Lent Mission Series 2025 Night 2 – The Eucharist and Hope
https://www.sfxparish.com/recording-lent-mission-series-2025-night-2-the-eucharist-and-hope-dc-tony-pimental/
Good evening.
It is very humbling
to be here
and to speak with you
as part of your parish Lenten mission.
I’d like to thank Father Ryan
for asking me
and hope
that by the time I finish talking
he won’t regret it.
For those of you
that don’t know me,
my name is Deacon Tony Pimentel.
I am a permanent deacon
at St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish
just down the street
on Tarkiln Hill.
Prior to being assigned to St. Mary’s Church in 2019,
I was a parishioner of a very special Catholic community,
This one
and I still like to think of myself
as part of it.
And while I am so blessed and grateful
to be at St. Gabriel’s,
Coming here
always feels like coming home.
I’ve been married for over 30 years
to my my best friend,
Karen, who is here
and who has been
a great lover of Christ
for longer than I,
In fact,
had it not been for her,
not only would I not be a deacon,
I’m pretty sure
I might not even be a practicing Catholic,
and maybe worse than that.
I have two adult children,
Emma 23 and Jarod 25,
both graduates of St. Francis Xavier School
and our family has so many fond memories
of this wonderful community.
I have been a permanent adorer
here at Saint Francis since,
probably 2008 or so,
and I can’t say enough words
about how fortunate we are
that this church is open as many
hours as it is during the week
To welcome those of us on this journey
Together to spend some time
With Jesus.
Oh,
the great graces that come
from spending time with Jesus,
Just being with Him,
Hoping
and praying
That just
a small part of His
vast goodness,
his holiness
will rub off.
And as it says
in sacred scripture,
“For mortals it is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
So,
We keep at it.
We’ve probably all heard the quote
from the renowned American essayist
Ralph Waldo Emerson
that says
“It’s not the destination,
it’s the journey.”
and
If I do nothing else
tonight,
hopefully,
by the time I finish talking
we will all be reminded
that both are important.
The destination
and the journey.
Because when it comes to the Eucharist,
the real presence of Jesus
and being with him,
it’s a destination and a journey.
And we’ve been on a journey this Lent,
haven’t we?
We started in the desert,
where Jesus
faced temptation from Satan.
We then journeyed to the mountain,
where God appeared in a great cloud,
saying of Jesus,
“This is my chosen Son;
listen to him.”
Next
we went to the fig tree
that hadn’t produced fruit in three years.
Hopefully, we can’t relate.
And this weekend
we’ll travel to a distant country
following our own path
making our own choices
before we realize
the errors of our ways
and bask in the Father’s great mercy
with the prodigal son.
All of us
journeying towards Easter,
towards the great resurrection of our Lord,
when God conquers death
and through Holy Week
and Holy Thursday,
in particular
giving us
an answer key to follow
to prepare for eternal life.
And that’s the reason
Jesus came to us in the first place
and the reason
He is here still
to accompany us
In this journey we are all on.
This journey of life.
Because
whether we think of it this way or not,
everyone who has ever lived,
still does,
somewhere.
Everyone who has ever lived,
still does,
somewhere.
That’s what everlasting life is,
It lasts forever.
it doesn’t end.
What’s at issue
is how we will spend it.
Because,
if we have it all on earth
and die
and are not with God,
we lose - for all eternity - forever.
But, if we die
with God,
regardless
of all we don’t have here on earth,
we win -
for all eternity.
And that’s what God wants for us.
God wants to transform us
and change us
so that we can be with Him
forever.
He wants to transform us
and change us
so that we
can help other people know Him -
that way
they can spend forever with Him too.
Because life is hard.
So hard,
that,
sometimes,
when we are in the dark moments
In the dark places of our lives,
We might ask
where Jesus is.
Where is He?
We’ve all done it.
Where are you Jesus?
Because surely
if He were here,
This wouldn’t have happened,
Or that wouldn’t have happened,
things
would be better.
But He
is here
with us.
Jesus
is with us
in the Eucharist.
We don't have a God
who said
“follow me”
and promised
all our problems
would go away.
We have a God
who says
“follow me”
and
I
will
always
be
present
no matter
how hard
life gets.
