​            If we lived in Guatemala, a country in the Central America, forty years ago we would be in danger of being put in prison right now. The socialist government who ruled the country forbade the song of Mary, the Magnificat. It is what Mary prayed when she visited her cousin Elizabeth as we heard in the Gospel on this day when we venerate her Assumption. Why did the leftist authorities fear the few verses which a young girl from Nazareth said two thousand years ago? Because in those few verses the young girl from Nazareth, whose name was Mary, declared that power and authority belong to God. It was enough for the Guatemalan authorities to feel threatened.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! The power and authority of our God are manifested on this Solemnity. They exceed the power and authority which any government or regime would ever desire to have. On this Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary our God reveals his power and authority which triumph over death and subsequently over sin and devil. Because it is devil who through leading us to sin has thrown us into death. However our God hasn’t given up on us. St Paul in the Letter to the Christians in Corinth wrote: ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep… Just as all die in Adam, so all will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order.’
            What is this proper order? At Easter we glorify God for the Resurrection of his Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ. His Resurrection initiated everything. Then a few months later, on August 15, we come to our churches to nurture and strengthen our faith as we glorify God for rising to eternity the body and soul of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Can you see that it is happening? I mean the Resurrection. Mary was the first to participate in the Resurrection of Christ. We are next. We don’t know when it happens but we believe that it is coming.
            The most ancient images of the Assumption don’t show Mary flying into the sky. However they do show her Son Jesus coming back. Some of these images of the Assumption depict the Apostles looking at Jesus standing in their midst again as they gathered to mourn Mary’s death. What is Jesus doing there? He is fulfilling what he promised at the Last Supper. ‘After I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too.’ Jesus went to heaven by his own power. Mary was taken to heaven by the power of her Son Jesus. We can see now that Jesus’ Resurrection is working. We will be next.
            Some other ancient images of the Assumption show the Glorified Jesus standing with his Apostles by the lifeless Body of Mary while holding in his arms her soul looking like a baby girl. Mary is often depicted holding the Boy Jesus in her arms as she gave him human life. Now the Risen and Glorified Jesus holds her in his arms as he is giving her life eternal. These ancient images of the Assumption give us hope that death which looks like a separation of body and soul is now joining with Jesus. However Jesus didn’t take with him to heaven only the soul of his Mother. After her soul was united with him in her death he reunited her soul with her body and took her body and soul to heaven.
            As a young girl from Nazareth Mary exclaimed: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour.’ In these words there is so much excitement typical to young people having the whole life ahead of them. On the day of the Assumption we hear these words again. This time from a woman, who has been through a lot, joys and sorrows, however she still proclaims the greatness of the Lord. She still says: ‘The Lord has done great things for me.’
            My Dear fellow believers! I encourage you now to say quietly in your heart: ‘The Lord has done great things for me.’ Indeed the Lord has done great things for you, so say it loudly now: ‘The Lord has done great things for me.’ May this belief nurture your looking forward to the final great thing the Lord will do for you, when in your body and soul you will be with him in the company of this Dear Lady Assumed to heaven.

​            In Melbourne there are many famous streets adorned with magnificent buildings, sculptures or even graffiti. However there is also an inconspicuous street in East Melbourne called the Providence Lane. You cannot take any spectacular photos there as it looks more like a service road.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! The Providence Lane is named after the house which was established there by the Saint whom we honour today, Mother Mary of the Cross Mackillop. The place was to be a shelter for destitute women and children. St Mary of the Cross called such a place the Providence. The name which she gave to other similar places in Australia and New Zealand expressed her profound belief in Divine Providence. That’s why the Scripture Readings for this Solemnity are all about Divine Providence because belief in Divine Providence nurtured and sustained Mother Mary of the Cross. No one could accuse her of being lazy. She did take seriously God’s commandment to work six days a week but she also lived each and every weekday according to what Jesus said in the Gospel. Six times as if for each day of work during the week Jesus urged his disciples, including us, not to worry. God who created this whole world in six days as the Book of Genesis tells us, rested on the seventh day, but he hasn’t retired. He still creates, though this time not out of nothing but out of our successes and failures. St Mary of the Cross had many successes but she also had a lot of failures, but nothing could stop her from speaking about God as ‘Our good God.’ She didn’t change it when she was misunderstood and unjustly treated even by the people of the Church. She didn’t change it when at the age of 59 suffered a stroke and had to use a wheelchair. God was still ‘Our good God.’ Trusting Divine Providence was her driving force.
