Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 06/14/20 No Longer Optional

Episode Date: June 15, 2020

Homily from the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharist will never be optional...until the day it is no longer an option. The moment worship becomes about “what I get” it ceases to be an act of love and becomes idolatry. Mass Readings from June 14, 2020: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 Psalm 147:12-15, 19-201 Corinthians 10:16-17 John 6:51-58

Hi, this is Father Mike. So we were able to celebrate Mass and record it for the live stream or for the YouTube and for the digital mass essentially. Unfortunately, when it came to the podcast, I, user error, forgot to hit record on our audio recording device. So this is one of those kind of special, I guess how special it is, podcasts that I am recording after the fact. This is after Mass.

But I just wanted to let you know that I'm so grateful for all the times that you have, you know, come to this podcast. Other times you've shared this podcast with people. And I'm just so grateful, so grateful. Please know that even in the midst of this summer, in the midst of COVID-19, all of this stuff, that you are in my prayers. So, without anything further,

the gospel of John. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. Chapter 6, verses 51 through 58. Jesus said to the Jewish crowds, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, amen. Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I'll raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living father sent me and I have life because of the father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. Gosh, so I was able to do a wedding this weekend,

and it reminded me, It was just beautiful, you know, was smaller because of everything going on. But there's this moment where, you know, at the beginning of the wedding, you sing or you say the Gloria. And I remember I just, I, you know, I love the Gloria as a prayer. I love the glory as a song. I think it's so good for us because it just gives glory to God. It's the first thing, one of the first things you do in the Mass.

But I have to tell you, I have to confess that when it comes to wedding masses, I hate. Oh, no, I severely dislike the Gloria. Here's why. The song itself is wonderful. It's super appropriate. It's amazing. Give glory to God. The problem is, usually at the beginning of Masses, I'm standing one and a half feet to two feet away from this couple.

We're looking, so we have to sing the Gloria, and here we are basically singing into each other's faces awkwardly, or just kind of standing there, not awkwardly not singing. It's just really uncomfortable for me. That's all I have to say. It's just very uncomfortable for me personally. And that's where I'm at. I'm willing to acknowledge that. So a couple of years ago, with the kind of the changes in some of the ritual and whatnot of the Mass or the Holy Matrimony ritual, one of my friends, Father Tim, He said, actually, you know, the Gloria is no longer optional.

I was like, oh my gosh, good. I hate that. And he's like, no, no, no, no. You misunderstood me. The Gloria is no longer optional, meaning you have to do it every single time. You have a wedding. You have to do the glory. I'm like, oh, no, because I had made a mistake, right?

I confused something that was no longer optional with something that was no longer an option. I thought he meant it's no longer an option. Like, you don't get to do it anymore. And he meant, no, you have to do it from now on. I think it's interesting. The difference between something that's no longer optional, meaning it's necessary and something that's no longer an option, meaning you don't get it anymore.

It's gone. I'm thinking about this a lot because, you know, about two or three months ago, up until two or three months ago, you know, going to Mass on Sunday, that's not optional, right? It's necessary. It's essential. It's, to skip it on purpose is a mortal sin. And we can say like, yeah, that's not optional.

it's no longer optional. And then all of a sudden, it was taken away. And going to Mass was something that was no longer an option for us. I just invite you to look back over those last two, three months. And how was that for you? Like, what was it like when Mass was no longer an option? Like painful, troubling? You know, so many people felt abandoned.

They felt like, how can I move forward? Like, how can I survive? You know, so a lot of you, you go to Mass on. Sundays every Sunday or even during the week. And all of a sudden, what had been not optional, now is no longer an option. You know, I've talked to people and some of them have been troubled because they said, you know, after the last, you know, two or three months, I don't, it's not painful anymore. Like, it's not troubling anymore. Some people have said, like, I don't even miss it. Like, I don't miss the Eucharist. Some people that have actually asked me, what do I do? What does it

mean? I don't even miss the Eucharist. I don't even miss the Mass. What, happened. And I would say this, there's a couple options. But one of the possibilities is this. You know how when you were growing up, your parents said, hey, don't ruin your dinner. And don't spoil dinner. When they meant by that is like, don't eat anything before it's time to eat. And if you look at that, you would say, well, you're not, you're not actually, think about this, you're not actually ruining dinner. Like the dinner itself, the supper itself, the meal itself, is still going to be either just as good as it was going to be, ever going be or just as bad as it ever was going to be. What you're ruining is you're ruining your,

you're ruining your appetite. So right? So, so before the meal, to ruin the dinner is actually not ruining the dinner. It's ruining your appetite. And so what do you do? They said, don't fill up on junk before supper because you're going to ruin your appetite. I don't wonder how many of us in the last two to three weeks, three to three months, I mean, gosh, in the course of of this time, we kind of cool in our prayer. Like we haven't like even visited the church. We haven't visited Jesus in the Eucharist. We haven't read his scripture. We haven't spent time with him, but we filled ourselves on other stuff. And it's like, why don't I miss the Eucharist? Why don't I? Why don't I hunger for the mass? It might be because you ruined your appetite.

