A EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE

CHRISTIANITY / EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES

On March 5, 2023, there was a Eucharistic miracle - multiplying of the Host - during the distribution of communion... it was reported immediately by an extraordinary minister who was a last-minute substitution for the Pastor (whose thumb was bandaged before the Mass). The Pastor is Rev. Joseph Crowley of the St Maximilian Kolbe Parish at St Thomas Catholic church in Thomaston, CT. This parish was previously known as St Thomas Parish until a merger and was the last parish served by Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. 

This video is the beginning of the 3/12/23 Homily where Fr Crowley reviews the details of the Miracle that he witnessed at the 3/5/23 10am Mass.

I don't really pay much attention to eucharistic miracles, because they can often times be more of a distraction than a blessing, but I think this little miracle at St Thomas Catholic Church is significant, and for real.  

As far as miracles go, this was a small one: communion hosts kept multiplying in the chalice, instead of running out as communion was being served.  And it happened to just one minister.  That's it.  That's the whole miracle.  No, it's not a big deal, but it's significant.   

Miracles like this point to "multiplication" stories reported in the gospels:

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”  And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

- John 14:13-21 ESV

There are two very important spiritual lessons to be learned from these stories:

1. JESUS WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU, IF YOU KEEP YOUR ATTENTION ON HIM.   Five thousand men, not including woman and children, followed Jesus out in the wilderness to hear Jesus teach.  They were not concerned about food, for they were hungry for something far more important than food: spiritual truth.   But Jesus, seeing their "hunger" for the word, had compassion on them, and gave them food for their stomachs as well as food for their souls.   By following Jesus, all their needs were taken care of.  

2. JESUS HONORS THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIS COMMANDMENTS.   Jesus had a few of his own "commandments" that he issued, in addition to those made famous by Moses in regards to "The Ten Commandments".  One of those commandments was to remember his sacrifice on the cross whenever you broke bread and drank wine.   Despite all its problems and failings, the Catholic Church is really good at following and obeying that particular command of Jesus.  Hence, Jesus wasn't going to allow a Eucharistic minister to run out of hosts in his willingness to follow Jesus' command.   So the minister witness a small miracle, just to let him and the congregation know that Jesus appreciates their act of obedience.   

While some, including Father Joseph Crowley, the priest in this video, will say that "transubstantiation" is the bigger miracle of the Eucharist, we can wonder if that's really true.   Transubstantiation  is the doctrine that states that the host and wine really do become the body and blood of Jesus when the priest blesses the elements.  The problem is that doctrines and dogmas are not miracles, but teachings of facts and information.  And obeying the teachings of Jesus are not miracles either, that's just what you should be doing as a believer.  

But the multiplication of hosts, even though it's a very small miracle, is still a miracle, in that it flies in the face of nature itself, as miracles should.  By consuming a substance, you do not, under any circumstances, get more of it.   That's how you know a real miracle has taken place.  There is no doctrine or dogma that states that communion hosts must multiply during a mass.  

So what's the message of this miracle?  What's the point?   It's just Jesus way of letting his church know that he appreciates their obedience to his commands.  And that by doing so, he will certainly take care of all their needs.   It's no more complicated than that. 

We are conditioned to think that miracles only occur if they are prayed for.   But in the biblical texts, there are multiple cases of miracles occurring without anyone asking for one.   God does not need us to ask for miracles, sometimes he just sends one because he wants to bless people.   Most likely, that's what happened at St. Thomas Catholic Church.   

So, if you have a need, ask God to help out.  Maybe he will take care of you like he took care of the Eucharistic minister in Connecticut.  

As for me personally, there is a bigger message here.  St Thomas is apart of the parish of Saint Maximilian Kolbe.  St Kolbe was a Polish priest who was martyred at a concentration camp during World War II.   I think I need to pay closer attention to this saint, and learn more about his life and ministry.   

PEOPLE OF THE LIE

Truth, in all of its forms, must be the primary goal of a person's life.  The pursuit of truth often ends up being the pursuit of God.   But when people prefer lying to the truth, things go downhill quickly.   

