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The Body and Blood of the Lord

5/29/2016

An Augustinian nun, Juliana of Liège had a vision. She saw a glistening full moon which appeared to be perfectly round, but it had a few hollow black spots. In the vision she realized that those black spots meant the absence of a feast of the Eucharist. This led to the feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord in 1264, a feast which we refer to with the Latin name of Corpus Christi.

Why do we need such a feast? A feast of the Eucharist gives us the opportunity, that as the family of Christ we render thanks to God for the abiding presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It gives us also the opportunity to try to arrive at a better understanding of this wonderful Sacrament and appreciate more the Body and Blood of Christ.

For this purpose we need to ask why Jesus gave us this sacrament. The Holy Scripture provides us with the answers.
We could say that Jesus gave us the Sacrament of His Body and Blood for two reasons:

Jesus promised that He will be with us till the end of time. In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist he provides us with a sign and means of Him being present to us and we to Him. He himself told us: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
Jesus told us that he came that we may have life and have it in abundance. He communicates this life to us in the Eucharist so that we can be fully alive now and in the world to come. He told us: “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”

When Jesus was saying these words, he was addressing his Jewish listeners. They were following him to ask him for more bread... material bread. Instead, Jesus promised them the sacramental food of His Body and Blood. In their materialistic frame they could not understand or appreciate this Sacrament.

They were scandalized and started complaining among themselves: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” But Jesus kept insisting: “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” This sacramental language did not make any sense in a world of materialism and therefore they started leaving and distancing themselves from the Eucharist.

If we want to be honest we have to admit that we still have the same problem that these would-be followers of Jesus had. We cannot understand what the Eucharist is all about if we approach it with a materialistic mentality. And if we fail to understand it we will lose the great benefits of such a marvellous gift of God’s love.

The Holy Eucharist is true food and drink but with a difference. This difference lies in the words of the Lord that St. Augustine heard in a moment of prayer: “You will not change me into yourself as you would food into your flesh; but you will be changed into me.” Whereas ordinary food is transformed into our bodies, the food of the Eucharist transforms us into the body of Jesus. In other words, when we receive the Holy Eucharist we are transformed into what we receive.

Here one may ask: Then, why do many of us who receive the Holy Eucharist do not experience this radical transformation? This story might help us understand why.

A group of Russians and Americans were on an expedition together. Once, while they were eating, an American took some Russian black bread. It was tasty but hard to eat and while the American was eating, he bit on some of this bread and snapped a tooth. He became upset, threw away the bread, saying: “Lousy Communist bread!” One of the Russians pointed out: “It is not the lousy Communist bread that is the problem, but a rotten capitalist tooth.”

If we do not go through the transforming power of the Eucharist, it is not because of a louse Eucharist but because of our rotten faith. Therefore let us approach the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord with a stronger faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ in this Sacrament and the we shall experience God’s saving power and his transforming love.

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HOLY TRINITY

5/21/2016

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Let us start with three questions for our reflection:

If no one would have ever taught you to pray “in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, would you have prayed in this way because you have experienced the Holy Trinity in your life?
What is the Holy Trinity for you? Is it part of the catechism you have learnt or is it a revelation about Someone?
Do you feel drawn to the Holy trinity because it is Love?

Today we will be letting the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth, even the truth about the Three Persons in One God: the Holy Trinity.

Many people believe that there is a God. Some of them have experienced the presence of God in their lives, have experienced his love and his personal care. The people, who are aware of God as a Person, know that they can deny God by committing sins. Sometimes they feel that they need to reconcile themselves with God. Just a few people experience more about God, but there is still much more to experience about God. In the gospel Jesus tells us: “...I still have many things to say to you...”

God created the human person and the Holy Trinity “was delighted in us”. However, the human person sinned against God and denied himself of a loving relationship with the Three Persons in One God. Notwithstanding this, God did something unconceivable, something without any precedent, but what He did give us, provided us with the possibility of re-establishing our lost friendship and of entering into an intimate relationship with God. Who would have told us what God had in store for us!

God the Father loved humanity so much that He sent His Only Son into the world, so that He could lay down his life for us and whoever believes in him won’t be lost but might inherit eternal life. When we accept Jesus by believing in him, we who were lost, through Christ we might be at peace with God, as Saint Paul teaches us. God the Father and the Son were so eager to fill our renewed hearts with their love that they poured this love into our hearts.

We are like the Prodigal Son! This child could not open his heart enough to receive the love which his father wanted to fill his heart with. Also we could not handle such tremendous love. Therefore the Father sent his Holy Spirit in our hearts, because although our friendship had been renewed, our hearts were not able to receive God’s love. But through the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son could pour Their love into our renewed hearts.

The Holy Trinity is so important in our spiritual lives, because we are in the Trinity and the Trinity is in us. Mind you, we are not saying that we are gods, but that we are in God and God is in us. Saint Peter tells us that we share in the divine nature. In the Holy Trinity “we live and move and have our being”. We could easily say that for us the Holy Trinity should be more important than the air we breathe.