Again, you didn't do anything to mass. The mass is still going to be as amazing, as glorious, as powerful, as real as ever. But what I did is I ruined my appetite for it because I just filled up on other things. Now, if that's you, you don't have to lose heart, right? what does it say in the first reading? It says, Deuteronomy says, He led you into the desert. He let you be afflicted with hunger so that he could feed you with bread from heaven.

This is what the Lord does sometimes. Sometimes if we've ruined our appetites, maybe a good thing to do. He let you be afflicted by hunger so that he could feed you with bread from heaven. I would invite you if you find yourself not missing the mass. You've kind of spoiled your appetite.

Let yourself be afflicted by this hunger for the Euchar. And then let Jesus, Jesus himself feed you with the bread from heaven. You know, that might be one option. Maybe you've ruined your appetite. Maybe not. Maybe you've been praying this whole time. Maybe you have been trying to draw near to the Lord. It's been tough, I'm sure.

But maybe you haven't done anything wrong. You have not, again, ruined your appetite. Maybe you just don't feel it. And I would say this, that's fine. I don't want to let you know this. I want to let you know 100%. That's normal. To say, like, but it's been three months since I've received the Eucharist.

shouldn't I feel differently? I would say, you know what? The truth is we don't always feel a certain way. You don't always feel like we miss the Eucharist. We don't always feel full when we receive the Eucharist. And I got to tell you, that is good. That's good. If that's you right now, and you did not because you ruined your appetite,

but just because it's normal, that's a gift. It's a gift. Why? Because then your worship gets to be about something other than feeling. If you're at the point right now where you're like, I don't really miss the Eucharist, but Mass has opened up. Good. You are in such an incredible spot where Mass, the Mass, worship, gets to be about something other than feeling. It gets to be about someone other than you. That is such a gift. Because then, when you don't feel anything, the mass gets to be an act of love.

That's so important. It's something other than a feeling. It's something somewhat about someone other than you. gets to be about love. And it's so interesting. We've been doing these online masses, and I've been so grateful. I'm so grateful that we get to do them and get to have a bunch of people, you know, streaming these masses. And hopefully when we end them, you'll, they come over to the podcast. I just kind of hope, well, if it's helpful, I hope it's so, you know. But I've gotten a number of messages and emails and other things like this where when I announced that, you know, pretty soon we're not going to have the online masses, people have said, but I get, I get more out of the online. mass than I do about going to mass in my actual parish. And on one hand, I'm like, thank you.

That's really nice you to say, because I think what people are saying is that maybe we connect better or I don't know what the thing is, but I think it's meant to be a compliment. But when someone says, I get more out of online mass than I do from actually going to mass, I would say that's, no, you don't. Like, you objectively don't. Because why? Because what is the second reading say? First Corinthians chapter 10 and St. Paul's writing, he says, do you not realize that basically the Holy Communion, it's a participation in the blood of Christ, that when you go to Mass, it's a participation in the body of Christ, realize that when you and I go to Mass, we don't just get to watch something, we just get inspired, we don't just

get informed, we don't just get entertained, we get him. St. Paul is saying this, like, objectively, you do not get as much out of going to online Mass as you do going to Mass. When we go to Mass, it is a participation in the body and blood of Jesus you're brought into his very life. It's so incredible. I mean, and yet, and yet, so many of us, as Catholics even, and not Catholic Christians, missed this. We missed that at the Mass,

regardless of how inspiring, entertaining, engaging, whatever it was the priest or deacon is. The Mass is about Jesus. It's this worship. Where in the Eucharist, today's Corpus Christi, the feast of the body and blood of the Lord, that's really him. That's really him. And I know that maybe a lot of you heard this before,

but I think it's worth going back over this and saying, like, I remember that, I remember like it was yesterday. I was raised Catholic, hated the Mass, just so bored out of my mind, just what a waste of time. I would have been the kind of person who says, I don't feel anything, and I get more out of something else, you know, praying on my own. or reading a book or listening to a sermon.

