Answer: The Mass makes present Christ's Paschal Mystery - especially his one sacrifice on the Cross, together with his Death, Resurrection and Ascension. The origins of the Eucharist are in the teaching, ministry and, especially, the Passover of the Lord when he gave his body and blood for us on Calvary. The New Testament does not contain the fully developed theological language later used by the Church, but it contains the essential foundations of Eucharistic doctrine.
It is a scandal when the Eucharist is celebrated to condone or congratulate emperors, slave owners and despots. In its long history, the Church has discovered and rediscovered the essential truths of the Gospel in its practice of the Eucharist purified of political associations either imposed or willingly embraced. I am thinking here, for example, of the association of some Catholics with fascist regimes in the mid-20th Century. We have to face the truths of history with honesty.
Sunday 5 July 2026
Lectio
Divina:*
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Meditatio:
‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28)
Commentary:
We tire from striving. We grow weary carrying burdens that were never meant to be carried alone. In his Son, God comes to us not as a despotic ruler but as a gentle king and suffering servant who gives his life for his people. God remains faithful when all around seems out of control. Evil never has the final word. Some may say that we are on the wrong side of history. Yet human history itself finds its meaning within God's greater plan of salvation. God's desire for his people is peace, life and communion with him. This is the theme running through each of the readings, today.
Answer: Nothing in particular.
A saint once said, “God looks at me and I look at God.” That is often enough.
If the Holy Spirit moves me to think,
speak, or pray about something, then I follow that prompting. If I am lost for
words, I simply remain there - quiet, attentive and receptive.
If I feel bored and find myself watching
the clock, then that too becomes something I can offer to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament: “Here I am, Lord - bored and dry.”
If I begin to wonder what I am doing there, or whether I truly believe in the Real Presence, I pray the words of the Gospel: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”
Answer: I believe that it does. It
determines how we approach the great sacrament of the Eucharist, how
significant participation is and what is at stake when we receive the sacrament
in holy communion. It also matters, I believe,
because the bread and wine that become the body and blood of Christ transforms
our worldly way of seeing things and living.
We cannot, simply, walk away and continue living as we did before. We
have met the Risen Christ in an altogether special and unique way that demands
a complete surrender of our wills and conversion of life. This is why it is a
good and wholesome thing to receive as often as we can provided that we are
properly disposed.
Question: How do you know that the bread
and wine after the consecration are not 'substantially' bread and wine but the Body and Blood of Jesus?
Answer: I ‘know’ this because I am
convinced that this is the consistent teaching of the catholic church since the
earliest times and is consistent with the scriptures.
Strictly speaking, I do not ‘know’ this in the same way that I know that 2+2=4 or that Australia exists as a place. I ‘know’ it based on trust, understanding and – above all – gift. At baptism, confession, communion and confirmation we are, each of us, given particular gifts compatible with our age, development and experience. Like when I switch on a computer in the morning I do not understand the internal workings, codes and complicated interactions that occur. I trust that the machine will boot up and give me a view of windows and whatever programme or application I run.
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| Pope Leo met Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare in September 2025. Source: here |
I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)
The central importance of mutual love as
the basis for building the ‘City of Mary’ echoes a theme of St Augustine in ‘The
City of God’ and which has been taken up recently by Pope Leo XIV in his
encyclical Magnifica
Humanitas,:
Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together.
Pope Leo sums up the role of the Eucharist
in helping us to build a civilisation of love in this fragmented world (#88):
For the Christian community, solidarity finds its source in the mystery of Christ and is nourished by the Eucharist. Solidarity emerges from communion in faith and the Sacraments: Baptism and Confirmation unite us in Christ, so that we may become one Body and one Spirit, one heart and one soul (cf. Eph 4:4; Acts 4:32). The Eucharist, which is the sacrament of unity, nurtures our belonging to the Body of Christ and teaches us how to share. The diverse sensibilities present in the Church and the strong convictions that animate each person are a source of richness if they remain anchored in the certainty that unity is a gift received and a responsibility to be fulfilled.
