Dear Parish Family of Holy Trinity,
This coming weekend we celebrate the
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi. This solemnity has its origins in the 1260’s after a Eucharistic miracle occurred in Bolsena, Italy. A priest on a pilgrimage to Orvieto, stopped to celebrate Mass in Bolsena. At the time of consecration, the host began to bleed. This miracle prompted Pope Uraban IV to create the feast to celebrate the real presence of Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Eucharistic.
Do you believe that Jesus is really present in Eucharist? Or, do you believe the bread and wine are just symbols of Jesus, but Jesus is not really present?
In 2007, the US Bishops commissioned a survey of adult Catholics in the United States. One of the questions asked was the same question posed above. The result was that
57% of adults do believe that Jesus is really present in the in the bread and wine of the Eucharist
. And among adults who attend Mass once a month, Millennials were just as likely as Pre-Vatican II Catholics to believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist (85% and 86% respectively).
Click here
to see the executive summary of the survey.
This coming weekend’s readings have an emphasis in the Eucharist. The First Reading recounts the story of Melchizedek, a king and priest, blessing God and Abraham with bread and wine, in a foreshadowing of the Eucharistic.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us that Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Saint Paul also tells us that as long as we partake in the Eucharist, we are proclaiming Jesus’ death and resurrection.
And in the Gospel of Luke we will read the story of the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, which fed 5,000. This miracle is similar to the one found in the Book of Kings involving the prophet Elisha. In the Book of Kings, Elisha had twenty loaves and fed 100. Elisha had faith that God would provide when God told him, “You will eat and have some left over.”
In the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus taking this miracle to a new level.
Jesus feeds 50 times more people with less loaves.
The magnitude of this miracle also makes a statement with the people of that time, and us today, that Jesus is greater than the prophets of the Old Testament.
What is also important in this Gospel is that
we will also find a reference to the Eucharist
!
As Jesus begins to prepare to feed 5,000 people, we see Jesus showing the Disciples a preview of how Jesus was going to institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
Interesting Facts about Eucharistic Miracles:
- The first documented miracle was in Lanciano, Italy in the year 700, and you can still see it today! Click here to read about the Miracle of Lanciano (make sure to select English at the top of the page).
- Last year the Vatican Dicastery for Communication presented a documentary on recent Eucharistic miracles. Click here to read the Vatican News article.
- Click here to read about the latest miracles in the last 25 years.
We look forward to seeing you this weekend!
On behalf of Fr. Reynold, Fr. John, Deacon Randy and our Staff, have a blessed week!
In Christ,
Alonso Rosado
Director of Development