2nd Sunday of Lent

Wow… I can believe it has been 9 weeks since the last time I was up here! I don’t know if you remember but the last time I preached was… The day after Christmas! Back then I were getting ready for our mission trip to Jamaica, but most importantly… I didn’t have a beard! ... Would you believe that with all this time I had the hardest time preparing today’s homily?? It might have been, because I felt a bit rusty but I think the real reason is for this was because the transfiguration story is not one of the easiest readings to preach about. There is an almost dream like tone to this episode of the life of Jesus. The dazzling white clothing, the appearance of Moses and Elisha, the voice coming from a cloud are things we might see in a sci-fi movie but they are not things we can relate to our daily experiences.
Don’t get me wrong…all of these things I just mentioned have a deep significance to every Christian because they reveal to us the divine nature of Jesus. However the reality is that it is difficult to find a meaningful message that could be applied in our daily lives from a voice coming out of clouds. So it occurred to me that to find a practical meaning in these readings we have to look closely not to Jesus but the apostles. They were the ones that witnessed this event. They are the ones that can tell us what does the revelation of Jesus divine glory means to us.
Luckily, the reading is very explicit about their reactions. The Gospel tells us that, they were asleep and that when they saw His glory they became fully awake. Furthermore… You might think that when one is contemplating Jesus in all of His glory, one would just stand there in awe, but the apostle did something different, they sprang into action... They felt compelled to build tents for Jesus, Moses and Elisha.
I would venture to say that this reaction is not as strange as we might think. Because my brothers and sisters, when we encounter Jesus and become fully aware of His divine presence and glory, it is as if, we had awoken from a deep sleep… When this happens we cannot just sit there His presence compels us to spring into action.
I call these moments “Transfiguration Moments” These are moments in which we wake up from the slumber of our daily life and become fully aware of God’s divine presence and glory. Now you might be thinking that these are the kind of moments that only happens to Saints or that you really need to spend days fasting and praying to have this type of encounter with God. But that is not the case. Fasting and prayer do help, especially during a time like lent, but they help not because they make us worthy or holy but because they get us out of our comfort zone. Na that is a key condition for experiencing transfiguration moments. Did you notice how Jesus took Peter, James and John by themselves to a mountain? He wanted to make sure the apostles were not distracted by the crowds or their daily lives, he wanted them to become fully aware.
Before, I mentioned our mission trip to Jamaica. I believe that this is a perfect example of a transfiguration moment. The 9 people that attended this trip are no different that you or me. But each one of them was taken away from their comfort zone and was confronted with the poorest of the poor, what Blessed Mother Teresa used to call “Jesus in all His disguises”. And judging by their reactions during and after the trip I can honestly say that they all had the same type of experience the apostles had that day in the mountains. Perhaps it was not as “flashy” as Peter’s, John’s and James’s experience but each one of these people awoke to the divine presence of God, and were compelled to respond in different ways.
Let me tell you about Cindy young woman how last year after her first trip to Jamaica decided to change college mayor and concentrate in becoming a teacher. It was obvious to many of us in this trip that someday she will return to Jamaica to teach poor children. Let me tell you about Doug, who owns a printing company. He saw the condition of the hymnals in a church we visited and volunteered his company resources to print new ones for the archdiocese of Manderville. Let me tell you about Diane a mother with grown children that decided to get involved in finding sponsors for some of the orphans we met there, and Mike and "the other" Mike, two gentlemen that after seen the conditions of the tools we were using, are currently working on sending supplies and cordless tools to help in the construction of new homes for the poor, let me tell you about Dan that after our trip decided to take his faith more seriously and now is involved with our youth Confirmation program. Let me tell you about Chris a young college student that went to Jamaica last year, before the end of our trip he was already wandering how to get the money to accompany us next year!! Each one of these people had an encounter with the risen Christ in Jamaica, became “fully awaken” and sprung into action. I’m sure that if I were to ask them they will all say that in this trip they had a Transfiguration Moment.
You might be thinking, “wow… that sounds great” but, do I have to go to Jamaica to have my own transfiguration moment? Of course not! As a matter of fact, Lent IS a perfect time to experience the transforming presence of God. This is a time in which we get out from our comfort zone, by fasting, prayer, penance and acts of mercy. I invite you in this special season not to limit yourself to just giving up chocolate of our favorite desert, but to really get out of your comfort zone and seek opportunities to find Jesus in all his disguises, and I assure you my brothers and sisters that you too will have your own transfiguration experience this holy season. Amen!

