The Simple Fishermen

Today, we celebrate yet another Catholic feast day.  Has it ever occur to you that the Catholic faith can sometimes be perceived as one heck of a complicated mystery?

So many special days in the liturgical calendar, prayers to memorize, liturgical “rules”, creeds, litanies, saints feast days, encyclicals, sacraments and not forgetting the almost 3,000 paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church!

Nevertheless, the Catholic Christian faith is never meant to be perceived as complicated or burdensome.  After all, the very first disciples were mere fishermen!  Speaking of this, I recalled an email forwarded to me sometime back, on the simple life of a fisherman.  Let me just quote it here for the benefit of all…this is how the story goes...

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village and a city tourist complimented the local poor fishermen on the quality of their fishes and asked how long it took him to catch them each day.

“Not very long.” the fishermen answered in unison.  The tourist replied, “Why didn't you stay out there longer and catch more.”

The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families for the day.

“But what about tomorrow, the day after, what then do you do with the rest of your precious time today?”

“Well, very simple…we sleep late, fish a little, play with our children and take siestas with our wives.  In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.  We simply live and have a full life.  Most important of all, we thank God for His blessings for us today.  We acknowledge His presence in our lives.”The tourist seem rather confused and immediately interrupted...

“You guys are lost!  You waste so much time idling away.  Lucky for you, I have an MBA from Harvard, an analytical mind and I can surely help you out of this predicament!  First, you should start by fishing a little longer each day to be more productive.  You can then sell the extra fishes you catch at the market.  With the extra revenue, you can then buy an even bigger boat.”

The poor fishermen looked blankly one another and at the tourist...they simply questioned, “And after all these, what then?…”

The Harvard tourist continued, “With the extra money that the larger boat will bring, you can then buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Your lives will be redefined for the better!  Strategically speaking, instead of selling your fishes to a middle man, you should negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own fishery plant.  You can then leave this little village and move on to Mexico City, big cities like Los Angeles or even New York City…for that matter, in fact, anywhere around the world!  You will have the luxury of more freedom, more choices and lots more wealth!  From these bigger cities you can manage and direct your huge new business empire.”The fishermen humbly asked the man, “How much time would all these take?”

“Fifteen, twenty, perhaps twenty-five years…depending on how much effort you are willing to invest for the betterment of your life and that of your families.” replied the tourist.

“And by the way, sir, what then after that?” the simple folks replied.

“What after that?  Well my dear friends, that is when it gets even more interesting…” answered the tourist-consultant, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can even start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions?  Really?  And what more after that?" asked these fishermen.

“After that you will be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

Now, these simple fishermen were even more confused and said to the tourist, “With all due respect sir, but is not that what we are exactly doing right now?  So what is the point wasting fifteen, twenty or twenty-five years? Why wait?” asked the Mexicans.

Like this simple fishermen story, the Catholic Christian faith can sometimes be perceived as a waste of time, tedious, strict and mysterious - indeed a “mystery” to a lot of people.  But, it is precisely because it is a “mystery” that simple and mortal pilgrims like us cannot expect to figure these out by mere intellectual means alone; the finite human mind.

The mysteries of our faith can only be grasped through a personal encounter with Jesus, by the grace and mercy of God…as with a sister, a brother or even a friend – the heart.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Holy Eucharist…the mystery of the Most Holy Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.   Today also happens to be the anniversary of the institution of the priesthood…a simple Happy Birthday goes out to all Priests!

Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas, simply wrote that… “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”

Within the reflections on the new translation of the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite of the Mass, we come to the heart of the Eucharist, the consecration of the bread and wine, where the priest simply say: “This is my body, which will be given up for you” and subsequently “This is the chalice of my blood, the new and everlasting covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. …The mystery of faith.”

There are many, many mysteries in life and of being human…and no matter how much our finite human intelligence (if one ever wants to call it) attempt to reason…these simply remains a mystery, simply to be embraced…similar to the uncontrolled heartbeat, the Source that sustains us each day, our breath that gives life, the conceived child…including many other simple miracles of life!

Within this exclusive Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, Catholics possess the gift of the real presence and personal encounter with the Lord, Jesus Christ…an extremely deep personal encounter…a mystery that only the faithful can grasp; poor or rich, intelligent or not-so-clever…but nevertheless, a concrete reality of our rich faith!

Yes, our Catholic faith is that simple…just as falling in love is generally simple…but only if we have simple hearts to know where we stand before God…only if we choose to open our hearts to Him…only if we want to make this journey home and have this relationship with Him.

Corpus Christi…the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ…veneration of the Blessed Sacrament…the Sacred Host…the real presence of Jesus Christ gifted to the Catholic Church…like the simple and humble fishermen…let us simply believe and follow Him!

