Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Brandon Vot the host and the content director

here at Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Per our new podcast schedule, Bishop Aaron

and I have a dialogue episode every other week and in the off weeks we'd like to share

with you content that you may not have heard of yet whether it's from one of Bishop Aaron's

films or study programs, perhaps a sample lesson from our Word on Fire Institute. So that's

what we're offering you today. We're going to hear a segment from Bishop Aaron's study

program on the Eucharist. In that program, he looks at three different dimensions of the

Eucharist. The one we're going to focus on today is the Eucharist as sacred meal. So I

hope you enjoy this audio, sit back and enjoy a sample lesson from Bishop Aaron's study

program on the Eucharist. Think of the most festive, fun-filled, enjoyable, life-giving meal

you've ever been at. Food and drink and study supply, lots of laughter, good cheer, lively

conversation, life being shared, the kind of party you wish would never end. That gives you

the best idea on biblical grounds of what God intends for his people. The sacrament

convivium, the sacred banquet is a master image in the Bible of what God intends. And I want

to put that in the widest possible biblical framework. Go right back to the beginning,

the book of Genesis. God creates the heavens and the earth. Why? Why does God create? The

church is consistently said, not out of need. God needs nothing. God is God, utterly perfect

in every way. The world adds nothing to God's greatness or perfection. So then why does

God create? Here's how Thomas Aquinas put it. Bonum de Fesivum sui. It means the good

is diffusive of itself. The good tends to bubble over. When you're in a good mood, you don't

hide away. But you tend to bubble over. You want to share. So Vatican Council 1 said,

God does not make out of need, but God creates out of a desire to manifest His glory. Now,

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