The Holy Eucharist: Did You Know?

We as Catholic Christians possess a great treasure. No other denomination has been given so great a gift. This treasure is the Living God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus, who is TRULY present to us in the Holy Eucharist.

Recently, a Pew Poll found that 70% of Catholics and 80% of young Catholics do not believe in the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. This weekly treatise will be an effort to delve more deeply into this “Mystery of Mysteries”. 

We shall explore why the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the Eucharist as “The Living Heart of the Church” and why Vatican II pronounced the Eucharist to be “The Source and Summit of the Christian Life”.  We’ll look at the graces we receive in Holy Communion.  What happens to us when we come to Mass and receive the Sacred Host. What are the eternal promises that Christ as made to those who receive Him in this Sacrament? And we shall also examine the insights which the Saints were given into the mystic realities of the Blessed Sacrament.
  St. Jerome said that “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”  Perhaps ignorance of the Holy Eucharist is also ignorance of Christ….and on a most profound level. This series will hopefully enhance our love, gratitude and appreciation for this most gracious gift of Divine love.

September 22, 2024

In today’s gospel, Our Lord prepares His disciples for His suffering and death.  (Mark 9:30-37) The First Reading from the book of Wisdom (2: 12, 17-20) is a remarkable, poetic prophecy about the mockery which Our Lord would be facing during His Passion and Death. To reflect on this passage is sobering. 

Reflection:   Take a few moments today after receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion to offer Him reparation for all that He had to endure during His Passion. Also, reflect on all that He continues to endure by remaining with us in the Holy Eucharist. 
 At Fatima the Angel of Portugal prostrated himself, touched his forehead to the ground and taught the three shepherd children this prayer: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee.  I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.”

PREVIOUS WEEKS:

September 15, 2024

Today’s reading from the Letter of St. James 2:14-18 reminds us that faith without works is dead. Losing our lives by being united to Christ in Holy Communion means that we are sent out into the world.  Bishop Barron in his address this year at the Eucharistic Congress stated that there should be a stronger emphasis on the laity. God designates us, the laity, to be on the front lines of spiritual warfare in the world. We must bear witness to what is good, just and true.

Reflection:   Our union with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist provides us with the means to be in the forefront of the moral and ethical battles of life.

September 8, 2024

We have the healing of the deaf man to reflect upon in today’s Gospel (Mark 7:31-37) Every area in which we need healing is open to us when Jesus touches us, as we receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament.  Ida Gorres, a German Catholic spiritual writer penned this perceptive line. “In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Himself meets and touches us.”

Reflection: How aware are you of your personal meeting with Jesus, when He is placed on your tongue? Do you allow Him to touch you in the deepest recesses of your heart and soul? Do you allow Him to flood you with all of the healing graces, which He has prepared to pour out upon you?

September 1, 2024

“Look what we get to receive. Look what we get to experience in our lives. Going to daily Mass has changed my life. The Eucharist for me is healing. The Eucharist for me is peace. The Eucharist for me is my grounding. The Eucharist for me is His Heart within me.” ---This is a quote from Jonathan Roumie, the actor, who plays the role of Jesus in “THE CHOSEN”. It was spoken during his address to the Eucharistic Congress this year.

Reflection:    This testimony is a great example of the way in which, we, the laity can witness to what Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament means to us. Are you as passionately in love with Our Eucharistic Lord? 

August 25, 2024

In today’s gospel we hear that some of Christ’s disciples turned away from the idea of the Holy Eucharist. They murmured, “This saying is hard, who can accept it?” Jesus replied, “But there are some of you, who do not believe.” Despite this, Our Lord did not change a word of His teaching.

Reflection:  Bishop Sheehan taught that the purpose of the Holy Eucharist is to heal, strengthen and sanctify. Our Lord gave us this Sacrament of sacraments for the very reason that He wished to accompany us in our daily lives by His very Prescence. Through the gift of Himself, He remains with us throughout the perils of this life and into eternity. “Remember that God is always with us, when we are in the state of grace.” St. Padre Pio

August 18, 2024

This week’s gospel is from John 6: 51-58. It quotes these words of Jesus, “For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Reflection:   What an astounding statement of love! Because it is the nature of love to seek union, Jesus offers us in the Holy Eucharist the capacity for intimate union with Himself! God loves His people so much that historically the Church has used the sacrament of marriage to signify the intimacy which God wishes to achieve with those who love Him. The Holy Eucharist is the consummate expression of Christ’s love for each of us.