            Providence means ‘to see in advance’ but it doesn’t apply to us. In the midst of what is occurring to us, particularly things which are painful: physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially etc. our vison is clouded. We are short-sighted. However our good God can see in advance. Therefore we trust him even when what happens to us could discourage us from keeping on going. But we do, like Mother Mary of the Cross did because our God can see in advance.
            In 1870 the news reached Australia that the Pope lost the city of Rome, which for more than a thousand years was his dominion. The new country which was to be called Italy was emerging. When most of the people, including the Pope and his advisors, were thinking that it was the end, that the Pope had lost his importance and influence Mother Mary of the Cross said: ‘The will of God is at work there too… God will be glorified…’ She was right. What seemed to be a terrible loss was just losing the burden which the Pope didn’t need. The Pope lost the large territories but found the spiritual authority. The Pope wasn’t now a king but he was a father. St Mary of the Cross didn’t know that at that time but she believed that God saw in advance therefore she prayed her favoured prayer:
‘Divine Providence can provide, Divine Providence did provide, Divine Providence will provide. O merciful and all-provident God, hear our prayers and grant our petitions.’
            The little Providence Lane is squeezed between high-rises of East Melbourne which make you search for some opening in the sky. Standing there you feel like at Mass when the priest urges the people: ‘Lift up your hearts.’ In the Providence Lane you do want to ‘Lift up your heart to the Lord,’ our good God who sees in advance, who sees further than we do. We trust him.

​Have you ever asked yourself: ‘What should I do?’? The question comes to us in all different situations. How can we find the answer though? St Ignatius of Loyola whom the Church venerates on July 31, proposed a slight alteration to the question. Instead of asking: ‘What should I do?’ he encouraged to ask: ‘What should I do for Christ?’ Linguistically it was a slight alteration but that slight alteration had massive consequences for Ignatius.
            St Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish aristocrat who lived in the sixteenth century. He is best known for founding the Jesuit Order and giving the Catholic Church a distinct spirituality which is called now Ignatian spirituality. However there wouldn’t be the Jesuits or Ignatian spirituality if Ignatius didn’t change his ambitions and perspective. First he wanted to be famous and rich. That’s why he chose an army career. Unfortunately for his initial plans, but fortunately for his eternal salvation and for our spiritual benefit, he was seriously wounded. This year marks 500 years since that event. During his long recovery when out of boredom he read books on the lives of Saints he discovered how shallow and selfish his previous ambitions were. When he was able to walk again he went to the Shrine of Our Lady. At the entrance to the church he gave his fancy clothes to a beggar and he placed his sword on the altar of our Blessed Mother. He was in his late twenties but like a child he began learning a new life style which he summarised later in these words: ‘for the greater glory of God.’ I find it fascinating that the Jesuit order was the fruit of more than 10 years of Ignatius living as a committed lay Catholic who in all situations was asking himself: ‘What should I do for Christ?’
            It is a most appropriate attitude if we recognise what Christ has done for us by his death and Resurrection. That’s why St Ignatius of Loyola comes to us in the mystery of the Communion of Saints, 500 hundred years after he had his eye opening moment to open our eyes to the Christianity which has nothing to do with a sense of entitlement but is all about living and loving out of gratitude for what God has done for us in his Son Jesus Christ.
            It is the same God who led the People of Israel of out of Egypt. Then God gave them the food from heaven, manna. However there was much more heavenly bread to be given. Last week we heard of the multiplication of bread by Jesus. The miracle got the people who ate it excited. That’s why we see them in the Gospel this Sunday again. They searched for Jesus because as he pointed out they wanted more free food. However Jesus wasn’t going to please them with more free lunch handouts. The miracle from the last Sunday was not the goal but a preparation for different bread, truly heavenly. When the people in the Gospel, like Israelites from the Book of Exodus, wanted more free food Jesus said: ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’
            This new bread from heaven was to be baked in the oven of the cross and the tomb and to be ready for distribution from the Easter Sunday morning. This new miracle of the bread of life, Jesus Christ, has been happening for two thousand years now. This Eucharist is also the time when Jesus takes the bread and wine from us and through the power of the Holy Spirit performs a miracle of changing these gifts into his Body and Blood. This heavenly bread will sustain us for life eternal.
