Gospel Acclamation: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.

What a promise our Lord gives us! First, He gives us Himself as the living bread. The One Who has come down from Heaven becomes our food. He enters into an intimacy with us almost beyond what we can imagine, entering into our bodies, truly present within us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He does this because He loves us and wants to be with us, to draw us closer and closer to Him all the way to Heaven.

In fact, Jesus tells us that whoever eats this Bread will live forever. When we receive the Eucharist in a state of grace, our venial sins are wiped away. We receive a foretaste of Heaven, an increased intimacy with God. This draws us onward, increasing our desire for eternal life, strengthening us against sin, providing us with increased grace that we may continue our journey home to Heaven.

Gospel Acclamation: Most Holy Trinity

Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God Who is, Who was, and Who is to come.

Sometimes we struggle to express our faith in the Blessed Trinity. We are, of course, faced with a mystery beyond our human comprehension. We will never fully understand how God is one God yet three Persons, but we believe that it is true because God has revealed it to us.

So we give glory on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. We praise and worship our one God in three Persons as we marvel at the mystery. We stand in awe before the eternal God, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come. We bask in the love of this God Who has created us and sustains us in existence at every moment.

We wonder that the Father would send His beloved Son to become one of us, fully human while remaining fully God, and to die for us that we might be freed from our sins and receive eternal life. We are amazed that the Father and the Son have given us the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God so strong as to be a divine Person, to enter into our souls and dwell within us.

And so in gratitude and love, we exclaim, “Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to God Who is, Who was, and Who is to come. Amen.”

Gospel Acclamation: Pentecost Sunday

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

Fire. The Holy Spirit comes to set us on fire. We read in Acts how tongues as of fire descended upon the Apostles as a sign that the Holy Spirit had come upon them and filled them with His gifts and with the fire of His love.

At our Baptism and again at our Confirmation, the Holy Spirit has come upon us in a special way as well, infusing us with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord. He has poured faith, hope, and love into our hearts, minds, and souls. He has set us on fire that we might know and defend our faith with courage and love and grow ever closer to the Blessed Trinity.

But do we accept the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Do we open our hearts that He may fill them? Do we put His gifts to good use? Or do we tuck them away, unwilling to allow them to move and work in us?

Let us pray on this Pentecost Sunday that the Holy Spirit may indeed come and fill our hearts and set them on fire with faith, hope, and love. Amen.

Gospel Acclamation: Ascension

Go and teach all nations, says the Lord; I am with you always, until the end of the world.

“I am with you always.” These are Jesus' words to us. He is with us always. There is never a moment when He is separated from us. He loves us continually, supports us constantly, and offers us His grace always.

Today we celebrate the Ascension, but we should not think of it as Jesus “going away” or saying goodbye. Quite the opposite is true. Jesus ascends to the Father so that He may be closer to us than ever. We receive Him Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist, taking Him into ourselves in a most intimate way and basking in His love.

Jesus also tells us to go and teach others about Him. This ability to spread the Gospel grows from the intimacy we experience with Jesus. As we grow closer and closer to Him, we can't help but want to spread the word and draw others to Him. So we allow Jesus to speak and act through us, opening ourselves to Him and becoming channels of His love.

Gospel Acclamation: Sixth Sunday of Easter

Whoever loves Me will keep My word, says the Lord, and My Father will love him and We will come to him.

What beautiful words of comfort from Jesus. He and the Father want to come to us and be with us and love us.

Will we let Jesus and the Father and the Spirit dwell within us? Will we love Jesus and keep His word? Will we open ourselves up to the divine presence? Will we take Jesus up on His incredible offer?

Gospel Acclamation: Fifth Sunday of Easter

I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you.

Jesus speaks these words at the Last Supper. He is about to go to the Cross, and He has given His disciples His own Body and Blood in the first Eucharist. Now He gives them a new commandment, something that is radical, something that may even seem impossible. We are to love each other as Jesus has loved us.

Think about how Jesus loves us. He sacrifices Himself for us. First, He takes on our human nature, joining it to His divine nature. Then He dies on the Cross for us to save us from our sins and open the way to Heaven. He lays down His life completely, with no hesitation and even with great anticipation. That is how much He loves us.

We might wonder how we, small, selfish, weak people that we are, could ever love like that. Yet that is exactly what Jesus tells us to do, to love as He has loved. Jesus does not command anything impossible, so there must be a way to fulfill this commandment.

St. Therese of Lisieux figured out the way when she asked Jesus to love her sisters, her fellow nuns, in and through her. Only Jesus' own love can fulfill His commandment, so she decided to embrace that love, open herself to it, and let it flow through her freely to everyone around her.

We must do the same if we want to obey Jesus. We must let Him love others in and through us, embracing His love and allowing it to flow, so that we can truly love each other as He has loved us, even to the point of sacrificing ourselves in that love.

Gospel Acclamation: Fourth Sunday of Easter

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know My sheep, and Mine know Me.

Reflect for a few minutes on all the tasks a shepherd performs for his or her sheep. The shepherd feeds and waters the sheep, making sure they get enough to eat and drink and leading them to new pastures that are green and waters that are fresh. The shepherd keeps the sheep clean (and they tend to get very dirty) and cares for their bodies, especially when they are sick. The shepherd rescues the sheep when they get into trouble (and they do that a lot because sheep aren't particularly bright). The shepherd guards the sheep, providing a safe place for them to rest and preventing predators from coming near them.

Now think about what Jesus does for us. He does all of this and more. He feeds us with His own Body and Blood. He keeps us clean, first with Baptism and then through Confession, healing us when we are sick with sin. He rescues us when we get into trouble. He guards us from our enemies, providing a safe place for us in His arms.

So why do we not follow our Good Shepherd? Why do we stray like stupid, selfish sheep?