Ep 96 - Seeking the Eucharist: An In-depth Analysis of Christian Faith and Tradition with Fr. Dom

Good evening. I don't know how I'm going to spend just an hour talking about the Eucharist. When my staff approached me that they're going to do this and they wanted me to speak about the real presence of the Eucharist, I was excited to do so, but then yet at the same time, kind of a little disappointed, because there's just so much to talk about. We could spend years and theologians have. I mean, it's a mystery. We'll never understand the Eucharist. It's a mystery. You enter into a relationship that, right there, shows you that the Eucharist is a person, god. You enter into a relationship, the beginning of mass. What do I say? Let us prepare ourselves to enter into the sacred mysteries. Mystery is one of my most favorite words. I've talked about this before. It comes from the Greek Muo. It means to close the mouth, because when you see something so spectacular, there's no words to explain it. So the Eucharist is a mystery. Right, you enter into it, and the way that I want to present the Eucharist to you today is a path that I traveled. It's kind of more of an intellectual path towards a deeper faith in the Eucharist. I don't like to say understanding, but just faith, faith in the Eucharist, and it's one of a multi-part process. So the path that I've laid out for us to journey through today, when we look at the Eucharist, is one that the church has set before us to discover and have faith in many things that the church teaches about. It's called the pillars of our faith. The first pillar of our faith is sacred scripture. The second pillar, sacred tradition, the oral teaching of the church. And the third is the magisterial, authoritative teaching of the church sacred scripture, the Bible, right, holy, sacred word, the oral tradition of the Catholic church. We can look to the saints and what they say about the mysteries, what they say about the Eucharist and the teaching authority of the church. Where we can find that? In the catechism the Baltimore catechism, the catechism of the Council of Trent, and cyclicals put forth by the Pope's, dogmas and doctrines, definitive teachings that the Holy Catholic Church has uttered throughout the course of time as we as a people journey through history, discovering God in a more deeper way. These are the three pillars of our faith. If you pull one of those legs away, the stool falls down. It's a three-legged stool. The Catholic Church has taught this forever and that's what our faith is based off of scripture, oral tradition and the magisterial teaching of the church. So that's what I'd like to do as we dive into the Eucharist today. I'd like to go through scripture Old Testament and then to the New Testament. Then I'd like to go into the oral tradition. I'd like to touch on a few saints and what they say about the Eucharist, and then just a few quotes from the catechism, just to demonstrate the magisterial teaching and the authority of the church. By using these three pillars and applying it to any of the mysteries of the faith, we can begin to have a deeper faith in these sacred mysteries. So apply these to certain things. You know, I tell Deacon, and to Deacon Jim and Father Danny use these pillars when you prepare homilies. Pull something from scripture good commentary Pull something from sacred tradition, pull something from the authoritative teaching of the church, and you will have something solid in which you can stand on. And this was my path to the Eucharist. After I cover those three pillars, I would like to come down from the sanctuary and I would like to go over my vestments with you. Every single piece of vestment has a prayer and it's preparing the priest to do something. And by the time I get down to talking about my vestments, you'll understand why each piece of vestment is particular to the holy sacrifice of the man. I'd also like to talk to you briefly about some Eucharistic miracles, time permitting. So we may have 20 minutes of exposition and benediction, or we may have 10 minutes, we'll see. But I'll try my best to get through this. It's really hard to talk about someone you love in 45 minutes. All right, the first pillar of our faith. This is scripture, all throughout scripture from the Old Testament to the New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation. If you take all that and you condense it and you ring it out like a wet rag, what will come out is Eucharistic covenant. That's all the Bible is. It's pointing towards the Holy Eucharist. And as we look to Genesis, we can see most powerfully a couple characters this priest called Melchizedek, this priest King and Genesis. We see an introduction to him. Abraham encounters Melchizedek as he's coming back from a one battle and he's passing through the city called Salem. It's where Jerusalem is now, salem, jerusalem, the city of peace. And the King comes out. His name is Melchizedek and he meets Abraham. Melchizedek offers to Abraham a sacrifice of bread and wine. There's the first glance at the Eucharist we see in Melchizedek. Next we see the most powerful character of Isaac. And of course we can take Isaac and Jesus and put them side by side and we can see much between the two. Isaac and Jesus Christ share many similarities. The birth of both was supernatural. Remember Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah an elderly woman when she bore Isaac. Both are sons of promise. Both Isaac and Jesus were called the only begotten son. Isaac and Jesus carried the wood of their own demise of the same mountain, moriah or Calvary. Both consented to endure death, both were bound. Both were offered by their fathers, both were laid on the wood. Both were in the vigor of their life and both lived again. After the offering, jesus and Isaac were both dead three days, though Isaac only figuratively. Isaac also prefigures Christ and the unique relationship each had with his bride, isaac and Rebecca, jesus and with the church. In the sacrifice of Isaac and the offering of Melchizedek there is a Eucharistic imprint that deserves serious consideration and prayerful meditation. In fact, the Eucharist is present in the three distinct stages of salvation history. First, in the Old Testament, it is presented to us as a type. With the arrival of Jesus, our Messiah, it is presented as the event. And at the age of the church in which we celebrate. It is called the sacrament, the Eucharist. The purpose of the figure or type was to prepare for the event, and the purpose of the sacrament is to continue the event by actualizing it in Jesus's mystical body, the church. I'm going to set my timer, which I forgot 35 minutes. I'm also recording this. I post my talks to a podcast that I started with Jimmy Caldwell three years ago. It's the Manly Catholic podcast, and so if you're interested, you can go there and find this talk. I forgot to say that at the beginning of this talk. Also, as we go through scripture, we hear much about covenant language. Covenant is one of marriage. So this marital, covenantal theme that the Holy Spirit inaugurates and genesis and develops in the succeeding books of the Bible, until its culmination in the marriage feast of the Lamb we find in Revelation, the Eucharist is seen as the sublime consummation of Christ's marital oneness with his bride, the church us. This union is anticipated in the covenants God established with the human race through Abraham and Adam and Noah and Moses, david, ezra, nehemiah, all over the Old Testament, in preparation for the Eucharist, all of which find their fulfillment in the marital covenant that Christ established with his church. Jesus wants to marry you. We could find this in Luke. This covenant, this cup which is poured out for you, is the new covenant in my blood, also in a profound sense, kantal Amesa points out in his book the Eucharist, our sanctification. The entire Old Testament was a preparation for the Lord's Supper. In Matthew's Gospel, jesus proclaims the parable of the King who gave a marriage feast for his son and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast Matthew 22. In this light, those servants that he called can be seen as the Old Testament prophets. Of course, the first of these topographies we see in the Eucharist is of Melchizedek, in which St Paul declares, through Melchizedek, that Jesus is the High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. When I was ordained, that's what the bishop proclaimed you are a priest in the order of Melchizedek, for I too will bring forth bread and wine and change that into the body, blood, soul and divinity of God. We also can find this covenant in the language all through Hebrews and the Psalms, all through Genesis. The most powerful in John's Gospel, chapter 6, the Bread of Life discourse makes the connection between the Eucharist and the manna in the desert that Yahweh sent to feed the Israelites Exodus, chapter 16. But it is Jesus who shows that the manna is a mere foreshadowing of the true bed from heaven. The greatest of all the Old Testament figure, types or motifs of the Eucharist is the Passover we find in Exodus, chapter 12. That night, when God smote all the firstborn of the Egyptians, he spared the firstborn of Israel. Why? The blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you". But was it the blood of the Passover lamb alone, into which Hissap was dipped to sprinkle the blood of their doorposts, that saved the Israelites? No, this was a type. What God foreshadowed by this was the blood of the lamb of God, the Eucharist. We take the Hissap of the Eucharist dipped in blood and as we take it into our bodies, we are protected from the plague. When Jesus, like other observant Jews, celebrated the Passover, it took place in two phases and in two different places. The first was the slaying of the lamb, which took place in the temple. The second was the eating of the lamb during the Passover supper, which took place in the home or in some other suitable place outside of the temple. The blood wasn't enough you had to eat the lamb. This meal was a memorial not only of the Passover in Exodus from Egypt, but of all God's merciful interventions in the history of Israel. Again, kantel Amesa in his book tells us the Passover celebrated four great events. The Passover celebrated in the memorial of the creation of the world, the offering of Isaac, the Exodus out of Egypt and the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ. The memorial of the Passover looked forward as a pre-fragment to mankind's Exodus from the slavery of sin. We are left with a sense of wonder and awe as we contemplate the mediator of the new covenant holding the unleavened bread in his sacred hand, saying this is my body which is given for you. Do this and remember it's of me. Luke 22. The tragic irony was that, after centuries of longing for the Messiah's coming, the Jewish authorities crucified him during the Passover feast. The closed minds and hard hearts made them unwilling to recognize the on Calvary the emulated, the true Lamb of God. Jesus's use of the words remembrance and new covenant we can find in Luke and other places will remain forever fixed in the minds of the apostles, reminding them that in instituting a new Passover, jesus was perfectly fulfilling the old Passover. The world had arrived at the fullness of time, ephesians chapter one, in which the type became the reality for Christ. Our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed First Corinthians. Moving out of the Old Testament and moving into the four evangelists, they explicate in complementary ways the event that brought the new Passover, the Eucharist, into existence. The beloved disciple John interweaves throughout his Gospel the Passover theme. In unfolding Jesus's first miracle, john develops the Eucharistic motif. He introduced the chapter before from the lips of John the Baptist Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. In one sublime verse he shows how Jesus identifies his mother woman with the woman of Genesis, chapter three, whose seed will crush Satan's head. In the event of that crushing, jesus called my hour. The same Jesus who by a miracle changes water into wine will, by a deeper miracle, change wine into his blood. John also employs the Passover motif prior to the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, which in turn introduces Jesus's bread of life discourse, one of my favorite pieces of Scripture. Here Jesus connects the Eucharist with its Old Testament type, the manna in the desert. I'm going to read that here in just a few minutes. In the second reference, john connects the resurrection theme with out of the Passover by his citation of Lazarus's rising from the dead. Every time you hear Scripture read whether you read it or if you hear it from here or wherever you hear it begin to think Eucharist, eucharist, eucharist, eucharist. It is John who confirms that Jesus died on the cross at the precise hour that his Old Testament type, the Passover lambs were being slain in the temple and the Passover liturgy. God instructs the Jews not to break a bone to the sacrificial lamb. It is John who makes the connection with that right and Jesus's death on the cross Quote For these things took place, that this Scripture might be fulfilled. Not a bone of him shall be broken, chapter 19. Here John is clearly quoting Exodus, chapter 12, numbers, chapter 9, song, chapter 34. And it is John's alone in the four Gospels that touches on the Passover significance of the Hissop Quote. Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said I thirst. A bowl full of vinegar stood there, so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on the Hissop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Matthew Mark, luke called. The synoptic Gospels, because they take a common view regarding the events of Jesus's life, focus on the other part of the Passover ritual, the supper. They portray the Eucharist as a transformation of the old, passover to the new. They understand that the Eucharistic consecration already contains the events of Christ's emulation on the cross, just as future Eucharistic celebrations are inseparably linked to that same event. Jesus's words and actions are literally creative, that is, they produce what they signify. So is the Eucharist the real presence of Christ body, blood, soul and divinity. Oh, yes, well, how do we know? Because God says so. This is John, chapter six, verses 26, and following. Any human being who reads this cannot deny the fact that Jesus is talking about his flesh and his blood. This is not a symbol at all. And when they found him across the sea, they said to him Rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered them and said amen, amen. I say to you you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Well, the chapter before it's the feeding of the 5,000. They're following Jesus because they got to eat all this free food that just came out of nowhere and they want more of this free food. So they're following Jesus and Jesus is getting a little irritated. And Jesus says do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which a son of man will give you, for on him the Father God has set his seal. So they said to him what can we do to accomplish the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe in, the one he sent. So they said to him what sign can you do that we may see and believe you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. So Jesus said to them amen, amen, I say to you. It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven. My father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. So they said to him sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that, although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. And I shall raise him on the last day. The Jews murmured about him because he said I am the bread that came down from heaven. And they said is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered and said to them stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets they shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. And he who is from God, he has seen the Father. Amen, amen. I say to you whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the man in a desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them 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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day, 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. Just as a living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, unlike your ancestors, who ate and still died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. Wow, I hope you heard that for the first time anew. I know you've heard it many times. If that doesn't give you the desire to want to eat the Eucharist, I don't know what does. This is just a little bit of scripture. You could dive into this for the rest of your life, but that is the first pillar sacred scripture, and you can see in sacred scripture, from the Old Testament to all the way to the new, it's all about that Eucharistic covenant that Jesus wants you to enter into and to have a deeper relationship with him. Someone told me that you can't have a more deeper relationship than someone than eating them. I guess that's true, jesus, but we're not cannibals. We're not cannibals. It's interesting in the early church, when the Roman church was growing, there was a much rumors going around of this secret sect. They were called the Little Christs, the Little Christians or the people of the way, and they were picking up orphans off the street and taking them into their homes. But rumors were going around that they were cannibals because they talked about something bred in flesh and they would eat flesh and drink blood, and all the orphans are missing. So what they spread was this that those Christians are cannibals because they take their little children, take them into their homes, put them between two priests that bred and eat them. Serious, how much confusion of the Eucharist is out there in this world today. How many people attack the Eucharist? How many people attack the Eucharist? How many people are ignorant? That's what I think. That's what I think. If only they knew and they will, because it's people like us they're going to go out and tell people all about the Eucharist and bring them to mass. Let's move into sacred tradition. There's two people in one writing I want to talk about. The first, briefly, is Ignatius, bishop of Antioch. The next is St Justin Marder and the next is the Didache, a writing, the reason why they want to roll out of Scripture in the New Testament and the Apostles and go into these individuals, because these individuals are called the Apostolic Fathers. You have to remember that there's an unbroken line of continuation of sacred Scripture. It stops at Revelation, but the unpacking it continued because the Apostles handed on their authority to the Apostolic Fathers. So the first one is St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch. He was a disciple of John. He was ordained Bishop of Antioch by Peter. We got to know these people and then they wrote too. St Ignatius was martyred around the year 110-115. John, the Believer disciple, a matter of decades before, died. This is a continuation. It just doesn't stop at scripture. You have to go into the traditions of the church to begin to unlock a deeper secret and mystery and faith. St Ignatius', bishop of Antioch, is the one who brought me into the Catholic Church. He was on his way to Rome to be martyred because there was a persecution, and he wrote many letters to the churches he had established as he was making his way up to Rome to be thrown in to the wild beasts. And the reason why I want to share his writings is because he talks about the Eucharist and this is what he has to say. He's writing to his churches like us. Like if Bishop David was being taken to Washington DC to be thrown in the Colosseum Just spit it all in here. He'd be writing letters to us like a letter to the Church of OLC by Bishop David. And so St Ignatius was doing this too. He wrote seven letters, six to churches, one to his best friend, st Polycarc, who was another apostolic father, who knew St John, the beloved apostle, as well too. They learned at the feet of John. John learned at the feet of Jesus. What St Ignatius has to say is powerful, and he says this to the church in Philadelphia. Make it a point, then, to participate in the one Eucharist. Well, that's interesting, they're already using the word as nomenclature. He doesn't have to describe what the Eucharist is, because everybody knows what it is. So the Eucharist is already established. Make it a point, then, to participate in one Eucharist, for the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ is one, and one is the cup that yields unity in his blood. Next, in his letter to the Smyrnians, he writes this those who hold heretical opinions about the grace of Jesus Christ refuse to acknowledge that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior, jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins and which the Father, by his goodness, raised up. Even then, we have people who are doubting the Eucharist, and even then, we have bishops who are valiantly defending it. Next to his letter to the Romans, ignatius writes this On his way to be martyred he's almost going to be killed. I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ who is at the seat of David, and for the drink I want is blood which is incorruptible love. And one of the last things he said was this I am God's wheat and I am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts so that I may prove to be pure bread. Next we can look at St Justin martyr. St Justin martyr was well martyred around the year 152, 153 in Rome. The emperor called him forward and said I heard this sect called the little Christians the people of the way. I want you to explain to me what they do. So St Justin says this, and he's talking