Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Then taking the five loaves and two fishes, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven,
pronounced a blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples
for distribution to the crowd.
This passage from scripture is the basis for the mystery we celebrate today,
for we know, because faith teaches us, that our Lord was alluding to a greater mystery.
Indeed, it is the mystery of mysteries, the mystery of the church,
or as many have described it in the life of the church, the mystery of our faith.
And of course, we are talking about the solemnity of the Corpus Christi,
which is intimately rooted in that mystery of our faith,
the Eucharistic mystery, the presence of our Lord amongst us,
his sacramental presence, until the end of time.
And so, we have much to reflect upon in today's gospel and in today's mystery,
for this mystery is the basis of all mysteries of our faith.
Indeed, if we are to truly understand what ecumenism is,
we cannot do so outside of this mystery.
All the labors of the church, whether they be the spiritual or the corporal works of mystery,
are intended in order that mankind,
may come to know this mystery, may come to believe this mystery,
and may come to embrace it with all their heart and all their soul,
because it is the mystery that is the very basis of our hope in this life.
And so, we confront and we ponder that mystery of our Lord's presence.
And when we speak of our Lord's presence in the mystery of the blessed Eucharist,
of course, as the saints point out to us, we are speaking of a spiritual mystery.
But often, in this day and age, we do not understand the meaning,
of the word spiritually present, and so we embrace some form of error,
particularly regarding this mystery, for in the mystery of the Eucharist,
we are confronted with a concrete reality that Jesus Christ is truly present,
and he will be present with us in this mystery until the end of time,
as he was present to the apostles at the beginning of his earthly existence.
And so, this mystery is rooted in all the mysteries of our faith.
Indeed,
the doctrine of the co-redemption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is rooted in this mystery,
because at the foot of the cross, Mary participates in the Eucharistic mystery,
that is, the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary perpetuated until the end of time
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
It is the same mystery, it is the same sacrifice of Christ presented in an unbloody fashion.
And so, we do not, when we speak of the spiritual presence of our Lord,
we do not mean to connote a mere name or a manner or mode of speech,
as if he were really absent, but by way of expressing that Christ,
who is present in this mystery, can neither be seen nor heard.
And so, it is in this mystery that we truly exercise the highest degree of faith,
for we cannot discern his presence by the use of our five senses.
It is only, as it were, a gratuitous gift given to us by Almighty God,
and faith is greatest.
Faith is greatest when one believes in the doctrine of the Eucharist,
which states that by the marvelous conversion of the whole substance of bread
into the body of Jesus Christ, and that of the whole substance of wine into his precious blood,
is contained truly, really, and substantially the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ
under the appearance of bread and wine as our spiritual food.
And so, Christ intends to nourish every man through this Eucharistic mystery,
because Christ came in order to elevate us above the order of sin into the life of grace,
and ultimately to be united with him in heaven.
And so, we must proceed in this life making that profound act of faith,
that faith that St. Thomas and all the saints reflected upon.
And indeed, St. Thomas Aquinas would have a little bit of fun with St. Thomas the Apostle,
because we know our Lord spoke to St. Thomas the Apostle and told him
that blessed are they who have not seen and believed.
And St. Thomas, as it were, points out that each and every one of us,
after the incarnation, after the resurrection, each of us have that opportunity
to exercise faith to the highest degree, in the highest manner.
And it is exercised in its highest form when a human person looks upon the bread and wine
and declares no longer them to be present, but that the true body, blood, soul,
and divinity of Jesus Christ is present in this sacrament.
And so, it is this sacrament, in this sacrament, all we really need to know
is that Christ is given to us, for it is a mystery beyond our comprehension
and beyond our ability to ponder and to understand fully in this life.
It is a mystery that will be revealed in its fullness in the life to come,
but we know it is the mystery of Christ's victory over sin
and his attempt to try to communicate,
to communicate that life above sin to each and every human person.
And in the perpetuation of the holy sacrifice of the Mass
is fulfilled our Lord's promise to the blessed apostles,
whom he clearly instructed that greater miracles than those you will see.
