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.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

HOW CAN PEOPLE SAY THAT HOMOSEXUALITY ISN'T NATURAL

Many people define what's natural by whatever they feel. If they feel an attraction to something, then they assume it must be good and natural. That's our culture in a nutshell: If it feels good, do it. But, my attractions do not determine the morality of my actions. For example, a husband might be attracted to his secretary, but this "natural" feeing does not make it good to cheat on your wife.

I discussed the morality of homosexual actions in a different question, so let's just look at how "natural" the act is. When I use the term natural, I'm referring to the design that can be found within nature. For example, it's natural for a plant to live in sunlight.

If it's put in the closet, it will probably die, because that is not the natural environment in which it should live. When things are put in their natural place, and follow the design with which they're made, they thrive. When this natural law is violated, things go awry.

To see how this plays out in our sexuality, examine how a man's body works with a woman's in the sexual act.

First of all, consider that a man's body really doesn't make sense without a woman's body. The same goes for her. The two compliment each other. For example, the sperm and the egg serve no purpose in isolation from each other. Yet, everyone on the planet is here because of the union of the two.

To get more technical, a man's sperm is foreign to a woman's reproductive system, and the natural response of her body is to treat them as foreign bodies that should be fought off.
To do this, the woman's body would normally use lymphocytes to attack the foreign body in order to keep the womb healthy. But there's a substance in a man's sperm cells and semen that tell the woman's immune system to not attack.

Also, the alkaline nature of semen buffers and converts the acidic nature of the female reproductive tract, thus allowing the sperm to travel safely to the egg in order to fertilize it. Meanwhile during the marital act, the couple is face to face, and eye to eye.

MORE...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,(1 Corinthians 6:9)

p160 said...

18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own,

20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

a39greenway said...

GOSPEL:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,

but underneath are ravenous wolves.

By their fruits you will know them.

Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,

and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,

nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down

and thrown into the fire.

So by their fruits you will know them.”
(Matthew 7:15-20)