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Feast of the Holy Family

Here is the homily for this weekend. Merry Christmas everyone!!!
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Back in June of 2005 my family and I were vacationing on the beautiful beaches of South Carolina when we were visited by every parent’s worst nightmare. The surf was a bit ruff so I made a point of keeping an eye on the kids as they played in the breaking waves. When all of the sudden our younger daughter Sarah, was gone. I remember Nancy and I frantically asking our kids and our friends if they have seen Sarah. Someone said that the last time they seen her was playing in the surf. Imagine my desperation when, been from the Caribbean, I know very well, how strong currents can pull down a child and how easily their little lungs will fill with sand and sea water when they are fighting against the waves.
For the longest ten minutes of my life I ran up and down the beach calling for her and praying for her return. Thankfully, Sarah had just wandered of the water and not been able to find us in the crowd had kept walking. The report of a missing child named Sarah spread like fire around the beach. A quarter of a mile away a lady noticed a little girl walking by herself so she asked her if her name was Sarah, and offered to walk her back to her parents. I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to express the sense of relief and gratitude my family fell when we saw our daughter being returned to us by a Good Samaritan.
I bet that if I were to take a poll today, more than one family will say they have lived a similar experience. I also find it very interesting that the Church chooses a similar story to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. You see, we might think that, since in the family of Nazareth, Jesus was the Son of God, Mary was born without sin and Joseph was a saint, their existence was peaceful and almost heavenly. But the reality is this: they were not that much different from us. And in today’s gospel we can actually see how much like the members of our own families they were. And how much the reacted like we react in our own families. Look for example at Jesus answer to his parents; doesn’t he sound like your typical teen? “Didn’t you know you could find me at my father’s house????? Come one Mon get with the program…isn’t it obvious!!! Where I was going to be???? Look at Mary’s statement: “Son, why have you done this to us??? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Mary sounds like the mother that knowing there is a lot of tension in the family tries to be the peace maker. But to me the most telling part of today’s Gospel is Joseph’s reaction. Knowing really well that he, Joseph, was the one person responsible for protecting and providing for the Son God, the messiah of Israel, and that He had lost Him 3 days ago, when he finally finds him… he says nothing! I know that when my own child was lost for 10 minutes I had some “Choice Words” for her when she was returned to me. And if I were to ask parents (and children) here today they will agree that this is the most likely reaction. I don’t think we will never know but, I would venture to say that the reason why Luke did not record anything Joseph said is because perhaps he had some "chosen words" of his own.
My brothers and sisters, it should be a great consolation to know that the holy family was not much different than our families, and that regardless of the fact these were people who lived in a unique communion with each other and with God The Father, their family was not immune to the same events that can fill our lives with stress and despair, and that their first reaction was very human, very similar to our own reactions.
The feast of the holy family, which we are celebrating today, is the only major feast celebrated within the 12 days of Christmas. I think, it is fitting that we remember the Holy Family, not in their moments of domestic bliss, but in their most vulnerable moments, especially during these times in which our own families gather together. Because the reality is, many of us are not having a “Hallmark” Christmas. Many families might be dealing with the stress of… well… been a family! Perhaps, they might be dealing with the absence or the loss of a child or a parent. Perhaps they are dealing with their own “choice words” spoken in haste but not meant at all or perhaps there are some families here asking “Son, Daughter, mother, father, brother, sister…Why are you doing this to us???”
In today’s gospel we get a very human picture of the Holy Family a picture which reflects our own humanity. Today Mary, Joseph and Jesus are not just statues standing in a church but they are the members of our own families. So if the story were to end there at that very awkward moment in the temple, then we will have to say that there is not hope for our own families, but the reality is that after this happened, the gospel says that the three of them returned back home and Jesus remained obedient to them, Mary kept quietly all these things in her hart and Joseph in his silence continued imparting to Jesus His human wisdom. In short they went back home and kept loving each other.
This is the message we should take with us today. When our own families are confronted with moments of crisis or tension, it is important to look beyond our human frailties and continue loving each other. We all deal with stress in different ways. The holidays could be a very stressful time for families. I’m sure that Jesus getting lost in the temple was not the first or last time in which Joseph and Mary could not understand why Jesus was doing what he was doing. But they never stop loving him or loving each other. So on this time in which we might be dealing with the problems of our own family, let’s follow their example and look beyond those things that might be causing us despair and remember that we ARE family and that as family we are called to love and care for each other, not only during the holidays but every day at every moment of our lives. May you have a most blessed Christmas Season.

