Tuesday, April 29, 2014

THE GREATEST GIFT


My dear readers, would you like me to make you a beautiful gift?

Beyond doubt, you will answer, "Certainly." Well then, pay careful attention to my words and I will point out to you a treasure of great price, of inestimable value, one which surpasses every other gift.

It is said that Charles IX of France possessed a precious pearl of rare beauty, on which he had inscribed the words: "He who possesses me will never be poor." Now, if you learn to value properly the great gift that I wish to bestow upon you, and make use of it, you may be certain and will assuredly have heaven as your portion in the life to come.

What I wish to give you is nothing less than Jesus in His Body, His Blood, His Soul, and His Divinity, in the merits of His Passion, Death and His Redemption of man. If you ask where I shall find this beautiful gift, in which are contained all these wondrous things, I answer that I shall find them where they have always been -- in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

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Yes, in the Mass, under the appearance of bread and wine, Jesus Christ is present, whole and entire, living, real, and substantial, as He was born in the stable of Bethlehem, as He died on the Cross, as He reigns in Paradise; in Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. This was defined by the Council of Trent as taught by Sacred Scripture. In every Mass Jesus is sacrificed anew on the altar at the hands of the priest, without the actual shedding of blood. Yes, He really sacrifices Himself for us in order to render to God for us the honor due to Him, in order to procure for us by means of our contrition forgiveness of our sins, in order to pay with our co-operation the debts we have contracted with God, in order to obtain for us all graces and blessings; in a word, He sacrifices Himself that He may apply to each one of us the fruits of His Passion and Death.

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One day, a man who doubted this truth met Blessed John of Mantova and asked him how it could be that the words of a priest should have power to change the substance of bread into the Body of Jesus Christ, and the substance of wine into His Blood.

"Come," said Blessed John, and led him to a fountain. Here he took a cup of water and told the unbeliever to drink. The man was surprised to find that the water had changed to wine. When he had drunk it, he admitted that never in his life had he tasted such excellent wine. Then the Saint said: "If through me, a miserable man, the water is changed into wine by divine power, why will you not believe that by means of the words of the priest which are the divine words first spoken by Our Lord, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ? This miracle was enough to convert the man. He believed, and did penance for his sins.

Therefore, I say to you: If God can work the many miracles of which we know, why cannot He also work the miracle of being really present in the Mass? Do not doubt the truth. God can do all things, and every day, in every Mass, He works this greatest of miracles by means of the priest.

(Source: THE GREATEST TREASURE. Rev. Joseph L. Chiavarino)