Bread of Life

BREAD OF LIFE
this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. (john 6: 50)
The miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ celebrated the first Mass with His disciples at the Last Supper, the night before He died. He commanded His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). The celebration of the Mass then became the main form of worship in the early Church, as a reenactment of the Last Supper, as Christ had commanded. Each and every Mass since commemorates Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through the Holy Eucharist. Because the Mass “re-presents” (makes present) the sacrifice on Calvary, Catholics all around the world join together to be made present in Christ’s timeless sacrifice for our sins. There is something fascinating about continuing to celebrate the same Mass—instituted by Christ and practiced by the early Church—with the whole community of Catholics around the world…and in heaven.

THE REAL PRESENCE

Why does the Catholic Church believe Christ is really present in the Eucharist?
The Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence is the belief that Jesus Christ is literally, not symbolically, present in the Holy Eucharist—body, blood, soul and divinity. Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because Jesus tells us this is true in the Bible:

“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 came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ 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 up at 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” - John 6:48-56
Furthermore, the early Church Fathers either imply or directly state that the bread and wine offered in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is really the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrine of the Real Presence that Catholics believe today was believed by the earliest Christians 2,000 years ago!

This miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him.

Friday, May 7, 2010

THE KINGDOM OF GOD


In Matthew 12:28, Jesus tells the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God has come upon them. In Mark 12:34, He also tells the scribe that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom, and then establishes His Church on Peter the Rock.

Jesus says that whatever this Church binds on earth shall be bound in heaven, where Jesus reigns now. So what does all of this tell us? It tells us that the Kingdom of God was established on earth by Jesus Christ in the year 33 AD, in the form of His Church, led by Peter.

In Ephesians 5:23, The Bible says that Jesus is the Head of His Body, the Church. So here we have a divinely created Church led by Peter and His successors on earth, with Jesus Christ as its Head, that is actually the Kingdom of God. Notice that Jesus didn’t tell Peter to wait 2000 years to begin the Kingdom!

So why is this important?
Because there are a lot of non-Catholic Christians today who say that Jesus will establish His Kingdom when He returns at the Second Coming, and then start reigning for a thousand years. But is that right? The Bible says that when Jesus returns, it will be accompanied by trumpet blasts, and the dead will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
There are several problems with that being the point where Jesus establishes His Kingdom. The Bible says in Luke 17:20-21 that the establishment of the Kingdom will not be accompanied by signs, which would presumably preclude angelic trumpet blasts and dead people coming back to life.

Instead, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of us, now. And Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that all authority in heaven and on earth has already been given to Him. Isn’t it an insult for us to say that that statement isn’t a reference to His Kingdom having already being established ? And where is the Kingdom of God on earth?

It would be in the Tabernacle at each and every Catholic Church, where Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist! He’s waiting for you to come see Him and talk to Him, right now! And the really good news is that everyone who is in the state of grace is a prince or princess of this Kingdom, right now!
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Matthew 12: 25-28: Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand; and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

(**NOTE – Not only does this statement say that the Kingdom of God has already begun, but it is a huge statement for Church Unity, broken in thousands of pieces since the 16th Century.)

May 7, 2010 at 1:21 PM

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