“…blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.” (John 20:29, Douay Rheims)

“…behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matthew 28:20, Douay Rheims)

 

The Eucharist is Jesus Christ

“The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?  And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?  For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Douay Rheims)



“The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven.  Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live forever.” (John 6:53-59, Douay Rheims)

Somehow, I have this restlessness within me today to share this reminder yet again, that the Holy Eucharist is indeed the source and summit of the Catholic Christian life.


Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote that, “The mark of a Catholic is the willingness to look for the divine in the flesh of a babe in a crib, and the continuing Christ under the appearance of bread and wine on an altar.”


Saint Pius X said, “Remember, this side of heaven, there is no way to be closer to Jesus than by worthily receiving him in Holy Communion.”


Therefore pilgrims, simply and quietly reflect...Jesus Christ is really present in the Holy Eucharist of the Catholic Church; nothing less...

Blessed Eucharist...The Greatest Treasure of the Catholic Church

“Jesus answered them, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled.  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you.  For him hath God, the Father, sealed.” (John 6:26-27, Douay Rheims)



“Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.  Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world.  They said therefore unto him: Lord, give us always this bread.  And Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:31-34, Douay Rheims)

“He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.” (John 6:55-57, Douay Rheims)

The Blessed Eucharist is indeed a great mystery of faith; so much so that even many of the Jews that heard this said, “…How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:53)  Even the disciples on hearing this thought, “…This saying is hard, and who can hear it?” (John 6:61); so much so that, “…many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him.” (John 6:67)

What more, for us mere mortals, with all our formed mindsets and conditioning, it can get pretty challenging, at different points of our life's journey, to fathom and embrace this fact...this truth of our faith.

This very day, in our journey through life, Jesus continues to pose this question to each one of us, pilgrims, “Will you also go away?” (John 6:68)


“And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5, Douay Rheims)

Indeed, the Sacred and Blessed Eucharist remains a very central mystery of our Catholic faith, especially to those of us who have not, the eyes of faith; rather, worldly-distorted vision.  In the Bible, St Paul reminds us that faith is the belief in things which we do not see.


I would like to repeat the simple question posted a few days earlier for reflection, “Do you truly believe in the real physical presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?”

From the Book of Genesis and throughout the rest of the Holy Scriptures, we know that when God, Our Father in Heaven, speaks, what He commands is done in an instant.  It would be a tremendous pity if we, His children, were to doubt the words of Jesus when he assured us that “…behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)


“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.” (John 1:11-12, Douay Rheims)

Many people today, mostly led astray by pride, conditioned mindsets and instigated by the devil through various means, still do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and even ridicule the Catholic doctrine about the Blessed Sacrament.

Even more humiliating sometimes, is that these could be the very, indifferent, people who professed that God is all-powerful, Creator of Heaven and Earth…yet, deep down, they cannot believe that He can transform bread and wine into His Body and His Blood.

In certain parts of the world, worshippers of Satan continue to secretly hold the “Black Mass” (the ultimate satanic rite to obtain magic satanic powers) where the entire service makes a mockery of the Catholic Mass...only the Catholic Mass...because of the Truth it contains.

Satanists steal only consecrated communion hosts from their local Catholic churches which are then desecrated at these “Black”services.  This is why, as a preventive measure, we can see wardens during Holy Communion, who is suppose to watch very carefully to make sure that no one receives the Eucharist and walks away without consuming the host.



Satan woeshippers actually recognize which are the consecrated hosts, transformed into the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and they will desecrate only these, with unimaginable blasphemies and mockery; cursing Jesus and honoring Satan.

Sad to say, even Catholics sometimes take the Eucharist for granted...not aware that even satanic occult groups believe in the real presence even more...for all the evil reasons...


As terrifying as this may sound, Satan does exist in this world promoting an eternity in Hell and he despises the real presence of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.

Given this, should we then not be moved, ever more urgently, into a much greater devotion of this Sacred Sacrament, in order to nourish our souls and especially, to protect ourselves from the evil attacks of Satan.

“Come and see what thine eye has never seen; come and hear what thine ear has never heard; come and enjoy what on earth thy heart has never been conceived; come, enter into the joy of thy Lord forever and ever.” (Father Michael Muller, CSSR, p55, The Blessed Eucharist)

During Mass, a priest in Lanciano, Italy doubted that the bread and wine really became the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Before his very eyes, the host was actually encircled in flesh and the wine turned to blood!

This and many other true stories can be found at this link, which simply and brilliantly shares real testimonies from shrines of the various Eucharistic Miracles around the world; providing much-needed concrete evidence that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Eucharist...to feed this restless and hungry world and to protect us from all evil.

May our pilgrimage to these visible shrines today help increase the knowledge and love of Jesus in the most beautiful Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and make Him more widely known, adored and loved in what is suppose to be the greatest treasure (or secret) of the Catholic Church.