And then I remember it like it was yesterday. And I realized the teaching broke into my heart that, wait, that's really him in the Eucharist, in the Mass. That's really Jesus. I remember, gosh, I remember coming down downstairs from my bedroom. I read it in the book. And, I mean, my family, the teachers at church, I'm sure our priests told me again and again.

That's really Christ. But I read John chapter 6, and I got to tell you, It was the gospel reading for today, and it changed my life. You guys, it changed my life. And what we heard today is Jesus making it absolutely clear that the Eucharist is not a symbol. The Eucharist actually is truly Jesus Christ. He says, in John chapter 6, verse 51, he says,

I'm the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats his bread will live forever. And then here's the kicker. And the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. Now, first you could say, well, maybe he was just speaking figuratively. Maybe he was speaking symbolically. If he was speaking symbolically, then the people in the crowd would be like, oh, we get it.

You know, you kind of like, you mean like, think about you while, you know, we eat bread or something, I guess. But the next verse, 52 says, the Jew is cold among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? No, that does not sound like they think he's speaking symbolically. That sounds exactly like they think he's speaking literally. Because they're like, wait a second, they're quarreling among themselves saying, how can he give us his flesh to eat? Now, this is the perfect opportunity for Jesus.

If he was only speaking symbolically, if the Eucharist really isn't his body and blood, soul and divinity, this is Jesus, this opportunity to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, you guys, guys, calm down, calm down. I don't mean really my body and blood. I don't mean really my flesh and blood. I mean figuratively. But what does he do? In the midst of all these Jews quarreling among themselves, how can he give us his flesh to eat? Jesus doesn't just double down. He doesn't just triple down. It doesn't just quadruple down five times. He reiterates himself.

And he says, amen, amen, I say to you. Now, those two words, amen, amen. Whenever Jesus says those words, what's coming after this is basically a solemn oath. Jesus is basically saying, whatever I say after this, amen, amen. He's saying, I stick my life on this. The next words I'm going to utter are profound.

words that I would stake my life on. He says, amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. This is so important. Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. What Jesus is saying is, this is no longer optional.

This is no longer optional. Unless you eat the flesh and son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life. This is no longer optional. But he doesn't say that one time, he goes on, and he says, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, has eternal life. I'll raise him on the last day. Number three, for my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink. Number four, whoever eats my flesh and breaks my blood remains in me and I

and I in him. And fifth, he says, just as the living father sent me and I've liked because of the father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. In response, in response to the crowd saying, wait, how can he give us his flesh to eat? Jesus doesn't clarify and say, oh, guys, it was just symbolic. It was just figurative language. He says, this is absolutely, literally, truly, and really what I mean. This Eucharist, this gift is no longer optional. The problem is for them, it was no longer an option. For them, it was no longer an option because it's really interesting.

Gosh, this is the crowd. The crowds murmurs. They don't believe in Jesus. They're just out there because he fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish the day before. But in verse 60, it says, then many of his disciples who are listening said, this saying is hard.

Who can accept it? No, pause on this one. I've got to ask you guys this. Is it a hard saying if Jesus says, hey, next time you eat some, you know, some unleavened bread, think about me. Hey, next time you guys eat a sandwich, think about me. Like, for example, if I were to say to you today,

like after you listen to this, you guys, hey, when you're eating some pancakes today, after Mass, just think of Father Mike. Would you mind thinking about me? No, question, would that be a hard saying? no, it'd be a weird saying, but it would not be a hard saying. Yet disciples are listening to this, and they said, this is a hard saying. Who could accept it?

It sounds exactly like they believe Jesus is speaking literally, because he is speaking literally. Again, Jesus is saying, this is no longer optional. This is what I want you to do. But for many of them, Jesus was no longer an option. And the most tragic, I think one of the most tragic lines in all of Scripture, comes six verses later. In John chapter 6, verse 66, it says, as a result of this, many of his disciples return to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. I don't know if you know this. This is the one time in the entire Bible, the entire gospel,

where anyone who is a disciple of Jesus leaves him over one of his teachings. There are people who don't put faith in them. There are people who reject him. This is the only time when one of his disciples leaves him over one of his teachings, and it says many of them, many of his disciples return to their formal way of life and no longer accompanied him over what teaching? The teaching on the Eucharist. When Jesus is saying, this is no longer optional.

For them, it was no longer an option. And I think it's interesting because for them, I'd say they left because of their unbelief. They couldn't believe it. Because who could? They don't even know who Jesus is. He might be a Messiah. He definitely is a rabbi.