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2nd Sunday of Advent

I don’t know if you have noticed this but this year it seems like the Christmas season started way before Advent. As a matter of fact back in October I was meeting with my Tuesday morning men’s group when one of the guys pointed out that we were drinking from a Christmas cup. I took a look at the message written in the side and have admit that it caused a big impression on me. Now… I do not think it is proper for me to mention the name of this fine establishment were we meet every Tuesday. But, what I can do is show you the cup I’m talking about.



Like I said before, the message in this cup surprised me, not because I found some deep theological insight on it, but because I saw it as the complete opposite of the Advent message.
Let me show you what I mean. Right here around the seal we see the images of three Christmas ornaments with the words “Love” “Hope” and “Wish”. Perhaps it is because I’m a deacon but I’m always noticing stuff like this. When I saw this, my mind went to another very similar list of words “Hope”, “Love” and “Faith”; Which if you remember your catechism happen to be what the Church calls the 3 theological virtues.
Before we can continue I need to say a few things about the word virtue because this is one of those words we do not hear every often in our everyday life. A virtue is a character trait which is valued as been good. The Church teaches that a virtuous person has a firm disposition to do good.
Now if you go back to your religious education days again, you will remember that there are two types of virtues, human virtues (like fairness, wisdom, endurance) which we learn from our environment, family and friends.
And then there is the other kind of virtue, a type so fundamental to whom we are that they cannot be learned. The only way we can acquire these is as the result of divine action. These virtues are a gift from God, given to us freely with the exclusive purpose of helping us fulfill our eternal destiny which is the salvation of our souls. There are only three virtues of this type, faith, hope and love. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve these; however like any other virtue what we can do is ignore them when we find ourselves in a situation in which we are require to use these. At any moment in our lives we can exercise our free will and decide that we do not want to love, or to have hope or worst of all we can decide to ignore the dictates of our faith.
You might be asking, ok…so…what about the cup? Well, when we see that “Faith” is replaced by “Wish”, the message is clear, in our culture we do not need faith; Yes, we should keep hope alive and love each other, but in this time before Christmas we should concentrate in wishing and wanting for those things that we would like to have. So at the end of the day what we are asked to do is, not to exercise a virtue but to enjoy a vice, vise we call “greed”.
You might be thinking that perhaps I’m reading too much in just a cup of coffee. And maybe you are right but before you dismiss what I’m saying let me read to you what it says on the other side of the cup.



Well… I do not know you but to me what makes the holydays the holydays is my belief that our Lord Jesus will return again in glory, along with the hope that he will take all of us with Him to heaven, and specially the holydays are the holydays because of the love I give to others and not because of anything I can wish for myself. Our faith tells us that this is a season for, loving and “waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ” and not the season to sit down and contemplate the world as “it could be”.
Advent is the season to become the “John the Baptizers” of our times. A time to go out and become the voice crying into the desert of our culture, prepare the way of the Lord, Jesus will come again, hope in his promises of salvation and have faith in His word and His Church.
Faith, hope and love; this is the time to exercise these gifts from God, this is what makes advent so special. Have a most blessed and happy advent!

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33 Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here is the Homily for the 33rd Sunday.
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When I was a kid I was fascinated by end of the world movies. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s in which movies like “Earthquake” and “Asteroid” were hugely popular. These were the times of the Nuclear thread and the Russian empire so, as much as we were encouraged to have a “good outlook on life”, these movies took advantage of the fact that our future was a big mystery and that in our small little world; we were at the mercy of invisible and cosmic forces which could have affected our lives in the most unexpected ways.
And you know what? Things have not changed that much. The Russians have been replaced by the Islamic terrorist, the flu virus and Global warming; but we are all still trying to make our children grow with a sense of security. On the other hand, we are all still flocking to see movies like “2012” and “I am legend”.
Now do not think for a moment that is all new. The reality of an uncertain future and of the human helplessness against cosmic powers has been a topic of conversation since the beginning of recorded history. But it is only in the last 30 or 40 years that it has become a very profitable industry.
Even before Jesus times Jewish religious leaders and prophets used what is called “apocalyptic language”, prophetic language that spoke of great catastrophes and the end of the world as a way to encourage their listeners during times of great turmoil and suffering. Take for example today’s first reading from the book of Daniel, these words were written during a time in which the Jews were suffering a horrendous persecution by the Greek King, Antiochus. This man tried to eradicate the Jewish religion by murdering or enslaving the whole population of Jerusalem. He went as far as desecrating the Jewish Temple by slaughtering pigs in the main altar in honor of the god Zeus.
You can imagine effect these events had in the mind of the Jewish nation. So the author knowing the mental anguish his audience was suffering tried to reach them by taking his story to the next level. Not only the temple remains desecrated and the people were enslaved or dead, but the time will come in which God will bring a greater calamity not only to Israel but to the whole world. But do not despair!... This is the time in which God will reveal His glory to the nations and reward those who remained faithful to the end.
Jesus, been the master story teller he was, borrows this technique of apocalyptic storytelling, to make some very important points to his disciples. In today’s Gospel we hear echoes of the prophet Daniel. Jesus also talks about the tremendous cosmic events that will happen at the end of time, and he also mentions angels coming to gather those that have maintained the faith to the end. But unlike Daniel or any of the previous apocalyptic prophets, Jesus inserts himself into the story. This is not Daniel talking about some mysterious undetermined point in the future. This is Jesus returning in glory after His death and sending His angels to gather His flock.
By doing this, by becoming part of the apocalyptic prophesy Jesus accomplishes 3 things. First he makes the end of the world a reality. The world will end, Jesus will return, faithful will be rewarded. Heaven and earth will pass but His words will not pass away. Second he gives a mandate to His church: Be attentive to the signs of the times. Do not grow lax on the practice of the faith because no one knows the hour of His return. And third and I think this is the most important point. He shows us that He has authority over all of human history. From this point forward our faith will hold us even when our present is crumbling around us. True disciples believe that future belongs to our Lord, and there is no thread, or fear or calamity that will keep us away from our eternal destiny which is to be lifted with him into heaven.
There might be turmoil in the world, maybe today we might be feeling that there are forces outside of our control that are threatening to destroy us. Today’s message is this: Hold onto the hope that one day, the good Lord will send his angels to collect us and take us to his glory. Wars and catastrophes might come and go but His words will never pass away.

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St Leo the Great

I preached this sermon during the daily mass at the Shrine of St Anthony in Elliott City, where I was leading a day of reflection on Spiritual renewal. One of my favorite topics for sermons is Church History, specially history of the first Christians and the early church. Enjoy.
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Today we commemorate the life of Pope Leo the Great, a man who led the early Church during a crucial moment of its history. He was bishop of Rome around the year 440. This was a time in which the Church was experiencing a great transformation. The Roman persecution of Christians was over. Cities in which the apostles had founded churches such as Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem were the sees of important and powerful bishops that saw themselves as the successors of some of the apostles. Each church had developed with great doctrinal freedom, which inevitably led to disagreement and in some cases accusations of heresies.
As the bishop of the imperial city of Rome, Leo realized the importance of Church unity as well as the need for the Universal Church to speak with one voice. And as the successor of the Peter, the prince of the apostles, he saw his role as the one uniting force that would keep the Church together. So throughout His pontificate he labored to establish the primacy of the Bishop of Rome not by the sword but by reason, and by showing that this had been the plan of our Lord from the moment he told Peter “You are Rock and over this rock I will build my Church”.
During the Council of Chalcedon (451), Leo defended the two natures of Christ being attacked by heretics with so much wisdom that the bishops participating in the Council cried out: "This is the faith of the fathers ... Peter has spoken through Leo ..." Which is the first recorded example of the dogma of Papal Infallibility.
Throughout the history of our church only three popes have received the title of “the great” Leo, Gregory who led the Church during a time of liturgical reformation and now it seems that John Paul II will be given this title. These three men are called great not because of what they when they were Popes but because they understood the role given to them by God in their particular moment of history.
You might think that these men had some kind of special gift because of what they did for the Church but fact is, their gift is shared by all baptized Christians. This is the moment in which their careers and ours started this is the moment in which the Good Lord makes each one of us Great. By our common baptism we are all called to do great things. The lesson we can learn from them is that they understood what was required of them to make the best out of their gifts and were not afraid to follow their purpose to the end.
So in this day, through the prayers and intersection of St Leo 1st may we too learn what is that great task the Lords wants us to do, and may we too be willing to follow were the spirit of God wants to take us. Amen.