Saint Paul reminds us that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which we had received. In our life we need to have a new experience of God’s love. We need to invest all our energies in order to develop as deep and personal relationship with the Holy Trinity as possible.

May we allow the Holy Spirit lead us to all truth about the Holy Trinity.

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PENTECOST SUNDAY

5/15/2016

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One fine Sunday morning, Stephen’s mother hurried into her son’s room to wake him up.

“Stephen, Stephen, it is Sunday! Hurry up, get out of that bed. It is time to go to church! Hurry up! Hurry up!” And Stephen, still under the covers, mumbled: “I do not want to go!”

“What do you mean you do not want to go to church?” answered his mother. “That is pure nonsense. Now, hurry up, get up, get dressed and go to church!”

Stephen answered: “No! I do not want to go and I will give you two good reasons why I do not want to go.” He sat up in bed and continued: “First, I do not like them and second, they do not like me.”

“Now do not be silly. You have to get up and go to church, and I will give you two valid reasons why you must go. First of all, you are now forty two years old and, secondly you are their pastor!”

It seems that the apostles, once that Jesus had been raised to heaven, were very much like Stephen. Like Stephen they chose to hide: Stephen from his congregation and the apostles from the Jews and the crowd. Stephen was afraid to face his congregation while the apostles were scared to death because of the Jewish leaders. The apostles could have said what Stephen said: “We do not like them and they do not like us.”

Perhaps also we try to do likewise. We choose to do whatever we need to do quietly and then we retire to “our home”, to the place where we feel safe.

The apostles stayed locked up in hiding till they received the Holy Spirit, because then, empowered and spurned by the Holy Spirit they left their hiding place and went out to fulfil the mission given to them by their Master before being raised into heaven. They went out and started announcing and witnessing to one and all that Jesus Christ is the Messiah of God... and they made a difference. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that on that day more than three thousand were baptized.

We were also given the same commission of the apostles and also we are supposed to be witnessing to the Risen Lord with our lives to one and all. What are we doing about this mission Jesus gave us?

Are we scared to speak about Jesus because we are afraid of being told off? Are we afraid of being side-lined or else labelled as out of touch with reality? We do not like them and they do not like us?

Perhaps we are not aware that we have received the same Holy Spirit that the apostles had received. We received him in our Baptism and then with greater power in our Confirmation. Then, why are we afraid of being Christ’s witnesses with our lives? Why aren’t we making a difference in society?

Our mission is to proclaim to one and all the Good News that God is your Father and my Father: the Father of all. We have to proclaim the Good News that notwithstanding everything, God loves us and is going to keep loving us even if choose not to.
We have the mission to strive so that all people will be one family and we live as brothers and sisters in spite of the differences due to culture, beliefs, language and status.

We have the mission to pull down the walls that separate us in “us” and “them”, males and females, rich and poor, white and black, and strive we all end up speaking the same language: the language of love.

We need the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is like the battery in the torch-light which is our life. If we slide the switch to ON the battery will be activated and the lamp will light up. If we keep the switch on the OFF position, the battery will not be allowed to do its job and the lamp will stay unlit. The battery is there, but with the switch in the OFF position, we are hindering it in doing its job.

It is the same with the Holy Spirit! We have already received Him with the same power as when it was outpoured on the apostles, but are we letting Him work in our life?

Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in them the fire of your love.

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THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

5/8/2016

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A student was about to finish his secondary education and someone asked him some questions.
“At the end of school what do you intend to do?” “I will sit for the Matsec Certificate.” *
“And after the Matsec Certifcate?” “I will attend the sixth form.”
“And after the sixth form?” “I will start university to graduate and get a degree.”
“And after graduation?” “Then I will get a job and make big money.”
“And then?” “Then I will get married.”
“And after you get married?” “I will raise a family.”
“And after raising a family?” “Then I will retire.”
“And what would you do after retiring?” “I will take a rest.”
“And after taking your rest?” “Then I do not know!”
“Will you die?” “Oh yes, I will die too.”

In our life we are so busy that we tend to forget all about what life is all about. We tend to forget that our life is a preparation to meet God in heaven.

The Ascension of the Lord reminds us that our life is a journey. We are pilgrims on a journey, and just as Jesus’ life on earth was temporary, and He ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, so also our life is temporary. It will, one day, come to an end and then, in the next life, we will meet our God.

The Ascension of the Lord reminds us that, notwithstanding our busyness, we must not neglect what life is all about. We must not be like that student who had an answer for everything, but never thought of dying and what would happen afterwards.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes this beautiful prayer: “May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of Glory... enlighten your inner vision, that uou may appreciate the things we hope for, since we are called by God. May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for his saints; may you understand with what extraordinary power he acts in favour of us who believe...” (Eph 1: 17-23)

The Ascension of the Lord and this prayer remind us that God has great plans for us, plans that go beyond our dreams and imagination.