August 11, 2024

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)
Reflection: Are you aware of Eucharistic miracles? Right from the beginning, for centuries people have doubted the true Prescence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Are you one of those who needs proof?  For centuries Jesus has proved His words, “The bread I will give is my flesh.”  Science is now able to examine many cases of Eucharistic miracles. Consecrated Hosts have turned into LIVING, human heart tissue and consecrated wine into Type AB positive FRESHLY SHED blood. Please type in EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE of LANCIANO in your browser and be convinced that the Eucharist is NOT just a symbol. You can find over 100 scientifically verified Eucharistic miracles on the Internet. Lanciano is just one of them.

August 4, 2024

For the month of August all of the Sunday Gospel readings are from the 6^th Chapter of St. John.  They are called the Bread of Life discourse and deal with Jesus’ very direct and pointed teaching on the Holy Eucharist as truly being His Body and Blood. This week Christ exhorts us by saying, Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures to eternal life.”  He continues, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and who believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)

Reflection:  Our Lord addresses the innate spiritual hunger for God by giving us the Holy Eucharist. This desire for God is an intimate part of our human nature. We are made so that nothing except God can satisfy our longings: no material thing or physical pleasure can satiate the longing for God, which He writes in every human heart.

July 28, 2024

The multiplication of the loaves and fishes (John 6: 1-15) is the miraculous foreshadowing of the Holy Eucharist. In today’s Gospel Jesus satisfies the physical hunger of the people. But it is our spiritual hunger, which Our Lord addresses in the gift of the Holy Eucharist. By feeding the crowds with bread and fish, we know their bodies will assimilate the meal to become a part of their bodies. However, Jesus assimilates us into Himself when we receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament. He feeds us with spiritual nourishment which will satisfy us unto eternity.

Reflection:   Spend some time after receiving Holy Communion today thinking about the abundance of graces, which Our Lord has just made available to you. Don’t forget to ask Him and thank Him for these glorious gifts of grace.  

July 21, 2024

Frenetic, fatigued, stressed, exhausted, burned out?  “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.” These are words from today’s Gospel. (Mark 6:30) Jesus calls us to spend some quiet “one on one” personal time with Him in prayer.  It’s an invitation to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. (When St. Jean Vianney noticed a peasant man sitting quietly alone in front of the tabernacle one day, he asked the man what he was doing. The old gentleman replied, “I look at Him and He looks at me.” Adoration is so simple.)

Reflection:   Do you pass by a Church while running errands? Stop in for a brief visit to Our Lord. Or consider visiting St, Ann’s each Monday from 9;30-10:30 or every Tuesday evening from 6:00-7:30 for Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshed, renewed, calm, at peace? This is the change you’ll experience after prayer. Why not give it a try and see? Jesus is there waiting for you.        

July 14, 2024

St. Thomas Aquinas contributed his genius to the Council of Trent (1545-1563).  He proclaimed that the Holy Eucharist had three characteristics.

1. The Church teaches that the Eucharist is REAL. By this we acknowledge that there is a real Being present i.e. the actual existence of Jesus is there.
2. The Church teaches that the Eucharist is TRUE. We have present an accurate statement of reality: IT IS CHRIST.
3. The Church teaches that the Eucharist is SUBSTANTIAL. This means that the substance of the Eucharist IS CHRIST. 

Reflection:   Do these three attributes of the Holy Eucharist present you with a challenge?  Only Faith can plumb the depths of this Divine mystery. It is with a childlike confidence that we should approach our reception of Holy Communion. What is needed is trust.

July 7, 2024 
In preparation for the Eucharistic Congress, which will take place this month, we should consider the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic Doctor of the Church. He wrote Eucharistic hymns, prayers and the Divine Office for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.
St. Thomas contributed greatly to clarifying the Church’s teaching on the Holy Eucharist. He was the one who coined the term ‘transubstantiation”, in an attempt to explain the miracle of the bread and wine becoming the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus at the words of consecration.
Reflection:   St. Thomas received many insights into the mystery of the Holy Eucharist through his twice daily Mass attendance, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and deep prayer life. He was frequently found kneeling with his head resting on the door of the tabernacle in prayer. At the end of his life, he was graced with a profound mystical experience of God. This angelic doctor of the Church, who had devoted his life to writing about the profound mysteries of our Faith, after this experience simply stated, “What I have written is but so much straw.” 
Perhaps his deathbed comment should inspire us with a deeper respect, adoration and love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We truly have no idea, no realization of the gift we possess in this Sacrament.