            My Dear fellow Catholics! We keep coming to our churches to ask for this bread of life because every time we receive it the eternal life is sustained in us. Having this eternal life in us when we receive Jesus let us introduce into the small and big situations of life the question which was so dear to St Ignatius of Loyola: ‘What should I do for Christ?’ Then the Eucharist we celebrate will be truly a thanksgiving reaching out to all other days of the week.

​‘If I can touch even his clothes I shall be well again.’ That’s what the woman suffering from haemorrhage said. She did touch the clothes of Jesus and was healed. We could say something similar: If I could see and talk to Jesus like that woman I would be a different person. We even have a saying: seeing is believing.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers. We don’t doubt that God exists, do we? We are not atheists. However we may feel that we are left on our own, that so many times heaven seemed to be shut to our prayers. We may quietly think that we are disadvantaged as we have not seen the Lord Jesus.
            Let us recall what happened in the Synagogue in Nazareth. It was the hometown of Jesus. That Synagogue was like his parish church, community hall, primary and high school. The people, whom he met when he went home, were in much better situation than that woman suffering from haemorrhage. So many times they hugged Jesus and were hugged by Jesus. So many times they helped Jesus and were helped by Jesus. So many times they spoke to Jesus and were spoken to by Jesus. If one touch brought healing to the woman there should have been plenty of miracles in Nazareth. However St Mark wrote with surprise that ‘Jesus could work no miracles there, though he cured a few sick people.’
The explanation for such a surprising outcome we find in Jesus’ own reaction to both events. This is what Jesus said to the woman: ‘Your faith has restored you to health.’ This is what Jesus thought after visiting his hometown: ‘He was amazed at their lack of faith.’ Faith is the answer. The woman was healed not because she touched Jesus but because she had faith in Jesus. The people of Nazareth knew so much about Jesus but they had no faith.
My Dear fellow believers! Faith is a gift given by God freely and lovingly. Therefore this gift of faith can be received only freely and lovingly. Ezekiel received the spirit of God so that he could be a prophet, the mouth of God in the midst of his fellow men and women. Prophets were a gift given to the people of Israel so that the Word of God could be heard in the midst of the Nation, because ‘faith comes from hearing.’ However God was not forcing his Word onto people. He was giving it freely and lovingly. Those who received it freely and lovingly became people of faith.
In the fullness of time, two thousand years ago, God sent his Son. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ as St John wrote in his Gospel. However like with any gift, God the Father didn’t force his Son onto us. He gave him freely and lovingly so that Jesus could be welcomed freely and lovingly. When some people reject Jesus, like the residents of Nazareth did, it shows that God still loves. He doesn’t forces us.
Recently I have watched a beautiful movie about the events which took place in Fatima in 1917 where Mary appeared to the three little children.  One of the children, the little boy whose name was Francesco, said that he didn’t pray much. Than some people said to him: ‘Why should the Virgin Mary come to someone who doesn’t pray enough?’ We can say that it is because God’s gift is not a reward for some good life. It is the source of good life and more importantly eternal salvation.
My Dear fellow believers. Are we disadvantaged because we haven’t seen and touched Jesus like that woman from the last Sunday’s Gospel? We have just heard the Word of God proclaimed to us during this first part of the Mass. The Word of God has brought us the Spirit of God evoking and sustaining faith in us so that as we move to the second part of or Mass, to the Liturgy of the Eucharist we could look at the bread and wine and say after St Thomas the Apostle, whom we honoured yesterday: ‘My Lord and my God.’ Then as we go back to our homes we can also say in the midst of whatever happens to us: ‘My Lord and my God’ I believe you. I trust you because: ‘Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

​            Imagine that someone began reading today’s Gospel from this point: ‘Jesus went where the child was and taking her by hand he said to her: ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about.’ It looks like the scenario parents have every morning trying to get their children out of bed and get ready for school, doesn’t it? Sometimes it even applies to children who should go to university or work. So should we organise training session for parents about learning to say this powerful word: Kum. Is it the message of the Gospel for this Sunday?
            Sisters and Brothers! After hearing about the whole event which took place in the house Jairus we realise that it wasn’t a daily wake up routine. The little girl was dead. Jesus raised her to life. What a spectacular miracle! But it wasn’t for publicity. It was to open the eyes of the disciples to see that God is doing his saving work in this world. Jairus and his wife had their daughter back. The disciples received another grace which contributed to growing in their faith in Jesus.