Looking at yourself, you can see yourself in three ways: what you think of yourself; what others think of you; what God thinks of you, with the most important being the latter. What does God think of you? In the same Letter to the Ephesians, we understand that once we are baptized, God looks at us as his sons and daughters: “May God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of Glory... enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we are called by God.” (Eph 1:17-18)

Perhaps we yearn for a perfect house, a poshy car, in fact we yearn for the best of things. But the best things await us in the next life. God has planned the very best for us.

Those who love God are promised, that in the next life, they will receive the glory. Whatever riches we might have, are worth nothing compared to the glory that God has prepared for us. Nothing could be compared to the riches that God has prepared for us in the next life.

God wants the best for us. He offers this to us through his Son Jesus Christ and God the Father, put all enemies under his feet when Christ rose from the dead. Our spiritual enemies were conquered so that we could enjoy the new life that God offers us as his children, the new life Jesus Christ has obtained for us through his death and resurrection.

How lucky are we, that once we were baptized, we were adopted as God’s children! How beautiful is our calling! How awesome are the riches of heaven that God has planned for us! How worth it, it is to strive after these riches! When St. Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, writes about these riches that God has planned for us, he writes: “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it dawned on the mind what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1Cor 2:9)

Do you want to be one of them?

___________

According to the Maltese Education System.

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6th Sunday of Easter

5/1/2016

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Once there was a family of tortoises who decided to go on a picnic. It took them six whole years to prepare for this picnic and finally they were on their way to search for a proper place where to hold this picnic. During their second year of searching they found a good place and then spent about six months to clear it, unpack their picnic-basket and lay out everything. It was then that they realized that they had forgotten to take with them the salt and picnic without salt is a disaster.

After a long discussion who is to return home to bring the salt, the tortoises decided that the youngest should go. Of course the youngest tortoise was pleased at all. She started complaining and whining and crying. At last she accepted on one condition: no one should start eating before she returns. Everyone accepted and the youngest tortoise left.

Three years passed and the youngest tortoise did not return. Then five years, six years and nothing happened. Then in the seventh year the eldest tortoise could not endure the hunger any longer. She declared that she was going to eat and started unwrapping a sandwich. All of a sudden the youngest tortoise comes out from behind a tree yelling: “I knew it! I knew that she won’t last. Now I do not want to go and get the salt. Someone else has to do it!”

Seven years! Seven years of anger, selfishness, suspicion, worry, lack of trust, pretension and anxiety for the tortoises.
Are you one of these tortoises living a frustrated life because there is no peace around you or within you?

True peace comes to us from God and in order to obtain it should not be like the tortoises. I mean to say that we should be people who are ready to accept others, be not detached from the world around us, be ready to surrender in the arms of Jesus, be people of sacrifice, full of compassion, forgiveness, and trust in the Lord.

When the apostles got to know that Jesus was going away, they got distressed and anxious. Jesus, knowing their situation, comforted them by offering them his peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Jesus hastens to assure us that his peace is “not as the world gives...”
How does the world give us its peace? It gives it through enforcing its laws, using its power, offering its riches and pleasures. For the world peace means lack of conflict, tension and suffering. Do we enjoy peace in our world?

God gives us his peace by coming to us, loving us and abiding in us. And we can obtain Christ’s peace through humility, surrendering before God, healing, forgiveness, compassion and love. Peace is God’s presence with us.

And in order to enjoy this peace God gives us His Spirit: the Holy Spirit, who will teach us everything, will remind us all that Jesus had taught us, will guide us, will intercede for us and will give us knowledge and wisdom. The Holy Spirit and Peace will become one and the same thing. Where there is God’s Spirit there is also peace. Even if we are passing through suffering and pain, or poverty, hardship and conflict or grieving the loss of a loved one, we still could have Christ’s peace.

Jesus tells us that God gives his peace to those who love him and keep his words, that is obey his commandments. All of us want peace. We want peace in our homes, our relationships, our communities, our world and more than that in our hearts. But are we trying to obtain the peace through the teachings of Jesus? Or do we feel frustrated and disappointed because He demands a lot from us in exchange for his peace?

Jesus tells us: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” In other words, if we are reconciled to God and in a loving relationship with Him, then we will have his peace, and his joy will stay with us forever. When our actions, thoughts and words are in conformity with his will, and when we are loyal to Him, then we will have the peace.

Dear friends, what is bothering you today? Is it your health, your family, your finances, your friends or lack of them, your job or your sins? Do we feel like tortoises? No matter what is bothering us, Jesus offers words of comfort. He gave us his Holy Spirit to help us in our efforts so that we would not be tortoises. We do not have to fear anything? Whenever we are in the midst of darkness or the storms of life, let us turn to Him, and He will offer to us his peace that overcomes all fear and anxiety.

Dear friends, full of love towards God and trusting fully his promises, let us surrender our lives to Him, and He who is always faithful to his promises will fill us with his peace.

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Author

Fr. Karm S. Borg MSSP is a Maltese Catholic priest within the Missionary Society of St. Paul until recently ministering at St.Paul the Apostle Parish,
Toronto, ON, Canada. Now he resides in Malta at St. Agatha's Motherhouse, Rabat.