So they probably left because of their unbelief. I got to say this, you know, there is Catholics all over the world who leave the Mass. There's Catholics all over the world who leave the Eucharist. And my guess is a lot of us don't leave because we don't believe. Because we know. We know who Jesus is, right? We know his identity. He's not just rabbi. He's not just the Messiah.

He is the son of God. He's the second person of the Trinity. He is God himself who made everything that exists. So if he says it, it's absolutely true. But we often leave. Maybe because of unbelief. but maybe because of preference. Isn't that strange?

We might leave the Eucharist too. We might not go to Mass anymore. Not because we don't believe, but because that's not my taste. Because I don't get anything out of mass. Because you know, when I go into that other church down the road, they have such good music, and the preaching is incredible, and they have such good fellowship,

and it just lifts me up. And I go to the Catholic Church, and the music is so-so, and the preaching is so-so, and there's no fellowship. And I just, I just walk away. Because why? Because it's, I know he said, do this in memory of me. But I'd rather, I prefer not to. And that I just have to ask, man, oh man, why does everything have to be about us?

Right? Like, why does everything always have to be about how I'm feeling? Why is it always, you know, I know I told the story a thousand times, I used a example a thousand times. But my mom, my mom has a birthday roughly the same time every year. It is in November 4th. And I remember years ago when I was growing up, in my brothers and sisters, we'd ask my mom, mom, what do you want us to do for your birthday?

And she'd say something like, you know, it'd be great if you kids, if you could just clean the whole house, top to bottom, so good. Like, hmm, yeah, mom. No, mom, what do you really want for your birthday? Right? Like, okay, well, you know, if you guys could go outside and if you could just, you know, break the yard or shovel the door. drive by one of the two. It was November in Minnesota. It could have been snow, could have been leaves.

Like, mom, yeah, no, mom, what do you really want for your birthday? And she'd say something like, how about, you know, it'd be a great gift to me if you just didn't fight all day. We're like, ah, mother, you don't know your children very well. You know, so what would have it ultimately is my older sisters, they would borrow some money, quote of quote, borrow some money, and then borrow the car and then go to the mall and like go shopping for a mom for a birthday, right? Get her something because they liked driving. They like shopping. My older brother and I, no lie, we would ride our BMX bikes all day, again, without snow. And at the end of the day, I remember doing this, at the end of the day,

calling our mom out to the front of the house to show her a trick that we learned for her for her birthday. My little brother, he liked to draw or whatever, and he was a picture of a dinosaur, mom for your birthday. Now, when we gave her these gifts, of course, she's an amazing mom. She's so good. And she accepted them. And she smiled and she said, thank you. but I remember years later realizing she said thank you and she smiled but I imagine that she also had that thought you know this is good thank you I love you but this isn't what

I asked for I'll accept your gift but this isn't what I asked for see we gave her what we wanted to give her not what she wanted us to give her and in that moment it becomes really clear that we, when we gave her those gifts, even though we were giving her gifts, it wasn't her that we were loving. We were loving ourselves because I was giving her the gift I wanted to give her, even though I knew what she wanted. Because I didn't get anything about, I didn't get anything from cleaning the house. I wouldn't get anything from raking the lawn or from behaving with my siblings. We have to realize this. When it comes to the Mass, comes to worship, the moment that worship becomes about what I get, it has ceased to be an act of love

and has become an act of idolatry. This is so important for all of us to just really hear. I invite you to hear this with an open heart, the open ears. The moment worship becomes about what I get from it, it has ceased to be an act of love has become an act of idolatry. Yeah, just so many walk away. So many people walk away from the Eucharist. John chapter 6, verse 66, many of the disciples returned to their formal way of life and no longer accompanied him. Those disciples are people who left their family, their friends, their homes, their jobs. They left everything that followed Jesus. And now they're walking away.

And he let them go. He didn't beg after them and say, guys, no, no, no, no, please, I'll change the teaching on the Eucharist. You don't have to have the Mass. He let them go. Not only did he let them go, he turned to the apostles and he looks at them and he doesn't say, guys, guys, guys, stay here. He says, do you also want to leave? Now think about this. He's not only letting all these disciples go, he's turning to the 12, the apostles, and he's saying,

do you also want to leave? Now, what is Jesus risking when he says this? He's risking the salvation of the world. Of course, we know this, right? Jesus is still going to, even if the apostles leave, Jesus will still go to Jerusalem. He will still suffer. He'll still let himself be crucified. He will still rise from the dead.

