It is not accidental that these three great Feast Days: 1) The Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Sunday, June 10) and 2) The Feast of St. Anthony of Padua (Wednesday, June 13) and 3) The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Friday, June 15) all occure within 6 days.
What is the Church teaching us here? What are the links binding these three Feasts together? What is the Holy Spirit doing in making these Feasts to proximate to each other. Isn't this too much to take in all at once?
Let's see where the Church and the Holy Spirit are taking us on this 6-day-spiritual extravaganza:
1) Links: In all these three feasts, there is: priesthood; priesthood; prieshood! St. Anthony was at the heart of his whole life -- a priest of God: a preacher of the Gospel and the Bringer of the Holy Eucharist to the people of God. The Holy Eucharist is the Corpus Christi: Body of Christ. The Sacred Heart of Jesus -- for us who live on the earth -- is the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, truly beating in every tabernacle in the world. Do we see how these lovely Feasts -- ALL three -- flow smoothly through one another to help us to see more clearly the Spiritual Reality of Jesus' Body and Blood as the Source, Summit and personal Nourishment of our souls?
2) St. Anthony was an "alter Christus" - "another Christ" - for the people of Padua. Anthony raised a boy to life, restored a severed leg to a young man, evangelized the heretics and was called the "Hammer of the heritics"! Before the New Evangelism ever had a name, St. Anthony was totally doing it. His devotion to the Holy Eucharist was so widely known that one heretic challanged him to a test of faith. The heretic said that his mule should be starved for three days and then placed before a hay stack and the Eucharist contained in a monstrance upon an outside altar. If his donkey ignored the Eucharist and went to eat the hay, this would proved that the Eucharist was only a myth. But if the Eucharist was real and Jesus truly present there, then Jesus would call the donkey to come close to the Eucharist and kmeel down before the Eucharist and worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. If that happens, the heretic would repent and worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as well. St. Anthony -- trusting in Jesus -- agreed to this experiment and did indeed place Jesus uppon an outside altar in view of the starved donkey and all the town's people. To the heretic's dismay, the donkey did not go and eat the hay but went to the Blessed Sacrment and worshipped on his two front knees. Of course, the heretic kept his word..and did believe from then on in true and real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Additionally, Anthony could bi-locate, works numerous healings. And when he died a the early age of 36, any one who passed by his body was healed. Even those outside of the church who could not get in were also healed. Thus Anthony witnessed to the Resurrection of death of resurrection of Jesus in his very person by giving life to others even in his death.
3) The Corpus Christi -- see John 6: 51-71 -- is the Resurrected Jesus! Catholicism is not another mere religion among many. No; Catholicism is a Person! -- The Son of God: "the Word was with God; and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelled amongst us." John 1.
That is whom we follow: God on the earth: Historically, Eucharistically and made Present by the Holy Spirit in all the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Christ is present in the Sacrament of Marriage where the husband loves his wife as Christ loves His Chruch. In confession, Christ is present listening to our sins and washing them away by his Precious Blood. IN every Sacrament, the action of the Holy Spirit is powerfully manifest! Without the Holy Spirit, there are no Sacraments. He is the Power behind every Sacrament bringing Christ Present to us. But the Greast Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist because God is made Present with us: Immanuel!
4) The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the Love of God made Present in our lives...and we can feel the heart of His Love in our Lives. The most powerful prayer we can say is this one: "O Blood and water that gushed froth from the Heart of Christ as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in you!" Starting with the devotion to the Sacred Heart through St. Mary Margaret Aloqoute, the Love of Christ in His Mercy and in His Great affection for us has never been so revealed as it has it is now! Men of the Old Testament never knew the Great Love of God until Jesus came. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." John 3: 16. The Heart of Jesus...is our heaven on earth!..or Home..away from home...our protection ...our whole reason to be here: to be loved by Jesus and to love Jesus.
5) St. Anthony made it so clear in one of his most eloquent sermons: "The humility of Christ is shown to us in these three ways: 1) He became a little babe; 2) He died on the Cross; and 3) He hides in the Holy Eucharist."
The whole Paschal Mystery is thus pronounced by St. Anthony for us! Now we can see why the Holy Spirit has placed these three Great Feasts together almost as one liturgical meal. It all seems too rich to consume at one sitting; but actually each Feasts makes the other that much more palatable and loveable and enjoyable! -- all the more spiritually nourishing!
Peace and love,
Pio
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