for joining me . This is jack riggard , the host of the john paul to renewal centers become who you are podcast . I was getting ready for mass and , as I always do , I read the readings . They're coming up for the mass in the morning just to prepare for Mass and as I did , it was the feeding of the 5,000 .
And as I was thinking about that , this gross mockery of the Last Supper from the Olympics came into my mind and I thought , you know , this would be a great time to go through . John Jesus is talking about the Eucharist and also bring it into the Last Supper . What was going on at the Last Supper ?
Just to remind ourselves of that event and the anti-event that the Olympics was attacking . So let's put this all in context , if you don't mind . At the opening of the Olympics in Paris , france and you think about this France is going to put its best cultural foot forward .
It wants to show the world what it's like and it left nothing to the imagination but mock Christ at the Last Supper as he instituted what , as he instituted the Eucharist and the Mass . So consider this A final throwing away of culture and its people . That's what it looked like to me , and so it's nation .
It's like it's just put the last stake in the tomb , last stake in the heart of mankind . There in France this is France she was called the eldest daughter of the church at one time , so this is important .
This is an important sign to all of us , and it showcases the fallen culture as the eldest daughter of the church , a sign that we are no longer a God-fearing nation , a sign to the world that we are no longer a God-loving nation .
Remember that it's French culture that gave the world , to a large extent , the dignity of the individual human person , human dignity , human freedom , that we're all created in the image and likeness of God . We all have a right to an education , health care , property , a better life . All of this came out of Christian culture .
Now consider this why my Christianity and not some other religion like Islam ? Well , you know . First of all , we know that Islam wouldn't put up with it . But , even more importantly , the core reason that the world always attacks Christianity , and probably the Catholic Church even more so , is because Satan knows where the truth resides .
Take out Christ and the church and you take out human beings , created in this image and likeness . This , in turn , puts the whole culture in moral decline and then the nation will follow it . God , who brings in everything that's true , good and beautiful , especially the beauty of love , the beauty of love and the goodness of love in the world .
And you can twist it and turn it around , you could see what happened here , and the result is a culture and a nation , instead of true , good and beautiful , of lies , evil and profanity of beauty itself , and especially the beauty of love , the beauty of our human sexuality , created to be an expression of the inner life of the Trinity , itself right , the life of
a child in the womb , marriage and the family that brings that possible . So , in making visible the anti-sign , this is an anti-creation , but what better way to express it ?
After a nation has accepted abortion and all these gender ideologies , what's the next thing , of course and it's simultaneously of course is the attack on Christ , the bridegroom and his bride , the church . And at the Last Supper , where Christ instituted , what again ? The Mass , the Eucharist , the food from heaven . And what happened right after that ?
Right after that Last Supper , jesus would suffer his passion , death , his life , giving his life to overcome what Sin and death , exactly what was shown on that ceremony of the opening Olympics . You know where does all that lead ? All that hedonistic sexuality , the selfishness , using people just for momentary pleasure , it all leads to sin and death .
Where is it all going ? It's going nowhere . And Jesus comes in at the Last Supper to give us food from heaven that would take us all the way into our eternal life , and after Mass , to celebrate this event all over the world . What did Jesus do ? He gives us the Mass , the Eucharist , so that we have this to the end of the age .
And what again did they do at the opening ceremony at Paris ? The anti-sign ? A gross mockery of that event , a mockery of Jesus Christ as he prepares to make the supreme sacrifice of what ? Of his body and blood , his love . This is a love story . To pour himself out like a bridegroom would pour himself out to his bride .
This is my body , given for you , the sacrifice . And again , let's remember what that sacrifice was . It was to destroy the power of sin and , ultimately , death . The power that pours out at each and every mass to all of us , the power to be free .
The ultimate freedom is not freedom to sin and murder and destroy and to twist and distort our sexual passions into anything , but the power to give us a love in the truth and to be able to live truth in love , to be united to one another through him who humbly gives himself away .
What To serve and not to be served the opposite of selfishness that's what love is .
So the Western world , including France here , obviously thought it was okay to give us the right to murder a child , the right to render marriage meaningless it doesn't mean anything to anybody the right to use children to further these sexual ideologies , right affirming a gender care and all these things that we're doing to our youth .
Because the world has rejected the truths of the Catholic faith . We see the breakdown across the world as it falls further and further into chaos . Take out Christ and the church and it follows that murder and chaos will follow Moral degradation . You know this moral decline and the world is under the spell of the evil one .
