{"id":332,"date":"2015-07-30T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/?p=332"},"modified":"2016-11-22T15:31:58","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T20:31:58","slug":"the-transforming-power-of-the-eucharist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/2015\/07\/30\/the-transforming-power-of-the-eucharist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transforming Power of the Eucharist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"eucharist1\"<\/a>In our technological society, it is not uncommon to try to measure the power and strength of all the products that are offered to us. We speak of the number of horsepower that an engine can produce, the strength of our computers and the new and improved extra-strength products that are offered in the stores. Each new line of product that comes out is expected to be capable of producing more and being more powerful. This desire for stronger and better always keeps us longing for the next and newest product to come out.<\/p>\n

Strangely, one of the powers that can not be measured and yet is one of the most powerful forces in the world is the power of love. Love is so powerful that it can change things that no technology or political authority can ever change. Love has the power to change a heart and motivate a person to do unheard of acts of generosity and kindness. For the sake of love, some people would be willing to sacrifice their lives, as in the case of a parent for a child or a husband or wife for their loved one. The most selfish individual can become a completely different person if he or she has an experience of love. This is seen easily enough if you think of the selfish young man or woman who is willing to give up everything once he or she falls in love. The same can be said for a couple that lives their life for the moment. Once a child comes into their lives, their entire world can be placed upside down and they can re-order all of the priorities of their lives.<\/p>\n

As I was trying to think of an example to illustrate my point, it occurred to me that we have here in our church a powerful and dramatic example of the way in which a person\u2019s life can be transformed by the power of love. Did you know that eleven of the stained glass windows in our church depict the life of St. Peter. These windows show how a man who was famous for his temper and lack of faith was completely transformed by God\u2019s love for him as he experienced it in Christ. Peter was an average working person, caught up in the concerns of his job and life. When Jesus first encountered him, he and his brother had returned frustrated from a hard day of work, in which they had caught only a few fish. Their encounter with Jesus, produced such a great catch of fish, that Peter tells Jesus to leave him alone, as he is but a sinful man. Shortly after he begins to follow Jesus, Peter attempts to follow Him out on the water, but his lack of faith will lead him to stumble and sink. It is only through Jesus\u2019 unconditional love that Peter will be able to rise above his weakness and continue to follow Jesus. Peter will betray the Lord three times and later attempt to flee the persecutions in Rome, and yet Jesus will stand by him and show to Peter the unconditional love which God has for him\u2014 and for each of us.<\/p>\n

Through Christ\u2019s constant presence in Peter\u2019s life, this normal man is transformed into one of the greatest saints in our Church and will be known as the Rock upon which the Church is built. None of Peter\u2019s greatness comes from his own abilities. In fact, it comes to him only through the love of God which strengthens him and allows him to order his entire life according to this love. As a result of the love which Christ has for him, Peter becomes that type of new person which Paul speaks about in today\u2019s second reading as he tells us that each one of us must become a new person due to our knowledge of Christ and His presence in our lives. The love which God has for each one of us is so great that it ought to cause us to re-order our lives and turn away from the things which had previously caused us to grumble and be too attached to the things of this world. Jesus\u2019 love is so strong that it causes us to rise above the pettiness of life, if we truly understand it. When we realize how much God loves us and what He has done for us in the death and resurrection of Christ, we no longer grumble like the people of Israel who were mad at God for delivering them from slavery because the food tasted bad. A Christian does not complain because someone took his or her place as a Eucharistic minister. A Christian sets his or her eyes on the gratitude that is felt at having been saved from death by God\u2019s love for us and rejoices in this, come what may.<\/p>\n

Now many people might be tempted to say that of course Peter changed; he stood next to Christ and heard Jesus speak with his own ears. How could he not be changed by that? They might go on to say: \u201cI too would be changed if I had an experience like that.\u201d To say this is to profess that we do not understand or appreciate what it is that we do or experience every time we come to Mass. At every celebration of the Eucharist, we too hear God\u2019s Word proclaimed for us and we are invited to open our own hearts to the power of God\u2019s Holy Spirit. Just as the Lord spoke personally to Peter, at the celebration of the Mass, He speaks personally to each of us. Just as Peter stood next to the Lord and ate with Him, at each Mass, we too come into contact with the Lord and eat at His Table.<\/p>\n

In our Gospel reading today from the Gospel of John, Jesus continues the bread of life discourse. Our Saviour invites us to understand that He has come to free us from the pettiness and gossiping of life. We are not to grumble as the people in the desert grumbled as the Lord was saving them. Instead we are to be like a people who have fallen in love. Love invites us to ask ourselves how we can respond to the trials of life in charity and with a generous heart. The person who is in love accepts the burdens and trials of the day joyfully and without complaining.<\/p>\n

The transforming power of love is what Pope Francis speaks about in his beautiful letter The Joy of the Gospel<\/em>. Here, the Pope explains how our knowledge of Christ and His love for us ought to so transform our hearts that we become a people of joy who overcome our trials by the joy we find in knowing Christ. This is the change that Paul tells the Ephesians should be a part of every Christian\u2019s encounter with the Lord. This Sunday we are invited to allow God\u2019s love for us in the Eucharist to transform our lives by considering all that Jesus has done for us. He is the bread of life that has come to give us eternal life.<\/p>\n

At times every Christian community can be bogged down by complainers and grumbling. We can all be like the Egyptians in the desert, complaining about the way God has saved us. One of the very essential things that Pope Francis invites us to put aside in his The Joy of the Gospel<\/em> is the complaining and gossiping that can cripple a Christian community. I would invite every member of this community to think about how much they complain about our parish and community. Does that complaining really represent the spirit that should be animating a Christian community? Jesus has saved us and given us the Eucharist as His constant presence among us. If we truly understand the significance of this gift, we would be like the people of Israel that we hear spoken of in today\u2019s Psalm. They sing of the great works of the Lord because \u201cThe Lord gave them the bread of heaven.\u201d In the Eucharist, Jesus has given us \u201cthe bread of life.\u201d There is nothing more that we can desire in life. Let us pray that this gift and the power of Christ\u2019s love can penetrate the hearts of each one of us and that we may become a community free of grumbling and open to the Joy of the Gospel<\/em>. May God grant us the grace to be a community that is truly transformed by the power of the Eucharist and the love of God that we receive through It.<\/p>\n

Fr. Michael McGourty \u2013\u00a0Pastor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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