about what they do when they gather in their homes, because they're not cannibals. He says this to the emperor, but we, after we have thus washed him, who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching so he's talking about baptism, someone's being baptized we bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled the church, the mass, in order that we may, after hearty prayers and common for ourselves and for the baptized person and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth by our works, also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with a everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss the sign of peace. The Latin mass has the sign of peace. It's called the pox, the novus ordo mass, which we celebrate. It's an option you can share the sign of peace. It's an option. Here it is. He's talking about the sign of peace in mass. There is then brought to the president or the priest of the brethren bread and a cup of wine which is then later mixed with water. I do that every mass. He's saying this in the year 150. This is Saint Justin Martyr's Apologia, his first apologia. It's called, and he, taking them, gives praise and glory to the father of the universe through the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost and offers thanks and considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at his hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, or Eucharistia, all the people present express their ascent by saying amen, the great amen, through him and with him and in him. Write that chant. After that there's the great amen, that's the great amen. This word amen answers in the Hebrew language genetoya, which means so be it. And when the priest has given thanks and all the people have expressed their ascent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent, the deacons carry away a portion. And this food called among us is the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake, but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true and who has been washed with the washing of baptism, that is, for the remission of sins and unto regeneration. He's talking about being in a state of grace, he's talking about those who are baptized and those who receive confirmation or sacrament of reconciliation are allowed to partake of the Eucharist. And we still teach that today, for not as common bread and common drink do we receive these, but in like manner. As Jesus Christ, our Savior, having been made flesh by the word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which was blessed by the prayer of His word had from which our blood and flesh be transmutation, are nourished. It's an important word transmutation is the flesh and the blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. St Justin Martyr's first Apology, chapter 66,. He was then martyred, beheaded, along with some deacons and some other Christians that would not give up their faith. Next we have a writing called the Dedicate. This is put together around the year. At least it came into its completion around the year 125 AD. We have St Ignatius talking about the Eucharist around the year 100. We have the Dedicate that's been talked about way before the year 125 AD. Some theologians say it was 60 AD. The Dedicate means the teaching of the 12, the 12 apostles, and this is 125. Then we had St Justin Martyr in 150. This line of continuation of the Eucharist travels through the saints to us. Today you go on and on to the saints. So the Dedicate says this this is an instruction to Christians by the teaching of the 12, probably the 12, apostles. They say this celebrate the Eucharist as follows Say over the cup, we give you thanks, father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus, your servant. To you be glory forever. Over the broken bread. Say we give you thanks, father, for the life and the knowledge which you have revealed to us through Jesus, your servant. To you be glory forever as this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too may your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth and to your kingdom, for glory and power are yours through Jesus Christ forever. They go on to say this Do not let anyone eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized. Wow, you mean not? No, not. Everyone has a right to the Eucharist, even if they feel like it. Nope, you gotta be fully immersed in the Catholic faith. You have to be baptized, you have to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, because the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation are intimately connected, and the preaching of the 12 is saying this quite plainly Do not let anyone eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord, for the statement of the Lord applies here also. Do not give the dogs what is holy. When you finish the meal, offer thanks in this manner. We thank you, holy Father, for your name, which you enshrined in our hearts. We thank you for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you reveal to us through your servant, jesus. To you be glory forever. Almighty ruler, you created all things for the sake of your name. You gave men food and drink to enjoy so that they might give you thanks. Now you have favored us, through Jesus, your servant, with spiritual food and drink, as well as with eternal life. Above all, we thank you because you are mighty. To you be glory forever. On the Lord's day, which is Sunday, when you have been gathered together, break bread and celebrate the Eucharist, but first confess your sins. First confess your sins so that you, so that your offering may be pure. We're gonna talk about what St Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians. You have to be in a state of grace to the best of your ability. That's why confession is so important. If anyone has a quarrel with his neighbor, that person should not join you until he has been reconciled. Your sacrifice must not be defiled. In this regard, the Lord has said in every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice. I am a great king, says the Lord. My name is great among the nations. So we've gone through a little bit of scripture, we've gone through the oral tradition of the church, some of the saints and For the magisterial teaching authority of the church. For the sake of time, I'm going to give you some homework. Go to the catechism of the Catholic Church to big green book. Actually, you can just Google it, it's all online now. Just just type in CCC on the Eucharist and you're gonna get such beautiful teaching on the Eucharist. That's the teaching authority of the church. The Holy Spirit is still moving through the church. There there are gonna be no more prophets, there's gonna be no more revelation, but the Holy Spirit is still moving through the authoritative teaching of the church through the Pope and his bishops. They still hand on how to guide and Instruct us in all things. In the in the catechism of the Catholic Church is one of those. For instance, the first chapter or the paragraph 1322 the Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by confirmation, participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice Well, that's an interesting word. By means of the Eucharist, the Last supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body of blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice Interesting of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the church, a memorial of his death and resurrection, a Sacramental love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace and a pledge of future glory is given to us. The rest of these paragraphs on the Eucharist keeps saying sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. In the Catholic Church every single man's weekday weekend. It takes place here on this altar is a sacrifice. That's why you come. Calvary is happening again. Christ is not being recrucified. Catholics have always known that, but the church has taught through Jesus's words do this in remembrance of me. What happens here is a representation of the one-time sacrifice of Christ on Calvary in an unbloody, sacramental way. That's what's happening. So, parents, Show the reverence of the Eucharist to your children. Talk About how reverent and beautiful it is and how important it is. Talk to them and tell them that it truly is the body, blood, soul and divinity, and you'll never understand it, but you can enter into it and deepen your relationship with Christ. Prepare for the mass. Dress properly. I know some of the kids come running in here and they don't have their shoes on. I get it. I was one of those kids. I was lucky to have my pants on. Drilla into your children. The Eucharist is true and it's beautiful and your kids are going to look to you for that. For that example, how do you prepare for the man? How do you talk about the mass when you leave? This is not a symbol, oh no. And this is not a table and this is not a meal. It is a sacrifice Sacra for cherry and Latin soccer holy for cherry. To make what happens here is made possible. It's a sacrifice. So how would you dress if you were really at Calvary 2000 years ago? How would you act if you were really at Calvary 2000 years ago? That's this, that's here, everything from how you dress and I get it families crazy. I know, I know, I know, but if your kids see you working through all that craziness and chaos and you're still reverent oh, what a gift. That was a gift to me. My parents were reverent in the years. That was a gift to me. My parents were reverent in the Eucharist and I left in on 15. I didn't come back to us 28. They're all kinds of stupid things, but I never forgot how reverent my parents were. That was the ultimate seed. Show that to your children. All right, let's talk about my favorite Eucharistic miracle. Yeah, oral tradition and scripture and the teaching, beautiful language from Jesus. But that doesn't convince you. This will, I hope, did me. The miracle of Sokolka, poland, took place on October 12, 2008. Does anybody know this miracle? Oh Outstanding, this is gonna be great. You guys are gonna be delighted. During the holy mass Celebrated at the parish church of st Anthony, a consecrated host fell from the hands of one of the priests during the distribution of communion. The priest picked up the host and, in accordance with liturgical norms, placed it in a small container of water. The host was expected to dissolve in the water, which would later be disposed of properly, and that's what we do here, if a host falls on the ground At the end of the mass. At the request of the pastor, the parish sacrist and poured the water and the host into another container. Knowing that the consecrated host would take some time to dissolve, she placed the new container in the safe located in the pair of sacristy. Only she and the pastor had the keys to the safe. A week later, when the pastor asked her about the condition of the host, the sacrosan went to the safe. When she opened the door, she noticed a delicate aroma of unleavened bread. When she opened the container. She saw, in the middle of the host, which was still largely intact, a curved, bright red stain like a blood stain, a living particle of a body. The water was untainted by the color. The sacrosan immediately informed the priest, who brought in the other priests at the parish. They were all amazed and left speechless by what they saw. They kept a discreet and prudent silence about the event, considering its importance, but immediately notified the Metropolitan Archbishop. I can't say these words Of a city that was close by. They were all deeply moved by what they saw. The Archbishop ordered that the host be protected. While they waited to see what would happen, on October 29th, the container with the host was transferred to the Divine Mercy Chapel in the rectory in place in the tabernacle. The next day, by decision of the Archbishop, the stained host was taken out of the water and placed on a small corporal, which was then put back in the tabernacle. The host was kept this way for three years Until it was solemnly brought to the church. On October 2nd 2011, a piece of the altered host was taken and analyzed independently by two experts in order to ensure the credibility of the results. All Eucharistic miracles a church Tests quite vigorously. I want to make sure it's authentic. When the samples were taken for analysis, the undissolved part of the consecrated host had become embedded in the cloth. However, the red blood clot was as clear as ever. This transformed part of the host was dry and fragile, inextricably interwoven with the rest of the fragment which had been, which had kept the form of bread. The results of both independent studies were perfect agreement. Agreement they concluded that structure of the transformed fragment of the host is identical to the mitle, to the myocardial heart tissue of a living person who is nearing death. The structure of the heart muscle fibers is deeply interwind with that of the bread in a way impossible to achieve with human means. The studies prove that no foreign substance was added to the consecrated host. Rather, part of the host took the form of heart muscle of a person near death. This kind of phenomena is inexplicably by the natural sciences. In its official communique, the metropolitan curia of that city, I can't say stated the Sikolka event is not opposed to the faith of the church. Rather it confirms it. The church professes that after the words of consecration, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread is transformed into the body of Christ and the wine into his blood. Additionally, this is an invitation for all ministers of the Eucharist to distribute the body of the Lord with faith and care and for the faithful to receive him with complete adoration. Many, many, many more Eucharistic miracles. Really short one here. It's not really a miracle, but something that's pretty cool. You might have heard this one. A story from 1995 reports that when, when st Pope John Paul II was visiting the United States on his last day in Baltimore, the Pope said that after greeting seminarians outside st Mary's seminary, he wanted to spend some time inside to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, while security had not planned for this. So they sprang into action. They quickly swept the building, putting an emphasis emphasis on the chapel where the Pope wanted to go and pray. Security personnel brought with him highly trained dogs, dogs that could find people under collapsed buildings or track the scent of any person hiding in the building. These dogs could find people Quickly. The dogs walked through the halls and