THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST. As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 21 in my series; for past articles on this Revival , the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
THE BVM: MOTHER OF GOD, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH, MOTHEROF THE EUCHARIST. On this eighth and final day of the Octave of Christmas, the Church honors the woman whose faith and devotion enabled our Lord Jesus Christ’s Real Presence on earth to become a reality: His Mother. She was, in fact, the first true Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant! For in previous ages, God’s Word dwelt among us on tablets of stone. However, when God’s “Word became flesh” (John 1:14a), Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, began to dwell in the womb of His Mother. Thus, as I explained in my article on October 2, 2022, when the Son of God was conceived and developed in her womb, the Son of Mary received his Mother’s DNA and genes – which means she was present in Him and, by extension, in His Eucharistic Body and Blood!
SAINT JOHN PAUL II: HIS CONTEMPLATIVE & MYSTICAL WRITINGS. On Holy Thursday, 2003, in the 25th year of his pontificate, Pope John Paul II wrote an Encyclical Letter to all Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women in Consecrated Life, and all the Lay Faithful on the Eucharist and its relationship to the Church. Some found the section on the Eucharist and our Blessed Mother his most contemplative, if not mystical compositions. He began by pondering the profound connection between Mary carrying Jesus in her womb and us, for, in a sense, each time we receive Holy Communion, we become, for a few moments, just like our Blessed Mother!
Saint John Paul then pieces together a few biblical passages to present an intriguing insight. First, scripture do not list Mary among those present at the Last Supper; we DO know she was at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus entrusted her to the Beloved Disciple. (cf. John 19:25-27) We believe that disciple was John, one of the Twelve, and thus one of our first Bishops. We know that he and his brothers gathered in the Upper Room, the site of the Last Supper, as they awaited the Holy Spirit who came on Pentecost, and among them was “Mary the mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14) We know that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) and that Saint Paul, in his first Letter to the Corinthians, had to address abuses and bad habits that had already marred what we now call the Eucharist. So…
Isn’t it logical to believe that, although it is not recorded in the Bible, our Blessed Mother would have received Eucharist at these gatherings? And that Jesus appointed Saint John to be far more than His Mother’s caretaker; he was her own ‘personal chaplain’ – or rather, Bishop! As Saint John Paul wrote: “What must Mary have felt as she heard from the mouth of Peter, John, James and the other Apostles the words spoken at the Last Supper: ‘This is my body which is given for you’ (Luke 22:19)? … For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison with hers.”. What holy food for through, indeed! As some say, “Mary’s union with her Divine Son in Holy Communion from the hand of Saint John the Apostle was more intimate, even closer, than when the Son of God was wrapped for nine months in her own immaculate flesh. The fully human consciousness of Jesus is present in the Risen Lord of the Holy Eucharist.”
A HOLY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION. May I suggest we all make – as a New Year’s resolution – to do all we can to grow in our knowledge of – and experience in receiving – the great Gift of Eucharist during this three-year Revival! May God bless us with health and holiness in 2023!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST. As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 21 in my series; for past articles on this Revival , the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
THE BVM: MOTHER OF GOD, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH, MOTHEROF THE EUCHARIST. On this eighth and final day of the Octave of Christmas, the Church honors the woman whose faith and devotion enabled our Lord Jesus Christ’s Real Presence on earth to become a reality: His Mother. She was, in fact, the first true Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant! For in previous ages, God’s Word dwelt among us on tablets of stone. However, when God’s “Word became flesh” (John 1:14a), Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, began to dwell in the womb of His Mother. Thus, as I explained in my article on October 2, 2022, when the Son of God was conceived and developed in her womb, the Son of Mary received his Mother’s DNA and genes – which means she was present in Him and, by extension, in His Eucharistic Body and Blood!
SAINT JOHN PAUL II: HIS CONTEMPLATIVE & MYSTICAL WRITINGS. On Holy Thursday, 2003, in the 25th year of his pontificate, Pope John Paul II wrote an Encyclical Letter to all Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women in Consecrated Life, and all the Lay Faithful on the Eucharist and its relationship to the Church. Some found the section on the Eucharist and our Blessed Mother his most contemplative, if not mystical compositions. He began by pondering the profound connection between Mary carrying Jesus in her womb and us, for, in a sense, each time we receive Holy Communion, we become, for a few moments, just like our Blessed Mother!
Saint John Paul then pieces together a few biblical passages to present an intriguing insight. First, scripture do not list Mary among those present at the Last Supper; we DO know she was at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus entrusted her to the Beloved Disciple. (cf. John 19:25-27) We believe that disciple was John, one of the Twelve, and thus one of our first Bishops. We know that he and his brothers gathered in the Upper Room, the site of the Last Supper, as they awaited the Holy Spirit who came on Pentecost, and among them was “Mary the mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14) We know that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) and that Saint Paul, in his first Letter to the Corinthians, had to address abuses and bad habits that had already marred what we now call the Eucharist. So…
Isn’t it logical to believe that, although it is not recorded in the Bible, our Blessed Mother would have received Eucharist at these gatherings? And that Jesus appointed Saint John to be far more than His Mother’s caretaker; he was her own ‘personal chaplain’ – or rather, Bishop! As Saint John Paul wrote: “What must Mary have felt as she heard from the mouth of Peter, John, James and the other Apostles the words spoken at the Last Supper: ‘This is my body which is given for you’ (Luke 22:19)? … For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison with hers.”. What holy food for through, indeed! As some say, “Mary’s union with her Divine Son in Holy Communion from the hand of Saint John the Apostle was more intimate, even closer, than when the Son of God was wrapped for nine months in her own immaculate flesh. The fully human consciousness of Jesus is present in the Risen Lord of the Holy Eucharist.”
A HOLY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION. May I suggest we all make – as a New Year’s resolution – to do all we can to grow in our knowledge of – and experience in receiving – the great Gift of Eucharist during this three-year Revival! May God bless us with health and holiness in 2023!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS