Homily by:
Father Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
April 6, 2008
Stay with us Lord, for evening draws near.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
If you look inside the bulletin you will see those five documents, which help to guide our schedule week to week. Look at #5, Mane Nobiscum Domine, which means, “Stay with us Lord.” This document was published on October 7, 2004, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In this document the pope pleads with parishes to encourage Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament in all the tabernacles of the world.
I typed into google, Mane Nobiscum Domine, and you can do the same to find the document, which I have right here. It is several pages. This is a document that you and your family will benefit from because the title is taken right out of today’s Gospel. The very last lines of the document are addressed to you.
I have to stop here and clarify that the Eucharist is Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament, the bread and wine changed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.May all of you rediscover the gift of the Eucharist.
You do know that never happened. Last Wednesday was the third anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death. He died before making it to World Youth Day. It would be Pope Benedict, who would go there as pope.May all of you, the Christian faithful, rediscover the gift of the Eucharist as light and strength for your daily lives in the world, in the exercise of your respective professions amid so many different situations. Rediscover this above all in order to experience fully the beauty and the mission of the family.
I have great expectations of you, young people, as I look forward to our meeting at the next World Youth Day in Cologne
Notice how he speaks of Jesus hidden in the Eucharist. The Disciples in this Gospel didn’t recognize Jesus hidden in their midst until they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. Then the Holy Father mentions the saints.Bring to your encounter with Jesus, hidden in the Eucharist, all the enthusiasm of your age, all your hopes, all your desire to love.
Now, if you have the calendar from St. William’s in your home you can look at the month of April and see that April is dedicated to the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist. We will be hearing a lot about the Holy Eucharist in the weeks to come through the Gospel. On this page of the calendar is a picture of the Consecrated Host and above are the angels with a cross and the instruments of the crucifixion because at every Mass the sacrifice of Jesus is not repeated but it is the true and same sacrifice present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Along side the picture on the calendar are quotes concerning the Eucharist.We have before us the example of the Saints, who in the Eucharist found nourishment on their journey towards perfection.
Tomorrow is the Feast of St. John Baptist de la Salle. Concerning the Eucharist he said,
How right he is because at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Heaven and earth meet; Jesus comes down to this Altar and is present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. In the middle of the quotes is one from St. Therese’, a Doctor of the Church and a favorite of many of you.Approach the Sacred Banquet with the same disposition that you would desire in order to enter Heaven.
Notice that this is the same image that we have in the Gospel.Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you and for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart.
Were not our hearts on fire when He spoke to us?
St. Therese’ turns that back around and says,
How beautifully stated by St. Therese’.His heart is on fire and burns with the desire to come into your heart. Don’t listen to the demon; laugh at him and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love. Receive Communion often, very often. There you have the sole remedy if you want to be cured. Jesus has not put this attraction in your heart for nothing.
Pope John Paul II mentioned how the saints have written beautifully about the Eucharist because they understood that the goal of the life of a Christian is Heaven. As parents you work and slave tirelessly for one thing so that your hope may be fulfilled. It is not a certainty but a hope that one day you, your spouse and all of your children will be together in Heaven for all eternity and so you teach, admonish, and work and then start all over again because it never ends until your death or the death of your children.
Last Wednesday was the 3rd Anniversary of Pope Paul II’s death. It has been three years. The day after that one of our young parishioners passed away; Theodore Donahue passed away. Theodore was only 15 and was taller than I am. He was a big young man for fifteen. Many of you knew Theodore and know his family. The Donahues have twelve children and they want more. Theodore is their third child. Now isn’t it interesting; a lot of people would say after having a child with autism…”No more children!” Yet, Theodore was a blessing to his family.
You have heard me talk about how something happens every day in some Catholic Churches in the USA. Someone dies, they have their funeral and they are automatically canonized. Uncle Joe or Aunt Sue are in Heaven.
“Oh good! I don’t have to pray for them; I don’t have to pray for them. I am lazy.”
