Visitation of Our Lady

Faith is the ability to believe in what another person tells you even when you are not sure. To use the Language of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is the total submission of one's will and intellect to God. It is a supernatural virtue given to those who obey i.e., those who listen and hear the voice of God. It is the ability to trust God even in those moments when we think things are impossible. It allows one to accept both good and difficult circumstances in life knowing that all will be well. Seeing the dark moments of life with the hope that it will be okay even when you do not see the way through.

Justice as New Evangelization The mission of the Church is to bring all people into a relationship with God and also to transform and sanctify the society in which we live with all its realities and challenges. Justice is one of the virtues that will help us to transform the world. Justice is a term that has been used to portray a number of ideas, including fairness, quality, and lawfulness. Distributive Justice is concerned with the distribution of money or honor or other resources that are divided among all who have a share in some public organization. In cases of distributive justice, things must be determined carefully.

In the Second Reading St. Paul encourages us to “compete well for the faith.” We might be surprised that he compares the spiritual life to sports and athletics. In fact, St. Paul uses athletics in multiple places. What does it take to be an athlete? What does it look like? I think it can be boiled down to 3 points: 1) sacrifice, 2) opposition, and 3) end goal. To be an athlete takes sacrifice. We have to sacrifice our time to get good, sacrifice relationships, and sacrifice our own wants and desires. How did Tiger Woods get to be the greatest golfer in his prime? How did Michael Phelps become a human fish and the greatest swimmer in Olympic history? How is Drew Brees a top 5 quarterback all-time statistically? These and other athletes become the best by putting in the time it takes, and this means sacrifice. Sacrificing their bodies as well is necessary. Every athlete encounters soreness and pain along the way.

A poll was released recently stating that only 1/3 of the Catholics in this country believe the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist. This means that 2/3 of the Catholics in the U.S. believe that the Eucharist is only a symbol, and not really and truly Jesus’ Body and Blood. This failure begins with the clergy. Yes, catechesis is part of it too, but it is the shepherds who are at the root of the cause. I am not writing this to throw blame at those who have been ordained longer than me (I’ve been a priest 6 years for those keeping score at home.). Besides just restating the Church’s teaching, are there other arguments, or other ways, that we can come to know and believe that the Eucharist is Jesus’ Body and Blood? I think so. Here are a few in no particular order.

This is what the Lord says: “ Let my people go, so that they may worship me” (Exodus 9:1). This was God’s design for the people of Israel when He led them out of Egypt. God desires that His chosen people serve and Worship Him as their one true God. In the book of Exodus, we see Moses fulfilling this promise as he led Israel to prayer and worship. Our God is a jealous God who does not want to share His glory with anyone. All He wants is to have a true communion with us, His chosen people. However, for us to enter into that intimacy with God, we must be men and women of prayer.