V-SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION-
ألاحد الخامس من زمن القيامة
Year 114 - Issue No. 17 || April 28—May 04, 2024 a.d.
Today our children will receive their First Holy Communion.
I welcome the families of the 6 children who will make their First Holy Communion today. The Lord Jesus Christ will come to them in his full body, blood, soul, and divinity, drawing them into himself unto life everlasting. He will give them a foretaste of the eternal banquet of heaven, seating them at his table and feeding them with His own self.
Where did St. Peter get the serene clarity that he displays in today’s gospel? Isn’t Peter the one who denied Christ three times the night before Passover? Yes, Peter denied Jesus, not once like Judas, but three times! How many times have you and I denied Jesus? How many times do we confess the same sin in those confessionals, often with a sense of great discouragement? We are all weak in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But God is strong. And God returns from the hell to which we have sent Him; He rises from the dead and meets Peter again at the lakeshore. Again they witness a great catch of fish, and Peter, hoping against hope that God still loves him, hurls himself into the water toward Jesus. When Peter finally makes it to shore, Jesus asks him three times if he loves him, one for each of his denials. And still Peter falters. In the original Greek Jesus asks Peter “Simon, do you love (agape) me?” and Peter replies “I like (filia) you.” Jesus gives Peter two more chances to say that word “love.” Can you say that you love me, Peter? Will you give your life for me, as I am still ready to give my life again for you. It would take another thirty years, but in the end Peter accepted God’s mercy. He died on a cross in the year 64AD in Rome, under the persecutions of the Emperor Nero, for love of Jesus Christ. Divine Mercy received; Divine Mercy given. That is Peter’s essential witness. Children: this is your First Holy Communion. It is the first time you will receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus into your bodies and souls. You cannot live without Holy Communion, because we cannot live without love. Scientists have shown how children growing up without any human touch, without loving attention, simply do not develop as humans. They cannot speak and they hardly move. We are made for greater things, to love and to be loved. As you grow older, you will thirst for love more and more. As teenagers you will want someone to understand you; as young adults you will need someone to be there for you; as adults you will need someone to hold you and to know you. No human being can love you as much as you need. But God, who comes to you in Holy Communion, can love you that much. Our Lady, whom we honor in this coming month of May, stayed very close to God. She was the first ever to receive him in Holy Communion when she said yes to the angel Gabriel, and the Word became flesh within her body. When you say Amen in a few minutes, the Word of God will become flesh within you just like it did in her. Blessed day of Lord!
May we remain always rooted in Christ.
The Photos are now available
here.