A sign
of great hope -
with us
in the Eucharist.
Now,
the Eucharist
may not fix everything,
we have going haywire in our lives,
but it gives us the spiritual nourishment,
it gives us the spiritual strength
we need
to persevere
through difficult times.
It gives us hope.
It gives us
the grace we need
to make it through
the difficulties of life
in this world.
Because this
is not our home.
The Oxford dictionary
defines home as
the place
where one lives
permanently.
And we know,
as Catholics,
don’t we?
That there is this thing
called everlasting life.
So, this
cannot be our home,
because we
will not be here permanently.
We are just passing through here.
We are on a pilgrimage.
We are on a journey.
We’ve all been on journeys before, haven’t we?
And when you go on a journey,
You need to prepare,
You need some stuff.
When you go on a trip,
You’re not going to make it very far
without food.
And in our spiritual life,
we don’t get too far
without His presence.
Without the food
that only He can give us.
But don’t take my word for it.
It’s been said,
everyone is entitled to their own opinion,
but everyone
is not entitled to their own facts.
So where do we go
when we want the truth?
We go to the bible,
A good Catholic bible,
to the Old Testament,
We recall
the Exodus story,
In the book of Exodus,
Chapter 16,
where God’s people,
the Israelites,
were just released from slavery
in the land of Egypt.
And they come out to the wilderness
where they are on their way
to the promised land
and the place
where God is leading them.
And if you remember the story,
it takes the Israelites
a while to get there.
A while,
as in forty years a while.
Journeying,
without ever fully knowing
when
they were going to arrive
at their destination.
Forty years -
Now that’s a journey.
Just like us.
On a journey.
And if we’re honest,
We probably grumble and complain
Just as much as those Israelites,
Who said,
“Would that we had died
by the hand of the LORD
in the land of Egypt,
when we sat by the fleshpots
and ate bread to the full;
for you have brought us out
into this wilderness
to kill this whole assembly
with hunger.”
They complained.
We complain.
We probably know
what it’s like to feel let down,
When life gets hard,
And while I admit to nothing,
We usually resort to complaining.
Wondering why God
would allow these bad things
to happen to us.
Why us?
Why me, Lord?
Why?
So, what does God do
For the Israelites
In the wilderness?
He gives them food.
He gives them bread from heaven
called Manna.
During that time,
As His people journeyed,
God sustained them
by giving them
miraculous bread
from heaven.
And if we look in sacred scripture,
at the description of this
manna,
it is described
as being like wafers made with honey.
Sweetness and sustenance
for His people
as they journeyed to the promised land.
And that Exodus story
That took place 3,300 years ago,
13 centuries before the birth of Christ,
That story prefigures,
or gives us a sneak peek
at what Jesus does for us.
Miraculous bread from heaven.
That’s what the Eucharist is for us.
It’s bread for the journey.
True bread from heaven.
That feeds us
and helps us
make our way through this life.
You know,
we’re not that different
from those Israelites,
We too are on a journey
from bondage,
Maybe not from pharaoh
But from slavery to sin,
towards the promised land
of heaven
and on our way
we too are sustained
by the sweetest of foods
to sustain us,
the blessed sacrament,
the real presence of Jesus,
Body,
Blood,
Soul
And divinity
in the Eucharist -
the new manna.
And if you think about it,
This bread we are given,
is so much better
than wafers and honey,
Because
the bread we are given
is Christ Himself.
And Christ Himself
is also our goal.
He is the promised land.
Saint Athanasius,
the Bishop of Alexandria,
a prominent figure
in early Christianity,
said it best,
when he said of Jesus,
that
"God became man
so that man
might
become God"
Or in other words,
And you’ve probably heard this
from your mother
at some point,
You are what you eat.
Which means, technically,
I am 34%
Bacon cheeseburger,
Yep, the one with the two patties
And some mayo.
But seriously,
And more to the point,
the Eucharist
is both bread for the journey
and a foretaste
of the end of that journey,
The destination God wants for all of us -
Heaven.
And what is Heaven going to be?
What’s it going to be like?
Put simply,
Heaven
is going to be
full communion with God
and full communion
with everyone else
who is in full communion with God.
