Our reading today is in the aftermath of an incident that occurred at the Temple in Jerusalem shortly after the Apostles received their charisms, their gifts of the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost.
Peter heals the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate. The power of the Holy Spirit made manifest through Peter and the Church in order to extend the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus into the world around him.
We must remember that, sacramentally speaking, the Sacred Heart of Jesus is ultimately the Eucharist and His Kingdom is the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church.
In his monthly challenge, Archbishop Lori reminds us “Jesus promised he would be with us always, and the Eucharist is his fulfillment of that promise. We encounter his presence most profoundly in the Eucharist, where he is truly present — body, blood, soul, and divinity — under the appearance of bread and wine.”
He goes on to say the Eucharist is no ordinary bread, “but an encounter with Christ, who invites us, too, to enter into communion with him through the Eucharist.”
It is through the Eucharist and the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church that we are granted healing and deliverance. The Precious Blood of Jesus Christ and the Fire of the Holy Spirit flow from the side of Christ on the Cross into the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church for us to receive like the crippled man in front of the Temple.
I’ll talk more about this tomorrow at Mass, but for today, Archbishop Lori challenges us to “remain in prayer and adoration for several minutes after Mass to grow in awareness of Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist.”
Ultimately, the crippled man was healed because he came to realize the true presence of Jesus Christ. From that moment on, he “clung” to the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church and all the people were amazed.
What amazing thing can God do in your life? What amazing healing can Jesus bring about for you?
It all starts with the Eucharist and the Sacramental Life of the Church. As Archbishop Lori asks in his challenge: “Do you fully realize it is the true body and blood of Christ that you receive in the Eucharist? Do you habitually pray in thanksgiving after Communion for this immeasurable gift? Do you consistently participate in Mass on Sundays and holy days? Do you make an effort to attend more frequently, so that you might avail yourself of the graces of this great sacrament?”
Those are pertinent questions for us to meditate on this Easter season, especially if we feel we are somehow crippled ourselves, whether that is physically, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically. We must cling to the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church. We must fully understand who He is in the Eucharist. We must have complete faith like the crippled man.
O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth through the Sacramental Life of the Catholic Church.
Thanks be to God!
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