June 30, 2024
We have two wonderful miracles to contemplate at Mass today:  the raising of Jairus’ daughter and the healing of the woman with the hemorrhage. (Mark 5:21-43)
Reflection:  Do you doubt Christ’s power to heal, to forgive, to raise a child from the dead, to change bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity? Do you doubt that Christ would love others more than yourself? The miracle of the Holy Eucharist is the miracle of Christ’s love for you.

June 23, 2024
Today we hear the words, “Who is this” who can calm the sea with a word?  “He is the one whose word goes forth and accomplishes his purposes.” (Isaish 55:11) Jesus speaks and it comes into being.
Reflection:  The word was made flesh (today in the Holy Eucharist) and dwelt among us (today in every tabernacle throughout the world). Whatever God speaks IS.   

June 16, 2024
Today St. Paul urges us to “walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) This challenge is especially important when we read in the latest Pew Poll that 70% of Catholics think that the Eucharist is only bread, a symbol, and that it is not the Living Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus.
Reflection:  Faith is a gift from God. It is also one of the three theological virtues. We exercise this virtue when we trust in God. We trust that the interior hunger, which God has placed within us can not be satisfied by the world’s allurements of power, wealth and pleasure. We trust as St. Augustine said that “Our hearts are restless until they rest in YOU.” (God). Faith tells us that are made for the transcendent; that God makes us for Himself.
The hunger that we feel is only satisfied by the Bread of Life: a share in the grace of the Divine life and the foretaste and the promise of the Pascal Feast of Heaven.

June 9, 2024
We have a reading today from 2 Corintians 4:18. “Look not to what is seen but to what is unseen.”
Reflection:   Take a brief, fleeting moment to gaze at the Blessed Sacrament as the priest holds up the Sacred Host and the precious Blood at the Consecration of the Mass today. What is present that is unseen? Some saints were able to see angels in adoration around the altar. St. Padre Pio was able to see the Infant Jesus in place of the Host. His Masses would last a very long time since he paused in adoration of the Baby Jesus resting on the altar before him.

June 2, 2024
Today is a great Feast Day! It is the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Jeus plainly told His followers, “I am the LIVING Bread come down from Heaven.” (John 6:51)   Our Lord could not express His Divine Presence in the Blessed Sacrament more clearly than with these words.
Reflection:  When you approach to receive Holy Communion, are you aware that the Priest, Deacon or Eucharistic Minister is saying, “THE BODY of Christ.”   Your response “AMEN” is your personal affirmation in the belief that you are indeed receiving the LIVING Jesus under the form of consecrated bread. If you are truly aware of what you are doing, what should your prayer after you return to your seat be like? The Living Lord is within you. He is residing in the profound humility of a fragile, consecrated Host.  Should your personal response not also include a profound humility of gratitude?      

May 26, 2024
Notice in today’s Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20) when the disciples accompanied Jesus to the mountain, they worshiped Him, but they also doubted.  Jesus then states that “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”   
Reflection:  In spite of the fact that Our Lord affirms that all power has been given to Him, do you still doubt that the Holy Eucharist is the Living Christ:  Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity?

May 19, 2024
As we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit today on Pentecost Sunday, let us recall that it is through the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the priest that the bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus at the Consecration of the Mass.  The main work of the Holy Spirit is the sanctification of souls.  Our souls are so united to Christ at the reception of the Holy Eucharist that the work of the Holy Spirit flourishes.
Reflection:   Pay special attention to the words of the SEQUENCE today on Pentecost. It is an ancient prayer of the Church, which invokes the Holy Spirit and is worth praying daily for your own personal sanctification. 

May 5, 2024
In today’s Gospel (John 15:9-17) we hear Our Lord address love and joy. He asks that we remain in His love that His joy may remain in us and be complete.
Reflection: “ We must not separate our life from the Eucharist, the moment we do so, something shatters.” This quote from St. Teresa of Calcutta, affirms the fact that to be separated from Christ’s love in the Eucharist greatly affects the joy with which we live our lives. Joy is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Without the peace and love of living in union with God, we have no joy.