And there
just,
is a fundamental reality,
that when we
receive the body of Christ
and everyone else in Mass receives
the body of Christ,
The more
that we participate in the Eucharist
The more
we become like Christ.
This communion
is a heavenly reality,
And this should give us more than hope,
Because this
is a promise.
In fact,
the Catholic Church
teaches
that when we go to Mass,
It doesn’t
just point us towards heaven,
it actually is
a taste
of Heaven.
Journey and destination
In one.
It’s been said
that at each Mass,
Heaven comes down
and touches earth.
Some of the Saints,
would say
that Mass
is when
Earth
and Heaven kiss,
and when
we are participating
in Mass,
every saint,
every angel,
all of heaven
and all of earth
is actually present there.
We don’t see that, of course,
That would be amazing,
But we don’t see that,
Because we have a vail
In front of our eyes.
But as
Obi Wan Kenobi
told Luke Skywalker
In the original Star Wars movie,
"Your eyes can deceive you,
don't trust them,"
We need to remember
that at Mass
there is what we see
with our eyes
and there is
what is hidden,
but still there.
Maybe an example will help.
When the people watching
Jesus crucified,
saw what was happening,
the people here on Earth
saw a guy hanging on a cross
Humiliated,
brutalized,
hurting,
But
there was another reality,
in the heavenly reality.
What’s happening
when Jesus hangs on the cross
is not just a guy
hanging on a cross
bloody and beaten,
it's the God of the universe
offering himself
as a Eucharistic sacrifice,
to repair our relationship with God,
to restore the covenant,
to give us the chance
to reach that heavenly destination.
But our human eyes
don’t see it like that.
For all of eternity,
when we go to Mass,
what we might see
is some man
up at the altar
holding
what looks like a piece of bread
giving a good or a bad homily
depending on the day,
singing some songs
that are on key or maybe off key
depending on the day,
(not you Father Ryan)
but what's actually happening
in reality
is God coming down to meet us.
God’s angels
and his saints
surrounding us,
surrounding that altar
whether we see it
or not.
Every moment of the Mass
is meant
to draw us to heaven.
Every Mass,
every Eucharist,
another step
along the journey,
because this
Is not our home.
But we are human,
and our eyes are too,
and on this journey
we all too quickly
believe the old adage
That “seeing is believing”
and miss what is happening
right in front of us,
So we don’t
always
take in
the enormity
of what
is going on.
What we are part of.
In a beautiful way,
this should not be a surprise to anyone
that this could happen like this,
because if we return to the bible,
the New Testament this time,
we see
the story of Emmaus
as told in the gospel,
beginning at
Luke chapter 24, verse 13.
These verses,
show us the meaning
and pattern of the Mass,
As the scene
plays out
later in the day
on Easter Sunday.
These disciples of Jesus
were on a journey,
They saw the highs and lows of Holy Week
And after the crucifixion,
knew all had been lost.
And so
they were getting out of Dodge,
leaving Jerusalem.
“Two of them
were going
(some might say journeying)
to a village
called Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They were talking with each other
about everything
that had happened.
As they talked
and discussed these things
with each other,
Jesus himself came up
and walked along with them;
but they were kept
from recognizing him.
(There’s that vail again,
Separating the heavenly reality
from what
our earthly eyes can see.)
And the gospel tells us
that these two
were downcast…
after the excitement of holy week,
they saw what had happened to Jesus,
and how he was crucified,
and how those
with hope in the messiah,
saw that hope
die that day with Him.
But as Jesus walked along with them,
He begins
to open up the scriptures
from Moses
through the prophets
and interpreted
in all of the scriptures
all the things
concerning himself.
Sound familiar?
That’s the first part of the Mass,
The Liturgy of the Word.
The scriptures
are opened up for us
And point to Jesus in every Holy Mass.
The second half of the story,
is when they get to Emmaus,
they get to home
and have that meal
Then Jesus takes bread,
he blesses the bread,
breaks it and
He gives it to them
and here we have
the Liturgy of the Eucharist -
The second half of Holy Mass!
Four key verbs,
that describes
what Jesus does -
exactly the same four verbs
found in the Last Supper
Where Jesus
instituted the Eucharist,
where Jesus
takes,
blesses,
breaks and
gives
the bread
as His body
and the wine
as His
blood.
