to obtain life in Him through the Sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist. As such, we are obligated by our Faith
to show the utmost reverence towards this precious
Sacrament of life.
Practical Suggestions
Making our Eucharistic Celebration
Meaningful:
Participating fully in the celebration,
trying to listen to the Word of God and making our best
to bring meaning to our own life through the Holy
Eucharist.
Can we make the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist more meaningful?
-
Try to make the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist as meaningful as you can, trying to be in the
Church
fully
present and receptive.
-
Offer
your life as a gift to Jesus who offers himself in the
Sacrificial meal, that means making certain promises to
look after your family members,
instilling love, trust, trying to make
peace and helping them out in all their needs and
sufferings.
-
Making the Holy Eucharist, meaningful
also signifies, trying to be present at the
family meal,
making that meal a celebration of the Eucharist.
-
Cultivating the
spirit of forgiveness;
this is the most important theme of the Holy Eucharist.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, this
week let us reflect on our actions. Are we all showing
the utmost reverence to the Body and Blood of Christ? If
some of us have fallen short of doing so, may this week
be a time to repent of our sinful way through the grace
of God. And may it be a time to once more obtain the
righteousness of God through the Body and Blood of
Christ so we may proclaim His death until He comes.
PAID IN FULL WITH HIS BODY AND BLOOD FOR
ALL GENERATIONS TO COME
A catechism teacher asked students in her
Confirmation class which part of the Liturgy, or Mass,
was the most important part. She was not prepared for
the answer from one of the students.
The youth said, "The Dismissal Rite is
the most important part of the Mass."
"Why do you say that?" asked the teacher.
The teenager replied, "The purpose of the
Eucharist is to nourish us with the Word of the Lord and
the Body and Blood of the Lord, so that we may go forth
to bear witness to the Lord and to bring the kingdom of
God into existence."
The student continued, "The Eucharist
does not end with the Dismissal Rite. In a sense, it
begins with it. We must go forth and proclaim to the
world what the disciples of Emmaus did. We must proclaim
that Jesus is risen. We must proclaim that Jesus lives
on."
The youth was absolutely correct.
This is the message the world needs to
hear. This is the message the world must hear. If we
don’t deliver this message to the world, we have failed
in our mission as Jesus’ disciples. In a very true
sense, the Dismissal Rite is the most important part of
the Mass.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 15, 2007
Year: C
Ezek 34:11-6; Rom 5:5-11; Lk 15:3-7
The Divine love of the Good Shepherd.
First Reading...
"Thus says the Lord God: 'I myself will search for my
sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out
their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep,
so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all
the places to which they have been scattered on a day of
clouds and thick darkness.
I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them
from the countries, and will bring them into their own
land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel,
by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of
the land.
I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain
heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they
shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed
on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will
make them lie down,' says the Lord.'I will seek the
lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind
up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak I will
feed my sheep with justice.'" [Ez. 34:11-16]
2nd Reading...
"Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious
house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears
to hear, but hear not; for they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's
baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you
shall go like an exile from your place to another place
in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though
they are a rebellious house.
You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight,
as baggage for exile; and you shall go forth yourself at
evening in their sight, as men do who must go into
exile. Dig through the wall in their sight, and go out
through it. In their sight you shall lift the baggage
upon your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark; you
shall cover your face, that you may not see the land;
for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel."
[Is. 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6]
Gospel Reading...
"Jesus told this parable to the scribes and Pharisees.
'Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one
of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he
finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on the
shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbours, saying to them,
'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was
lost.'
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who need no repentance.'" [Lk. 15:3-7]
An aging Hindu master grew tired of his
apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him
for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master
instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of
salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.
"How does it taste?" the master asked.
"Bitter," spit the apprentice.
The master chuckled and then asked the
young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in
the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake,
and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in
the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake."
As the water dripped down the young man's
chin, the master asked,
"How does it taste?"
"Fresh," remarked the apprentice.
"Do you taste the salt?" asked the
master.
"No," said the young man.
At this, the master sat beside this
serious young man who so reminded him of himself and
took his hands, offering:
"The pain of life is pure salt; no more,
no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the
same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends
on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in
pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense
of things . . . Stop being a glass. Become a lake."
Good Shepherds of this kind, help us
understand our ways of living. That is what Jesus did
through parables and stories. Well, he also taught us
through his own life example.
Heart is the symbol of love. It is
actually love itself. If the heart stops, all stops, but
if the brain stops, heart still can go on. That is the
difference between the heart and the mind. Mind creates
problems and heart searches for solutions.
Kenyan Airlines on 5th May
crashed on its flight to Cameron. All the 115 passengers
died. Among them were 15 Indians. Some of them were from
Kerala. A couple Joseph and his wife were traveling down
to Kerala flying this ill fated Airliner, had planned to
celebrate the house warming ceremony and wed their
daughter. All ended in this tragedy. But the family
members were anxious and waiting that Joseph would
certainly some how survive this tragedy and come back
home. They were in search of their beloved member of the
family. In spite of this tragic incident, they still
hoped their son would return.
