Congratulations to all of our First Communicants!

Once, a gentleman was visiting his son. On Sunday when he went to church, he took his little granddaughter with him. While they were in the church, the little girl was observing everything... Finally, they went to receive communion. Grandpa received          communion and she got a blessing. On the way back to the pew she asked, “Grandpa when am I going to get one of those?”  Grandpa told her, “I will make sure in a couple of years you will receive First Communion.” She kept watching the priest, and Grandpa knelt and prayed. When the priest went to the Tabernacle to keep the Blessed Sacrament, she asked Grandpa, “What is he doing? Is he putting it in the microwave?”

First, I would like to congratulate all of our First Communicants and their families! I am sure all of you are excited to receive the Eucharist, the Body of Christ. Look at the Cross, and it tells you how much God loves you. Look at the Easter Candle, and it tells you He loves you and wants to be the light of your life. Look at the Altar. Just as your parents feed you to be strong physically, God feeds you from the Altar so that you can be strong spiritually. At your Holy Communion, Jesus comes to you. He wants your communion/relationship with Him to be holy. He wants your communion/relationship with everybody to be Holy.

Today, we read Emmaus story from the Gospel of Luke. The two disciples are leaving Jerusalem for a village named Emmaus. One of them was Cleopas. We see in the Gospel of John 19:25 we see Cleopas at the foot of the cross. Here these two are confused and at the same time surprised by the announcement of the women and now they are leaving the city. On the way, they talk about everything that happened: Jesus’ passion and death, the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus, like a stranger who does not know anything, drew closer to them. Jesus is the only person in Jerusalem who knows exactly what has happened. But he asked what sorts of things they were debating. There were surprised that he didn’t know everything that happened to Jesus of Nazarian three days ago. They also told him about the announcement of women which surprised them. Jesus told them while he was with them that he had to go through passion and death, and on the third day he will be raised.

Even though Cleopas knew about the empty tomb and the vision of angels, he decided to turn his back and leave the city. Jesus addressed them, "O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” Then he reminded them that His suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead are the fulfillment of Moses, prophets, and psalms.

They might have felt comfortable with this stranger when they reached their destination, they invited him to stay with them. At the breaking of the bread, they recognized Jesus. And he vanished from their sight. Our God walks with us always, even in the moments we do not recognize him. Jesus vanished from the sight of Cleopas and other disciples, he revealed himself in the Eucharist. On the way to Emmaus, the Eucharistic celebration took place. The two main parts of the Eucharist are the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. After recognizing Jesus, they recalled that while Jesus was interpreting the scripture, they felt a burning in their heart.

What is your Eucharistic experience? He instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until He came again. In this Sacrament, Jesus entrusts to his Church a memorial of His death and Resurrection, the sacrament of love, a sign of unity and a bond of charity, in which Christ is consumed, and our minds and souls are filled with grace and a pledge of future glory. At the end of the Mass, we are sent out to share His love with others.

Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi (“I have earnestly desired”) writes, “The content of the bread broken is the cross of Jesus, his sacrifice of obedience out of love for the Father. If we had not had the Last Supper, that is to say, if we had not had the ritual anticipation of his death, we would have never been able to grasp how the carrying out of his being condemned to death could have been in fact the act of perfect worship, pleasing to the Father, the only true act of worship, the only true liturgy. Only a few hours after the Supper, the apostles could have seen in the cross of Jesus, if they could have borne the weight of it, what it meant for Jesus to say, “body offered,” “blood poured out.” It is this of which we make memorial in every Eucharist. When the Risen One returns from the dead to break the bread for the disciples at Emmaus, and for his disciples who had gone back to fishing for fish and not for people on the Sea of Galilee, that gesture of breaking the bread opens their eyes. It heals them from the blindness inflicted by the horror of the cross, and it renders them capable of “seeing” the Risen One, of believing in the Resurrection.”

We are in the Eucharistic Revival journey, let us ask a question; do I believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist? If you would like to learn more please go to FORMED.ORG