When God is forgotten , the creature itself grows unintelligible From Gaudium et Spes . This week we had another example of the .
It's almost like we're under some kind of a spell right the human mind and the heart by the mystery of evil , and you saw this with the opening of the Olympics Last week or so it was immediately following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and we saw the withdrawal , people saying I wish he would have been shot .
The only problem with that assassin he didn't kill the president . This is how we act . Whether you like Trump or don't like Trump , this is a human being . See , once you destroy the child in the womb , once you render marriage without any meaning , this is where we all come into the world , the Imago Dei , then it doesn't matter , right , it will kill anybody .
The vitriol and the hatred is amazing . Witnessing this , somebody wrote the laughter and the swearing , the laughing , the mockery that Donald Trump didn't get shot . She said I felt like I had entered a dystopian twilight zone . Isn't that what we feel ? So evil across the world is accelerating into the final days . And what can we do ?
I think it's good to go back and see exactly what Jesus was doing , because , at the end of the world , it's our faith in Jesus Christ that will save the world , nothing less . He's the way , the truth and the life , the one who brings us life and frees us from the number one enemy of true human flourishing . What is that ?
Liberation from sin , liberation from everything that was showing at that ceremony . So let's take the opportunity to look back at today's gospel , where we had the feeding of the 5,000 . And you'll note here that this is the Jewish feast of the Passover , where we sacrifice . The Jewish people sacrifice the lamb to be saved . Well now , jesus is that lamb .
This is what's happening at the Last Supper . It's a new covenant . He now is the sacrifice , he himself is the priest and he himself is the victim , the sacrifice that will be offering himself up for the salvation of the world . This is what's happening at each and every Mass . So let me go through that . It's so powerful .
So I'm going to read you from the reading just from today , just from today , which is the feeding of the 5,000 . I want to take that right into John 6 . It goes right into Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist , which happened at the Last Supper .
So I'll take you just through a little bit of Luke , which you could go to any of the Synoptic Gospels Mark or Matthew 2 , to read about that .
I'm just going to pull one from Luke about the Last Supper and then just to finish with the very last chapter , the very last paragraphs , I should say , of the last chapter of the book of Revelation , the very last book of the Bible , because this all ties back in together . So the feeding of the 5,000 .
After this , jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee , which is the Sea of Tiberias , and a multitude following him , because they saw the signs which he did on those who were .
Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee , which is the Sea of Tiberias , and a multitude following him , because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased . Remember , jesus comes in and he heals . He heals your body , but then he always says what ? Go and sin no more . It's not just your body , it's your body and a soul .
We're united , right , we're a united body and a soul . So Jesus went up to the hills and there he sat down . Now the Passover listen , now the Passover , the feast of the Jews , was at hand . So this is what's coming the Passover is coming and Jesus tells them all to sit down . I'm going to go just a little bit ahead .
And there was a lad there who had five barley loaves and two fish , but there were so many people . Jesus said make the people sit down . Now . There was much grass in that place , so the men sat down , a number of about 5,000 . So if it's 5,000 men , then you have women and children . This is a big crowd . Jesus took the loaves when he had given thanks .
He distributed them to those who were seated , so also the fish , as much as they wanted , and when they are filled , he told his disciples gather up the fragments left over , that nothing shall be lost . So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had already eaten .
When the people saw the sign which he had done , they said this indeed is the prophet who is coming to the world . Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king , jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself . This is not about earthly power . Jesus makes this clear . He saw that they wanted to make him king .
He's the king of the universe , he's the king of eternity , he's the king of love , of truth , of goodness , of beauty . He does not want earthly power , and so when they're going to make him king , he disappears . Well , here's what happens . They find him .
And so when they found him I'm skipping to John 6 , verse 25 , when they found him on the other side of the sea , the people said to him Rabbi , when did you come here ? And Jesus answered them truly . Truly , I say to you you seek me not because you saw signs , but because you ate your fill of the loaves .
Do not labor for the food which perishes , but for the food which endures to eternal life , which the Son of man will give to you , for on him has God , the Father , set his seal . Then they said to him what must we do to be doing the works of God ? Jesus answered them this is the work of God , that you believe in him , who he has sent .
So they said to Jesus then , what sign do you do that we may see and believe in you ? Which work do you perform ? They always want a sign , right , always want another miracle . He just fed the 5,000 . That's not enough . It'll never be enough until we go to our hearts . So here's what happened .
They said to Jesus and this is so important because after the Passover of the Jews , right in the Old Testament , what happens ? They're led out to the desert where God feeds them . With what ? Manna ? The bread , the bread . God feeds them himself with the bread of life . So our fathers , they say to Jesus , ate the manna in the wilderness , as it was written .
