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Posted bykilnamanaghcastleviewDecember 17, 2021December 17, 2021Posted inUncategorized

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Posted bykilnamanaghcastleviewDecember 17, 2021December 17, 2021Posted inUncategorized

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Kilnamanagh-Castleview Parish

Kilnamanagh-Castleview Parish

Official Parish Page for the Parish of Kilnamanagh-Castleview.

Kilnamanagh-Castleview Parish

1 week ago

The Gospel we have just heard leaves no room for doubt about the Eucharist. Christ speaks directly and plainly about the gift of his Body and Blood, and he does so in a way that challenges those who are listening.The scene in our Gospel is striking. The people around Jesus begin to argue among themselves. They are unsettled and struggling with what they hear. ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ It is a serious question, especially from a Jewish perspective, and it shows how difficult the Lord’s words are to accept on a human level.What matters is how Jesus responds in that situation. He does not step back or soften what he has just said. He does not explain it away or reduce it to an image or symbolic language that would be easier to accept. Instead, Jesus reinforces his teaching. He repeats it with greater clarity and insistence: ‘My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.’ In this way, he makes it clear that he truly means what he is saying.Many of his listeners found this teaching too hard to accept, and some of his disciples turned away and no longer followed him. The Lord allows them to go. He does not call them back or attempt to soften what he has said. He allows the full weight of his teaching to stand, even when it leads to rejection.This matters for us. The Church has always received these words in John chapter six as they are given. In the Eucharist, we are given the true Body and Blood of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine. This is no mere symbol or reminder. It is the Lord himself, really present, given to us as food for eternal life and as the source of our strength in faith.In the centuries that followed, this truth was challenged in different ways. Among those who rejected the Catholic understanding of the real presence were the Reformers Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, whose teachings influenced large parts of Europe, including regions of Switzerland, where the Catholic faith came under strong pressure.Into that situation, the Church sent missionaries to preach the Catholic faith and to strengthen those who wished to remain faithful. Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, whose feast we celebrate today, was one of them. Earlier in his life, he had been trained as a lawyer and was known for his personal integrity and his care for the poor. In time, he left that profession so that he could give himself fully to God as a Capuchin friar and priest. He lived very simply, was a man of prayer, and preached with great clarity and conviction.Saint Fidelis went into regions where the faith had been weakened and where opposition to the Catholic Church was strong. He was well aware of the risks and had already received threats to his life. Even so, he continued to preach the Catholic faith, including the truth of the Eucharist, trusting that the truth of the Gospel was worth more than his own wellbeing and safety.On the day of his death, Fidelis celebrated Mass and preached to the people. As he made his way back, he was confronted by armed men of Calvinist conviction who opposed his mission. They demanded that he abandon the Catholic faith. They offered him the chance to save his life if he would renounce what he had been preaching. St Fidelis refused. He remained faithful to Christ and to the truth he had proclaimed, and for that reason he was killed.The life and death of St Fidelis stand before us as a clear witness. The Gospel speaks of eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking his blood. Fidelis believed those words with his whole heart. He celebrated that mystery at the altar each day. In the end, he gave his life rather than deny what he had received and proclaimed.In our own day, we may not face violence for our faith in the same way, yet we are not without our own trials. There is pressure to give up or to remain silent about what the Church teaches. Many aspects of the Catholic faith and moral teaching are seen as outdated, nonsensical, or even offensive. Even so, the Church continues to hand on that teaching without change, and the saints and martyrs of all times bear witness to it with their lives. We too are called to remain faithful to what we believe to be true, even when it is unpopular and challenging.On the feast of St Fidelis, we are asked for a simple and honest response: to believe what the Church has always believed, especially about the Eucharist. Many have lost sight of this and treat the Lord’s presence as symbolic. We are called to receive the Lord in the Eucharist with reverence and faith, and to remain faithful to his teaching and example in the way we live each day. For, as the Lord says, ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him’. Amen. ... See MoreSee Less

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