Last Sunday was Grandparents Day, we prayed that all Grandparents had a wonderful Day! The readings for last Sunday teach us that God is always attentive to our needs.
In the first reading, the Prophet Elisha encourages his servant to trust that God would provide for the lack of bread and that there will even be some left over. Sure enough, through the prayers of Elisha, after the twenty loaves are handed out to the one hundred men, there was bread left over.
St Paul in the second reading reminds us how to treat each other. Through God’s grace, we are empowered to grow in the virtues such as humility, gentleness, patience, faith and love. By practising the virtues, we become holy. The Saints practised the virtues to a heroic degree. Through living a truly virtuous life, we become a source of peace and harmony in the community, giving off light, rather than darkness and becoming leaven to all around us. People will know our community by the love we show to our neighbour.
In the Gospel, many people from villages all around Galilee has been completely captivated by the preaching and miracles of Jesus. This was so much so, that they had forgotten their hunger and travel plans. Jesus could see that people who had been following Him now for a number of days, were exhausted. So, He worked this wonderful miracle of multiplication of the five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people. The miracle was also to prepare the people for the profound teaching He would shortly commence on the True Bread, the Eucharist.
Every year the Church interrupts the cycle of readings around this time to focus on John 6, because this chapter is so important to our Faith, for it contains the theology of the Eucharist. The Eucharist and Holy Communion is our greatest treasure on earth, because it is Jesus present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It is He who we receive in Holy Communion and who is present in the Tabernacle. During the Consecration in the Mass, transubstantiation takes place, that is, trans substance. The substance of bread and wine is changed and through the prayers of the Priest Jesus becomes fully present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament.
This reminds me of the story of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa who was born in Portugal in 1904 and died in 1955. A dreadful thing happened to her when a man who had previously tried to molest her, broke into her house with an accomplice in 1918. Alexandrina was at home with her sister. In order to flee the intruder, and preserve her chastity, Alexandrina jumped from an upstairs window. The man and his accomplice fled, but Alexandrina’s spine was irreparably injured. Six years later she had to remain in bed for the rest of her life. The slightest movement caused her intense pain. She began to grow closer and closer to the Lord, as Alexandrina realized clearly that she was suffering in a special way for the salvation of souls. She received Holy Communion every day and her thoughts frequently turned to Jesus in the Tabernacle. Alexandrina went into her first ecstasy in 1931 and she heard Jesus say to her:
Love, suffer and make reparation.
She realized then that her vocation was to be victim soul. Under orders from her spiritual director, Alexandrina began to dictate her life story to her sister, but many times the devil threatened her not to write anymore. In 1936 Jesus asked her to spread the message of Fatima and to urge consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart. In one of her ecstasies, Jesus said to her:
Keep me company in the Blessed Sacrament. I remain in the Tabernacles night and day, waiting to give my love and grace to all who visit me. But, so few come. I am so abandoned, so lonely, so offended. Many live as if I were not here in the Blessed Sacrament.
From 1938 Alexandrina suffered the Passion of Jesus every Friday. This happened 180 times during her life. From 1942 she began an absolute fast, living on nothing but the Eucharist. She was put in hospital for observation for a total of 40 days and doctors tried to entice her to eat, but she said:
I cannot, I feel full, I do not need it.
The doctors reported that after the 40 days, Alexandrina retained normal weight, temperature, breathing, blood pressure and pulse rate. Finally, she died on 13th October 1955 and was beatified by Pope St John Paul II on 25th April 2004 in St Peter’s Basilica.
Time and again through the mystics and Eucharistic miracles Jesus reminds us of His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. This really is our treasure on earth. The Good Shepherd never deserts His flock but provides abundant nourishment for our pilgrimage through life. Just before receiving Holy Communion when the Priest says:
The Body of Christ,
please remember to say Amen. This is affirmation of faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in His Sacrament of Love.
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving Be every moment Thine.
Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa, pray for us!