Our Lady of Sorrows
    info@oladyofsorrows.org
    956-686-0251
    • Home
    • News
      • Weekly Bulletin
    • Homilies
      • Msgr. Gustavo Barrera
      • Dcn. Ray Thomas
      • Dcn. Johnny Gonzalez
      • Dcn. Crawford Higgins
    • About Us
      • Office Directory
      • Worship & Liturgy Schedule
      • Our Pastor
      • Photo Gallery
    • Donate
    • Sacraments
      • Baptism
      • Matrimony
      • CCD
      • RCIA
    • Ministries & Organizations
      • Adoration
      • Altar & Rosary Society
      • Altar Servers
      • Asamblea de Oracion de Matrimonios (AOM)
      • Catholic Daughters of the Americas
      • Homebound Ministry
      • JCDA
      • Choir
      • Knights of Columbus
      • Legion of Mary
      • Readers of the Word (Lectors)
      • Serra Club
      • Star of Hope
    • Faith & Spirituality Groups
      • Bereavement Support
      • Centering Prayer Group
    • Become a Parishioner
    • Funeral Information
    • Quinceañera Information
    • OLS YouTube Channel
    • School
    • Diocese of Brownsville
    • Contact Us

    BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, CYCLE A

    6/14/2020

     
    John 6:51-58
    The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ is intimately connected to Holy Thursday when Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
     
    We are all wrapped up in the mystery of who God is and what Jesus is doing for us.  Through the simple act of eating and drinking the Lord chose to make Himself present for all ages until we see Him face to face.  Within the context of praise, worship and the laying on of hands of an ordained priest, the Body and Blood of Christ is made present.  The Eucharist is central to who we are as Catholics.  Although all of the Sacraments are important, no other Sacrament touches us so intimately as the Eucharist.  On the day before He was to suffer, on the night of the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and said, “This is my Body.”  Then He took the chalice and said, “Take this, all of you and drink from it, This is my Blood….do this in memory of me.”  With a few words in an ancient ritual called Passover meal, Jesus changed human history.  He changed the “Old Covenant” to the “New Covenant”.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophesies, the awaited Messiah, the God who became man.  Indeed, the Eucharistic Table is where God and people sit down to eat together.  Imagine that at the Last Supper the Apostles were eating and drinking the Person who was going to hang on a cross the next day, get buried in a tomb, and then find them hiding behind locked doors.  Of course, none of reality made any sense to them until years later.  We usually do not appreciate the moment until later, that’s why we take pictures.
     
    However, the Eucharist is much better than a picture.  When we view a photograph, we use our memory to take us back, to remember the moment.  In the Eucharist we are not just remembering a moment, we are in the moment.  At Holy Mass we are present in the upper room when Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist and we are present in heaven with all the choirs of angels and saints who constantly sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts….Hosanna in the highest.”  God is not limited by space and time.  God is just as present at the first moment of creation to the culmination of the world.  Since God allows us to eat and to drink Him in Holy Communion, we get a free ride.  If only for a few seconds, we become what we eat and drink.  We regain eternity, which is how we were created in the first place.  Holy Communion reminds us that death has no more power…”For whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever.”
     
    The Lord always keeps His promises.  We are the greatest obstacles to our salvation.  The most popular obstacle is how badly we treat one another.  In a world torn apart by violence Jesus invites us to be reconciled.   Since we do not like to eat with strangers, there can be no strangers at the Table of the Lord.  Look at the example that we have from the Master.  Knowing that all of the Apostles were going to betray Him, He still gave them His Body and Blood, no discrimination.  We are the ones who make distinctions of titles, education, wealth—not God.  The challenge is not only to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, but to be the Body and Blood of Christ.  We are called to become what we eat.  We cannot say that we love God if we do not love all people, regardless of race or color or religion.  Fact is that God is pretty much color blind, because He made everybody.  We do not have the right to discriminate against anyone or anything that God has made.  Every human life is sacred, from the womb to the tomb; because we are all connected to the Body—the same Body that suffered and continues to suffer in our brothers and sisters—the same Body that rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father.  Yes, the Lord is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, but He is just as present in the least among us, the ones whom we’d rather not see.
     
    We celebrate that we are all connected and must treat each other with the same respect as we give to God. 


    Comments are closed.
      Picture
      Msgr. Gustavo Barrera,
      ​celebrated his first Holy Mass as pastor on September 15, 2007, the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows. With his enthusiasm and spiritual guidance, OLS continues to serve our Catholic family in a way that challenges us to grow as an evangelizing community.

      Archives

      February 2023
      January 2023
      December 2022
      November 2022
      October 2022
      September 2022
      August 2022
      July 2022
      June 2022
      May 2022
      April 2022
      March 2022
      February 2022
      January 2022
      November 2020
      October 2020
      September 2020
      August 2020
      July 2020
      June 2020
      May 2020
      April 2020
      March 2020
      February 2020
      January 2020
      December 2019
      November 2019
      October 2019
      September 2019
      July 2019
      June 2019
      May 2019
      April 2019
      March 2019
      February 2019
      January 2019
      December 2018
      November 2018
      October 2018
      September 2018
      August 2018
      July 2018
      June 2018
      May 2018
      April 2018
      March 2018
      February 2018
      January 2018
      December 2017
      November 2017
      October 2017
      September 2017
      August 2017
      June 2017
      May 2017
      April 2017
      March 2017
      February 2017
      January 2017
      December 2016
      November 2016
      October 2016
      September 2016
      August 2016
      July 2016
      June 2016
      May 2016
      April 2016
      March 2016
      February 2016
      January 2016
      December 2015
      November 2015
      October 2015
      September 2015
      August 2015
      July 2015
      June 2015
      May 2015
      April 2015
      March 2015

      Msgr. Gustavo Barrera, Pastor.

      Categories

      All

      RSS Feed

    About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Office Directory
    • Stewardship
    • Pastor
    • Our History
    Sacraments
    • Baptism
    • First Reconciliation
    • First Communion
    • Confirmation
    • Marriage
    • Anointing of the Sick
    Parish Life
    1. Become a Parishioner
    2. Bulletin & Newsletters
    3. Planning Center Log-in​
    Worship and Liturgy
    • Daily Readings
    • Liturgy of Hours
    • Mass & Reconciliation
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    Faith Formation
    • CCD
    • RCIA​
    Links & Resources
    • CDOB
    • USCCB
    • Vatican: Holy See
    • American Catholic
    More
    • Homilies
    • Online Giving
    • OLS School
    • OLS on YouTube
    Our Lady of Sorrows Parish
    1108 W Hackberry Ave.
    McAllen, Texas 78501-4370
    Telephone
    : (956) 686-0251
    Picture
    Picture

    Website Development by The Parish Solutions Company
    Our Lady of Sorrow Image Copyright Cromo NB permission to use by CNB Basevi.
    Back to top