Indeed, our Lord was referring to the miracle of his changing the fish and the loaves
into enough food to feed the crowd and all the other miracles that our Lord worked.
Despite the fact that we know our Lord was constantly operating miracles,
indeed, raising souls from the dead,
he nonetheless promised the apostles that greater miracles of these would be worked.
What is the greater miracle that is worked through the apostles
and through the church until the end of time?
It is the miracle of the changing of the bread and the wine
into the body and blood of Jesus Christ,
for it is the miracle of miracles.
And often we go about groping to find
the latest apparition of the Mother of God,
seeking as it were all kinds of signs and wonders,
and yet we have the greatest of all miracles,
the greatest sign and the greatest wonder
perpetuated each and every day of our lives
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
And that is what made the saints, saints.
They were firmly rooted on the belief that Jesus Christ is present in this sacrament
and so they had nothing to fear as long as they would turn to him
with all their heart, with all their mind,
and with all their soul,
believing that he is truly present and with us until the end of time.
When we look about on our modern society,
we see very clearly that mankind has a longing for happiness,
but we see that all too often that longing is fulfilled and sought out
in sinful pursuits and in sinful pleasures,
and yet we must in the face of this evil,
in the face of this wickedness,
we must turn to him and constantly beseech him
in our day and in our age and most particularly in our holy communions
that he give the world a longing,
that is, a hope for something greater than happiness in this life,
for him as we have that earnest hope fulfilled in this sacrament.
For we attain ultimately in this sacrament what we seek,
union with God.
There is only one thing lacking in our communions with Jesus Christ
in this blessed sacrament.
We do not see him face to face as we will in the beatific vision,
but in reflecting upon this mystery,
Saint Bonaventure would point out
that in the holy sacrifice of the Mass
and in the communion of the faithful with Christ
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass,
it is not so much that Christ descends to the altar,
but rather that mankind is literally lifted into heaven
and Saint Bonaventure points out
that when we receive Christ worldly in the blessed sacrament,
we literally have placed one foot in heaven.
And indeed, Saint Francis would say
that if any man had ever beheld the bread and wine
and declared his senses to be deceived,
but that Christ was truly present,
Saint Francis reflected that if that man abandons that faith,
abandons that doctrine,
and does not return to it at the end of his life,
he will perish in his sin.
And so we are confronted with the love of Jesus Christ
in the blessed sacrament,
that love that he wishes to communicate to each and every soul
present in this world from the beginning of creation,
until the end of time.
For it is the life of grace that is really what mankind aspires.
Saint Bonaventure says that mankind by his very nature,
a human being by his very nature,
has a longing for a supernatural union.
It is what separates us from the beast of the field
and the birds in the sky and the fishes in the ocean,
that we have a longing for something beyond this life.
Even though we are finite creatures,
it is the human soul alone that has a longing
that can only be fulfilled in the life to come,
an eternal longing for union with the divine.
That longing is fulfilled in this life in our holy communions,
and if we participate worthily in that union,
then we will be united with him for all eternity in the life to come.
The world needs a new thirst.
The world needs a thirst for his presence.
It needs, as it were, a holy anxiety for him,
for it is only in longing for him
that we can truly attain our happiness,
it is only in longing for him
that we can attain all the heights
that God intended mankind from the very beginning to attain.
And so we reflect upon the fact
that blessed are we that have not seen and have believed.
The very reward is in the believing
that what we, as it were, could participate in
is truly Christ present in the blessed sacrament.
When we, as it were, believe this,
the very reward is given to us
and our believing in grace is communicated
through the members of the mystical body
to mankind at large.
And so let us reflect that in this blessed sacrament
we enjoy and contemplate the mystery
that does not even enter into the thought
of the majority of mankind,
but it has been entrusted to us
to bring that mystery to the whole of humanity.
We are more blessed than others
not in the sense that we have anything greater than them,
but only by the gratuitous gift of Almighty God
who has incorporated us into his mystical body.