But if those 12 men leave, no one will be left to spread that good news to the world. salvation will effectively be ended with the death and resurrection of Jesus because there will be no one to extend it to the rest of the world. And Jesus apparently believes that the teaching on the Eucharist is worth risking the salvation of the world. And he says, do you also want to leave? Because if you don't want this teaching, then you don't want me. This is one of the hard words that we always have to be reminded of.

especially when it's like, I don't know, I didn't get anything out of the Mass, and I don't know, I just, I refer online Mass, and I just, if I don't want the Eucharist, then I don't want Jesus. I don't want the Eucharist. I don't want Jesus. And maybe you're listening to this, and it's been a long time since you've received Holy Communion, and you're wondering about this, you know, is it real? Is it true? Can it really be him? It is him. Maybe I don't want him. Maybe it's not my preference. Maybe that's not the way I want. to worship. If you don't want the Eucharist, then you don't want Jesus. And I know I'm saying this, but listen, it might feel guilty, but listen, this is not about guilt. This is about love. This is not about feeling bad. This is about choosing him. And it's also not about understanding. It's not about, oh, I get the whole thing. It's about love. I mean, what happens? Jesus turns to them, says, do you also want to leave? And of course, Simon Peter speaks up and he says, Lord, I totally understand this. It's called transubstantiation, where the act.

accidents remain the same, but the substance changes. It's very obvious and very clear. I don't know why they don't get it. No, Peter does not say that. Peter doesn't understand it, but he loves Jesus. Peter looks at Jesus and he says, master, where are we going to go? He says, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. See, Peter doesn't understand it, but he knows. He knows who Jesus is. And his response is that of love. You have the words of eternal life. We've come to believe that you are the Holy One of God, so I'm not going anywhere. I don't know what you just said. I don't have any idea how you're going to do this, but I'm not going anywhere.

You know, it's so interesting. I remember after I got ordained a priest, I have a godmother who, she was raised Catholic, and then she left the Catholic Church and belongs to a different Christian nomination. After I got ordained, she wanted to meet with me because she wanted to kind of show me where the Catholic church is wrong, all these kind of places. And we would meet for coffee, you know, for coffee. about stuff and go back and forth on the Bible and different issues. And I'm grateful for her. I wasn't upset that she did that. The fact is, you know, at the time at least, I'm not sure she still

believes this, but she believed we were wrong. And so I, you know, to try to teach someone is a good thing. It shows that you really care. But at one point, we got to the teaching on the Eucharist. And when we walked through this whole chapter of John chapter six and got to the end, I'm like, see, you know, the Eucharist is really Jesus. And she said, I can see how that is a value. interpretation of that text. You just say, yeah, that's that I can see that's a valid interpretation because you can't argue with the facts, right? Here are the words of scripture and she, you know, being honest, said, I can see that's a valid interpretation of that passage. But maybe there's other trans, there's not other

interpretations of that passage. And I would say, okay, there might be other interpretations of this passage. But how do you explain this? The fact that for 15, hundred years of Christianity, literally 100% of Christians believed this one interpretation. Like, how do you explain the fact? Yes, maybe there could be other interpretations of this. How do you explain the fact that for 1,500, 500 years, 100% of Christians, every one of us believe this one interpretation that when Jesus said, this is my body, this is my blood, he actually meant, this is my body, this is my blood. I mean, the thing about this, if it's not, if Jesus is not truly present in the Eucharist,

we are worshiping bread. That's what Catholics do. If Jesus is not truly present in Eucharist, we are literally bowing down and committing idolatry in front of just bread and just wine. Now, a question, would God allow us to do this? I mean, think about the book of Exodus. When Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandamist, of God. And meanwhile down at the base of the mountain, here's his brother, Aaron, and the people of Israel,

and they fashioned the golden calf. They worship the golden calf for like a day, saying, this, oh, Israel, is your God who set you free from slavery in Egypt. God lets them get away with it for a day. And then he puts a quick, a very swift end to that false idolatrous worship. Do you think, do we really think that God himself, would allow his church on earth for 1,500 years to endure idolatry? I don't think so. Why? Because he's a God of love and he keeps revealing himself to us. He's crazy. He's a God of love and he keeps revealing himself to us and he keeps giving himself to us in the Eucharist. I mean, it's crazy because not only is this translation born out in history,

in this translation that the Eucharist really is Jesus' body, blood, soul, and divinity, is born out in science. I mean you've heard this before, you know, there have been Eucharistic miracles in the history of the church. In fact, one of the most famous ones, there's from 750 AD. So a long time ago, 1,200 years ago, in Lanchiano, Italy, so a small village in Italy, there was this priest saying mass, 1200 years ago. And in the middle of the mass, he had this extreme crisis of doubt. Like, I am not fully convinced that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist in the bread and in the wine, and in his hands, on the altar, that host of bread literally transformed into flesh. And the wine in the chalice literally transformed into blood.