            Why are we getting a front seat view of what happened in Jairus’ house? After all Jesus didn’t want anyone there apart the parents of the girl and Peter, John and James. We have been given the grace to listen to what happened there so that our faith in Jesus can also grow. Brining the little girl back to life is not the talk of the town for us, or better to say the talk of the Church. If we talk about her it is because her coming back to life reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection. Even the way St Mark wrote about the event is more than a coroner report. The whole description is firmly grounded in what happened when Jesus rose from the dead. The description is saturated with words which later will be used to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In that little girl we see our own future. What happened to her will happen to each on of us here. We will die. However it is not simply an inevitable fact. When we witness Jesus walking to Jairus house we remember what the Author of the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament wrote centuries before that great miracle: ‘Death was not God’s doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living… it was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world, as those who are his partners will discover.’ In the Gospel today we witness that. The Son of God walks into the house which was marked by death filled with weeping and wailing and he says to the girl: ‘Talitha kum!’ he also says to death: ‘Go away.’ Some months from that encounter with death Jesus faced it again. It was on the cross. He, the Son of the Living God, the Source of Life, stepped into the abyss of death. Then he turned death into a bridge between the earth and heaven.  It is expressed powerfully when you visit Christian cemeteries where graves are in the shadow of crosses. Every cross on such a grave is not just a reminder that the person buried there was a Christian but that the person buried there is sleeping. I mentioned before that the language of todays’ miracle is full of words which were also used to proclaim Jesus Resurrection. Can you remember which words of Jesus made people gathered in the Jairus house laugh? The words were: ‘This child is not dead. She is asleep.’ This way of describing death has been embraced by the disciples of Jesus who believe in his Resurrection. We have been speaking about them as asleep.
            If they are asleep the time for them will be to be awoken. We who will also fall asleep when our hour comes will also be awoken. It will happen when each of us will hear the word which Jesus spoke to the little girl: ‘Kum!’ - Arise.
            My dear fellow mortal Brothers and Sisters! You will hear it on the last day. However I invite you to take this word as a prayer word now. Before the Lord speaks this word to you when he comes to judge the living and the dead, say it in your prayers like the priest says the words of Consecration transforming bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Before the Lord says this word on the last day, say this word often so that every day you may have grace to arise to a life worthy of the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Kum – Arise.

​            There is a book called the Jefferson Bible. One could think that it simply indicates that it belonged to the third President of US. However the name indicates something else. Thomas Jefferson took scissors and cut out all texts that were about miracles. In the Jefferson Bible there was no room for Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension to heaven either. The restoration of Lazarus to life and other healings performed by Jesus were deemed not fitting for Jefferson’s educated mind so he removed them too. As you can imagine the calming of the storm on the lake, which we have just heard, had to go too. Such a version of Jesus’ life, without miracles and divinity, suited the President better as he couldn’t believe that Jesus is God.
            My Sisters and Brothers! When we come to church we hear the readings from the Scriptures which may be challenging, difficult or confronting. However regardless how we perceive them these sacred texts nurture and sustain our faith. Removing difficult passages will not help our faith. Accepting them will help our faith.
            Let us look at the First Reading where God says: ‘I wrapped the sea in a robe of mist and made the black clouds its saddling bands; I marked the bounds it was not too cross and made it fast with a bolted gate.’  Now let us look at the Gospel where Jesus orders the sea and wind: ‘Quite now! Be calm!’
            Some people, like President Jefferson, cannot accept it. As we gather for this Mass we listen to these accounts so that our faith could grow. If it is hard for some of us to accept it now the reading will come back again at some stage to nurture and sustain weak faith.
            Some other people listening to readings like these at the time of natural disasters will claim that God is not a loving Father if he didn’t stop the floods. Such claims were articulated after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake which killed 50 thousand people in Portugal. If Jesus calmed the stormy sea why didn’t he calm the earthquake? Why didn’t he stop the recent floods? Is it appropriate to read such a Gospel passage at the time of natural disaster then? It is appropriate and it is much needed. We need these sacred texts so that we could preserve the faith that our God is not after our destruction. Our God is after our salvation.
            When we read about the creation of the world we discover that God placed our first parents in Paradise. It wasn’t just a beautiful world but it was also a safe world. When the first people sinned they damaged their relationship with God and it damaged their relationship with the planet too. The Bible tells us that they were expelled from Paradise. They lost that secure and integral connection with the earth. It took people a long time to realise that polluting and exploiting the planet is destructive. The lesson to learn yet is that my sins and your sins, and the sins of others, are also destructive to our world.