And so
Jesus gives us
word
and
sacrament
together.
And that’s what every Mass is.
The words of Institution,
spoken by the priest,
acting in persona Christi,
in the person of Christ,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
the bread and wine
becomes
the body and blood
of Jesus Christ.
God.
Truly present.
Emmanuel.
God with us.
The last Supper
made
present.
Good Friday
made
present.
The resurrection of Jesus
on Easter Sunday
made
present.
Right there before us!
That’s the mystery of the Mass.
And that’s what happens
each and every time,
whether
our human eyes
can see it
or not.
God.
Entering the messiness
of our lives,
to raise us up
to where He is.
The one we receive,
we touch,
we taste
is the most impressive,
amazing thing on the planet,
a height we cannot reach on our own,
no matter how much we try,
and yet
our Lord
comes to meet us,
He makes himself
so available to us,
In the Eucharist.
Now,
You have an amazing talk
coming next week
from Father George Harrison
On how to be properly
disposed to receive Jesus,
and
to paraphrase,
John the Baptist
in speaking of Jesus
“I am not worthy to untie
the strap of Father Harrison’s sandals”,
so I will leave the topic of
being properly disposed,
through the sacrament of confession
To him.
But the Eucharist,
and Holy communion
especially,
is
the most profound encounter
we can have with our God
in this world,
remembering
that
this is Jesus.
His very body
and blood
will be dwelling
within us -
our God
within us
Is amazing.
We can pray to God
any time
as we journey,
but
if there’s ever a moment
when we should try
to give him
our best attention
it’s when
we receive Him.
When
He’s physically dwelling
within us.
In holy communion,
This is the time,
to turn to Him
with our needs,
Whatever
is troubling us,
This
is the time
to tell Him
we love Him,
This is the time
to thank Him,
This
is the time
to
pour out our heart to God,
And the time
to rest with Him
and
listen to Him.
Take that time
to
take a breath
rest from the journey
rest with Jesus,
rest in Jesus.
As a deacon,
I have to admit,
I don’t do that
as often as I should
because
in my brain,
I’m too busy focusing
on what I have to do next,
to not waste time
getting to the tabernacle,
so that everyone else
can have
Holy communion.
I need to do better.
When we receive
the Eucharist,
each of us
participates
in Jesus’ sacrifice.
Each of us,
gives ourselves
back to God.
When we go up to communion,
some things to think about
might be,
Where
is the struggle in my life,
What
are the hardships,
Where
is life just really difficult,
Where
is life really exciting,
What
are the things
that you are happy about,
The things
you are grateful for
and try to leave those
on the altar.
To try
and give ourselves
back to Him.
The Eucharist
is a meal
where we have fellowship.
The Eucharist
is a sacrifice,
a participation
in Jesus’ offering
of His body
on the cross.
And the Eucharist
is a thanksgiving.
Jesus
gives himself
in thanks to the Father.
And we,
who receive our Lord
in communion
Give thanks to God
for the gift
of his son.
And we give thanks
in imitation of Jesus
as we receive Him
as food for our journey.
as food for our body,
as food for our soul,
to sustain us,
and strengthen us
in this life
as we journey
towards our destination
to our permanent home
in everlasting life.
And God
wants it to be with Him!
In heaven!
I mentioned earlier,
that our moms always told us
You are what you eat,
And I was only kidding about being 30 something percent
Bacon cheeseburger,
Because it’s probably closer to 50,
But,
while our moms
no doubt told us
that
you are what you eat,
they also
told us
that who we
hang around with,
who we spend time with,
the company we keep,
is super important.
The words,
“Birds of a feather, flock together”
Come to mind.
Which brings us to the
great devotion
and blessing that is
Eucharistic Adoration.
More food for our journey.
There’s a beautiful story
from St. John Vianney,
The Cure of Ars,
And the patron saint of
Parish priests.
It’s about a parishioner
Who came into church
everyday
and just sat there
staring at the tabernacle.
And after watching this
parishioner doing this
day after day,
for some time,
this humble parish priest,
approached him and
asked,
“what do you do
when you come
here everyday?”
And the parishioner
answered him
saying,
“I look at Jesus
and Jesus
looks at me”
Such a beautiful,
simple,
child-like understanding
of the real presence
of Christ
in the Eucharist.
