"I am the Bread of Life..".

From Fr. James Fargaglia...

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6: 35).

Last week we began our consideration of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of John. The entire chapter is a catechesis on the awesome mystery of the Eucharist.

The first part (verses 1-21) consists of two miracles. The second part (verses 22-71) contains the body of teaching on the Eucharist. The miracles are an important introduction to the teaching. John the Evangelist is focusing in on the divinity of Jesus. Only God can perform miracles. If Jesus can multiply the loaves and the fishes; if Jesus can walk on the water, he can also change bread and wine into himself.

As we journey through chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, we need to be crystal clear what we mean by transubstantiation and real presence. Let us quickly review what we discussed last Sunday.

Transubstantiation means "change of substance", or "change of reality." When the priest repeats the words that Jesus spoken at the Last Supper, the bread is no longer bread, and the wine is no longer wine. Instead, the entire substance of the bread and the entire substance of the wine have been changed into the substance of The Body and Blood of Christ. Transubstantiation occurs only by the power of God, and in a way that we cannot empirically detect. We know that transubstantiation takes place through the certainty of faith. Jesus, the Son of God; Jesus the Messiah; Jesus the Lord and Savior of the universe said: "This is my body"; "This is my blood". Faith is a vision superior to reason, but it does not contradict reason, precisely because faith relies upon the authority of God who does not deceive, nor can be deceived. Jesus is the truth and thus is incapable of lying.

Real presence refers to the presence of our Eucharistic Lord. We read the following in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend. In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained. This presence is called real – by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be real too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1374).

Now, that we have reviewed the essential points from last week’s Sunday homily, let’s turn our thoughts to the Catholic priesthood. There is an old saying that affirms: without the priest there is no Eucharist and without the Eucharist there is no priest... Continued here)

Fr. James's Sunday Homily: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Christmas is almost here. As the fourth candle of the advent wreath is lit, we are reminded that we need to intensify our spiritual preparation for the anniversary of the birth of our Savior.

The external aspects of our Christmas celebration only make sense if we keep our attention fixed on who it is that we are celebrating. Christmas is the birthday of Jesus. This Sunday's gospel passage focuses our attention on the one central reality of Christianity: that the Word, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, became man and dwelt among us. On the last Sunday of Advent, the Church allows us to contemplate this reality through Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Often when we attempt to get to know someone, it is always very helpful to know the person’s mother. Fr. Romano Guardini once wrote: “Anyone who would understand the nature of a tree, should examine the earth that encloses its roots, the soil from which its sap climbs into branch, blossom, and fruit. Similarly, to understand the person of Jesus Christ, one would do well to look to the soil that... (Continued here)

Sunday Homily...

"In this Sunday’s gospel passage, we see that Jesus is caught in a real predicament. The dilemma is compounded by the fact that two bitterly opposing sects, the Pharisees and the Herodians, have joined forces to attack Jesus.

Had Jesus said that paying the tax was unlawful, the Pharisees and the Herodians would promptly have reported the matter to the Roman officials and his arrest would have quickly followed. Had he answered that it was lawful to pay the tax, he would have damaged his reputation before the Jewish people who resented paying tax to an invading government.

“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22: 21). With this distinctive answer Jesus establishes a teaching which goes beyond the needs and circumstances of his own times and serves as a guiding principle for all generations.

All of the baptized enjoy a dual citizenship. We are citizens of the country of our birth or political allegiance, and we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Ideally, these two citizenships should not clash, but sometimes they do. Jesus calls us to be good citizens of both kingdoms, but many times conflicts do arise which cause the citizens of the heavenly kingdom to take a stand in defense of the truth... (Continued here at Fr. James's blog).