            Observing the calamities around us some can say that the world slipped out of God’s hand or that God doesn’t exist. For us Christians these calamities remind us that people still sin, that sin still affects our relationship with this planet we call our temporary home. However we still cling to our belief that the saving God is with us. That’s why this Gospel reading is one of those precious treasures which allow us to answer the question which the Apostles in the boat asked each other after Jesus calmed the storm: ‘Who can this be?’ Our answer is: ‘This is Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour.’
            My Dear Friends in Christ! If your heart is shaking at the images of destruction, like the boat with the Apostles in today’s Gospel, receive the Holy Communion, receive Jesus into your heart, and hear like he is saying to your heart: ‘Quite now! Be calm!’ Thank God that we don’t read the Jefferson Bible. We would miss on that.

​I would like to start this homily by telling you a story. However I need to warn you that it is a scandalous story. It is about a well renowned Norwegian writer Sigrid Undsted who in 1928 was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature. However four years earlier, in 1924, she scandalised Norway… She became a Catholic. She was 42 at the time. What a scandal!!!
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers. The unexpected conversion of Sigrid Undsted, which scandalised her fellow Norwegians, was a sign of the growth of the Kingdom of God. Her decision to join the Catholic Church was growing in her like a mustard seed. The circumstances surrounding her conversion were not easy. It was happening in the years following the devastating World War 1. Her marriage broke down. Her youngest child was born severely disabled and suffering from epilepsy. Her husband, who left his first wife to marry Sigrid, eventually abandoned her too. Furthermore the Norwegian society was not religious at all. However in the midst of all those tragedies and difficulties Sigrid found the living God. She embraced Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour. Her contemporaries were scandalised. For us, her fellow Catholics, her story is another sign that the Kingdom of God has been constantly growing.
            When Jesus was telling those down to earth parables about the seed sown in the land or about the mustard seed, his listeners could connect Jesus’ parables to what they observed. Those parables were drawn from their own daily life. For us gathered at this Eucharist these parables are more than some farming connotations. When we hear these parables we see Jesus, as the divine seed, the beginning of the Kingdom of God, being placed in the ground after his death on the cross. His Resurrection initiated the growth of God’s Kingdom. When he rose to life his disciples were surprised. They didn’t expect it. Our faith, which comes from Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, makes us admire and praise God for his mighty works being accomplished in our midst rather than being surprised that God does these mighty works. We are like a farmer watching the seeds sprouting. If the seeds were sown they will grow. Jesus who was buried in the depth of the earth emerged with new life which was first manifested to his disciples. But it wasn’t a one off event. Over two millennia generations of Christians have witnessed the appearances of Jesus’ new life in the people of their own time.
            As we remember Sigrid Undsted’s scandalous conversion to the Catholic Faith, and the anniversary of her death on June 10, 1949, we acknowledge that in her life the growth of the Kingdom of God occurred. She was famous indeed before she converted. But it is not her fame that made her conversion special. It is what she did with her conversion that it made it special. When the first wife of her estranged husbanded wanted to send her children to an orphanage, Sigird, who had already divorced the man, offered to welcome them into her own home. In addition to her three children she gained three more whom she loved deeply. When I read today’s Gospel I couldn’t help thinking that in her converted life we see a life-giving image of the Kingdom of God which ‘grows into the biggest shrub and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’ That’s what happened in the life of Sigrid Undsted. We praise God for a wonderful fellow Catholic but there were also three children who because of her conversion didn’t end up orphans, they found shelter in Sigrid’s home like the birds in the parable told by Jesus. They found a loving mother in that scandalous woman. By the way, after her conversion some people started calling her names. Do you know how they insulted her? They called her: ‘The Catholic Lady.’
            My Dear fellow Catholics. Rejoice that you are part of this Kingdom of God. Receive the Holy Communion at this Eucharist so that in you and through you this Kingdom may grow too, so that you too may be called ‘The Catholic Woman’ or ‘The Catholic Man.’ We need more scandals like that, don’t we?

​Imagine that you are on a plane which is about to commence descending. Then you hear from the captain that all people in the air traffic control tower are drunk. Imagine a more interesting situation: there is a bad storm at the destination and all people in the air traffic control tower are drunk. What would be your reaction then? I think you would be looking for your rosary beads after such an announcement.
