Saturday, October 29, 2016

1 Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verse 9-10

⁹ But as it is written: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him,” ¹⁰ this God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

The world can never recognize the wisdom of the cross. The other day while sitting in my church for mass it was revealed to me the wisdom of the cross. As the Eucharistic celebration was being conducted I was admiring our church and as I gazed on the altar I notice we had the cross which represented Christ dead for our sins. Behind the cross lit up with the sun waning was the stained glass of Christ ascending to the Father. I asked interiorly where the representation of Christ resurrected is? Then almost immediately an interior voice stated, “You are the representation of Christ resurrected.” At first I withdrew from the idea, sinner that I am. Then I knew that this was the divine wisdom that we physically and spiritually become the resurrected Christ to our families, neighbors, our friends and even dare I say our enemies. May God’s will and wisdom be done!

Amoris Lætitia^[1] Love Made Fruitful, An expanding fruitfulness, discerning the Body (185-186)

 We do well to take seriously a biblical text of 1 Cor 11:17-34, where Saint Paul faces a shameful situation in the community. The wealthier members tended to discriminate against the poorer ones, and this carried over even to the agape meal that accompanied the celebration of the Eucharist. While the rich enjoyed their food, the poor looked on and went hungry: “One is hungry and another is drunk. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?” The Eucharist demands that we be members of the one body of the Church. Those who approach the Body and Blood of Christ may not wound that same Body by creating scandalous distinctions and divisions among its members. This is what it means to “discern” the body of the Lord, to acknowledge it with faith and charity both in the sacramental signs and in the community; those who fail to do so eat and drink judgment against themselves. The celebration of the Eucharist thus becomes a constant summons for everyone “to examine himself or herself”, to open the doors of the family to greater fellowship with the underprivileged, and in this way to receive the sacrament of that Eucharistic love which makes us one body. We must not forget that “the ‘mysticism’ of the sacrament has a social character”. When those who receive it turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering, or consent to various forms of division, contempt and inequality, the Eucharist is received unworthily. On the other hand, families who are properly disposed and receive the Eucharist regularly, reinforce their desire for fraternity, their social consciousness and their commitment to those in need.

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[1] Pope Francis, Encyclical on Love.