From the book "Strangers in a Strange Land" by Charles J. Chaput:

Over the course of decades, Dr. Peck met patients who didn't fit a standard diagnosis but thad certain recurring traits.   These persons showed chronic disregard for the good of others to the point of causing grave psychological harm.  They were subtly but pervasively self-centered.  Their symptoms were broader than narcissistic personality disorder, but they weren't sociopaths.   They knew right from wrong.   

But their main shared trait was the habit of lying.  They al lied constantly and effortlessly about everything--especially about themselves, to themselves.   As such, they were opaque even to highly trained therapists.  More important, they were opaque to themselves.  For Peck, the "layer upon layer of self-deception" that "people of the lie" build up insulates them so thoroughly from truth that they no longer recognize it. Their own irreproachability is their only truth.  

Peck didn't mince words.  He calls such persons evil.  While he fleshes out his use of that word in his book, he never backs away from it.  Peck's "evil" people erect so many defenses against self-examination and repentance that these become almost impossible without a miracle of grace.

"People of the lie" embody Aristotle's teaching on the formation of character.  They don't wake up one morning and decide to be cruel.  Rather, they accumulate years of decisions to ignore the true good in favor of their own apparent good, until they fully identify their own will with what's genuinely good.  

As Peck notes, this reveals itself as a preoccupation with appearances.   "While they seem to lack any motivation to be good, they intensely desire to appear good.  Their 'goodness' is all on a level of pretense.  It is, in effect, a lie".  The evasion of truth soon makes their entire lives little more than an intricate ruse.  

For these morally crippled creatures, the pretense of goodness salves the scares of conscience that do exist, but have been routinely ignored and abused.  "The central defect of the evil [person] is not the sin but the refusal to acknowledge it."  We all sin, of course, but the unwillingness to take any responsibility for our sins implies a more deeply damaged spirit.  And so the evil person doubles down on his or her lies by cultivating false appearances and scapegoating the innocent.

As Peck puts it, "We become evil by attempting to hide from ourselves.  The wickedness of the evil is not committed directly, but indirectly as part of [the] cover-up process.  Evil originates not in the absence of guilt but in the effort to escape it." 


Strangers in a Strange Land

"Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World"

by Charles J. Chaput

Published by St. Martin's Griffin

ISBN: 978-1-250-15962-5 (trade paperback)

pg. 113-114

BEEF CHOW FUN

RECIPES / CHINESE / BEEF

A wonderful beef & noodle stir fry from the Woks of Life website.

"Beef chow fun is a sleeping favorite among Chinese food lovers. The problem is, the traditional version isn’t widely available, and there aren’t many good recipes out there (until now!).

"Beef chow fun is a Cantonese dish made from stir-frying beef, wide rice noodles (he fen or huo fun), scallions, ginger, bean sprouts and dark soy sauce. " 

Get the recipe here: Beef Chow Fun

The Liturgy of the Hours

CHRISTIANITY / PRAYER / LITURGY OF THE HOURS

One of the oldest forms of prayer in all of Christianity is the Liturgy of the Hours.   In the Catholic tradition, it is the second highest form of prayer, the mass is the highest.  The practice actually even pre-dates Christianity, and was actually started by the Jews.   The most famous practitioner of this liturgy are the cloistered monks and nuns around the world.  The Liturgy of the Hours is their major form of worship and activity.   

Word on Fire Ministries is posting some of the prayers from this Liturgy on YouTube during Lent, just a few of the morning prayers. 

For the laity, the Liturgy of the Hours consists of Morning, Afternoon and Evening community prayer, but it's often done individually as well.  If you want to pray along at all three "hours" of the day, you will have to subscribe to the Word on Fire Liturgy of the Hours program, just $7 per month.   

What's neat about the Liturgy of the Hours, is that most of the prayers are taken from the book of Psalms.  The prayers are coordinated via prayer books, so that everyone who is engaged in this liturgy is doing it in unison.    

While this office is Catholic in origin, it can certainly be practiced by anyone, anywhere.  No church required!   

If you have difficulty establishing a regular habit of prayer, something like the Liturgy of the Hours can really help.    

SRV

MUSIC / ROCK AND ROLL / STEVIE RAY VAUGHN

This video is the greatest rock performance OF ALL TIME.   This is STEVIE RAY VAUGHN playing LIVE on a TV show called "Austin City Limits" back in 1989.  The song is SRV's rendition of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Voodoo Child".  This is what a rock & roll guitar god looks and sounds like.  Someday I have to find a way to listen to the entire show.   

From the "Austin City Limits" web site:  

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s two iconic appearances on the ACL stage in 1983 and 1989 rank among the most highly-requested episodes in the program’s archives.

Vaughan made his final ACL appearance on October 10, 1989, less than a year prior to his untimely death, newly sober and at the height of his powers, in a performance for the ages. Delivering back to back highlights from his acclaimed 1989 final album In Step, including “Tightrope,” “Cold Shot” and “Leave My Girl Alone,” Vaughan’s performance is extraordinary, displaying a combination of raw power, deep emotion and technical brilliance with note perfect solos. Augmented by the addition of keyboardist Reese Wynans, Double Trouble and Vaughan sizzle with an exhilarating performance of their 1989 smash “Crossfire,” punctuated by the guitar icon’s scorching runs. “This one goes out to anyone who’s still suffering in any way,” says the all-time great as he launches into the shimmering instrumental “Riviera Paradise,” pushing the guitar to new heights and continuing to explore new boundaries.

J. P. SEARS FINDS GOD

CHRISTIANITY / TESTIMONIES

My absolute favorite videos on YouTube are those of people's honest testimonies of how they found God.    Lately, some of the biggest names of YouTube have been finding God!   J. P. Sears has 2.8 million followers, and is extremely well known for his political satire.   Well, an interesting thing has happened as he's had to deal with the sh*tstorm of COVID stupidity during the past couple of years: he realized that evil is quite real.   And if evil is real, then perhaps God might be real as well...

My favorite model railroader: Kevin Brown

TRAINS / MODEL TRAINS / KEVIN BROWN 

Kevin Brown only has a little over 1,000 subscribers on YouTube, but he's my favorite model railroader on YouTube.   He's from the Bloomington / Normal area of Illinois, and models in N-scale using the "T-TRAK" module standard.    T-TRAK modules are very small modules, without legs or benchwork, that are designed for easy transport and setup.   Kevin has made his own benchwork for the modules when he operates them at home.   

The reason I like him is his emphasis on midwest railroading in the mid 60's time frame.   He's also a wealth of information on T-TRAK and how to make modules.   

He also operates his model trains like a real railroad, complete with a schedule.   

A lot of the ideas and concepts he uses are things I'm going to incorporate into my own model railroad: The "Superior and Thunder Bay", which will represent the Burlington Northern railroad in northern Minnesota.   


Russians are Sending T-54 tanks to Ukraine!? Are they out of tanks?

CURRENT EVENTS / RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR 

Recent videos show trains filed with Russian T-54 and T-55 tanks headed west, from their storage areas in the far east.   

What's remarkable about this, is that Russia still has T-54 and T-55 tanks in storage, ready to roll!   The reason for the name "T-54" is the year that the tank was first made: 1954!   So this is almost a 70 year old design being taken out of storage! 

Are they sending them to Ukraine?   Most likely, yes.  Even though they are old tanks, the 100mm gun in the turret was an excellent design, and can still do a LOT of damage to almost anything other than the most modern of battle tanks.   

They were designed to be very easy to operate and maintain, which makes them perfect for battlefield conditions.  

Remember: at least Russia makes their own tanks, the Ukrainians don't seem to have any tank factories.  So as Ukraine runs out of tanks, they have nothing to replace them with.   

Even a 70 year old tank is better than no tank at all.