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30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I preached this sermon to kick up our registration campaign for the Maryland Advocacy Network. It was received better than I expected, although I had a couple walk out on me in the middle of my preaching. I guess not everybody agrees with the social dimension of the Church. We had about 500 sign up for the network and hope to get some more stragglers in the next few weeks. After mass I got some questions about Church History, the crusades and the inquisition. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!
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If you have ever traveled across countries like Spain or Bavaria you might have noticed something peculiar. There is always a Church at the center of every town. The reason for this is because up until perhaps about 100 years ago in these communities, the Church was the center of social and cultural life. Which begs the question: How could it be that the religion started by 12 Jewish fishermen became the dominant social institution of western civilization for more that 1000 years?
Well, after the collapse of the Roman Empire about the year 476 what people knew as “the government “and “the military” was gone. There was nobody in charge to offer political and social leadership. So the people turned to their bishops and priests to fill this vacuum. Eventually new states emerged from the ashes of the Roman Empire but the idea of the centrality of the Church remained so ingrained in this society that sometimes it was very difficult to determine where the church ended and the state began. Sadly, because of men’s fallen nature, instead of the Church influencing this new social and political order, the marriage between Church and state resulted in the corruption of the Church, and those things that should have remained most sacred: The respect for the life and dignity of the poor and for those who did not have a voice of their own was became secondary.
In our collective minds words like the inquisition and the crusades have become examples of everything that was wrong with this time. Now, I think it is important that as Catholics we accept and do not shy away from the reality of our History. However it is also important to know that when we take a critical view of Church history, the crusades and the inquisition become something completely different than what is presented to us by Hollywood or Monty Python) . Don’t get me wrong… I am not saying that there were no abuses by the leaders of the Church during these times, but for every bad, priest, deacon, bishop, crusader, inquisitor and even Popes, God gave us people like Francis of Assisi, John De Matha, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, John of the Cross and many more, great saints that kept alive what it meant to be the voice of the poor and the oppressed.
So we can look at the History of the Church in two ways: We can be cynics and say that because of this history of abuse the Church should not mingle into the affairs of the state or we can understand that because of its divine nature, the Church is in a unique position to take these failings and weaknesses and inform the society of today.
This history has taught us that The Church and the State should always remain separate, that it is harmfully to society for the church to attempt to take the place of the state. The Church role however is to remind those in power that their authority comes from God and should be used for the common good and to serve the needs of the poor and the weak.
Our Catholic faith should form the conscience of society especially of those in power so that they can recognize what is just, good and true. And when laws that affect the institutions which are the foundation of this society, like the family or the rights of human beings are introduced by the government it is the duty of the Church to subject them to a moral judgment.
Now this responsibility is not only reserved to the hierarchy of the Church, as baptized children of God we are all called to work for the common good, and the best way of doing this is through the exercise of faithful citizenship. To quote the Catechism “As far as possible citizens should take an active part the in political life” All citizens have the right and duty to speak up on issues that impact human dignity and the common good. My brothers and sisters, the voice of the faithful is a vital part of the Church’s advocacy for the poor and the weak. As constituent we all have an enormous influence regarding lawmakers’ decision as long as they hear from us!
By now you might be wandering where I am going with all this. Well… let me ask you this: Have you ever known of a piece of legislation that was passed, that you wish you could have expressed your agreement or disagreement to your elected officials? Have you ever said to yourself I disagree with this proposed law but “What can I do I’m only one person” Well, in order to help Catholics exercise their call to faithful citizenship at the state level, Archbishop O’Brien has instituted a program called The Maryland Advocacy Network and has mandated that all Catholics in our diocese be given the opportunity to register to participate in this program. So today I will explain how it works and then I will ask you to fill a form so you can register for this effort. Now let me assure you of two things: 1) This is NOT a fund raiser effort. You will not be asked to contribute any money for this effort. Everything is done via e-mails .2) The information collected will be kept private and will not be shared with any organizations.
Now to joint this effort you are asked to provide your name, e-mail address and home address. The bishop recognizes also that the spirit moves each one of us in a different way so we are given the opportunity to select only those areas of social justice that interest us. They have divided these in 4 areas :Education, Family life (marriage, adoption, work issues), Respect for life (pregnancy support, bio-ethics, end-of-life issues, death penalty, the rights of the unborn), Social concerns (poverty, health care, immigration, criminal justice).
The way it works is like this, the information you give today will be kept in our database. When an important vote at the state level is coming up, you will receive an e-mail alert, but only when it relates to the areas you have selected. The e-mail will link to a pre-drafted message to send to your lawmaker (this is why we need your address too!) . You can send the e-mail as it is or you can modify it to suit your style. The whole process will not take but just a couple of minutes.
Must emails will be sent between January and April, when the Maryland General Assembly is in session, though some alert will be send at other times
Now please open the brochure…
…The ushers will not collect them now.
On behalf of Archbishop O’Brien and especially on behalf of all those who will benefit from your advocacy, I would like to thank you for hearing the call to be faithful citizens of our great nation. God bless you.