And it's existed. I mean, it's been, you can venerate it, the Eucharist like that since 750, AD. So the crazy thing is, in 1970, roughly 1970, 1972, 1972 or so, the World Health Organization, the church said, you know what, we have scientific abhorst. now that they didn't have in the 8th century, would you be willing to do research on this, this, what we call as a miracle? So over the course of 15 months, these scientists from the old health organization performed over 500 tests on this miracle. And what they discovered, they discovered that the coagulated substance is actually human blood. It is human blood. It's type

A-B. And now if you know this about type A-B blood, only 4% of the world. population as A, B, positive blood. And it's the universal recipient, right? You're universal receiving blood. Now, I'm crazy. Think about this. Here's Jesus. This is his blood.

And he receives all of us. Universal recipient. They studied the host. And I transformed. In those 500 tests, they discovered that the host is actually human muscle. Male human muscle. But not just any human muscle. muscle, muscle of the myocardium, which is heart muscle, specifically the left ventricle.

They could tell them. And you know the left ventricle, I think this is accurate. The left ventricle is the part of the heart that pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. Think about this is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is literally the heart of God and the part of the heart that pumps life-giving blood to the rest of the body. The World Authorization, what they said is they said this, 1976, they had this statement, joint statement of the WHO and the UN. They said this, science, aware of its limits, has come to a halt face to face with the impossibility of giving an explanation. Science has come to a halt.

We said, yeah, we studied this. That's not the only one. Basically, in 19, shoot, what was it? In 1992 and 1996, there were two Eucharist miracles in Buenos Aires. Another one in Mexico in 2006, another one in Poland in 2008. Another one in 2013, there have been these five more of these have happened. And dozens, upon dozens of studies on these Eucharistic miracles. Many times the scientists who were asked the study of the Eurystic miracles,

they didn't know where the samples came from. They said, hey, study this, be very careful with it, and tell us what you found. Every single one of them found this is human belief. It's A, B, blood type. Remember, only 4% of human beings that Amy B blood type. That human DNA was there. Red blood cells and white blood cells alive. This is so incredible that the flesh, again, is still from the myocardia. The flesh is still, every one, every time there's a sacred host, it's from the left ventricle of the myocardium. Not only that, but the miracles of Argentina and Poland,

And there was evidence, they said, of trauma, indicating a repeated lack of oxygen, like maybe when someone was being suffocated to death on a cross. That's just remarkable. There was a Dr. Frederick Zugibe. He was a forensic doctor in Columbia. And again, he examined the miracle from Argentina. He didn't know where it came from, but he was baffled. He didn't know where it came from, but he was baffled.

why? Because he said, I'm looking at these white blood cells and they're alive. Human cells only last a couple hours after they're separated from the body. This has been studying these white blood cells for days, for weeks. He didn't realize they've been there for years. He said, they're still alive. He said that what he learned where it came from, he said, this is actually a consecrated host from a Roman Catholic Mass. He was shocked. You were shocked. See, you know this. Jesus is truly present in Eucharist. And the only place you can ever find at the Eucharist is in the Catholic Church. And when we come to the knowledge of this, we realize, oh my gosh, the mass is no longer optional.

When we realize the truth about God's love for us that he gives us his very heart, He gives a very heart at every single mass than Sunday Mass is no longer optional. Then when we realize that regardless of how we feel at every single mass, it's better than an online mass because in every single mass Jesus gives us himself, it's no longer optional. We also know this tragic reality.

We also know this tragic possibility that even though the mass right now is no longer optional, the Eucres is no longer optional, unless you eat the flushes on the man and freak his blood, you don't have life, it's no longer optional. if we ignore it, if we pretend like we don't know this, and we say, I don't feel anything I'm not getting me out of this, the day will come when what is no longer optional

will for us no longer be an option. And brothers and sisters, let your heart grow on fire with hunger for the Eucharist. Let the Lord lead you into the desert and give you this hunger so that he can feed you with bread from heaven. Go to the Eucharist. go to the mass, knowing it's no longer optional before that tragic day comes when it is no longer an option.