Dear Parishioners,
Our Lord performed many miracles during his time on earth. He turned water into wine, gave sight to the blind, cured lepers, healed the lame, the deaf and the mute. He even raised Lazarus from the dead. But the greatest of all miracles took place at the Last Supper when he instituted the Eucharist. He gave his disciples his body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine. While all his other miracles took place only during Our Lord’s time on earth, this miracle continues to take place every time Mass is celebrated. What is more astonishing is the fact that this miracle can’t be seen by the human eye. The bread and wine doesn’t seem to change. It looks like, smells like, and tastes like bread and wine, but it is not. It’s Jesus. How do we know? Because Jesus tells us so in the gospels (Mark 14:12-16, 22-26). Still, people have had their doubts. So there have been a number of miracles seen throughout the ages where hosts have literally turned into bleeding flesh or hosts have not disintegrated even after several hundred years. You can read about these miracles in several books: “This Is My Body, This Is My Blood; Miracles of the Eucharist” by Bob and Penny Lord, and “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World” by Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association.
However, the greatest miracle is what the Eucharist does for us. It unites us to Jesus every time we receive it, provided we are in the state of grace, and gives us the grace and energy to be authentic disciples of Jesus. What an amazing miracle!
- Father Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