The Good Shepherd theme comes again in
our liturgical year. We know that the Good Shepherd
leaves all the 99 sheep and goes in search of the lost
one.
The most cherished person will be sought
after with all our might.
Amazing Heart Facts
Sure,
you know how to steal hearts, win hearts, and break
hearts. But how much do you really know about your heart
and how it works? Read on to your heart's content!
-
Put your hand on your heart. Did you place your hand
on the left side of your chest? Many people do, but
the heart is actually located almost in the center
of the chest, between the lungs. It's tipped
slightly so that a part of it sticks out and taps
against the left side of the chest, which is what
makes it seem as though it is located there.
-
Hold out your hand and make a fist. If you're a kid,
your heart is about the same size as your fist, and
if you're an adult, it's about the same size as two
fists.
-
Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and
about 35 million times in a year. During an average
lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5
billion times.
-
Give a tennis ball a good, hard squeeze. You're
using about the same amount of force your heart uses
to pump blood out to the body. Even at rest, the
muscles of the heart work hard--twice as hard as the
leg muscles of a person sprinting.
-
Feel your pulse by placing two fingers at pulse
points on your neck or wrists. The pulse you feel is
blood stopping and starting as it moves through your
arteries. As a kid, your resting pulse might range
from 90 to 120 beats per minute. As an adult, your
pulse rate slows to an average of 72 beats per
minute.
-
The aorta, the largest artery in the body, is almost
the diameter of a garden hose. Capillaries, on the
other hand, are so small that it takes ten of them
to equal the thickness of a human hair.
-
Your body has about 5.6 liters (6 quarts) of blood.
This 5.6 liters of blood circulates through the body
three times every minute. In one day, the blood
travels a total
of 19,000 km (12,000 miles)--that's four times the
distance across the US from coast to coast.
-
The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood
during an average lifetime--that's enough to fill
more than 3 super tankers.
-
lub-DUB, lub-DUB, lub-DUB. Sound familiar? If you
listen to your heart beat, you'll hear two sounds.
These "lub" and "DUB" sounds are made by the heart
valves as they open and close
Connect it to your homily
First
of all heart is at the centre of your body, so must be
at the centre of your spiritual life.
Your
heart is as big as your fist. This signifies that you
need to connect your heart with your hands. What you
feel in your heart must be realized through your hands.
Your
heart beats 100,000 times a day, means it never rests,
and therefore this is an invitation to energetic life,
and not a life of laziness.
The
muscle of your hearts always works hard to provide fresh
oxygenated blood to your body, hence, only hard work can
keep this world go on.
As you
can feel the pulse of your heart, so too must you feel
the pulse of the hearts of your neighbour.
Around
5.6 liters of blood flowing in your body must in some
way find meaning. Christ emptied himself of everything
he had, even his own blood, so that all may experience
love and everlasting life.
When
your heart beats of fear, anxiety and depression always
see that the Sacred Heart of Jesus will always be close
to you, because he has carved our names on the palm of
his hands.
Helpful Parable to Conclude
Once
upon a time, there was an island where all feelings
lived Happiness,
Sadness, Knowledge,
and all of the others including
Love. One day it was announced to the feelings
that the island would sink, so all repaired their boats
and left. Love was the
only one who stayed. Love wanted to persevere until the
last possible moment. When the island was almost
sinking, Love decided to
ask for help. Richness
was passing by Love in a grand boat.
Love said, "Richness,
can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I
can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat.
There is no place here for you." Love decided to ask
Vanity who was also
passing by in a beautiful vessel, "Vanity,
please help me!" "I can't help you Love. You are all wet
and might damage my boat," Vanity answered. Sadness
was close by so Love asked for help, "Sadness,
let me Go with you." "Oh...Love,
I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"
Happiness passed by
Love too, but she was so happy that she did not even
hear when Love called her! Suddenly, there was a voice,
"Come Love, I will take you."
It was an elder.
Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that he even forgot
to ask the elder her name. When they arrived at dry
land, the elder went her own way. Love realizing how
much he owed the elder asked Knowledge, another elder,
"Who helped me?" "It was
Time," Knowledge
answered. "Time?"
asked Love. "But why did
Time help me?" Knowledge smiled with deep Wisdom
and answered, "Because
only Time
is capable of understanding how great
Love
is."
'Which one of you, having a hundred sheep
and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine
in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost
until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on
the shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he
calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to
them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that
was lost.'
He found it, because he searched for it,
and it really required patience and time and of course
LOVE above all.
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 Dear friend, my
homilies will be posted on Thursdays and you can benefit
them and if you need more resources, you could contact
me on
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Let us make this ministry
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joy for me and for you and help people become more aware
of its riches. You are also welcome to share your
feedback with me. Thanks and God bless.
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