This weekend is the Solemnity of the Body of Christ, “Corpus Christi”. Today’s Gospel is the multiplication of the loaves the only miracle found in all four Gospels. I will give eight points of how the multiplication of the loaves foreshadow the Mass, I will then give praise to our parish’s Eucharistic devotion and then mention Eucharistic miracles.
1. Jesus was concerned about their hunger. He said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” (Mark 8:2-4) They hadn’t eaten for some time and were hungry. (We don’t eat by fasting before Communion, which creates a longing for Jesus). The people are hungering for earthly food, but when we come to Mass we hunger to receive the heavenly food, the body of Christ.
2. “When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34) As Jesus fed the crowds through His teachings, so Jesus feeds feed the crowds through priests, His shepherds, through the Sacred Scriptures and homily at Mass.
3. Jesus told His apostles, “Give them some food yourselves.” (Priests, as shepherds feed many with the body and blood of Christ.)
4. At another multiplication Andrew said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:90) Andrew gave the bread and fish that came from the boy to Jesus to be multiplied. (At Mass we give our self and our gifts with the bread and wine given to the priest, who gives it to Jesus. The little we give is multiplied by God’s grace for others).
5. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.” (Matthew 14:19) At the Last Supper, “Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples.” (Matthew 26:26) The bread is blessed, broken and given to eat. Our Lord’s blessed body is broken as a sacrifice on the Cross and then His body is given to us to eat during the Holy Mass, after the sacrifice of Calvary is re-presented on the altar. The Mass foreshadows the banquet of heaven.
6. All ate and were satisfied. Our hearts are filled with grace when we receive Holy Communion and our soul is satisfied by that which is eternal.
7. The bread and fish were multiplied so all can eat.
(At Mass Jesus multiples His presence so all can receive Him in Communion).
8. They “picked up bread filling 12 wicker baskets left over”. If Jesus is concerned about not wasting bread, how much more is He concerned about the Particles of Hosts left over after Communion. Each particle is the whole and entire person of Jesus.
I would like to compliment many in our parish on our devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. When Bishop Kemme did the Confirmations I told him that 90% of Catholics at Holy Trinity attend Mass every week. You are very faithful in your Mass attendance. Even when there are sports activities that occur on Sunday, you make sure you and your children attend Mass. One mother sent me a text saying “And don’t you worry, sports never come before Mass! We have missed games, if needed! Thankful for the Catholic Mass being so available all over the place!!! No matter where we are traveling.”
St. Paul in Lyons has 246 households, with 14 hours of Eucharistic Adoration with two people per hour. That’s 11% of their parishioners make a regular Holy Hour.
Our parish has 58 total households, but we have 46 hours of continuous Eucharistic Adoration, which is 72% of households who make a weekly Hour Hour and others who substitute.
In our parish 90% of all our parishioners receive Holy Communion on the tongue. You have had a number of priests in the past, who have helped you to love the Jesus in the Host.
During weekday Masses, we have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion kneeling. In parishes throughout our diocese priests are installing communion rails and the people enjoy it.
Our Lord must be very pleased with our parish and with our diocese. I encourage parents to bring your children with you to Adoration. I realize it is a time for you to get away and rest with Jesus, which we all need, but you can also sign up for an additional hour with your children. Jesus, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them.”
The Holy Mass is the Most powerful event on the face of the earth. The saints tell us that it is better to have a Mass offered for a living person than a deceased person. The poor souls in purgatory long to have Masses offered for them. It is the greatest and most powerful way to be freed from purgatory.
In the first reading and also the psalm speaks Melchizedek, the mysterious priest, who brought bread and wine as gifts. The book of Hebrews states, “For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in reconciliation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.” (5:1) The Holy Mass atones for sins and we have union with Jesus in Holy Communion. At every Mass during the offertory, when the bread and wine are offered, each person who attends Mass is to offer their gifts and their very self with the bread and wine to be offered through the priest, to Jesus during the Holy Sacrifice and in return the Lord Jesus, the bread of life, gives Himself to us in Holy Communion. Its a beautiful exchange of love.
Corpus Christi Sunday came about due to a Eucharistic Miracle. A priest was doubting the real presence of Jesus during Mass. But after the consecration, the Host began to bleed. On Sunday, parishes process the Blessed Sacrament through the streets as a witness our faith in the true presence. Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized this year, created a traveling Eucharistic Miracle Display.
June 19th is the feast of Saint Juliana Falconieri, who was born in 1270 and died in 1340. She founded a religious order called the Servites, dedicated to the Sorrows of Mary. “She was visited in her last hour by angels in the form of white doves, and Jesus Himself, as a beautiful child, crowned her with a garland of flowers. She wasted away through a disease of the stomach, which prevented her taking food. She bore her silent agony with constant cheerfulness, grieving only for the privation of Holy Communion. At last, when, in her seventieth year, she had sunk to the point of death, she begged to be allowed once more to see and adore the Blessed Sacrament. It was brought to her cell, and reverently laid on a corporal (white cloth used at Mass), which was placed over her heart. At this moment she expired, and the Sacred Host disappeared. After her death the form of the Host was found stamped upon her heart in the exact spot over which the Blessed Sacrament ì had been placed.”
In 2004, a newly ordained priest in a metro parish in Kansas was distributing Hosts during Mass, when He realized he hadn’t consecrated enough Hosts and was running out. He went to the nearby extraordinary Eucharistic minister to obtain more Hosts, but she too was almost out. He had about 10 Hosts left and so did the other extraordinary minister, but between the two, they gave over 50 people Holy Communion without breaking Hosts. They ended up with 5 Hosts each, though they originally each had 10 Hosts to give 50 people during Holy Communion. Both the priest and layperson were astonished that Jesus multiplied Hosts during Mass.
Today, let us give thanks to God for giving us the Holy Mass, Jesus in Holy Communion and the gift of continuous Eucharistic Adoration. And after Mass, we will walk through the streets of Little River professing our faith in Jesus, truly present in the Sacred Host.
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