offices and then went up into the chapel. When reaching the tabernacle, the dogs began to bark. Then they stopped and, as trained as they were to point out a person, they wouldn't leave the spot they had scented a living person was inside the tabernacle. Alright, so we have identified what the Eucharist is and increased our faith through the pillars of the church, right Through Scripture, oral tradition, the authority, teaching of the church. But that didn't further help you with your faith, and we shared some Eucharistic miracles as well. And then we talked about the holy sacrifice of the mass. Now a lot of people are quite curious about the priest's vestments and why he wears what he wears. It's really quite cute when kids come up to me and say you're really wearing a really cool coat or robe. This is an Elb. The priests and altar service wear this. If I'm in the sanctuary but not performing a liturgical function, I wear the Elb. Okay, so before mass, the priest is getting ready for the sacrifice. Now we have to remember that a priest is in the order of Elk. He's in that, all of them. So we share the priesthood of Christ. The bishop annoys my hands with sacred chrysum and he gives me the faculties to preach, teach, administer and sacraments. That's the primary duty of a priest. So I'm changed. I have an endowment mark that lasts for eternity, just like a baptism, an endowment mark and a confirmation, so that lasts into eternity. So what does that mean? It means Jesus Christ works through lead and sacraments. So when I'm behind the altar, that's my downing, that's Jesus. So it's Jesus who's changing, consecrating the bread and the wine into the body, blood, soul and identity. So the priest up there is the one who's performing the sacrifice and he's also being sacrificed. Do you know that I'm being sacrificed? I'm here behind. That's why I wear black, which brings us to our first vestment. I'm already wearing it. This is called the cassock, and when I put this cassock on, I say this prayer. I say I'm all in Latin, there's a reason why, but we don't have enough time for that. Yes, there is. Satan hates Latin. So we say it. End of discussion. I put this on and I say oh Lord, the portion of my inheritance and my chalice. You are he who will restore my inheritance. This cassock represents death. The cassock most poignantly represents the shroud that Jesus was wrapped in in the tomb when he died. I'm a priest. I work in Jesus. Jesus works through me. This represents the shroud of true and reminding myself, when I put this on, that I am dying to myself so that my family may live. I'm feeding my family at my death. The collar represents my celibacy. I'm giving up an earthly woman for the sake of marrying a supernatural woman, the bride of Christ. So I am married and this is my ring. So when I put this cassock on, I'm reminded of that. Some cassocks have 33 buttons. Why? Every year of Christ? So when I put the sun and I button up my buttons, I remember his birth and then maybe it was like he was five years old or 10 years old. This one doesn't have 33, but they usually do, otherwise I'd be in there forever. Next, I wash my hands. I say give strength to my hands, lord, to wipe away all stain so that I may be able to serve the impurity of mind and body. Now wash my hands. This is all happening in the vesturee. While you guys are here preparing for the Mass or praying the rosary, I'm in there preparing for the holy sacrifice of the Mass, because I know that's not a table and it's not a meal and it's not a symbol. Then I'm going to Calvary and I'm going to be crucified. Like sometimes I tremble at the Mass. It's all true, okay. So once I get my cassock on, I put this thing on. No, it's not a bib. Every time I get hungry I look at this. It's a bib. This, this is really cool. All the information I'm getting is coming from Fulton Sheen's book the Priest is Not His Own. St John used the priest duties and obligations, dr Ban preacher, jesus, the Jewish roots of the Eucharist, and another one I forget. I'm tired, but I love it. So this is called the Amos, and when I put this Amos on, I kiss the cross. Wherever there's a cross I have to kiss it. I put it around my shoulders like this. But before I put it on, I dawned it over my head and I say this prayer Lord set the helmet of salvation on my head to fend off all the assaults of the devil. And then, notice, I start out black, earth, death. I slowly put on white Representing baptism, life, purity, preparation. I tuck it into my collar Because I'm no longer working, I'm getting ready for the sacred mysteries. This is really cool about the Amos, or Ami, sorry, amiche. An Amiche was a head covering that they put over criminals before they were executed. Who's being executed? In a sacramental, unbloody way? Of course Jesus. And they thought he was a criminal. That's where this comes from. Next, I put on the Elb An all-white garment and as I put that on, I say this prayer Make me white, o Lord, and cleanse my heart, that, being made white in the blood of the Lamb, I may deserve an eternal reward. So you'll notice, because I'm getting ready for the sacred mysteries, I am no longer black Now, I'm all white, representing heaven and light, representing my baptism. Once my Elb is on, getting ready to put on the Sincture, and then the Sincture, I say this prayer Gird me, o Lord, with the Sincture of purity and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence. That the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me. This comes from the Israeli, the Israelites, most especially the warriors, who would go into battle and they would have to gird their loins, which meant they would take a special belt and pull up a certain garment, tie it around their waist so that they could run and fight. Because in the mass, not only are we entering into the incarnation, the life of Christ, his passion, his death, his descent into hell, his resurrection, his ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit that builds a church, we're also celebrating the defeat of Saint and his kingdom. And so I am going to war and I have to gird my loins. Pretty cool, huh. Next, you've probably seen this dangling from my right arm or left arm. This is called a manapole and this is the prayer I pray when I put this on May. I deserve, o Lord, to bear the manapole of weeping and sorrow in order that I may joyfully reap the rewards of my labors. This is probably one of the most important and powerful pieces of vestment that a priest should wear. There's something that happened at the end of the 1902 and the late 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The priest stopped wearing this. Actually, there was a lot of things that the church stopped doing, unfortunately, and seminarians our startlinger were having a lot of very orthodox seminarians entering into the priesthood where we were giving back all this beautiful tradition. I could talk forever about that, but this is one of the things that they got rid of. There was no decree. It just, you know, liberals just got rid of it, and so not politicians, but you know what I mean. And so I brought this back, and I remember my first mass, when I was at St Albert's and a associate pastor came running after me and I said you know what that is? I said, yeah, it's a manifold. Do you know what it's for? And I explained