            My dear Sisters and Brothers. Thinking about a scenario that air traffic controllers could be drunk can be more frightening than watching Air crush investigations. I’ve stimulated your imagination not to frighten you but to introduce you to the Solemnity we are observing in this parish church of ours, the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
            An image of an air control tower is close to what we find in the Bible about the heart, even if the people of the Bible couldn’t imagine flying from one side of the world to another. The heart in the Bible is the ‘control centre’ of the person. It brings together mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, determination, conscience, emotions, passions, religiosity etc.
            In our modern society the heart is understood very poorly. It is understood only biologically or romantically. There is even a saying: ‘the heart wants what it wants,’ which means that emotions are beyond any control. Although the modern appreciation of the heart is different to that of the Scriptures there are still some traces grounded in the Biblical faith which has been preserved even today. For example we have a saying: ‘to take something to heart.’ This saying indicates that the heart is larger than romance. At the same time this saying is a reflection of how St Luke wrote about Mary in the Gospel: ‘Mary stored up all these things in her heart.’ Mary kept in her heart everything that was about Jesus. But Mary’s heart wasn’t like a freezer. Her heart was of flesh and what she stored up in her heart was impacting her.
            Her Immaculate Heart was the art of work of God himself. In our collect it was acknowledged that God ‘prepared’ her heart. That’s why her Immaculate Heart was freed from sin. That’s why her Immaculate Heart was not divided. In her Immaculate Heart mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, determination, conscience, emotions, passions, religiosity were united. They were not fighting each other but operating together. That’s why her Immaculate Heart was ‘a worthy dwelling for the Holy Spirit’ as we prayed in our Collect for this Mass.
            I would like to recall now the words of our Blessed Mother from Fatima. On June 13, 1917 the Immaculate Virgin said to the three children: ‘Jesus wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To those who embrace this devotion I promise salvation; these souls will be favoured by God, like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.’
            There is a photo of Sister Lucia who was one of the three children who spoke to Our Lady in Fatima. In the photo we see the aged nun who cuddles the Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At the same time it looks like the statue cuddles Sister Lucia too.
            My dear Sisters and Brothers. Today as we glorify God for the great things he did in the Immaculate Heart of Mary I encourage you to devote yourself to this Immaculate Heart. Press your heart against hers so that the grace of a united heart may flow from her heart to yours and ‘the Lord will make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’ Her Immaculate Heart is the beginning of bringing unity in our hearts, so that all those things in our own hearts can work together and thus this interior control tower in us can direct our lives in the ways of the Lord.

​Some years ago I had a conversation with a Catholic who told me that while he enjoyed coming to church he didn’t believe that the bread and wine were the Body and Blood of Jesus. I thought: ‘How empty life must be if there is no faith in the real presence of the Lord Jesus.’
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! Today we observe the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. One could ask? Why do we need a special Solemnity for the Eucharist? Don’t be celebrate it every day? Don’t we have the Lord’s Supper Mass on the Holy Thursday night? We do. The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is given to us as a gift of the Lord Jesus who gave himself to his Church at the Last Supper under the species of bread and wine as we heard in the Mark’s Gospel. That’s the origin of the Eucharist. The history of this Solemnity of Corpus Christi goes back to the beginning of the Thirteenth century when St Juliana of Mont Cornillon had a vision of the moon in its full splendour with a small fraction missing. The moon was the symbol of the liturgical year. The missing fraction represented the absence of a liturgical feast in which believers would be able to adore the Eucharist so as to grow in faith. The timing of the vision was important as it was the time when some people began questioning the Real Presence. Therefore the Lord offered his Church a means to address the weakening of faith in the Eucharist.
            The Solemnity we are observing today is a divine medicine to heal the weak faith of ours.
            The Solemnity we are observing today is a divine medicine so that as the ordinary bread and wine are being brought to our altar we could have enough faith to see the hands of Jesus Christ taking these gifts of ours like he did take bread and wine at the Last Supper.
            The Solemnity we are observing today is a divine medicine so that as the ordinary bread and wine are being consecrated by the words of Christ: ‘This is my body… This is my blood’ uttered with the power of the Holy Spirt we could have plenty of faith to look at them and to say with St Thomas the Apostle: ‘My Lord and my God. It is truly you.’
