Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
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April 28, 2020So they said to Jesus,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Today we are celebrating the feast of St. Louis de Montfort, but in my own life I am celebrating a feast day. Today, 17 years ago, I received the Eucharist for the first time. I actually remember the day, my grandparents had come in from Boston for the Mass and my twin brother and I were getting dressed in our first communion suits in our moms room.
I’m not sure if it is a tradition in Pittsburgh because I’ve never really seen it, but my brother and I wore completely white suits. Head to toe, white shoes, white socks, everything. And it was just Pat and I making our First Communion that day. We were doing it a week earlier because of the family coming in from Boston.
It was such a big deal. We sat in the front row of the Church and at communion time I was able to receive Jesus for the first time. I am not going to tell you that I was a little saint. It was not as if I had a vision, or anything huge on the outside happened, but I remember thinking, “I get to do this at every mass for the rest of my life.” And I was so happy with that.
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
I know many of you are struggling with the fact that you are not able to receive communion right now. I know that it has been a long time since many of you have received communion.
Don’t forget that there was no expiration date on the last host that you received. It is not as if Christ only gave you enough grace to get through a week, but He gives us the grace continually. When we make acts of spiritual communion we are really fanning the fire of our faith, fanning our fire for the Eucharist.
Today’s saint is a perfect example for us to look to in these times. He was a French priest who was known as a great preacher and Confessor from the 1700s. St. Louis Grignon de Montfort is known for his Marian devotion. One of his quotes sticks out to me at this particular time. “Have you strayed from the path leading to heaven?
Then call on Mary, for her name means "Star of the Sea, the North Star which guides the ships of our souls during the voyage of this life," and she will guide you to the harbor of eternal salvation.” The influence that this French priest had on the Church are far and wide. St. John Paul II took his papal motto from a quote of de Montfort. “Totus tuus” Totally yours. By loving the Blessed Mother, one falls all the more in love with Christ.
I’ll leave you with this quote by St. Louis “If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ.
If devotion to Our Lady removed us from Jesus Christ, we should have to reject it as an illusion of the devil; but so far from this being the case, devotion to Our Lady is, on the contrary, necessary for us—as I have already shown, and will show still further hereafter—as a means of finding Jesus Christ perfectly, of loving Him tenderly, of serving Him faithfully.”