April 28, 2024
Using the colorful imagery of the vine and the branches, Jesus make it very clear that we must remain in Him in order to have life. (John 15:1-8) Remaining in Jesus means that we are to live a life which is intimately joined to Him. It is through the gift of the Sacraments that we can most easily accomplish this. No Sacrament is more efficacious than that of the Holy Eucharist. Why? Because the Eucharist is Jesus! IT is the Sacrament of sacraments.
Reflection:  Here in this sacrament, we encounter the Living God, Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Here we receive the life-giving Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. Here we are flooded with the Divine life of grace. Here we are nourished, strengthened and aided as we make our life’s journey to Heaven. “Everything is in the Eucharist.” (St. Albert the Great) Like the branch that dies when it is  severed from the vine, we have no life apart from the living God.

April 21, 2024
Today we have the gospel about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11-18) Our Lord makes it clear that He is our shepherd who has laid down His life for us. In this passage Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.” He further states, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.”  

Reflection:   Spend a few moments after the reception of Holy Communion today thinking about the love with which Jesus freely gave His life for us. Then reflect on the fact that He has the power to “take it up again”. This is the power of Redemption: the power of His Death and His Resurrection. This is the power of Christ’s word:  Whatever God says, IS. Therefore, when Jesus says, “This is my body.”  It IS His body. It is not just a mere symbol.

April 14, 2024
The story in today’s gospel is about the disciples meeting the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. (Luke 24:35-48) At first, they don’t recognize Jesus until He “opened their minds”. When we approach the reception of Holy Communion are our minds open? Or have we fallen asleep in indifference to the true Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?
Reflection:  Are you one of those 70% of Catholics, who in a recent Pew Poll state that Holy Communion is just a symbol?  Are you missing out on the greatest treasure given as a gift to you from the Heart of God?

April 7, 2024
Today we have the gospel about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. (John 10:11-18) Our Lord makes it clear that He is our shepherd who has laid down His life for us. In this passage Jesus states, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.” He further states, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.”  
Reflection:   Spend a few moments after the reception of Holy Communion today thinking about the love with which Jesus freely gave His life for us. Then reflect on the fact that He has the power to “take it up again”. This is the power of Redemption: the power of His Death and His Resurrection. This is the power of Christ’s word:  Whatever God says, IS. Therefore, when Jesus says, “This is my body.”  It IS His body. It is not just a mere symbol.

April 7, 2024
Divine Mercy Sunday is a celebration of God’s greatest attribute: His Mercy.  Each of us needs mercy but we cannot expect God’s mercy to be with us unless we are merciful to others through acts of forgiveness, charity or compassion.
Reflection:  Never was Mercy ever needed more in our world than today. Embrace living mercy and the Divine Mercy of God will be yours. Union with the living Mercy, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, is the surest way to accomplish this.  “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance as a font of mercy for us: I trust in You.” (St.Faustina)                                                                           Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
March 31, 2024
Allelulia! He is risen!    We as Catholic Christians are joyfully invited to the Supper of the Lamb. Let us rejoice in the fact that we have the distinct privilege of receiving the Holy Eucharist:  the living, risen, glorified Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ.
Reflection: “What is it, Lord, that You could have done for us that You have not done?”  (St Bridget of Sweden) Having given us His all during the Pascal Mystery of His suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus gives us His very self today in our reception of Holy Communion. Do not fall asleep in indifference while receiving the Blessed Sacrament. Wake up and resurrect your faith in the Living Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

March 24, 2024
Today is both a time to celebrate Our Lord’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) as well as a time to profoundly reflect upon the solemn reading of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection: It will be on the night before He dies that Jesus will give us the gift of the priesthood and the gift of the Holy Eucharist. Please keep in mind: No Priests….No Eucharist. Remember to pray for our priests and for vocations. Also be ever increasingly grateful for the gift of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus truly present for us in the Blessed Sacrament. We are so greatly blessed to be Catholic.

March 17, 2024
We see the foreshadowing of Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion and death in today’s Gospel reading. (John 12:20-33) But there is a paradox because through Jesus’ passion and death there will blossom forth glory. The glory will be in the reconciliation of fallen humanity with God and in our own personal salvation history.
Reflection:  Each reception of Holy Communion brings with it a singular opportunity for each person to grow in the love of Christ. As we continue our Lenten journey, reflect on how our Lent has brought us to a deeper spiritual growth. These graces will allow us to blossom in holiness and thereby take full advantage of the bitter sacrifice that Jesus has made for our personal salvation.

March 10, 2024
We hear in today’s Gospel reading (John 3:14-21) the very famous scriptural quote, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  This is a teaching on the Incarnation.
Bishop Barron commented on the Incarnation of Jesus taking on our human flesh, while still retaining his Godhead. (i.e. the mystery of the Hypostatic Union: Jesus is BOTH God and man.}  He quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas that “The Incarnation is the purest indication of God’s goodness. God moves towards us and He becomes the other with love.”

Reflection:  The Holy Eucharist is only possible because of the Incarnation. The consecrated Host is the continuation of the Incarnation among us. By giving us His living Prescence in Holy Communion, God moves intimately towards us with profound love. And because it is the nature of love to seek union, Jesus becomes one with us in love in the Holy Eucharist.

March 3, 2024
In today’s Gospel (John 2:13-25) Jesus uses a prophetic symbol. He refers to the future of the resurrection of His body after being laid in the tomb for three days. He tells the temple priests, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” They think Jesus is referring to the temple building and deride Him. We however know that Our Lord was referring to the Temple of His Body and His resurrection.

Reflection:  When was the last time that you spent some silent time in prayer with Jesus in the Temple i.e. the present Temple of His Body, the Holy Eucharist? Lent is a great time to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament whenever you pass a Catholic Church. Stop the noisy din of life and spend some quiet time with Our Lord. “God’s first language is silence.”-St. John of the Cross

February 25, 2024
Did you know that it takes about 15-20 minutes for a consecrated Host to dissolve in your stomach? For those few minutes, you literally have the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Savior and Redeemer within you.
Reflection:  One day a lady approached St. Teresa of Avila and said, “If only I had lived in the time of Jesus… If only I had seen Jesus….If only I had talked with Jesus…”  St. Teresa replied, “But do we not have in the Eucharist the living, true and real Jesus present to us?” Why not take advantage of the precious few minutes that Jesus is residing within you in the Eucharist?

February 18, 2024
Bishop Robert Barron states that when we receive the Holy Eucharist, “We are infused with the Divine Life of Christ.” Our worthy reception of Holy Communion has a tremendous effect upon our souls.
In the sacrament of Baptism, we become children of God. In the sacrament of the Eucharist, we are filled with the life of God, which is sanctifying grace. By this means we are deified and are made holy children of God.
Reflection:  The depth of the grace that we receive in this sacrament is dependent upon us. How focused are we in our prayer after the reception of Holy Communion? The amount of grace that we receive depends upon our openness to Jesus, who is truly present within us.

February 11, 2024
At the young age of 18, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite nun, had great insight into the value of the Eucharist. She wrote, “I want this heavenly bread.” As she recognized the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, she was filled with a longing desire to receive Him in Holy Communion.

Reflection:  As we approach Holy Communion, how much desire do we have to receive Jesus and to welcome Him with love, gratitude and appreciation for this great sacrament of His Divine Love for us? Because of the Eucharist, your interior life thrives, and the Life of the Blessed Trinity is increased in your soul i.e. sanctifying grace. Sanctifying grace is your entrance pass into heaven.

February 4, 2024
Did you ever wonder about the Divine Wisdom of God in giving us the Holy Eucharist? We know that St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the following reflection in his “Short Summa”. He stated, “Among the various indicators that make the holiness of God known to men, the most convincing sign is the holiness of men, who are sanctified by the Divine indwelling.”  One of the proofs of God’s holiness then is His giving of Himself totally to us in the loving intimacy of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Upon our worthy reception of Jesus in Holy Communion, the Divine indwelling resides within each of us.

Reflection:  How does the Divine indwelling of Jesus within you, after your personal reception of Holy Communion, affect you? Are you reflecting the holiness of God in your life?

January 28, 2024
We are not called to leave the Mass and to be the same as we previously were before attending Mass. We are sent out to bring that prayerful, intimate experience of the presence of Jesus, that we have just received in the Holy Eucharist, out into the world.
Reflection:  The experience of receiving Christ in Holy Communion should change our lives and our world. Remain in the Presence and see how He changes everything.

January 21, 2024
The Eucharist is a way of life. It’s walking through life with Christ as our own intimate companion. He is there with us through every minute of our lives. Stay in His presence and know the consolation and peace to which Jesus invites us in His gift of the Blessed Sacrament.
Reflection: Consider Christ’s invitation to you personally  to grow in His Love each time you receive Him in Holy Communion. His grace enlightens the mind and strengthens the will, as He accompanies us through the daily trials of life.

January 14, 2024
A layman and French author, Leon Bloy, wrote these words in his novel “La Femme”: “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life is not to become a saint.”
Reflection:  If you haven’t yet made a New Year’s resolution, perhaps ponder Leon Bloy’s quote above and seriously prioritize it as your preeminent priority.

January 7, 2024
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord. As the Wisemen recognized His star in the East and traveled a great distance to find and adore the Infant Jesus, so we too should make a Faith journey to recognize that same Jesus hidden under the guise of consecrated Bread in the Sacred Host of Holy Communion.
Reflection:  Christ gives us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to sanctify us. We literally receive Him into our bodies and souls. Our Lord could not give us more love than to unite Himself with us in this most intimate manner.

December 31, 2023
Reflect upon the bonds of love which were shared by Jesus, Mary and Joseph in their humble home in Nazareth. The Holy Family is the model of what each of our families should strive to exemplify. Jesus’ presence was a continuous source of grace for Mary and Joseph.
Reflection: .  Our Lord’s Eucharistic grace and presence is also available to each of our families.  “Jesus is a living person always present among us. Love Jesus present in the Eucharist.” St John Paul II

December 24, 2023
The Lord wishes to unite Himself to His people in the most intimate way: by becoming our vey food. This food nourishes us from life into eternity.  Jesus, the Blessed Sacrament, desires to become one with us.  
My prayer for you is that you may experience the sweetness of the Infant Jesus when you receive Him this Christmas in Holy Communion and with each reception of Him thereafter in the Holy Eucharist.
A blessed Christmas to you and your loved ones.

December 17, 2023
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near.” This is our entrance antiphon today and we should note that our priest is wearing rose colored vestments to reflect the joyful nearness of the coming of Jesus’ birth.
Reflection:  One of the Advent names of Jesus is EMMANUEL. Emmanuel literally means “God is with us.” God is never more with us today than through His Presence in the Holy Eucharist. When you receive Holy Communion, are you aware that you are literally not only touching God, but receiving Him into the very depths of your being?  In today’s Gospel St. John the Baptist says, “I am not worthy to untie his sandal straps.” How far more unworthy are we to receive Jesus into our very selves?

December 10, 2023
We hear St. John the Baptist speak to us in today’s gospel of Mark 1:8. “I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”  The Holy Spirit is the Love which exists between the Father and the Son. We receive the Holy Spirit at Baptism and at our Confirmation. But the Holy Spirit is also present when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. The three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity are always present to each other in the unity of our one, triune God.  
During the Consecration of the Blessed Sacrament, the priest extends his hands over the bread and wine and prays to the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the transformation (transubstantiation) of the bread and wine takes place and becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Reflection:  Are you spiritually stagnant and need to be set afire with the love and gifts of the Holy Spirit? Advent is a good time to rekindle our prayer life, our penances and our reception of the sacraments. Ask the Holy Spirit, by whom Our Lady conceived the Infant Jesus, to prepare our hearts to receive Jesus anew this Christmas and with every Holy Communion we receive.

December 3, 2023
Today is the First Sunday of Advent. We begin our spiritual preparations for the great Feast of Christmas. Frequently this season becomes a rushed hustle and bustle of “not enough time” to get everything done. In contrast to our frequently frenetic Advents, St. Padre Pio’s Masses would last for several hours. The reason was his vibrant, living Faith.  At the Consecration, St. Pio would not see the Holy Eucharist under the usual forms of bread and wine. Instead, this saint would see the Infant Jesus laying there in place of the Sacred Host and Precious Blood. He was so captured by the vision that he would be caught up in praise, thanksgiving and adoration of the Divine Child.
Reflection:   This Advent might be the time to grow in OUR living Faith. We now have evening adoration of the Blessed Sacrament here at St. Ann’s each Tuesday evening from 6:00-7:30 (in addition to 9:30-10:30 each Monday). Why not seize this golden opportunity to spend some time with the same Infant Jesus, whom St Pio saw in the Holy Eucharist. What a loving and intimate way to prepare ourselves for Christmas!