Eucharist

I go to eighth grade at another parochial school where I was actually expelled from that school for devil worship.

I wasn't actually worshiping the devil, but these kids that I was friendly with who were altar boys, they had taken a bunch of wafers from a box from the Eucharist, they call it.

Yeah, yeah, the Eucharist.

You're familiar.

Of course, I'm Catholic.

Multiplicity of spoons.

The idea that in spite of all that the Lord has given us in the Holy Eucharist, he's so weak and so pathetic that if you go and commune, you're going to get sick from the spoon which the Holy Communion is on.

I mean, the very thought of it is just kind of... it's tragic the kind of thought that leads people to think like that it's rationalistic to the extreme but i mean the lord who calls you is going to then infect you Right.

He's not the Lord, the providential, you know, over all things, the one who has his love over all things.

Yeah, this was, you know, Australia was one of the worst places for the lockdown in the whole world.

And it was the Greek Orthodox Church, and shout out to them and credit to them, that stood up against the authorities in Australia and refused to stop communion and refused to not use one shared spoon.

saying that, again, as you just said, we as Christians have faith in our Lord and Savior, quote, we believe that no disease or illness can exist in the Holy Communion, which we believe is the body and blood of Christ, he was quoted saying.

And so this was a huge deal in Australia because they wouldn't stop, even though they were recommended to stop all their diseases liturgical services or change even their their practices and we saw this also with this russian article i was able to find and in it i was telling you backstage before we went live it's interesting because this is written um clearly from a rocor perspective a russian orthodox perspective but it's interesting that they highlight that ukraine's rival orthodox churches the ocu have advised worshipers, this is in 2020 and 2021, to disinfect icons and crosses before kissing them or temporarily just avoid touching or kissing them altogether, including holy relics.

I was a little scared, actually.

I was, I don't know why I was scared, but there was just this thing that was keeping me just a little fearful to make that plunge in order to be able to be fully back at mass and be able to participate in the Eucharist.

Um, and probably make that confession too.

I don't know.

At the end of my proverbial rope and following the recommendation of a friend, I went, internally kicking and screaming, to an appointment with a priest and began meeting regularly with him and one of his assistants, a laywoman.

During my meetings with them, spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament was often recommended.

I'll be the first to admit I was very skeptical, and I had a list of excuses for why I couldn't do it.

Too busy, work long hours, it's boring.

He will not always like or approve of the way we act, and we are all subject to his judgment, but he will never stop loving us.

He may not always give us what we want, but he's very good at providing what we need." Having this new image of God was great, but I still had to change my habits and way of thinking.

The strength and grace necessary to do that came from spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, asking God to break my will and mold it to His.

You may not believe it, but there is so much joy and freedom in surrendering yourself to one infinitely bigger, better, and more powerful than you will ever be.

And then, that Jesus said, it is accomplished rather than it is finished.

According to Rome, it was the Eucharist which was accomplished at the cross.

Now, this word accomplished is rather interesting.

The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation, says the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church.

So it was accomplished, almost consummated.

And it is, of course, the perpetual sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the constant treading on the ground of the Son of God, keeping Him perpetual death, worshipped as a corpse.

Señor, no soy digno de que entres en mi casa, pero una palabra tuya bastará para sanarme.

[música relajante] Creo, Jesús mío, que estás realmente presente en el Santísimo Sacramento del altar.

Te amo sobre todas las cosas y deseo recibirte dentro de mi alma.

Pero como ahora no puedo comulgar, ven al menos espiritualmente a mi corazón.

We now move to Ethiopia, where Archbishop Tesfaye Tadesse Gebre Selassie has been officially installed as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Ababa.

The installation ceremony took place on September 6, 2026, during a solemn four-hour Eucharistic celebration held under the theme Looking Back with Gratitude, Walking Forward with Hope.

Archbishop Tesfaye is a combined missionary who previously served as Superior General of his religious institute.

He succeeds 77-year-old Cardinal Beranayessus Demeriu Surathiel, who has retired after nearly 27 years of dedicated service leading the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa.

So, um, baptized as an infant, grew up very liturgical church settings.

So hymns, um, you know, the, the, the church service culminates in the Eucharist, uh, candles, all that sort of stuff.

And to be totally honest, as a kid, like I was kind of bored with a lot of it.

Um, but looking back now, I'm like that actually formed me at such a deep level.

like a congregational... diffused kind of church.

It's not, you know, there's not, there's not a Eucharistic presence in the middle of that town that everybody comes to and goes back out.

God really was in the farms.

You know, he would go for, instead of going to church on Sundays, he would go through walks along the farm and write his, his Sabbath poems that are really, really beautiful.