And we are blessed above them
not in order to ridicule or to put them down,
but it has been granted to us to have the privilege
of being instruments in the hands of the Mother of God
to bring all humanity to that same faith,
that same communion with her Son
in the most holy Eucharist.
Many of the saints have pointed out
that after our Lord ascended into heaven,
the Mother of God spent all those years,
spent all those years on earth
strengthening the apostles and the members of the mystical body
in the life of the Eucharist,
the communion of the soul with Christ in this earth.
Indeed, the highest form of worship
that can be accomplished in this world.
And indeed, Pope Saint Pius X
and many who preceded him
and have come after him have pointed out
that the whole basis of society
is that society be ordered in a way
in which a family may participate
in the holy sacrifice of the Mass
every day of their life.
It is not that a person must be compelled,
for Christ compels no one.
He simply offers himself on Calvary
and lets the offering, the sacrifice of love,
speak for itself and wishes to draw us
by an act of our own will
to that same sacrifice.
But ultimately all of society
must be constructed in order that
if a man chooses to bring his family
to the holy sacrifice of the Mass
each and every day of his life,
he has the opportunity to do so.
Not by compulsion,
but that society is ordered
in a supernatural way.
Indeed, Pope Saint Pius X
in his first encyclical letter
called for the renewal of all things
in Jesus Christ.
How is this renewal accomplished?
This renewal of all things in Christ
is accomplished when society
becomes a Eucharistic society.
When society at large, as it were,
comes to belief in the presence of Christ
now and until the end of time.
In the most blessed sacrament
and indeed that Eucharistic society
is Holy Mother Church
and she is present in this world
in order to convert all of society
to that same belief
that is incorporation of all men
into the mystical body of Christ
and hence into the Eucharistic life,
the life alone
in which we truly have our hope.
For if we are to be true citizens
of our nation,
we must first and foremost
aspire for union, union with God
in heaven.
If we aspire for that,
then we are necessarily
good citizens of our nation
and good citizens of heaven
because we work each and every moment
of our life
to strive to bring all souls
to that same belief
that we are in possession of
as being members of the mystical body of Christ.
We do not declare with the Protestants
that there is a consubstantial presence,
that bread and wine
are both present along with Christ,
in the heart and mind of the believer.
That is not the reality
we are confronted with,
for it is an objective reality
and it has nothing to do with our opinions.
Christ is present,
bread and wine are annihilated.
They only appear to be there,
but their very substance has been changed
into the same Christ
whom the blessed apostles behold,
the same Christ whose foot they sat on
and were instructed in the divine
and saving doctrines.
Ultimately, every mankind is confronted
with the idea that Christ has come
and offered himself for the salvation of the world
and we must cooperate
in that offering,
in that sacrifice,
if we too are to work out our salvation
in fear and trembling.
And so ultimately,
all mankind has been called
to be united with Christ
by incorporation into the mystical body
which is alone the true possessor
of all that is true and all that is good
because she and she alone
is the possessor of Jesus Christ,
the blessed sacrament.
She and she alone has been entrusted
by Almighty God
to bring all the sacraments to the world
and so ultimately,
she has the right,
not as it were in the sense of a political right,
but she has the right to inform
all societies and all men
what they must do
in order to save their souls
and if societies disregard
the advice of Holy Mother Church,
they devolve into what they have become,
a maddening pursuit for pleasure
and a place of sin
in which violence
is now being perpetrated
upon humanity
at an alarming rate
and indeed so alarming
that more souls have been destroyed
through the war on the unborn
than all souls have been murdered
or have been killed
in all the previous wars
that have afflicted mankind
until the beginning of the 20th century.
We live in the worst of times
but we live in the greatest of times.
This is the right
for those who believe
that Jesus Christ is truly present
and all those who believe that know
that they have in him the power
to overcome the evil,
to drive Satan and his influence
away from society
in order that Christ the King
may take up his rightful abode over society.
That conquest that he has
as St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure
pointed out a two-fold right.
He has the right to reign over mankind
because he is God.
