"Come to the altar"... Live the Eucharist!

1. From a homily by
Fr. Agostinho Teixeira de Sousa, CM
at the 2nd AMM International
Encounter
“Come to the altar...” – Live the Eucharist!

2. God speaks to us in many ways,
and touches our life with signs that
challenge us to be more attentive—
and to give an active, generous and
total response.

3. Mary guided Catherine Labouré
towards God and towards her
brothers and sisters. But Mary is
not the goal. She is an indicator who
leads to communion with Jesus,
present in the Eucharist and in His
brothers and sisters. In bringing us
to the altar, Mary leads us towards
the communion of her Son who is
the true way. She motivates us to
encounter him there, and then to go
and act concretely.
“Cometothealtar...”–LivetheEucharist!

4. Let’s leave ourselves, and
go on our way towards
God and towards our
brothers and sisters.
To go to God and to our
brothers and sisters
demands abandonment:
to put something aside,
for the sake of something
else that is essential.
“Come...”–Stepoutofyourhouses…

5. Kneeling down before his
altar means that we have the
need for Mary. She invites us
and suggests an attitude of
humility, trust and self-
surrender in order to be
touched by Jesus in the
Eucharist.
“tothefootofthisaltar”–

6. Jesus unites Himself with us
to renew our lives. Each time
we go to Him, we fill ourselves
with His love. (He fills us with
His love and His grace as
well.) He loves us! He wants to
celebrate a feast with us. He
wants to transform us with the
power and abundance of His
grace. He wants to make us
craftspeople of a new world.
“Here,gracesshallbe
showeredabundantly”–

7. “The creation waits with
eager longing for the
revelation of the children of
God” – Romans 8:18-25
This beautiful text of St. Paul
describes a sad situation of the
world, and it offers us a reason
to maintain peace and hope.

8. Many of us are tempted to
interpret the groans of pain
(suffering, tears, hatred, violence)
as signs that death is at hand; that
the worsening world will one day
end, be destroyed and disappear.
This interpretation of the groans of
creation is not Christian because it
is deprived of hope. St. Paul gives
an example of a woman who is
having labor pains. With this
analogy, the apostle gives us hope.

9. We Christians must pay
attention to these groans of
creation. Do not lose hope! In
spite of how things look, a new
creation shall arise! This creation
waits, in the same way that Mary
did, to be transformed… with the
collaboration of all those who
are part of God's plan.

10. The seed “grew and became
a tree” – Lk 13:18-21
The Kingdom of God is like a
mustard seed, yeast, and salt.
The yeast and the mustard
seed, in spite of their modest
beginnings, are made great and
are transformative to what they
touch, by means of their
inherent strength.

11. The yeast and the mustard seed
have the same characteristics:
they are small, they are dynamic,
and they serve their purpose
once they are placed into the soil
or the dough. The Church, which
is the symbol of the Kingdom of
God, must be like this: it may be
small, compared to humanity and
society. Its power comes from the
Spirit, from within moving
outward, in order for it to spread,
to energize and to be dynamic.

12. Only from within society, with all its
hopes and darkness, pains and joys,
does the Church generate life— not
by acting from the outside trying to
get in. We should not fear being small.
We have to allow the dynamism of
the Spirit to act within humanity and
the society to become a present sign,
that we may come alive and be
transformers of mentalities and
processes. This is how the Church
should be, and the Association of the
Miraculous Medal as well.

13. Come to the foot of this altar. Be the
seeds that germinate, grow and bear
fruit. Be the yeast of life which
transforms and gives flavor. Let us be
creatures who wait for the revelation
of God, active creatures pledging to
generate a new human being in each
one of us… the image of Christ. Being
like this is our proof of having faith. We
live out this ideal, and help others to
do the same. Then, we can say with all
certainty and joy that, "Today the Lord
has done wonders for his people, thus
we praise Him with joy. Amen."

14. About the author
“On July 27, 1980, the year of the 150th Anniversary of
the Apparitions at Rue du Bac, and also the anniversary of
the date when the Church officially recognized the sanctity
of St. Catherine Labouré, I was ordained a priest. I entered
the La Milagrosa Seminary in the city of Braga, Portugal
and later joined the Internal Seminary. I was baptized on
July 23, a day after the Church approved the official texts
of the Miraculous Medal petition. On September 16, 2002
in the La Milagrosa House in Porto, Portugal, the Provincial
Council appointed me as the Spiritual Advisor of the
Association of the Miraculous Medal.
Coincidence or otherwise, the fact is my life, priesthood
and mission have been protected by the mantle of Our
Lady of the Miraculous Medal and the figure of St.
Catherine Labouré.”
Fr. Agostinho Teixeira de Sousa, C.M.
(7/20/1955 - 3/17/2017)
Mission
a passion
for Jesus
and for all