None of us will miss 2020; it has been a horrible, terrible, awful year: the plague, the fear, illnesses & deaths, the quarantines (Church, businesses, schools, and family), the masks, the economic uncertainty and decline, election anxiety and upset, my broken leg , etc. For these reasons, Christmas this year stands out in stark relief, bringing hope for a return to normal, civility, and even love; even if we can’t spend it with family in the ways we are used to. Like the light at the end of a tunnel, Christmas this year seems to signal hope. Hope that the dark days of 2020 are fading into a brighter 2021, even if 2021 isn’t better, we still have hope and the joy it brings because hope is about Jesus Christ. We hope for a safe and effective vaccine, we hope for economic prosperity, yet none of that matters if there isn’t Jesus Christ. True hope comes from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and His Ascension into heaven. Without those two things, there is no hope in a better tomorrow. But first Jesus had to come into the world, and while none of us have experienced our own resurrection and ascension, we have experienced coming into this world and so we can relate.

There are two kinds of critics who claim that the sacrament of the Eucharist was borrowed from pagan religions: anti-Catholic Protestants who believe that distinctly Catholic belief came from pagan mythology, and Jesus “mythicists” who believe that Jesus never existed and that anything related to him was borrowed from that same mythology.

Bart Brewer represents a position typical of anti-Catholic Evangelicals when he says that after the conversion of Constantine and the legalization of Christianity, “[new converts] brought with them pagan rites which they boldly introduced into the church with Christian terminology, thus corrupting the primitive faith.” But many of the “rites” the Church adopted are harmless customs, such as styles of vestments or temple architecture. (Protestants do the same thing when they exchange wedding rings, because this practice is not found in Scripture but is found in ancient Roman sources.) More to the point, we’ve already seen that the “pure and faithful” pre-Constantine Church Brewer speaks of did believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist (along with many other distinctly Catholic doctrines).

A year or two ago I heard about a program for men called Exodus 90. The ‘exodus’ in Exodus 90 refers to the book of Exodus in the Bible; so named because of Israel’s exodus out of enslavement in Egypt. The number 90 refers to the number of days the program lasts; 90 because that’s how long it takes to break bad habits and form good ones (so say people in the know). The program begins every year 90 days before Easter, the day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; a day hopefully when the participants of Exodus 90 will have experienced their own resurrection from the enslavement of sinful habits and the development of good ones.

This year I am going to give it a try. I invite you to join me. For those who do, we will begin on January 4th, 90 days before Easter; an extended Lent. With the aid of others on the same journey, it will be a time of prayer, self-denial, fraternity, and discipline building. So what does it involve? Before I address that, I need to introduce Magnify 90.

Acts 2:42 tells us that the early Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” According to Protestant church historian J.N.D. Kelly, early Christians’ teaching on the Eucharist “was in general unquestioningly realist, i.e., the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior’s body and blood.” Anglican scholar Darwell Stone also makes the same point and says, “Throughout the writings of the Fathers there is unbroken agreement that the consecrated bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ, and that the Eucharist is a sacrifice.”

Here are just a few excerpts from the early Church Fathers that demonstrate their agreement on this issue:

• St. Ignatius of Antioch, A.D. 110 – “[Heretics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes.” . .

Why are we so quick to complain when something is wrong – and think nothing of it when something is right? Why do we keep mulling over what is wrong and losing our peace, as opposed to mulling over what is right and living in peace? The answer to that question is this: God made us for truth, goodness, and beauty. So when something is true, good, or beautiful we don’t notice it because it is as it should be. But when something is false, evil, or ugly we do notice it because it’s out of place, and we worry.

This truth begs another question: on what grounds do atheists have to complain? If the atheist believes that all of creation is nothing more than random chance, then why do they think anything is ever out of place? Why do they think that things should be a certain way and get upset when they aren’t? If all is chance, then by their logic, atheists have no right to a particular order of things, nor any meaning to anything, nor a right to life itself; so they shouldn’t complain, yet they do because they can’t escape reality: God is for real, and life (even the atheist’s) has meaning and order.

Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever ~

I love the above line; you’ve seen it leading off my pastor columns for quite a while now.  I love it for its eternal truth.  It isn’t an opinion that Jesus is God, He Is.  As God, He is eternal, all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and invincible.  It is very important to know all of that and to embrace Jesus Christ.  Those who don’t will lack peace in this life and will suffer terribly in the next.

One day all political parties will cease to exist.  One day all republics or democracies will cease to exist.  One day the United States of America will cease to exist.  One day the earth as we know it will cease to exist.  Focus on what exists forever: God and souls.  Do not sell yourself out to things that are passing away. 

This Sunday we celebrate Christ the King, for He is a King, the King.  Sometimes my pastor columns begin with “Jesus Christ: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”  I love that line too, for it sums up in puny words the who, and the power of Jesus Christ. 

Perhaps the most common objection to the biblical evidence for the Eucharist is the observation that Jesus routinely used self-referential metaphors that Catholics don’t take literally. For example, Protestant apologists Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie note that Jesus said, “I am the door” (Jn. 10:7) and “I am the vine” (Jn 15:5), yet, in their words, “Roman Catholic scholars do not take these statements literally, even though they come from the same book that records “‘This is my body!’ It is therefore, not necessary to take Jesus literally when he said ‘this is my body’ or ‘eat my flesh.’”

The problem with Geisler and MacKenzie’s argument is that it can be taken too far. If any of Jesus’ commands are too demanding or strange they can simply be written off as metaphors since Christ used metaphors on some occasions. Of course, the question isn’t whether Christ spoke metaphorically. The question is did he speak metaphorically in this instance?