But as they point out
he has another right
by which to reign over us
that is the right of love
or as the saints pointed out
the right of conquest
in which he and he alone
in cooperation with his mother
and his mother in cooperation with him
have conquered all sin
and all evil until the end of time
and the sacrifice of Calvary.
And it is that conquest
that is in the order of love
that we are all called to participate
in his presence.
It is the final humiliation
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It is the reason he offered
his sacred humanity on Calvary
for the salvation of the world
in order to establish his presence
in the Blessed Sacrament.
That presence which is now
by the majority of mankind
ignored and disregarded.
Indeed, today in New Bedford
will be a procession
the Corpus Christi procession
and often it is not well attended
it is not well participated in
and in often times
there are blasphemies spouted
but the Lord as it were does not hide
he will go forth
and he will try through love
to overcome the blasphemers
whether they be in the streets of New Bedford
or any other city
whether they be in White Houses or Kremlins
he will strive with every fiber
of his sacred humanity
to overcome sinful mankind
drawing them always
by the strings of his love
he will be manifested
in that greatest of all sacrifices
that greatest of all sacraments
because Christ was innocent
he gained nothing
by his offering
he was God
completely happy
from all eternity
with the Father and the Holy Spirit
nothing was added to him
nothing was diminished from him
in the incarnation
we are the benefactors
we and we alone
of that act of love
or as the founder of our institutes
pointed out there is a mystery
we are confronted with
that we will only understand in heaven
but that it seems
through this mystery of Christ's presence
in the Eucharist and indeed
through scripture
that Christ, God
seems to have conditioned his happiness
on our response
to his love
for scripture points out he longed
to tabernacle with mankind
that is to pitch his tent
in the Eucharist
the tent is pitched until the end of time
will we enter into it
and there be safe
and guarded from the evils
of this world
or will we remain hanging outside
walking away
from the tent which alone can bring happiness
the tent which alone
can bring salvation to mankind
ultimately all of us
if we are to save our souls
must come to a belief
that God is one
and God is three
that he rewards the good
and punishes the evil
and that we must also believe
in the incarnation, passion and death
of our Lord Jesus Christ
they are what Saint Alphonsus de Liguori calls
the necessity of means
every soul
must believe them
in order to save their souls
and so let us have no more
of ecumania
that would postulate
reason for the ecumenical activity
of the church
the apostolic labors of the church
other than to bring every soul
to belief
that Jesus Christ is present
and that only in him
do we have hope in salvation
Pope Pius XII
pointed out
that when at the Lambeth conference
the Anglican order
embraced the practice of contraception
he pointed out
that institutionally
there is no form of Christianity left
save the Catholic Church
he made an important distinction
and in that distinction
we learn a truth
that no institution
outside of the Catholic Church
has any saving doctrine
except that truth
which God always preserves
in even the most depraved of cultures
but that truth
is mediated to those cultures
in a mysterious way
through the mystical body of Christ
every good action
a man performs
whether he is a member
of the mystical body of Christ or not
is mediated to him
through the mystical body
if someone
will not take the Quran
to its logical conclusion
it is only because they are unwilling
to violate the natural law
which is the law of Christ
written on the heart of every man
woman and child
is given through the Church
it is a mystery reflected upon
in the first flood
when the dove precedes the ark
that is the Blessed Mother
in a mysterious way
precedes the Church preparing
souls for the coming of the Church
and that mystery will be
perpetuated until the end of time
it is our mission
to bring the Church
to every nook and cranny of this world
so that we may all
be incorporated into the
institution of charity
and hence help each other
working out our salvation
in fear and trembling
that work, that cooperation
is rooted in our belief
that he is present with us
until the end of time
marching before us
marching behind us
marching to our left and to our right
as Saint Patrick pointed out
in his Lorakai
Christ be above me
Christ be below me
let us as it were
die
with the words of Blessed Miguel Pro
long live
Christ the King
who reigns in his Eucharistic
present and who has the right
both the divine
and the right of conquest
to rule over each society
every form of government
can ultimately work
but it can only work in so far