He gave them bread from heaven to eat . Now listen to this . Jesus says to them truly , truly , I say to you it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven . My father gives you the true bread from heaven , for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world . And they said to him Lord , give us this bread always .
And that's exactly what he's going to do . But he has to first teach them a little bit . Now I'm going to read all of this them a little bit Now . I'm going to read all of this , but you should read all of it . So Jesus said to them I am the bread of life . He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst .
But I say to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe yourselves . This is what we're seeing , the anti-sign of this . They're thirsty . All those people at the stage , all those people in their culture , all anti-sign of this . They're thirsty . All those people at the stage , all those people in their culture , all those people in nature are thirsty .
But when they no longer see God , they try to fill themselves . What Full of selfish , hedonistic pleasures , right To try to stuff themselves anywhere they can , and they'll distort anything to get a momentary pleasure , something that they think they're going to find . Well , this is Satan twisting and distorting .
So Jesus says to them , truly , truly , I say to you he who believes has eternal life . I am the bread of life . Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died . This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die . I am the living bread which comes down from heaven .
If anyone eats of this bread , he will live forever . And the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh . And then they say to him it's impossible . So they dispute among themselves about this , and so they're arguing . The Jews said how can this be that a man could give us his flesh to eat ?
They say the same thing that when you first describe this to somebody , they go what are you talking about ? So Jesus said to them , truly , truly , I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood , you have no life in you .
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life , and I will raise him on the last day , for my flesh is food , indeed , and my blood is drink , indeed . He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him , as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father . So he who eats me will live because of me .
This is the bread which came down from heaven , not such as the Father's died . He who eats this bread will live forever . This he said in the synagogue , as he taught at Capernaum Whoa , he's teaching about the Eucharist . It's so powerful . So this leads us then to the Last Supper . So let me just take you to the Last Supper . This is what Jesus is doing .
He's establishing the Mass and the Eucharist so that we have it forever . Jesus says there let me just read you a little bit he institutes well , I'm going to go back and just go to . This is Luke 22 , verse seven , because it's preparation again for the Passover . Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 , it's the Passover . Then he talks about his sacrifice .
It's going to be his sacrifice . He's setting us up for this . He is the bread of life . So then came the day of unleavened bread . Unleavened bread , getting ready , isn't that what the host is . That's why we have unleavened hosts right , this is what we do . And go and prepare the Passover .
And he tells the disciples about a room that they'll find , et cetera , et cetera , and get ready for the sacrifice . This time it's not going to be a lamb or unleavened bread . This time he is the sacrifice , he is the sacrificial lamb , the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world .
So Jesus institutes the Eucharist here , and this is the Last Supper , this is what's being mocked . And when the hour came , he sat at the table and the apostles with him , and he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer , for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God .
And he took a chalice and when he had given them thanks , he said take this and divide it among yourselves , for I tell you that from now on , I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes . And he took bread and when he had given thanks , he broke it and gave it to them . This is my body which will be given up for you .
Do this in remembrance of me . And likewise the chalice after supper , saying this chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood . Do this in memory of me . He's the sacrificial lamb . He is what I'm going to mass to receive . You know it's a powerful thing we become .
You know we're fed with heavenly food and there's a mass going on every moment of every day across the world bringing this life to people . Let me just finish up with the very end of the book of Revelation . So this is Revelation 22 , the last couple of paragraphs , and this is written also by John . I , john , am he who heard and saw these things .
And when I heard and saw them , I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had showed them to me . But he said to me you shall not do that . I'm a fellow servant with you and your brother and the prophets and with those who keep the words of this book . Worship God .
And he said to me do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book , for the time is near . Listen to this . Let the evildoer still do evil and the filthy still be filthy and the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy . Behold , I am coming soon , bringing my recompense to repay everyone for what he's done .
I am the Alpha and the Omega , the first and the last , the beginning and the end . This is Jesus Christ . Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates .
Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood . I , jesus , have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches .
I am the root and the offspring of David , the bright morning star , the spirit , the Holy Spirit and the bride , the church right , the church , the bride of Christ , say come and let him who hears say come and let him who is thirsty come , let him who desires take the water of life without price .
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them , god will add to him the plagues described in this book . And if anyone takes away from the words of the book , of this prophecy , god will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book .
He who testifies to these things says surely I am coming soon . Amen , come , lord Jesus . The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints , amen .