Sunday, April 6, 2014

A promise that sustains

Fifth Sunday of Lent
From today's Gospel: 
Jesus told her,“I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes
in Me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord. 
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.” - John 11:25-27




"He declared that the chalice, which comes from His creation, was His blood, and He makes it the nourishment of our blood. He affirmed that the bread, which comes from His creation, was His body, and He makes it the nourishment of our body. When the chalice we mix and the bread we bake receive the word of God, the Eucharistic elements become the Body and Blood of Christ, by which our bodies live and grow. ...
The slip of a vine planted in the ground bears fruit at the proper time. The grain of wheat falls into the ground and decays only to be raised up again and multiplied by the Spirit of God who sustains all things.  The Wisdom of God places these things at the service of man and when they receive God’s word they become the Eucharist, which is the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the same way our bodies, which have been nourished by the Eucharist, will be buried in the earth and will decay, but they will rise again at the appointed time, for the Word of God will raise them up to the glory of God the Father. Then the Father will clothe our mortal nature in immortality and freely endow our corruptible nature with incorruptibility, for God’s power is shown most perfectly in weakness." 
Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd c AD ): Adversus Haereses

 

Also ...remembering Bl Pier Giorgio Frassati today…
on the occasion of his 113th Birthday anniversary…

“I would like us to make a pact that knows neither earthly boundaries
nor temporal limits: union in prayer.” (to I. Bonini 1/15/1924)

Yes – let us meet at the altar today – and pray – one for the other.
We are never far from one another when the altar is near.

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