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21st Sunday of Ordinary time

This is the second part of a two part holy I preached at St Michael's on the Eucharist this summer.
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For the last 3 weekends there has been a common theme in all of the Gospel readings. Three weeks ago, on August 2nd we hear Jesus declare “I am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never hunger and however believes in me will never thirst”. A week later, we see Jesus telling the crowds “I am the bread who 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”. Last week we found Him in a synagogue in Capernaum saying “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 world.” And also “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!” So… I hope you see a pattern here…
All these passages from the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John repeat again and again our need to eat the bread of life which is Jesus flesh and his blood, 14 times in just 24 verses. What is missing from the English translation is the urgency of Jesus voice every time he makes this declaration. I which I could show you the Greek version of the Gospel so you see what I’m talking about. The first few times we hear Jesus talking about eating the bread of life St John uses the Greek word “phago”; which In English means means the action of eating a meal. But as the Gospel progresses and Jesus continues to repeat this point St John switches from “phago” to “trogo” which not only means to eat but to literary gnaw, or to rip food with your teeth.
No wander today’s Gospel records some of the followers of Jesus saying “This teaching is to hard…who can accept it?! How can it be that this man will give us his own flesh to eat and his own blood to drink?” I’m sure some of them thought “Is he out if his mind? Does he really mean what he is saying? “ Many had trouble accepting this teaching to the point that, the Gospel say, many went back to their old way of life because of these words!
My brothers and sisters, throughout the centuries many have had a lot of trouble accepting this teaching. Many have tried to soften the words of Jesus. They have tried to say that Jesus was speaking symbolically, that he was somehow speaking about His spiritual body (whatever that means) and not His real body. But the reality is that when you read this passage with the eyes of the apostle John… there is no way around it… Jesus is talking about eating His real flesh and drinking His real blood. The question is: what are we to do with this idea? I think the safest thing we can do is to follow Jesus advice from the same chapter of John. “The work of God is that you believe in the one The Father has sent”.
Now you will agree with me when I say that, human beings have the habit of wanting to understand something before they can believe in this something. This works fine when we are talking about politics or science but when we talk about Jesus we are talking about the living God. He challenges us; he demands from us that we believe before we can understand! In today’s Gospel when he says that “ it is the spirit that gives life but the flesh is useless” he is telling us that our senses, those things we use to gather information so that we can understand before we allow ourselves to believe are useless, when we are talking about the bread of live. Only our faith can bring us to an understanding of its meaning.
There is a clear example of this in today’s Gospel; when Jesus asks the disciples if they too are going to abandon Him, and Peter answers “Whom can we go? You have words of eternal life!” He did not say “You have the bread that gives of eternal life” “Or you are the bread of eternal life” but “you have WORDS of eternal life”. He is telling Jesus “listen I have no idea how you are going to give us your flesh and blood but, one thing I know: you always speak the truth… You will find a way!” Of course we know that he fulfilled these words during the last supper, when he turned the bread and the wine into his body and blood… but he went further… He gave the apostles the power to repeat this miracle and to this day, in every mass we witness the transformation of bread and wine, simple elements, the work of human hands, into the most precious substance in the universe!!! The true body and true blood of Jesus Christ our lord!
My brothers and sisters…This is our faith…This is the faith of the church…When we come to the altar and the minister says “the body of Christ” and we answer “Amen” we are making a public declaration that we believe in the reality that Our Lord Jesus has given the Church the power to transform the bread and wine into His own body, blood soul and divinity and that we believe that this IS the true body of Christ. And this faith does not come from a cryptic reading of the Gospel, or from hundreds of years of theological argumentation and refinement. It comes right from the words of Jesus recorded in the gospel of John. We might not be able to explain it, and we will never be able to understand it. But it does not matter, because like Peter, we know that Jesus always speaks the truth. “Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrifice of the Altar” AMEN.

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