Active Participants

“And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.”

2 Kings 23:3b

How often do we find ourselves just sitting at Church or Mass and sometimes just let our minds wander? Sometimes our participation in services or liturgies become routine and we resort to becoming passive participants of our faith. We were created to be fully alive, to be full, active participants of our faith.

As Christians, followers of Christ be must be active participants. St. James tells us in his letter that faith without works is dead. Yes, we have been saved by Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, but that does not mean we are automatically saved. That’s right. We are not automatically saved and guaranteed a spot in heaven just because we have been baptized. There is no get out of jail free card when it comes to our salvation. But we do know that God’s mercy and compassion of infinite and unfathomable.

St. Augustine once said, “God created us without us but He will not save us without us.” Our actions here on earth have eternal consequences. God has given to us all that we need to prepare well here on earth so that when the time comes we may appear before Him in all humility, acknowledging our sinfulness and thanking Him for His mercy and love. But anyone who says just because he or she has been baptized he or she has been saved and whatever they do now does not matter, there are greatly mistaken. To be saved, we must be active participants, and allow God to save us. In His Great Commission, Jesus commanded that the disciples “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Four verbs are found: go, make, baptize, and teach. These are all active verbs. Disciples are called to be active not merely passive followers. Let us go today, brothers and sisters, and share the love of God with those whom we encounter and embrace our faith in a way that we have never before. For when we encounter others and share the love of God with them, we are really encountering Christ.

True Food

At the Last Supper Jesus said “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” These same words are repeated every time at Mass by the priest who is in persona Christi capitis or “in the person of Christ the head.” When the priest says those words of consecration, it is Jesus who is saying them. It is Jesus who once again is made present to us. It is Jesus’s body and blood that we receive.

The belief in the “real presence” is something that has always been held by Catholics. Through the words of consecration and the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine is transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. It is no longer bread that we receive, it is Christ Himself. Hence, the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life.” Bread cannot save us. Only Jesus can. We do not worship bread, we worship Jesus. Because we believe that the Eucharist is truly Jesus, we have Eucharistic adoration. The same Jesus who said those words at the Last Supper and who died for us on the Cross is the same Jesus we receive at Mass and the same Jesus that is reserved in the tabernacle. Bread is not worth of adoration and veneration, only God is. The Eucharist is Jesus truly present.

Just as we need food and drink to satisfy our physical hunger and thirst, we also need food for our souls. The Eucharist does both. It nourishes our body and souls. The Eucharist is true food. It is the food that makes us one in Christ. It is the food that transforms our weaknesses into something powerful. It is the food that brings about healing and life. It is the food that we need for the journey as we enter into Paradise.

Let us take a few moments today to give thanks to God for such a wonderful gift.

To listen or watch this week’s reflection, “Gift of the Eucharist,” click here.

Power of Conversion

“Then the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite,
‘Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.’”

1 Kings 21:28-29a

When King Ahab was told that because of his disgusting and disgraceful behavior — not only contributing to the death of another but also seizing the decedent’ land, he will be punished and will have to suffer, he repented. Being moved by Ahab’s act of humility, God relented His punishment. The mercy of our God is truly unfathomable and unconditional. This does not mean that sin and evil acts are “okay” or justified, but rather that sin and evil do not have the last word.

There have been times when, I am sure, we have made mistakes, or perhaps said something hurtful that maybe we really did not mean. However, there are also times when we have knowingly done something wrong. Sin is not something that God created to hold us down. In fact, God sent His only begotten Son into the world to be the remedy of sin. We each have our own personal sins, and hopefully we bring them before God at Mass, in prayer, and also in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We only need to turn to God with humble and contrite hearts and God’s mercy will be extended unto us. What about those people who have been hurt by our sins? If possible and if prudent, we should acknowledge our fault to the other, ask for forgiveness, and seek reconciliation.

Let us take a few moments today, bringing to the Father our moments of weakness and sins, asking for forgiveness, and giving thanks for having been so loved. If it has been a while since we have gone to confession, let’s make it a goal to go this week. God’s mercy is boundless, we only need to desire it, seek it, and receive it.