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This Sunday, this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, begins a multi-year mission called for by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to reassure us of the living presence of Jesus Christ — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — among us in the Eucharist. Our world is surely filled with troubles, frustrations, sins — but we are reassured that even among the very many real difficulties that weigh us down, the Living, Loving God is always among us, always lifting us closer to his Divine Majesty. This is very much in line with the Church’s traditions. In fact, it was to foster reverence for the Eucharist and revitalize Catholic belief in the Real Presence, that Pope Urban IV originally instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. Each year this feast affords us the privileged opportunity to revere and give thanks for the Eucharist, “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, 11).

Third Sunday of Lent (A) Our Gospel reading this Sunday is the well-known story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. In this passage, St. John provides a theologically and spiritually rich commentary on the person of Jesus and the process of coming to salvation. Placed on this Third Sunday of Lent, this Gospel is intended to whet the thirst of those preparing for the life-giving water of baptism, and to remind those already baptized of the ultimate source of their strength, the streams of life-giving water already flowing within them.

Pope Francis has declared this coming Sunday to be the “Sunday of the Word of God,” a special annual celebration reminding us that “the word of God can enable the Church to experience anew how the risen Lord opens up for us the treasury of his word and enables us to proclaim its unfathomable riches before the world” (Aperuit Illis, 2).

This Sunday, we celebrate the great feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus’ glory. Like Christmas itself, the Epiphany is one of the most ancient feasts in Christendom, having been observed as early as the mid 300's in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. Actually, immediately after the legalization of Christianity, the Church borrowed the pagan festival known as the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” and baptized it as the Epiphany, the feast of God’s Son gloriously shining among his people. By doing so, the Church was able to re-direct people’s allegiance from the pagan deities to Jesus Christ.

As we approach the conclusion of the liturgical year, our readings place increasing emphasis on the end of our earthly lives and the end of time. Both our first reading and Gospel this Sunday, in fact, speak of our chief hope -- that we may continue to live eternally with Christ Jesus in heaven. We take heart in Jesus’ promise that God “is not God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive” (Lk 20:38).

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal . . .” (Sir 35:17). These words from the Book of Sirach serve as an apt summary of our Gospel reading this Sunday. This week St. Luke’s Gospel, the Gospel of Prayer, provides yet another lesson on how to pray. Before the Lord God, Luke stresses, all must bow their heads and hearts as humble sinners.