            The final touch for introducing this Solemnity to the list of the Church’s celebrations came from a miracle which happened to a German priest Peter of Prague. The priest had lost his faith in the Eucharist. However he approached his dilemma properly. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome. After many days in Rome when nothing was happening he was asked to say a Mass for a group of pilgrims. When he was saying the words: ‘This is my body…’  he thought: ‘It is impossible that this bread could be Jesus’ body.’ Immediately the bread started bleeding. The priest got his faith back and the stained altar cloth was sent to Pope Urban IV who was staying not far from that church. The Pope, who as a young man helped St Juliana present the story of her vision to the local bishop, understood that Jesus wanted a special feast day dedicated to the Holy Eucharist. One year after the miracle of the bleeding host Pope Urban IV established the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in 1264. He wrote: ‘Although the Eucharist is celebrated solemnly every day, we deem it fitting that at least once a year it be celebrated with greater hour and a solemn commemoration.’
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! As we are offering this Mass on the great feast of Corpus Christi I ask you to accept it as a gift from heaven. The Eucharist is the gift of the Lord given at the Last Supper. This Solemnity of Corpus Christi is the gift of the Lord given to us so that our life can be full to overflowing with faith in the Real Presence of the Lord.

​At Easter Vigil I invited you to search for the signs of the Risen Lord. This is very much a Christian attitude. Since the very first Easter Sunday the Lord Jesus isn’t confined to a tomb.  By a tomb I mean not only the cave hewn in the rock in Jerusalem but all sorts of things like theories, philosophies, challenges, difficulties, doubts created or experienced by individual and societies which suggest that the man called Jesus is just a person from the past.
            Sisters and Brothers! Eastertide which we are enjoying right now is the time of grace. This is the time of grace because, as we listen to the Scripture readings during these sacred 50 days of Easter, we discover that at the beginning of what is now called the Catholic Church was not a committee of some activists who wanted to change the world. At the beginning of our Church is Jesus Christ who was crucified, buried and who rose from the dead.
            The Gospel we have just received takes us again to the Upper Room on the very first Easter Sunday. Someone could say: Why can’t we just move on? The Easter Sunday was two weeks ago. Why we need to dwell on that still? We do dwell on that and we will dwell on that because the Resurrection of Jesus is the sign that new time has begun in the world. That’s why we follow the Risen Jesus who is alive and active. That’s what the disciples who returned from Emmaus discovered when they were running away on Easter Sunday. Jesus was walking with them when they thought that he was finished. In the Gospel today we hear them fully alive because they met the Risen Lord. We can also see how the rest of their group in Jerusalem is coming back to life. They have something in common now, the Risen Lord is in their midst.
            That’s why in the Bible we have the Acts of the Apostles. This Book is read in our churches every day during the Eastertide because it explains how and why the Church came into existence. The Church was established because the Risen Jesus showed himself to the disciples. The Church was established so that it could perpetuate the community in which succeeding generations can meet the Risen Lord as well.
            If you are still searching for a sign of the Risen Lord, if you think that maybe your eyesight is failing you because you haven’t discovered any signs, I tell you this: He is here in our midst!!!! Alleluia!!! When the Scriptures are proclaimed and explained it is the Lord himself who speaks and explains the mysteries of God and human to us like he did to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.
            When bread and wine are placed on the altar Jesus himself becomes present in his Body and Blood to be consumed by us with faith and love so that we could be united with him when so many things in us and around us attempt to separate us from him.
            At the end of this Mass we will hear the words: ‘God forth, the Mass is ended.’ These words are not like the school bell letting students know that they can go home now. Theses final words of the Mass remind us of what the Risen Lord said to his disciples in the Gospel today: ‘You are witnesses to this.’ You who are hearing these words are witnesses to the Risen Lord because you are coming out of miracle. You are coming out of the Church where you heard the Risen Jesus talking to his disciples. You are coming out of the Church where Christ came right into the depth of your soul when you received his Body.
            My Dear Fellow believers in the Risen Christ. I pray so that each one of us here could always say after attending Mass: I have just been to the feast prepared by my Risen Lord. He opened the Scriptures for us. He opened our minds too to understand Scriptures. He has made our hearts burn with love.
            Jesus is not in the tomb. He is where his disciples are gathered in his name. We have gathered here in his name. We will again gather in his name because we are the people who dwell on the Easter Sunday. Happy Easter.