as we declare first and foremost
a belief in the Blessed Trinity
and that no matter what we say
it is not we the people
who determine the rights of God
God has those rights
because he is God
and so there is a fundamental flaw
on the very basis of our culture
it is not to mankind
to ascribe rights to God
God simply has them
by who he is
by his very nature
and we must humbly submit
and truly believe
that the primary reason
for the ability to bend our knees
is to bend them in homage to him
who is our Lord and our Savior
and who wishes to rule over us
by the love that he has manifested
in this most august
and blessed of sacraments
indeed the whole sacramental life
is incorporation
into the Eucharistic mystery
that is why the traditional listings
of the sacraments always puts
the Eucharist in the middle
not simply because it is
in order
but all the sacraments
point to it
and so all things
point to Christ crucified
everyone is judged
according to how they respond
to the sacrifice of the Savior
Abraham, David
and all the patriarchs
and prophets of old
were justified by their belief
in what was to come
the sacrifice of the Messiah
for the sake of mankind
after that sacrifice
all societies will be judged
according to how they have responded
once Christ comes
into the world
there is no longer an excuse
for devolving into paganism
and that is ultimately
what is confronting modern society
a full blown
pursuit into the most
violent form of paganism
because there is no ignorance
any longer
Christ has come and we will be judged
according to our response
to what he has done for us
and so let us
strengthened by this most august sacrament
go forth
knowing that we are called
to conquer all kingdoms
and all worlds
for the kingdom of Christ
so that all of us
may be united with him
for all eternity
praising him and blessing him
for all that he has done for us
and all that he will continue to do
and let us always remind ourselves
of those words of that blessed apostle
Saint Paul
eye hath not seen nor ear heard
nor has it even entered into the heart
of man what God has prepared
for those who love him
we love God
when we believe and respond
to his presence among us
until the end of time
and work with every fiber of our being
for the conversion of all the world
to his kingdom on earth
the catholic church
all persons
are called to incorporation
and in so far as a man is saved
he is saved
by the belief he will express
we do not as it were postulate
or deny the doctrine
as it were that others
outside of the church
the visible church in this life may save their soul
but ultimately
when the question is asked
are there any catholics in heaven
the answer is no
for what God has to do
in the agonies of death
is a mystery
but ultimately that person
even if it be on that death bed
must come to believe those four things
that are necessary for salvation
and that ultimately believes
means that they must come to believe
that Jesus Christ
is present in the Eucharist
that grace
that mercy is one for souls
through our cooperation
Saint Francis used to remind
the brothers constantly
if souls are perishing brothers
look no further than your nose
for it is our lack of response
our lack of faith
that is causing the destruction of souls
and so we must constantly strive
knowing we are weak
knowing we are failing
we must constantly strive
each and every moment of our lives
and our days
to thank the Lord for all the graces
he has given us each and every day
and to recognize
that even in the greatest of days
to all the graces
he has given us
and beseech him in the evening
to please help us serve him better
the following day
thanking him for what we have responded to
but recognizing
even though we have not responded fully
we still have time
scripture says
the just man falls seven times a day
that is the saint
it does not mean into mortal sin
it means even venial faults and failings
so we never have time
to rest in this life
but we do have time
to rest in the Eucharist
for it is in the Eucharist
that we overcome our weaknesses
we do not come to him
as a reward for our holiness
we come to him
because he is the author of holiness
and we cannot attain it
without communion with him
we come to him
because we are weak
because we need his strength
and he communicates that to us
that is why
in all the sacraments of the church
most particularly
the sacrament of his body, blood, soul and divinity
present with us
until the end of time
and so let us go forward
knowing with Saint Patrick
and all the blessed saints
that he truly is with us
above us, below us, to our right, to our left
in front of us, in back of us
and that it is most particularly true
in this most august of sacraments
long live Christ the King
may his Eucharistic reign
be extended to every corner of the earth
so that we may all join his blessed mother
praising him
for what he has done for us
Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia