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It was just last
Monday, that Deacon Steve first told me about a news story
that he had seen on the internet, about the investigation of
a Eucharistic Miracle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have
been extremely fascinated by this story all week long,
learning a little bit more about it, every day. The story
starts back on August 6th, 1996, when a Catholic
goes to Communion in Argentina, and accidentally drops the
Sacred Host. The Host lands in the dirt. The Catholic,
knowing that the Host is consecrated, doesn’t want to pick
it up, goes and gets the priest. The priest puts the Host
in a glass of water to dissolve, and places the glass in the
Tabernacle. When he comes back five days later, the Host,
in the water, is turning into bright red tissue. An
investigation is begun. Scientists are brought in. Samples
are taken and sent to labs in the U.S. And the results are
amazing! The tissue is identified as cardiac muscle, from
the left ventricle of a human heart. Further tests
indicate, using today’s best technology, that it is from the
heart of human being that suffered greatly right before the
sample was taken. And most amazing of all, the heart tissue
sample that was being tested, was not dead tissue, but was
very much alive! It was contracting and expanding, beating,
just as tissue would in a living heart. Still more amazing,
the same tissue matched another sample taken from the very
similar Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano, Italy, from the
Eighth Century! The tissue samples came from the same human
heart. Now, this is great stuff. I am fascinated by all of
this, and I hope that you are also. The Miracle at Lanciano
is well-documented and approved by the Catholic Church.
Obviously, the purported miracle in Argentina is still under
investigation by the Vatican and may be years away from
approval. But doesn’t this give us an incredible glimpse
into the Holy Eucharist? We don’t put our Faith in private
miracles. We put our Faith in the Divine Revelation that
God has given us through Sacred Scriptures and the Tradition
and Teaching of the Catholic Church. And yet, what happened
at Lanciano, and what is under investigation in Buenos
Aires, reminds us of just how real, how powerful, the Holy
Eucharist really is. This is extremely important for us to
remember. As Catholics, we forget what an all-inspiring
gift Jesus gave to the Church at the Last Supper, when He
gave us His Body and Blood. We hear the words of today’s
Gospel, but we forget their meaning. Jesus is the Bread of
Life. Jesus isn’t just giving us a little white wafer.
He’s giving us His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, to
strengthen us in the Christian life! We don’t want to ever
forget what’s going on here.
You know, last Sunday,
and today, and for the next several Sundays in a row, we’re
going to be reading the Bread of Life series from St. John’s
Gospel. Every three years, the Church and the Bible gives us
these outstanding reminders of why Mass is so important. We
come to Mass to receive this incredible gift, the living Body
and Blood of Jesus. This Sacrament is what is supposed to
sustain us through this life and get us home to Heaven. How
could we ever not want to receive the Eucharist? It is beyond
my wildest imagination to try and understand Catholics who don’t
go to Mass. God gives us the very gift that is supposed to help
us to see and experience Him in this life, so many don’t take
advantage of it, and then they get mad at God for not being
there for them? We’ve got this all turned around. As
Catholics, we don’t just have the obligation of going to Mass
together on Sundays. We have the extraordinary opportunity to
go to Mass together on Sundays. This is supposed to be the
“high” point of week, and certainly not just “another” thing
that we have to do on our already busy weekend. This weekend,
this Gospel challenges all of us to re-evaluate our love of the
Holy Mass. This Church should be packed every time we have
Mass. If our separated brothers and sisters in the Protestant
traditions knew what they were missing, trying to get by without
the Holy Eucharist, there’d be no disunity in the Church. The
Eucharist is that big of a deal. Listen to Jesus’ words in the
Gospel today. “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will
NEVER hunger, and whoever believes in Me will NEVER thirst.” Do
we realize what Jesus is telling us here? He is already giving
us what we need in this life. We don’t need a bigger house. We
don’t need a new car. We don’t need more money in our bank
accounts. We need Him! He alone will satisfy us. And the Mass
is the perfect place to get Him. Whether you go every day, or
you go every week, God wants to feed us with the Living Bread.
That tissue was alive on that microscope slide. Our God is very
much alive and still going incredible things in our world. It’s
only the devil who wants you to believe otherwise. Make Mass a
priority in your life!
May God bless us today, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit…AMEN !!!
St. Maria Goretti…Pray for us !!! |