it. He was like oh, I never heard that before, that's pretty cool. I was like, yeah, I know, there's all kinds of cool stuff I'm forgetting. So this is a manifold, and the reason why I love this is because this helps me enter into the masculine manliness of being a priest. Going to battle and sacrificing. This means work. It's very manly. The mass is very masculine. Can't forget that it's Jesus up there. This means I'm working. So at the beginning of the mass I'm supposed to wipe the brow, the sweat on my brow, because of adding he tills and keeps the garden the sweat on his brow. So that's what it means I'm working, I'm working at the altar, I'm doing manual labor and I'm doing wipe the sweat from my brow. So that reminds me, as a priest, the manly duty that I'm doing is what work? And then, as we enter into the Eucharistic liturgy and as the gifts are coming up, I change, because when the gifts are coming up, it's your responsibility and your job to put yourself into the office, to be sacrificed up there, to be made new, and then you get to receive almost your new self and your grace. And so, as that happens, my mindset changes from one of not working but one of weeping, because now I'm taking every sins. Jesus, sorry to interrupt the sins, but in the mass you have to offer yourself everything. So now it changes to wiping the tears, because sins are heavy, sins are very heavy. So that's what the man up whole means. It's very powerful, very powerful. The next piece of estimate that I'm putting on is this is called STOL. Stol. I cross it over and I tuck it into my stature Again, symbolizing work, duty, responsibility, sacrifice, girding my loins for war, defeating Satan's kingdom. Through the Eucharist, I pray this Lord restore the stole of immortality which I lost through the collusion of our first parents. And, unworthy as I am to approach the sacred mysteries, may I yet gain eternal joy, because the mass is for me too. I go to confession, just like you guys. The next garment that I put on this is called the chasable. Oh, these vestments are used for funerals. I think they're beautiful. The black represents obviously death, something we all have to go through and counter Saints talk about death as a gift. And then the silver our blister is more silver than black because we don't fear death. We're Christians, we don't fear anything Except God. But when you fear God, there's nothing left to fear, right? So when I put this, the prayer that I'm saying is from Scripture, where Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden is light, because this is the biggest garment, it's the heaviest garment and it's the garment that everybody sees. That's why it's very decorative. You have grapes, you have wheat, you have IHS, jesus hominem salatorum, jesus, salvation of humans, or human counter humanity, and so everything represents the holy sacrifice of the man, and when you look at the priest, you see that you don't see me. You shouldn't be here for me. You're here for Jesus, and that's what the priest represents. What makes the chasable so interesting at points in sacrifice of the man Remember, if you read Jewish roots of the Eucharist, you'll know this, because this is where I picked a lot of this up A chasable is a very powerful significance of pointing to the masses, one being a sacrifice, not a symbol, not a meal, not a table. In the Jewish temple you had priests, you had the high priests, and the high priests did what. They were the ones who sacrificed the animals. I've never been to a place where there's sacrifice in thousands and thousands of bulls and goats and pigeons and all kinds, but there's blood everywhere, and so the priest has to protect, as he's slaughtering the animals. He has to protect his inner garment, which is all white and linen, so he wore a heavy outer layer that covered all of that. No blood can get on that, but all the blood. If you get on the chasable, that was fine because it protected the white. See the connection. Now I'm offering sacrifice. It's unbloody, but it's still a sacrifice, and so the chasable is pointing to that one-time sacrifice that set all of us free. So it truly is, truly is a sacrifice. Now, before I do that, I mean this is a parenting series and you know I talked about you know you parents are. You are the first line of defense with your kids in terms of Protecting the group for them and try and keep them away from the craziness of our culture and feeding the truth. Right, and you do your best, I get it, you do your best, I play the straightest. It's crazy out there, I understand, and there's a lot of parents who have anxiety over this. But fear free, fear not, don't fear the world, do not fear the world. Your children will be okay with God. He has a plan for them. So it's okay. But you still have to be vigilant. And since you parents are the first line of defense, like I said before, showing the remnants of the Eucharist and planning that seed. But I want you to know that in your vocation to marriage you have special graces to get that job done. God gives you the grace, god gave you the grace to to get get the job of the free swing done, so to speak. I can't do it without those graces. He called me to it, he gives me the grace, he called you to marriage. He gives you the grace to be unitive, right with your spouse and to be appropriated. And if he blesses you with children, then he will help you educate your children. So when you were married, went to the consenting balance and in your marriage there was only one place where you promised God that he could bless you with kids. You would raise them in the faith. How many have been to a baptism? How many baptized? Okay? So pretty much everyone here probably baptized their kids. Okay, there are Four oaths in the baptismal right. That is asked to the parents and oath to God that you will raise them in the practice, in Catholic faith. Four times in that baptismal night the priest asks you are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? And you give your best shot to God, take care of the rest. But I want you to know that through the sacrament of marriage and through participating in the baptismal light and promising God to do your best, you have that grace. You have that grace as a parent to do that. How else can you be a good example to your children? Not only preparing for mass, going to mass and being reverent, talking about the mass, talking about the Eucharist, knowing as much as you can about scripture and tradition, the Magisterial teaching of the church. All of you are smart. So many private masters and doctorates and all this stuff. You're smart. You can learn this stuff. I only have maybe five, ten minutes a day. That's okay. Start reading the catechism right. Educate yourself so you can educate your children or your, your grandchildren or your friends or other family members. Education about the Lord is key to spreading his kingdom. Another one is confession, being in a state of grace to the best of your ability. Being in a state of grace is is is an all encompassing a thing. There's a lot of things that Contribute to you being in a state of grace. One getting your home lust To pray the rosary. Three having a holy candle somewhere. That's that's lit. No, you pray or something. If you want, you burn holy incense. You can get all this stuff online. Get Benedict