How far will we go to encounter Christ?….Do you believe that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist?….If you do, there is no obstacle that will get in your way…This is the “key” - And it is also the "door" to the solution

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark a story about a man who was sick……Great crowds prevented him from seeing Jesus, so his friends cut a hole in the roof and lowered him down to Christ…What determination!…What faith!…..”They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”………….So the questions today that we should consider after reading this story are…How far will we go to encounter Christ?…..What is keeping you from this encounter?…This man in the story today could not walk, so his friends lowered him down from the roof of a building….What about us?…..Clearly all we have to do is walk through the doors of a Church…Sit with a priest and confess our sins….Or, if you are not ready for that......Sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament in silence…..We have been blessed with our health, not like this man in the gospel story today…Are we taking full advantage of the opportunities given to us by Christ himself?……Because like all opportunities presented to us in this life - There comes a time when they run out…One day our life will end and when that end comes, the “opportunities” end as well…..Make your time on this earth count!….And if you have to “cut a hole in a roof” to encounter Christ - So be it!…Do what ever it takes!

“What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, we will declare to the generation to come. The glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength.”

Why are you Catholic?…This is a question we should all ask our self…I can only speak for me….....The driving reason why I am Catholic is because of the Sacraments…..Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament…..I rely on the grace from the Eucharist…I also know without that grace, I am finished…There is NO WAY I can be who I want to be without it……Because of this reality I do my best to attend Holy Mass everyday….One snowy winter day before work I headed off to Mass….No one showed up that day but me and I saw the priest walking from the rectory seeing if anyone showed up…When he saw that it was only me, he was kind enough to still preside over the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass…..Just me in the pew and the priest at the altar….Why would the priest take the time to preside over a Mass for just one person?…..Because the priest knows the importance of what takes place on the altar…Simple bread is changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the King of Kings - God himself!…..Do you know that? - I mean really know that! - Be honest…..You see that is the game changer….I often wonder if people know this reality because if they did, the Churches would be packed….This is the encounter we need to desire…Like the man today who cut a hole in a roof to see Jesus, we need to acquire the same determination and desire to see Christ as well…..Why?….Because he is the source of all grace…He is the King of Kings…He is God…..And without him we can do nothing that will last…..Once we know that Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament, everything changes in how we view our Catholic faith…This is what we all must strive to do….To acquire “sight”…To see with the "eyes" of our soul….This is the greatest revelation of one’s life….More important then anything we can “figure out” in our life time…..How do we acquire this sight?…By listening in the silence - God speaks to us in silence…..We must make time in our week for silent-time spent before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament….If we make this a practice, our “eyes" will open….This is the game changer!

“Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?”

How far will you go to encounter the Lord?….The answer to that question comes down to priorities…If we only knew what went on at the Mass…At a Catholic Mass, we are witnesses to the greatest miracle ever performed and it happens each and everyday….A man takes simple bread and transforms it into God himself!…Do you believe that? - Be honest..If you do not, I invite you to try something….Make it a point to sit before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar in a Catholic Church….Sit there in silence and simply say this prayer…”I don’t believe you are there God, but if you are there can you show me?”…..Do that for five minutes each week for a year…I bet if you do, your “eyes” will open….”Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”…What is a five minute investment each week?….Not too much to ask - right?…..Think of it this way…A sick man today showed us in the gospel what he was willing to do to get in front of Jesus, he literally cut a whole in a roof…All we have to do is walk through the door of a Church…..The “game changer” is knowing that Jesus is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament - That is why this man in St Mark’s gospel today “went through the roof” and this is why I go to daily Mass…….How far will we go to encounter Christ?….Do you believe that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist?….If you do, there is no obstacle that will get in your way…This is the “key” - And it is also the "door" to the solution