Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ_A - All Ate and Were Satisfied_061420

Deacon Tom Writes,

“All Ate and Were Satisfied”

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year A

Can we ever be satisfied...with anything? We want faster, bigger, better, more of everything and we want it right now. We don’t want to wait to have it, or work long and hard to get it. And the message we hear loud and clear today is, “You can have it all!” “You can have it your way!” Tell tale signs that our expectations are not realistic.

Our spiritual senses, if they are well developed, will tune us in to the fact that there is a problem with our instant gratification mindset and warn us that this is not the natural order of things. No created thing, no human being can completely satisfy us or our hearts desires. It is only God who can satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts. Today we contemplate the wisdom of God as we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. God, the architect of the universe and all that exists within it, designed us to seek the ultimate good, which can only be found in Him. The Almighty has “hard wired” us, so to speak, thus enabling us to know Him so that our life’s journey would be a quest to discover Him in all created things and to put them all aside in favor of Him, the one and only giver of life and of all that is.

Those who were fortunate to hear Jesus speak about the Kingdom of God did not realize the gift they were being given, the bread of life, food that would satisfy completely. As Catholics there is no more profound mystery of faith than what we experience when we receive the Eucharist – the Son of God comes into our lives and dwells within us and satisfies us completely. God becomes, in a sense, the very fuel that energizes us to do our part to help Him establish the reign of God in our times, in our lives, and in our world.

That God would become really present in the bread and wine during the Consecration remains a difficult teaching today as it was when Jesus first revealed it. Recall how many walked away because this teaching was too difficult? Jesus asked the apostles, “Will you leave me also?” And Peter responded, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

The gift of the Eucharist reveals God’s desire to be a part of the very fiber of our lives. Let us thank Him for this special gift that we often take for granted and His faithfulness to His promise of "Satisfaction Guaranteed" for those who trust in His Word. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity)_A - A Merciful and Gracious God_050720

Deacon Tom Writes,

“A Merciful and Gracious God”

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

In today’s reading from the Book of Exodus, God joins Moses on Mount Sinai and reveals some things about Himself. For instance, God tells Moses that He is “Lord,” that He is “a merciful and gracious God,” and that He is,  “…slow to anger and rich in kindness and mercy.” What an encounter on a mountaintop in the middle of the desert! And how does Moses respond? He petitions God to “come along in our company”. In other words, Moses wants God to be an abiding presence in the community and a source of pardon, peace, and forgiveness in the midst of His stiff-neck travelling companions.

This ancient text invites us to reflect on our own experience of God. For instance, do we see God as Our Lord? Do we acknowledge him as a presence or a reality in our life? Do we feel as comfortable with God as we do a close friend, a trusted confidant and life companion who always has our best interest at heart? Have we any personal experience that affirms that God is “merciful and gracious?” Can we speak first-hand about God’s pardon and forgiveness? If we are having trouble recalling any personal encounter with God, perhaps it’s time to offer up this prayer, “do come along in my company” personalizing that request Moses made of God during his encounter with the Almighty.

Just like the Israelites wandering in the desert, many people are going through their own desert experience. The severity and the magnitude of the problems we face today have driven many people to despair. There are those who genuinely believe that a “merciful and gracious God” could not sit idly by and watch what is happening in our world today: the injustices, the Covid 19 pandemic, riots and division along cultural, religious, political and economic lines. The choice many have taken is to cut God out of their lives and strike out on their own. This isn’t a phenomenon new to our times; Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19^th century German philosopher, thought that God was the culprit for all of humanities problems giving rise to the expression  “God is dead”. But, the Christian reality is that God isn’t to blame for the conditions from which we suffer, but rather He is our help in times of need, just as Moses discovered way back when. In the midst of crisis and uncertainty, when the Israelites were lost, hungry, homeless and afraid, God reached out to them and offered to be their companion on the journey that we know as Salvation History. God is anything but dead, and He has never abandoned us. We need a spiritual uplifting now more than ever. Like the Israelites in there time of desperation we too ask the Lord, “come along in our company.”

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: http://aacciaio.hubpages.com/hub/The-Holy-Trinity-in-Christianity