Christifies

Bishop Barron’s post (always good) was especially good, so I have re-posted it here.

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus declares that he is the bread of life and promises eternal life to all who believe in him.

Many of the Church Fathers characterized the Eucharist as food that immortalizes those who consume it. They understood that if Christ is really present in the Eucharistic elements, the one who eats and drinks the Lord’s Body and Blood becomes configured to Christ in a far more than metaphorical way. The Eucharist, they concluded, Christifies and hence eternalizes.

If the Eucharist were no more than a symbol, this kind of language would be so much nonsense. But if the doctrine of the Real Presence is true, then this literal eternalization of the recipient of Communion must be maintained.

But what does this transformation practically entail? It implies that the whole of one’s life—body, psyche, emotions, spirit—becomes ordered to the eternal dimension. The Christified person knows that his life is not finally about him but about God; the Eucharistized person understands that her treasure is to be found above and not below. Wealth, pleasure, power, honor, success, titles, degrees, even friendships and family connections are all relativized as the high adventure of life with God opens up.

Bishop robert Barron

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Humility: vice or virtue?

One afternoon in the synagogue, a rabbi was overcome with rapture and threw himself to the ground proclaiming, “Lord, I am nothing!” Not to be bested, the cantor prostrated himself and exclaimed, “Lord, I am nothing!” The temple handyman, working in the back of the sanctuary, joined the fervor, prostrating himself and crying, “Lord, I am nothing!” Whereupon the rabbi nudged the cantor and whispered, “Look who thinks he’s nothing!” Continue reading

What can we do?

So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:28-29) Accomplishing the works of God – now that seems like something that should be on the top of our list. When we look at beginning of the Gospel of Luke, we encounter Jesus in the synagogue

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Continue reading

Gazing at the stars

Dennis Overbye, a science writer and reporter, recently posted a fascinating article on the telescopes of Las Campanas Observatory located on a plateau high in the Chilean Andes in the Atacama desert. It is one of the driest and darkest places in the world and thus an ideal place for building very large telescopes with which to peer into the depths of the cosmos. How large? Some of the telescopes located at Las Campanas are the Very Large Telescope, composed of four telescopes, each more than eight meters (27 feet) in diameter. It was built by an international collaboration called the European Southern Observatory. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, another eight-meter telescope, is set to start operating next year, mapping the entire sky every three days. Vera Rubin was the first astronomer to postulate the existence of “dark matter.” Continue reading

Divine Mercy and Compassion

When reading Scripture, from time to time, I wonder why some words are translated the way that they are. Of course, sometimes the answer is as simple as our understanding of the meaning of the word in English is morphing and changing as the underlying Greek remains the same. In the Lukan account of the blind man on the roadside, Bartimeus cries out: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” The underlying word is eléos – I would not have chosen to translate it as “pity” – the meaning is “to show mercy,” indicating a response roused by an underserved affliction in others. It denotes a kindness resulting from a relationship. Continue reading

Now what

As a liturgical season, Lent is rather straightforward. It is kinda’ easy to write about. There is Ash Wednesday to dramatically mark its beginning, and we all know we are moving relentlessly towards Easter. We count the days even as we mark Lent’s beginning. The Ashes make a visible mark upon us, reminding us that we are dust and to dust we shall return – but that is not the end of the story. We are reminded to repent and believe in the Gospel – but that is not the end goal. We are encouraged to pray, fast, and give alms – but those practices are meant to make room in our lives for God that we too may rise to the newness of life at Eastertide. Continue reading

Holy Saturday

There are no Scripture passages that describe Holy Saturday. There are no accounts of disciples huddled in the Upper Room wondering how the life of Jesus came to an end on Calvary. There are no stories of what the disciples were thinking… or not thinking. Their world had been torn asunder. But were they hopeful? Were they well grounded in the meaning of the word “hope“? Are we?

Gallicantu

There have been many a Good Friday in the course of my life. I have heard the Passion narrative. I led the Passion narrative during Good Friday liturgies. Over the many years of Bible study I have covered the Passion narrative more than a few times. And now thru the gift of my friends Jerry and Maureen, I experienced Good Friday in a way not to ever be forgotten. Continue reading

What is the month that follows January? Feburary, right? Actually, February, but to my ear I never hear the “r” pronounced. Same with the day that follows Tuesday. Wenesday, right? (At this point the spell checker is not happy with me). I never hear the “d.” Such things even impact the modern political landscape Continue reading