Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.
The readings this Sunday present to us a very serious matter,
a matter of life and death.
We see these two things spoken of in the readings,
life, living, eternal life, and also death.
The first reading and the second reading talk about life in relationship to wisdom,
and the Gospel today speaks to us about life and eternal life
in relationship to the Holy Eucharist.
So the first two readings, what do they say about life and wisdom?
It says,
Forsake foolishness that you may live.
Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons, but as wise.
And so it's an exhortation to live as wise persons.
It goes on to say,
The second reading,
But try to understand what is the will of the Lord.
And actually the continuation of the first reading, which isn't provided for us,
also talks about wisdom being knowledge of what is pleasing to God.
Try to understand what is the will of the Lord,
and wisdom is also knowing what is pleasing to God.
Okay?
So this is,
This is wisdom.
All right?
Now the will of the Lord, for all of us, we can say,
is certainly to observe the Ten Commandments,
to believe in his Son, whom he has sent,
and all which Holy Mother Church proposes for our belief,
to fulfill our duties according to our state of life.
Okay?
All of this constitute wisdom.
Okay?
When a person is convinced of this through the supernatural gift of faith,
of its truth.
Now, once a person has acquired this wisdom,
and begins to live according to wisdom,
then the first reading explains to us what happens,
what takes place in the life of that person.
Wisdom has built her house.
She has set up her seven columns.
Okay?
A house built with seven columns, that's a sturdy place.
Okay?
So wisdom starts building her house in the soul,
when the soul starts living according to wisdom.
And these seven columns refers to the seven virtues.
Okay?
The seven virtues which make us perfect.
Okay?
If we practice the seven virtues.
The three theological virtues,
the four moral virtues, cardinal virtues.
Faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.
Okay?
These are the seven virtues that we need to put into practice.
Okay?
If we are to be wise.
And this, forsake foolishness that you may live.
Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons, but as wise.
Okay?
So this is living.
Okay?
Living according to wisdom, but also living wisely gives us life.
Okay?
Prepares us for true life.
Now our Lord talks about life and the Eucharist in the Gospel.
First of all, we can distinguish certain things regarding life and death.
When the scripture talks about death, there are three meanings.
Okay?
One is physical death.
Okay?
The second one is spiritual death.
Okay?
When the soul, through committing mortal sin, again, that's why it's called mortal sin.
Because it brings spiritual death to the soul.
The soul loses God's grace.
And just as our soul gives life to our body.
Okay?
Physical life to our body.
So God's grace gives life to our soul.
So the first meaning of death in the scripture refers to the separation of soul and body.
The second meaning, the spiritual death, refers to the separation of the soul from God's grace.
The third meaning of death in the scripture is what is called the second death in the book of Revelation.
The second death is eternal damnation.
Woe to those who suffer the second death.
Okay?
Now, our Lord is talking about life.
He wants to give us life and eternal life.
And he says that he is the living bread that came down from heaven.
And whoever eats this bread will live forever.
And the bread that he will give is his flesh for the life of the world.
Okay?
The life that he is talking about is spiritual life.
God's grace in the soul.
All right?
Now, the Jews understand him in a literal sense.
They say, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?
All right?
And our Lord does not correct them and say, no, it's only a symbol.
Okay?
It's not just a figure.
No, they understood correctly.
Our Lord intended to give them his flesh as food and his blood as drink.
The Holy Eucharist.
And so our Lord repeats four times, stressing the literal interpretation that we need to eat his flesh and drink his blood if we want to have life in us.
Amen.
Amen.
I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Okay?
This is the reason why Holy Mother Church establishes a bare minimum reception of the Holy Eucharist.
Based on these words.
Okay?
All Catholics are bound.
Okay?
Under the pain of serious sin.
To receive the Holy Eucharist at least once every year.
Okay?
If a Catholic does not receive the Holy Eucharist at least once a year, he commits an additional mortal sin.
Okay?
Against the precept of the Church.
And that precept is based on this.
Because if you don't eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in you.
Okay?
You die the spiritual death.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.
Okay?
We should insert in there the word worthily.
Okay?
Saint Paul makes us understand this in his first letter to the Corinthians.
That we must receive worthily.
Saint Paul says, he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks his own condemnation.
Okay?
That's when we come forward for Holy Communion.
Knowing that we are in the state of mortal sin.
And are unworthy to receive communion.
And we receive anyway.
Okay?
Again, we commit sacrilege against the Holy Eucharist.
So, we must receive worthily in the state of grace.
And therefore, if we are conscious of some mortal sin, we need to go to confession first.
And we must receive unworthily in the state of grace.
And we need to go to confession first.
And receive sacramental absolution.
To prepare us to receive worthily the body and blood of Christ.
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.
You see, our Lord is just pounding at home.
Just as the living Father sent me.
There we go again.
Living Father.
And I have life because of the Father.
So also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
The supernatural life of grace and the pledge of eternal life.
Which awaits us for all of those who die in God's grace.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died.
Okay?
They certainly died the physical death and so will we.
But they also died the spiritual death.
Because of their murmuring.
Whoever eats this bread will live forever.
Okay?
So this should be our resolve this Sunday.
To live as wise persons according to the will of God.
His commandments.
The duties of our state in life.
The seven virtues.
To eat and drink the flesh and blood of Christ.
The flesh and blood of the Son of God.
Worthily.
That we might have life in us.
And gain eternal life.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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