The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

"A great multitude followed Him [Jesus] because they saw the miracles which He did on them that were diseased." (Today's Gospel reading.) We also note that the time was near at hand for the pasch, the festival day of the Jews. It is interesting to note that the multitude followed Jesus into a mountain when the preparations for the festival were taking place in Jerusalem. Jesus led the multitude away from Jerusalem and away from the Jewish festivals. The Old Law will soon be fulfilled, and now Jesus is preparing the world for the New Law.

Jesus replaced the celebration and feasting of the festivals in Jerusalem with simple food (bread and fish). This plain or ordinary food became the symbol of a much greater miracle in the Holy Eucharist. The simple, humble bodily food takes our minds away from the glamor or glory of the world with its feasts and celebrations. When our minds leave behind any excessive concern for the needs of the flesh, we are then able to lift them to higher and more spiritual things.

The people followed Jesus because He performed miracles. The material/physical wonders came from Him effortlessly and naturally. However, Jesus did all these things to lead us to a higher understanding. His goal is to lead us from the material to the spiritual. From the love of our bodies to the love of our souls and then ultimately to the complete love of God.

During this Season of Lent, Catholics deny their physical bodies many pleasures or comforts. This is our way of following Jesus into the mountain. We are not so much concerned with the delicacy of food for our bodies, but rather with the minimal quantity and quality of food necessary to sustain our physical lives. This God gives us, but He offers us something much more significant. The spiritually-minded clearly see in the multiplication of bread and fish the symbolism of Jesus' miraculous Presence in the Holy Eucharist throughout the world for the rest of time.

The bloody sacrifices of cattle, sheep, goats, etc., offered to God in the Old Testament found their completion in the Bloody Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. The Sacrifice of Calvary then continues in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the same Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. The only difference is that on Calvary, Jesus was offered in a Bloody manner, fulfilling and ending once and for all the need for animal sacrifices offered to God; while in the Mass, Jesus is Sacrificially offered in an unbloody manner.

It is suitable for us to spend some time away from the world and all its excessive concern for bodily comfort and pleasure so that we can follow Jesus spiritually into the mountain. We may be drawn to Him initially because of the material blessings He gives, but if we are faithful, He will lead our hearts and minds to greater spiritual things.

It is a good time for us to open up our Sunday or Daily Missals and slowly and carefully review the prayers and ceremonies of the Holy Mass. The first part of the Mass, The Mass of the Catechumens, is a time of instruction. In this part of the Mass, we should humbly come to God to hear Him and take the instructions God gives us to heart. Then, let us resolve to carry them with us and implement them into our daily lives.

The second part of the Mass is most profound and beautiful; it is called the Mass of the Faithful. Originally, only the baptized and instructed Catholics were permitted to remain present at this part of the Mass. The non-believer or the person unwashed from his sins was not allowed to be present during the Sacrifice. It is in this part of the Mass that Transubstantiation takes place. Jesus is really and truly made present on the altar. He is born there by the Words of Consecration that He gave to His faithful and valid priests for this purpose. At the Words of Consecration, the priest stands in place of Jesus, becomes His instrument, and says His Words. This changes bread and wine into His Body and Blood. Jesus is born in this manner into our world in our day for our salvation. With the eyes of faith, we perceive the same Jesus that entered this world at the Annunciation in Nazareth and was born in Bethlehem.

In Holy Mass, He offers Himself in Sacrifice to His Father in Heaven for our salvation. We are spiritually taken right to the foot of the Cross so that we may unite the sacrifice of ourselves with the acceptable Sacrifice of Jesus. In Holy Communion, we receive Him into our bodies so that He may live in us in the world today. This is not mere symbolism but reality and truth that every Catholic must believe.

In the rest of this Season of Lent, let us follow Jesus to the holy mountain away from the world and learn of Him — His humility, meekness, and mildness. Let us receive Him in Holy Communion, not as mere bread, but as the Living God asking to be allowed to live in and through us in this world at this time in history.

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