“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’” – Mark 14:22-24

Passover is a very important feast in the lives of the Jewish people. We read about this in Exodus where Moses instructed the people to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood of the lamb over the door, so that they would be spared the wrath that was to come to those who did not believe or follow these instructions. For generations since, the Jews have commemorated this event with the feast of Passover.  

 

We read in Mark’s Gospel this weekend that Jesus, being a devout Jew, asked His disciples to prepare for the celebration of this feast. But as we now know, Jesus would use this occasion to establish something new – to institute the Eucharist.  He is the lamb that was sacrificed. And it is through His Body and His Blood that people would be saved.   

It is a mystery of faith which we proclaim at each Eucharistic celebration. We partake of this great mystery each time we receive communion at Mass. The simple everyday elements of bread and wine truly become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ through the consecration in which the priest act “In Persona Christi”, that is “in the person of Christ”. How is this possible – to receive the body and blood of Christ? It requires faith in what Jesus told His disciples and us. After the consecration, we proclaim the Mystery of Faith which is the Paschal Mystery. One of the responses is “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again”. 

     

Allow our Lord to truly be present to you in the Eucharist each time you come to Mass, and remember the words we speak before receiving Him, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

They juggled masks, Zoom backgrounds, social distancing, and online and hybrid classes during the academic year, but on May 21 and May 22, Saint Leo University students gathered with family and friends to celebrate their graduation. This year, Saint Leo celebrated the graduates at three in-person ceremonies at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. 

The university awarded more than 1,250 bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and associate degrees. Members of the Class of 2020 were invited to join the Class of 2021 for these ceremonies and more than 250 did so.

On Sunday, May 30, 2021, Bishop Gregory Parkes celebrated Confirmation and then blessed and did the ribbon cutting of the new Learning Center/School. Click here or on the image above to see more photos courtesy of Chris Zuppa. 

Do you know the story of Carlo Acutis, who created a website to document Eucharistic miracles throughout the world? Learn more on this latest episode of Catholic Planner with Father Connor Penn! Click here or on the photo above to watch the episode!