And the devotion
to Eucharistic adoration
where
we can spend time
with our Lord,
when
Our Lord
is uniquely present
in the consecrated host,
as He is this evening
and I am so grateful
to this Parish
for having so many
dedicated hours of adoration
in the Sacred Hearts chapel
to make Jesus available to us
in this special way.
As part of our journey
and destination.
Adoration.
Sitting quietly
in the real presence
of our Lord.
Making the effort.
Doing this daily
Doing this weekly
Doing this on a regular basis
Brings great graces.
If our day is busy,
as many of them are,
if we are out
running an errand
we can just stop
by for 5 minutes
say a quick prayer
say a quick hello.
Maybe there’s something
going on in our lives
and we need
to talk to Jesus
Well,
He’s here!
He’s really here!
We can speak to Jesus
right here
in the Eucharist.
To ask for His help,
His guidance,
His strength,
His comfort.
The same Jesus,
who walked the streets of Jerusalem
and Galilee
2,000 years ago.
That Jesus
who comforted those
who were sorrowful.
That same Jesus
who brought healing
to those that were sick.
That same Jesus,
who performed miracles
in people’s lives.
That same Jesus,
is present to us,
sacramentally
under the appearance of bread,
in the Eucharist,
and he’s here
in all of our churches,
in all of our tabernacles,
in the monstrance,
and He
wants to work great things
in our lives.
He wants to help us,
comfort us,
change us,
strengthen us,
whatever we need,
He’s there
waiting for us
in the Eucharist
to help us in our journey,
to send us out.
At the end of Mass,
we are sent
out
with a purpose.
He gives us
all that He gives us
in salvation history,
in holy communion,
in Adoration,
not just so that
we will keep it for ourselves,
but because,
He is deputizing us,
He is sending us,
to a world
that is hungry,
So hungry
That they don’t even know
what they are hungry for.
Back to our Emmaus story
for a moment
When those travelers
finally got to Emmaus
from Jerusalem,
it was late in the day,
they were probably really tired
but
when they ate,
and Jesus gave them the Eucharist,
and their eyes
were opened,
to the truth,
to life,
to reconciliation,
when their eyes
were opened,
and the eucharist
transforms them
they don’t say
that was amazing,
but it’s late,
let’s call it a night,
they don’t say,
well, that was nice,
what’s next on the to do list,
No!
They say
we’ve got to go back
to Jerusalem,
and tell everyone.
because
when the Eucharist transforms them,
it’s not enough
for them
to just sit where they are,
and
keep going on their own life,
on their own trajectory,
in the things,
they were doing before,
No!
they said,
we need to get up,
we need to do something,
we need to take the life
that is within us now
and we need to transform the world.
Because
let’s just say it how it is,
we can’t be
in the presence of God
and not change,
if that's the case,
we are doing it wrong.
I mean,
This,
is the creator
of the universe.
The same power,
That could say to a dead guy,
“get up”,
and he’d get up,
The whole mystery
of the Eucharist
is God’s desire
to be with us,
and restore us
in relationship to Him,
But not just to be with us,
but to perfect us,
to elevate us,
and heal us.
He doesn’t
just want to leave us
in our condition,
He wants to transform us.
He became one of us,
to lead us
from death to spiritual life,
Think of all he did
by dying,
By rising for us,
Do we know where all that becomes ours?
Every time
we walk down the aisle at Mass,
and hear
“The body of Christ”.
That’s God saying,
you may be on a journey,
but you’re on your way,
and I am with you,
and salvation history is yours.
That’s food for the journey.
That should be a great encouragement
for all of us
and another step closer
to our destination
that we hope will be
at the heavenly banquet
with almighty God and
the communion of saints
and angels.
Because to paraphrase that familiar quote
From Ralph Waldo Emerson
(not a Christian, btw)
“It’s the destination and it’s the journey.”
And the Eucharist should be
a great source of hope
as we make our way
to our true home.
Let us end this talk in prayer.
Lord Jesus,
You are our food for the journey,
Our source of comfort and joy.
May we always hunger for you
In the Bread of Life,
and find in it
the hope that sustains us
until we feast
with you
in the heavenly banquet.
Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
