Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,
Jesus’ teaching in the gospels is challenging: love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God; if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. The list goes on and on. Someone encountering his commands for the first time might conclude that it is simply beyond our human capacity to follow them. That’s exactly the point! What Jesus commands us to be and to do is simply beyond our limited human abilities. We can not love so purely and perfectly relying on our own strength. What hope then do we have?
We need supernatural strength and a divine source of love if we wish to be his disciples. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus states, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” The sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the baptized Christian receives the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, is precisely the spiritual strength we need to live the Christian life. At first, his teaching seems preposterous or scandalous; the Jews respond, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The answer is that we absolutely need his flesh and blood if we wish to really live and to love as God loves. We may not have the theological language to describe it, but the committed follower of Jesus recognizes, “I need him.” The Eucharist is not some wonderful addition to the Christian life, but the daily bread that makes the Christian life possible. Yes, Jesus’ teaching is exalted and not for the mediocre: “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Yet, he has given us an infinite strength, he has given us his very heart in the Eucharist. Nothing is lacking for us to become saints; rather, the Eucharist provides us with all we need, and infinitely more, to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
This week, Sr. Yelitza Ayala Gilot arrived at St. Martin’s as the newest member of our parish family. Welcome Sr. Yelitza and count on our prayers as you begin your ministry at St. Martin’s! May Jesus’ Eucharistic heart be your strength to give yourself generously to our people.
In Christ,
Fr. Dave
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