So now you have mystical glasses and you can proclaim someone is automatically in Heaven. As Catholics we don’t do that. In fact, think about this…when you die do you want us to pray for you? That is easy to answer and anyone with sense would answer the same way we answer. We want people to pray for us when we are gone and we beg for prayers when we are gone.
Theodore was at home last week and his family was saying morning prayers. His mom and dad were both at home, which is unusual because Dr. Donahue is usually at work. They were saying their prayers and Theodore got up to go to the bathroom and apparently he had a seizure, fell, and hit his head and stopped breathing. Later that day, after going to the hospital the other kids kept asking where Theodore was. They could say in all truth that Theodore was in Heaven.
The Catholic Church has always taught that if you are baptized and after your baptism, if you commit no sin and die then you go directly to Heaven, you don’t stop in Purgatory. Purgatory is for the rest of us, hopefully. It is no guarantee but it is a safety net and the Mercy of God so that any temporal punishment can be dealt with because nothing impure will enter the presence of God. We know this from reading the bible. The Donahues could say that Theodore is in Heaven and it is true; I know it to be true. Theodore was baptized and about four years ago he began receiving Holy Communion.
Now, speaking of receiving Holy Communion, take out your bulletin and look on the back page where you will see that beautiful prayer to recite after Communion by Pope Benedict, taken from his book, “The Spirit of the Liturgy.” This prayer has been taken from page 88 and 89. The Holy Father didn’t intend it as a prayer, but his writing is so beautiful.
The prayer
Jesus, my Living Lord, I know that You have just entered my Soul - my Heart.
Thank You! I surrender myself to You!
Please raise me up AND transform me! Amen.
On page 88 he talks about the bread at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and says,
He is referring to Holy Communion the way you and I must understand Holy Communion, which is an encounter with the risen Lord, and just as we sang in the opening hymn, St. Thomas would not believe it. So many Catholics refuse to believe that Jesus is really there. It is insidious because so many times Catholics have gone to Communion only to go back to their bench, sit down and turn to someone and say,The Lord has definitively drawn this matter to Himself; it does not just contain a “matter of fact” kind of gift. No, the Lord Himself is present, the Indivisible One, the Risen Lord with flesh and blood, with body and soul, with divinity and humanity.
“So…after Mass are we going over for donuts?”
Do you notice the level of recognition?
“I’ve just received Jesus, the Risen Lord, the Indivisible One with Flesh and Blood, with Body and Soul, with Divinity and Humanity…so what is for lunch?
Worse than St. Thomas, the doubting Thomas, is a doubting Catholic, who goes to Communion and then afterwards does not focus on Heaven. Anywhere He is, is Heaven. Inside that tabernacle is Heaven. Heaven is about to descend to this Altar and if you receive Our Lord in Holy Communion then Heaven enters your soul, your heart.
Even though Theodore was autistic and couldn’t read or write, but could draw up a storm, he memorized the prayer after Communion that I spoke of earlier. Parents, how about a pop quiz for later on today? The prayer is three lines…ok kids! An autistic young man memorized and said this prayer every day. What is your excuse? The prayer is in the bulletin every week. Heaven is in our midst and like the Apostles we should say,
“Mane Nobiscum Domine”…”Stay with us Lord, for evening draws near.”
We can be focused on hobbies, sports and pleasure, sports, work, sports, TV, sports, TV, TV, sports, sports. Did I mention TV and sports? We can be focused on all of this but we can’t focus on Heaven. Isn’t that the reason why you get up every morning and slave for your children and grandchildren? When Heaven is in our midst and we recognize Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread we are recognizing Heaven. That is exactly the point of St. Therese’ in encouraging frequent Communion to think of Heaven. We don’t think of Heaven because we are too focused on the other things I mentioned.
Today, after receiving Holy Communion, return to your bench, sit or kneel and say this prayer. Then begin asking Our Lord’s help for your family and children and for their different needs and like those Disciples in the Gospel today say,
“Mane Nobiscum Domine”…”Stay with us Lord, for evening draws near.”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen