Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter
Mass April 29, 2020
Lectionary: 275 http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042920.cfm
Leccionario: 275 http://www.usccb.org/bible/lecturas/042920.cfm
Homily for the Third Wednesday of Easter
April 29, 2020
by Father Omar Guanchez
In Today’s Gospel from John chapter 6:35, Jesus says: “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” I talked about the supernatural power of the Eucharist and I used the example of 2 holy women. First; Maria Domenica Lazzeri born in Italy, in 1815. When she was a teenager her health began to deteriorate. They say that her love and compassion for the sick and suffering were great. Her health really deteriorated when she was 19, and Maria would be bedridden from this point on, for the rest of her life. It was hard for her to sleep, eat and drink. The only thing she could partake of was Holy Communion.
Maria Domenica Lazzeri lived for her last 14 years of her life only on Holy Communion. According to physicians’ reports, Maria ate nothing for the last 14 years of her life. Her only ingested sustenance was the Holy Eucharist.
In 1995, The Church declared her a Servant of God.
The second example is the saint the Church celebrates today: St. Catherine of Siena. Pope Gregory XI wrote about her in 1375: “For the seven year period prior to her death, St. Catherine of Siena took no food into her body other than the Eucharist. Her fasting did not affect her energy, however, she maintained a very active life during those seven years. As a matter of fact, most of her great accomplishments occurred during that period. Not only did her fasting not cause her to lose energy, but became a source of extraordinary strength, she becoming stronger in the afternoon, after having received our Lord in the Eucharist.”
There are several other saints that lived on the Eucharist alone. Here we see that what Jesus said is true. Should we be surprised at that? Jesus always speaks the truth.
And it is at times like this that we reflect more seriously about the incredible value of the Eucharist –because now we don’t have access to it. What is it that you have learned so far? For instance, I’ve learned that having a Mass available to us is a tremendous privilege; it is indeed. I hope this experience helps us to value the Mass more deeply.
For more resources for elementary children: Elementary Lessons
For more resources for teens: Edge Lessons
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