“Gustate et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus (“Taste and see how sweet is the Lord”) (Psalm 33:9)  Come, then and taste this heavenly food for yourself.  Let neither the example of others nor the pleasures of the world nor the coldness of your own heart deprive you of so rich a consolation.” (Father Michael Muller, CSSR, p81, The Blessed Eucharist)

Experiencing The True Presence...

“Our work…calls for us to see Jesus in everyone. He has told us that He is the hungry one. He is the naked one. He is the thirsty one. He is the one without a home. He is the one who is suffering. These are our treasures…they are Jesus. Each one is Jesus in His distressing disguise.”
– Mother Teresa

As we journey towards Ash Wednesday – the beginning of the holy season of Lent, we ponder and ask ourselves the fundamental question, which we often take for granted.  Very simply, who is Jesus Christ for you?


The world’s academicians are unable to tell us if Jesus Christ was God, historians and scientists cannot analyze the way in which Jesus was both Lord and servant or for that matter, how He was both God and man.


Those who knew Jesus personally, especially His disciples, had to ultimately decide to follow Jesus by faith.  Rational thought and human reasoning can never ever fully explain, let alone allow one to meet the Jesus we know and worship.
 Many of us are familiar with the story of Christmas, celebrated a few weeks back, in December last.  Jesus – born of the Virgin Mary, son of Joseph a simple carpenter; grew to become an obedient son, great teacher, healer and miracle worker; the Word of God made flesh.

His wisdom, values and teachings are revolutionary radical in nature (to human minds, impossible and unacceptable, even incomprehensible, his parables!); He mingles with people whom society at large scorned and despise; tax collectors, fishermen, lepers, Samaritans, prostitutes, traitors, adulteress, the blind, the lame, the dumb, the mute, and the poor, amongst many others.
 Jesus is the Son of Man, incarnate Son of God, second person of the Holy Trinity, King, Servant, Savior, Lamb, High Priest, Rabbi, Light, Friend, and Companion – crucified, died, buried and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ is Divine – He is Lord – Creator of the Universe – Emmanuel, God with us.

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30,  Douay Rheims)


The holy name Jesus, in Latin Iesus, in Hebrew-Aramaic, YHWH (Yahweh) meaning “God saves”.  The name Christ is the Greek (Christós), translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah” which means “Anointed One”.

The Gospel of St. Mark portrays Jesus as a wonder worker; the Gospel of St. Matthew portrays Him as the kingly Messiah; whereas St. Luke portrays Him as the friend of sinners and outcasts.  The Gospel of St. John presents a theological representation of Jesus as the divine Logos or Word.


In the tabernacle of every Catholic Church throughout the world, this same infinite, eternal, omnipotent and all-loving God/man is truly physically present, through the Blessed Sacrament, just as He was after the Resurrection.  He is always available to us, earthly pilgrims, on our journey towards the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Catholic Church embraces the doctrine of transubstantiation, meaning that Christ is “truly present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity,” though under the appearance of bread or wine.  In other words, Catholics believe that at the Holy Mass, bread and wine truly becomes the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, during the Consecration by the priest. 

The consecrated bread, the Eucharist, in the form of wafers known as hosts, becomes what is known as the Blessed Sacrament.

This presence remains even after the Consecration, so that even after Mass is concluded; the Eucharistic elements still remains Christ's Body and Blood.  The tabernacle serves as a secure place in which to store the Blessed Sacrament for carrying to the sick who cannot participate in Mass, or as a focus for the prayers of those who visit the Church.

By virtue of this, we can enter His physical presence and be as close to Him as the Apostles were during His life.  Whereas they saw Him with their eyes, we too can see Him with the eyes of faith.  We need only to simply enter a Catholic Church and we come to experience the presence of our mighty King, Lord of the Universe who lived as a humble village carpenter, suffered, died and rose again for you and me.


“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, NAB).


So, very simply, quietly and humbly…spend time and invite Jesus into your heart…truly experience His Presence and your journey towards Lent will surely become much more meaningful…and your burdens, light.

To Jesus hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament

“I adore You, Lord and Creator,

hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

I adore You for all the works of Your hands,

that reveal to me so much wisdom,

goodness and mercy, O Lord.

You have spread so much beauty over the earth

and it tells me about Your beauty,

even though these beautiful things are

but a faint reflection of You,

incomprehensible Beauty.

And although You have hidden Yourself

and concealed your beauty,

my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You

and my soul recognizes its Creator,

its Highest Good,

and my heart is completely

immersed in prayer of adoration.”

- Saint Faustina Kowalska

St. Hilary once said that “grace depends mostly on perseverance in prayer.”  Just remember that God is never “too busy” to hear from you.  Don’t be “too busy” for Him!