The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist.
- CCC No.1335
Reflection: Upon finally grasping the reality of what it means to eat Jesus' body and blood, one teenager exclaimed, "It must have been a big body!" The multiplication of the loaves explains God's fecundity and how we are able to continually feed on the true body of Christ.
Prayer: Lord, help me to have a firmer faith in the Eucharist.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He took bread..." "he took the cup filled with wine..."
- CCC No. 1333
Reflection: The weekly ritual of the Mass may seem awkward or inconvenient, but unlike most of the ways in which we spend our lives, it is not a consumer's decision; it is an act of obedience to the Lord's words.
Prayer: Lord, may the Church always remain faithful to your words at the Last Supper.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
The Church, especially during Advent and Lent and above all during the Easter Vigil, re-reads and re-lives he great events of salvation history in the "today" of her liturgy.
- CCC No. 1095
Reflection: The liturgy celebrates God's saving activity of the past, which is essentially the same as his present behavior. God is always/still saving mankind and intervening in history. In the liturgical celebration, past and present meet in God's ever-present "today."
Prayer: Father, your love is unchanging and your faithfulness never fails. Accept our praise this day.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God."
- CCC No. 1069
Reflection: To sit in the pew passively daydreaming during Mass is like a soccer player standing around on the soccer field, oblivious of the game going on around her, and then later saying, "I got nothing out of it."
Prayer: Father, thank you for the opportunity to worship you at Mass.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
[At the end of time] the beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion.
- CCC No. 1045
Reflection: This is heaven: total access to God in mutual self-giving that is overflowing with happiness and peace. Not a series of ups and downs, but a sustained joy like we've never experienced before.
Prayer: Father, may all our earthly joys be pure and healthy and inspire us to strive more boldly for the promise of heaven.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
What is essentially new about Christian death is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ" sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace, physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act.
CCC No. 1010
Reflection: For the Christian, death and eternal life begin at Baptism, and they work themselves out side by side throughout our entire lives.
Prayer: Lord, help us to stay close to you, for all our time is tied up with the reality of you.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
Death seems like th enormla end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us to realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment.
- CCC No. 1007
Reflection: To honestly accept the fact that our days are numbered: to think about the date on which you will no longer be living; to wrestle with the reality of death, judgment, heaven, and hell is an extremely practical way to live.
Prayer: Lord, help us to face how fragile and finite our life really is.
From: Day by Day with the Catechism (Catholic Book Publishing Corp., New York)