Unlike the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John’s Gospel does not contain a description of the Last Supper. Instead, John offered a teaching of Jesus that complements what the other Gospels tell us in their depictions of the Last Supper.

John 6 takes place after Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people. The bread of life passage begins with a group of people following him because of this miracle. Christ knows that they seek more bread, so he tells them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (Jn 6:35). They still question Jesus about who he is, which prompts him to answer, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6:51).

I wrote this pastor’s column on funerals a few years ago and thought that it would be a good idea to reintroduce it – and update it a tiny bit. It not only speaks to the nature of Catholic funerals, but what our policies are at Holy Redeemer Parish. Please plan to have a Catholic funeral. 

Over the past fifty years or so, Catholic funerals have fallen on hard times. Most Catholics do not have a Catholic funeral upon death, and that number continues to drop. That is very unfortunate and clearly reflects a loss of faith in general, and a lack of understanding in the meaning and value of a funeral.

Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” and the words “in memory” come from the Greek word anamnesis, which means more than a mental recollection of a past event or person. It means instead, a “remembrance brought about by the act of sacrifice.” An example of this can be found in Leviticus 24:7-8, in which the Israelite priest and his sons are instructed to offer a memorial sacrifice of bread to the Lord each Sabbath. The verses say, “You shall put pure frankincense with each row, that it may go with the bread as a memorial (anamnesis) portion to be offered by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall set it in order before the Lord continually on behalf of the sons of Israel as a covenant forever.” The original Hebrew word for memorial in this passage, azkarah, also means “memorial offering.”

The Gospel this Sunday, “Render unto Caesar”, potentially touches upon issues of Church and State. While I will have given some reflection upon that in my homily, in this pastor’s column, I am passing along the US bishop’s statement on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” Perhaps I should republish it every two years prior to an election. It may be of help in informing your conscience and guiding your decision making. It is worth a read if only once in your lifetime. You can find it on the web or simply start reading it below. You may want to read a printed out version (it’s kinda long).

Regardless of how the charge of cannibalism arose, it was as false then as it is now. That’s because consuming the body and blood of Christ under the form of bread and wine does not fall under the definition of cannibalism. Merriam-Webster defines cannibalism as “the usually ritualistic eating of human flesh by a human being,” but there are several important differences that prove Catholics are not cannibals.

In order to understand why Catholics believe the Eucharist becomes the actual body and blood of Christ after it is consecrated at Mass, we must understand two philosophical ideas; substance and accident. A substance is what something is: an accident is what a substance possesses. So, for example, an apple (a substance) has many accidents. It has a skin of a particular color, a certain weight, shape, taste, and so on. These accidents are what we perceive with our senses, but an apple is more than just a bundle of accidents. These accidents could change, and the apple would remain an apple (that is, the apple could come in a different color or size). These ever-changing accidents are united within one unchanging substance that ceases to exist only when the apple ceases to exist (such as when it is eaten and digested).

Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honor of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as ‘expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one's own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.’ Catholic devotions have various forms, ranging from formalized, multi-day prayers such as novenas, to activities which do not involve any prayers, such as Eucharistic adoration outside Mass, the wearing of scapulars, the veneration of the saints, the Canonical coronations of sacred Marian or Christological images, and even horticultural practices such as maintaining a Mary garden.

Last weekend we kicked off an Archdiocesan-wide capital campaign known as Called to Serve as Christ or CTSAC. This will be a three-year-long effort to raise a sustaining endowment which will fund the retirement and health care of priests and nuns. This is an extraordinary opportunity for all to play a role in strengthening the Catholic Church in Western Washington. Our parish goal is $1.328 million. As we collect money up to our assessed goal, 85% of each dollar will go to the Archdiocese, while 15% will be returned to us to help pay for the Church Completion Project. Monies received from the CTSAC rebate will be used to either reduce how much we borrow for the Church Completion Project, or to pay down the loan for it. Please consider how your giving over the next three years might best be shaped to benefit both Holy Redeemer and the Archdiocese.

I’m interrupting our series on the Eucharist this week to talk about a couple of other things that are important to me this week: an update on my leg and the election.

It has been over six weeks since my surgery and almost seven weeks since I broke my leg. I saw my doctor this past week for another x-ray and counsel. While things are looking good for something like a full recovery, I still have to wait another 3½ weeks before I can begin to walk again. This was a blow for me, I will have waited more than 10 weeks from my break before I can take my first step, and that assumes that things progress as the doctor hopes.

Nearly all Christians celebrate some form of the Eucharist by consuming bread and wine in memory of Christ’s death and Resurrection. Protestants [non-Catholic & non-Orthodox Christians] usually refer to the Eucharist as the Lord’s Supper and do not believe that Christ is physically present in the bread and wine at their services or at the Catholic Mass.

Rejection of the sacrament: Some denominations do not celebrate the Eucharist. For example, the Salvation Army is usually known for its charity work, but it is actually a self-proclaimed Christian denomination. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, “Catherine Booth, the influential wife of the founder [of the Salvation Army], admired the piety and practices of Quakers, who did not perform baptisms or Communion rites.

A couple of months ago Archbishop Etienne wrote a pastoral letter on the Eucharist; Eucharist is a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving”, as in thanksgiving for what Jesus Christ has done to redeem us. The Archbishop’s pastoral letter was in the Northwest Catholic, the Archdiocesan magazine sent to all registered Catholics in Western Washington. Here is a link to it in case you missed it.

In it, the Archbishop asks us to have a year of the Eucharist, a year in which we re-educate ourselves on the Eucharist and re-devote ourselves to Jesus Christ in it. So, I thought I would run a series of pastor columns on the Eucharist using a little book by Trent Horn at Catholic Answers. In it he answers 20 questions or accusations that people have about the Eucharist.