9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
because He was well pleased with me. . . . The Lord is my firmament, and my refuge, and my
deliverer” (Introit). With joy and gratitude we now approach the marvelous banquet that is
now being prepared for us in the Holy Eucharist. In this sacrifice and in Holy Communion
Christ becomes our firmament, our refuge, and our deliverer. To Him we cry, “O Christ
have mercy on us.” “Grant, O Lord, that we may have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy
name” (Collect); then we can participate most fruitfully in the supernatural banquet of
salvation, the Holy Eucharist.
The Epistle summons the faithful to Christian unity, and to a close union with the Church.
Together they form one body, one organism vivified and enlivened by one soul and bound
together by one love. The community of the Church is the banquet hall in which the banquet
is to be prepared. In her is contained the fullness of grace and salvation. “We know that we have
passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death”
(Epistle). We pray that God may deliver us from everything which might prevent our participating
in the heavenly banquet, and that we may not suffer the misfortune of those unhappy
guests mentioned in the Gospel. Many guests are invited to the banquet; but many of those first
invited decline the invitation because of their attachment to worldly things. For this reason the
poor, the sick, the beggars, the despised, and the downtrodden also receive the invitation; and
they accept it. In place of those who were first invited (the Jews), these others (the Gentiles)
are accepted. The great ones of the earth, the complacent ones, lose their place to the poor and
the outcast. “Blessed are the poor in spirit; . . . blessed are they that mourn; . . . blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after justice” (Mt 5:3 ff.). Blessed indeed are those who hunger and thirst
after the supernatural goods of the heavenly banquet.
The Offertory prayer expresses our intense desire to participate in the heavenly banquet.
In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we can take part in that feast to which we were invited at
the time of our baptism. Woe be to us if, because of our worldliness or sensuality, we fail to
respond to this invitation. “None of these men that were invited shall taste of my supper”
(Gospel). Let us place ourselves among the poor, the feeble, the sick, the despised, and the
needy of the Gospel. For these, because of their membership in the Church, are called to the
banquet of salvation.
In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we renounce the concupiscence of the eyes, the concupiscence
of the flesh, and the pride of life, just as we once did in our baptism. We offer ourselves
up with Christ and receive His grace and His redemption as our share of His banquet. With
hearts filled with gratitude we sing the beautiful Communion hymn: “I will sing to the Lord,
who giveth me good things; and I will sing to the name of the Lord the Most High.” He
has given to me His flesh and His blood as a guarantee of my eventual participation in the
great banquet of eternal life.
Meditation
We approach the Holy Sacrifice today with great joy and gratitude. We recall the great graces
given us on the feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost; and joyfully cry out in the Introit: “The
Lord became my protector, and He brought me forth into a large place; He saved me because
He was well pleased with me.” I have been redeemed because God loved me. “The Lord [in the
Holy Eucharist] is my firmament, and my refuge, and my deliverer” (Introit).
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