Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

YOU ARE THE LORD THE BREAD, YOU FOOD ARE FOR US, RISEN TO A NEW LIFE YOU ARE ALIVE AMONG US

I adore you, latent Déitas, Within the forms, vere visitas: To Thee my heart I bow with bended, he said, Because, have you plans, all fails.

.

Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

.

.

PDF print format article

.

.

.

.

Dear Readers of The Island of Patmos,

.

in these times of global contagion, the decrees asked restaurants to remain closed or to open only at certain times. Perhaps we missed living that moment of serenity, of a break and also of joy that you usually spend with your friends and relatives. These are moments in which physical and interpersonal distancing has also taken away from us the joy of communion and the real presence of those we love.

.

But today we are here to celebrate the banquet of Jesus Christ. The banquet of the Eucharist that we receive under the species of bread and wine, in which Jesus is substantially, really and truly present. It is such a great mystery, because it is the mystery of God who is truly and authentically present and living next to us in our life, redeemed by him forever in the Passion.

.

The letter to the Hebrews explains precisely this special salvation to us in one passage:

.

"He [Jesus] entered the sanctuary once and for all, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by virtue of his own blood, thus obtaining an eternal redemption " [cf.. EB 9,11-15].

.

About the passion and death that we celebrated in the Easter Triduum, the letter to the Hebrews narrates that Jesus gave his Blood for us and obtained an eternal redemption for us. Here the text does not explicitly say the body as well, but it is implied that this is also being spoken of. The sacrifice of Jesus, bloody in the Passion, he freed us from the burden of slavery with sin contracted since the sin of Adam and Eve. So, unlike the Jewish ritual of sacrifice that purified from sins that was repeated every year, the bloody sacrifice of the blood of Jesus happened only once.

.

These considerations they are useful for us to try to re-read the events that took place during the Triduum which culminated on Easter day. Maybe in those days we thought little about it, taken by a thousand things to organize for example work, the family, The holy Mass, Easter lunch … but yet, in those hectic days, the Lord has freed us from the great burden of sin. Offering himself innocent for all the guilty. It is true we are in the summer, but we must not forget the first days of April this spring. Let's try to think back to that great Easter sacrifice of love of Jesus for us.

.

The fact that there has been a single historic bloody sacrifice does not leave out of this act of love, all of us who were born centuries after the days of the Passion. This is possible because Jesus, to perpetuate his sacrifice over the centuries and involve us in his great Love, he instituted the Eucharist, ii sacrificing a bloodless. The gospel tells us about it:

.

"While they ate, he took the bread and said the blessing, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: “Take, this is my body ". Then he took a chalice and gave thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he told them: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is paid for many. Truly I tell you, I will never drink of the fruit of the vine again until the day I drink it new, in the kingdom of God "" [cf.. MC 14,12-16.22-26]

.

Here we see that Jesus offers the bread and wine, which he "transformed" into His Most Holy Body and Blood, to the apostles. Subsequently, the apostles and their successors will repeat the words of Jesus uttering them on bread and wine, who by transubstantiation will again present to those who participate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This is what the whole Church does today, when he celebrates the Eucharist.

.

This great mystery is a sacrifice of love which for us still today means being in communion with the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic species. In fact, when we will soon receive the consecrated host, Jesus will take up residence in us, he will unite his Heart to our heart, our body will become the Temple of His Body and His Blood, and also of the Holy Spirit. According to some calculations, the Eucharistic species and therefore Jesus after being assumed remains united with us for fifteen minutes. In the time of distancing and isolation, the Lord makes himself bread to be intimate. And her intimacy with him, it calls each of us to love God and neighbor even more. The Eucharist is the sacrament of friendship and intimacy with God.

.

The Roman historian Sallust wrote: “Wanting and not wanting the same things, this is true friendship ". So let's ask the Lord, especially today, to open our soul and our spirit to him and to his great Eucharistic love, to unite our will with Him now, to prepare ourselves for the definitive encounter in eternal bliss.

.

Rome, 6 June 2021

.

.

.

Dear Readers,

we opened the Facebook page of Editions The island of Patmos on which we invite you to put You can open it directly from here by clicking on the logo below:

.

Staff Blog

Father Gabriele

.

.

Visit the pages of our book shop WHO and support our editions by purchasing and distributing our books.

.

News from the Dominican Province Roman: visit the official website of the Dominicans, WHO

.

.

«You will know the truth and the truth will set you free» [GV 8,32],
but bring, spread and defend the truth not only of
risks but also the costs. Help us supporting this Island
with your offers through the secure Paypal system:

payable to Editions The island of Patmos

IBAN IT 74R0503403259000000301118
in this case, send us an email warning, because the bank
It does not provide your email and we could not send you a
thanks [ isoladipatmos@gmail.com ]

.

.

.

.

.

.