Corpus Christi........

Corpus Christi and Father's day. 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi namely the precious body and blood of Christ our Lord.  Jesus says that unless we eat His body and drink His blood, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. He is the bread of life that came down from heaven. Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they all died and perished but on the other hand, anyone who eats the bread that comes down from heaven, will live forever. 

Few years ago, I met with a woman whose husband recently returned from Afghanistan and I asked her how she coped with his absence for two years. She said as newly married couple it was not easy for me. I struggled a lot without him and more so thinking that he was in the battle field. In the night time, I used to have his t shirt on and thus I felt that he is closer to me. The longing of the wife for her husband and their deep love for each other and likewise, Christ who created a deep longing in us, when he went up to the Father, did not abandon us instead the groom left the Holy Eucharist to his bride to celebrate and connect with him until he comes. 

The Holy Eucharist heals us from all infirmities.  

A noncanonical story says that once God sent all His angels down to find out the pressing needs of the people. Then the angels reported to God saying, "People hungry. They are hungry for love and hungry for food". Then God said, "I will send down my son who will fulfill all their needs and thus Christ gave His own body and blood".   

Ego sum panis vite and ego sum panis vivente namely I am the bread of life and I am the living bread. As Christ invited people to eat His flesh, many of His disciples left Him saying, "who will follow this command and it is so hard and thus went away from Him but the apostles said,  

"Jesus, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life". Yes, every time, we come here that's we say, "Jesus, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life and thus participating in the Mass we witness the mere bread and wine change into the real body and blood of Christ called transubstantiation. Let us receive Him and become like Him. 

Today we also celebrate father's day. Let us thank God the Father for sending His only Son who gives His body and blood as our food and also let us thank Him for our fathers who sacrifice their time, energy and resources to make us stronger in Christ Jesus. 

Once a father who saw his  trying to move a heavy rock said, "Son, are you using all your strength?" The son who was exhausted said, "Yes dad, I am". Then the dad said, "No, you are not. You haven't asked me to help you". 

Today I begin to see more and more dads involved so much in their children's life. The last two months, I got about six phone calls for baptism and four calls from fathers. The time is changing for better and it is really healthy to see how men are more involved in spiritual things. We need stronger spiritual leaders at home. When a father leads a family prayer, rosary and bible study, we can surely say that the children are going to be spiritually stronger. 

Once a dad who was so busy getting ready to go to work noticed that one of his children was using his electric shaver to shave his head. He got so mad at him and said, "what are you doing? Why are you keep bothering me, you need a good spanking". The son said, "Dad, don't get mad at me. Go and see what Charlie did. Charlie his second son came to him completely shaved head. The dad got so upset and said, "why are you doing these to me?"  They said, "Because we want to be like you".  

That's a desire of every child trying to be like his dad. 

Once a group of children went to see an ocean for the first time and when they came back to school the next day, they were sharing their experience with others saying, "No one can swim across the ocean. It is so huge and one of the children who did not go to the trip and who never saw an ocean said, "What about my dad. He can do anything".  

Fathers are role models and guide and they build and shape their children's future. 

So let us thank God almighty for our fathers who nourished and nourish us physically and spiritually. Let us thank Him for His Son who taught us to call God, 'Father". Amen.