WEDNESDAY HOMILY: The Eucharist is the Bread of the Strong

There broke out a severe persecution of the Church and all were scattered.In the news all over the world we continue to hear of the same Easter clash with Jesus Christ, alive and risen in his Church and with the authorities of this world.  This is especially true when it comes to the proclamation of the Gospel of life and family.

style="text-align: justify;">HYTHE, KENT, UK (Catholic Online) - In most of our Easter readings there is a clash with the Risen Lord and the powers of this world.  Coincidence?  Nope.  God.

In the news all over the world we continue to hear of the same Easter clash with Jesus Christ, alive and risen in his Church and with the authorities of this world.  This is especially true when it comes to the proclamation of the Gospel of life and family.

Life is attacked at conception with embryonic research and in vitro fertilization, life is attacked in the womb with abortion on demand, and family life is attacked lately by same-sex unions being passed off as "marriages," or rather seeking to redefine marriage in law as between whoever wants it.

Yet the risen Lord is alive and active.  Wickedness shall not prevail.  This is what, or rather who, we must cling to when evil seems to dominate, and when new forms of malice are perpetrated on us.

Where does the risen Lord touch us, heal us, and move us?  The Gospel for today would tell us that this happens in the Eucharist.

"I am the Bread of Life.everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."  The Eucharist is the Bread of the Resurrection, or as the martyrs called it, the "Bread of the Strong."  Not that it makes us invincible, takes away persecution, or stops hatred, but that it strengthens us to be able to carry the burdens of the day, to face malice with a peaceful heart, to handle persecution with serene courage of the martyrs.

A particular thing to focus on in this year of faith is Eucharistic courage, strength that comes from faith that, not only did God become man two thousand years ago in Nazareth, but that God is the Bread that comes down from heaven to our altars, hidden in the Eucharistic mystery.

Pope Francis is a man of Eucharistic courage.  You can see this simply by the joyful way he interacts with people and by the bold way he faces the temporal powers of this age, reaffirming the value of life from conception to natural death and denouncing governments impertinence in attempting to redefine marriage between one man and one woman.  He has no fear to say it like it is, to keep it real.

May the Eucharistic and risen Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Eucharist, help us live the Gospel in the face of persecution and malice.

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Father Samuel Medley, SOLT, is a priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, and is based in Hythe, Kent, United Kingdom.  He speaks to groups around the world on Blessed Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.  Visit his homily blog http://medleyminute.blogspot.com or his blog on sexual ethics http://loveandresponsibility.org

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