medals that are blessed in the old right I could do that. Get holy water that's blessed in the old right with salt I could do that for a fee, 100% guaranteed, or your money back. So there's all kinds of things you can do to help you stay in a safe race. And, of course, when there's being, you'll send your venial sin is taking care of three times during the mass. What is being, you'll say, with a cult. Venus in does not cut your grease off. You got venial sin is kind of like someone cut me off and I cursed, didn't use the Lord's name in vain and I wanted to drive around him and cut him off and Make you feel what it felt like, but instead I felt that I didn't do it and I just pulled over instead of Hail Mary. There's still a little bit of the venial sin there because I got angry. I wanted to hurt my brother or sister. My brother or sister. If you have these venial sins, you can take care of them during the mass. One is the confederate. I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have said. Remember that beginning of mass. Think of your venial sins before you go to mass, to take care of her during that and then throughout the mass, if the Lord convicts you. There's another point where your venial sins are forgiven the priest, after the gospel, kisses the book You've seen me do that. You know what I say To the words of the gospel may our sins be washed away. So give me your sins, give me your venial sins, throw them up there. There's a second time. And if you miss those two times or you're convicted again, it's the honest day. Right, I'm a God who takes away the sins the world. Right, I'm worse. No, it's not worse. He on the screen is peace. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called will suffer the lamb. That's the last time your venial sins are forgiven, because you're going to receive the Eucharist right after that. Okay, but mortal sin. You know it's a mortal sin. You know that it'll cut your life off with God. You know those two things and I do your own free will not be in coherence. You do it anyway. Right, look at the 10 commandments. Those are mortal sins you don't want to die in a state of mortal sin. But Jesus gives us a great gift reconciliation. Why don't we go to reconciliation? I can just go to God, okay. And an emergency situation? If we're being invaded and all the priests are killed and You're in a pow camp and you're about to die? Yes, you can go to God if he works out beside the sacraments. But if you're just lazy, you don't want to go Right, that's not an excuse. Or Someone hasn't been in a long time and they're afraid, and they're afraid, come in and tell all the priests, and the priests will walk you through it or go behind the screen. The more I get to know you guys, though it doesn't matter, I still know your voice. It's great. There is a gift, though, that's given to priests we truly do forget the sins. I Can't put the sin to the face. I've heard it all, but I can't put the sin to the face. So I do forget, which is a gift, because in my humanity I can't carry all that. I can't. So so if it's been a while and you're afraid or you think it'll just be too humiliating, just pray about it. Work up to it. God will meet you or you're at right, he'll guide you to it, or you can call and set up an appointment and you want to talk before you do it. That's happened to me many times. The best confessions are when people come in. Forgive me, father, fat sin. My last confession was it was 60 years ago. I had that 65. I think I think it was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. That's how you give a state of grace. It's not perfection. A state of grace is just you're living the life of the church to the best of your ability and you don't have mortal sin. That's a state of grace. Then you can receive the eucharist. This may shock you and I don't like saying this because I love you. It's not so wrong to use the Catholic Church and adoration when you go to mass. What's the most important thing you do when you go through it? That's what I thought. Do you guys know the five precepts of the church? One of them is this as a Catholic, you have to receive the Eucharist once a year and you have to go to confession once a year. Go to confession before Easter, receive the Eucharist on Easter. That's a precept of the church. You have to receive the Eucharist once a year. You have to go to holy sacrifice the mass every Sunday, unless you're sick or whether or whatever right, but you still have to watch it online or invest your ability, right? If you don't, you break the third commandment. You don't have to receive the Eucharist every time you go to mass. But you got to go to mass. What does that mean? It means you put yourself in front of Calvary and you're gonna receive the graces that satisfy the third commandment. Is that amazing? What does that mean? It means yes, if you can receive Eucharist, do it as the source of some of our faith. But what the church is saying is you have to examine your conscience. Why? Because St Paul says this and we heard it in the diddicave, and St Paul said this before the diddicave First Corinthians 11, 23, and following St Paul says this he's an apostle. He received this from, from, from the Lord, through the apostles, for I received from the Lord, but I also handed on to you that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over to a bread and, after he had given Thanks, broken, said this is my body, that is for you. Do this and remember. And so the same way. Also, he took the cup after supper, saying this is the cup in the new covenant to my blood. Do this as often as you drink it and remember it's of me, or as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. You were calling the death of the Lord until he comes. Has Jesus come? No, so we keep doing the sacrifice of the mass until he comes, because you're not gonna need the Eucharist, madden, think about that. The Eucharist is for us here on earth. The church militant to help us get that, and God is so good. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord and unworthy Will or unworthy manner who have to answer for the body of the Lord, a person should examine himself and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks condemnation on himself. That's how important the Eucharist is. It's just not a symbol or things we do as Catholic and everybody's going up. So I have to too, really discern. The more deeper we are in a state of grace, the more graces you'll receive from the sacrament. But if you have immortal sin, saint Paul and the diddicare saying gotta go to confession first, just go, and Then you can come to the table. Right, then you can come to the table. Just been kind of noticing Mary To my right and I just want to end with a Hail Mary. Mary points us to Jesus Very powerful way as well. Mary Was our first tabernacle. She was the first to receive the Eucharist body, blood, soul and divinity into her womb. So if anyone knows the Eucharist, I'm sure it's her, so let us offer up this night to her, as we pray the name of the Father and Son in the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are God and Blessed is the fruit of that Jesus. Holy Mary, my Lord, god, pray for us sinners now and now. Let us prepare ourselves to put ourselves in front of Jesus and let him do the talking. And the Father and Son in the Holy Spirit.