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.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

REMARKABLE OCCULT CONNECTIONS LINKED MANY FAMOUS BANDS OF THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES

Is all the music from the Sixties and Seventies and Eighties and now this millennium -- adding perhaps also the bobbysocking Fifties -- really so bad?

It's difficult to judge. By the fruits we know it. There seemed to be some awfully beautiful music (think: Hey Jude, or Bridge Over Troubled Waters, or Let It Be).

But for much of the time, there also seemed to be the influence of a dark spirit. Years ago, a Catholic newspaper quoted the Pope’s doctrinal czar, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as giving his perception of modern music (in a 1986 article for L’Osservatore Romano) when he wrote that rock "has become the decisive vehicle of a counter-religion. ... Rock music is completely antithetical to the Christian concept of redemption and freedom, indeed its exact opposite."

Added then-Cardinal Ratzinger (who of course we now know as Benedict XVI), rock music "is a basic way to express passions which, in big audiences, may assume characteristics of cult or even adoration, contrary to Christianism."

That's serious language -- and goes beyond even what we have ascribed in our continuing series on the secret origin of rock 'n' roll [see previous article].

No question about one thing: certain bands reeked of carnality.

"Throughout the Classical Age of Rock, certain genres and subgenres would evolve into virtual cults, many of which bear a startling resemblance to the cults of the ancient gods," writes Christopher Knowles in The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll.

Take, for instance, the Rolling Stones, who, he writes, "fell under the spell of Kenneth Anger, who introduced the works of [an Englishman known as "The Beast"] and Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. Mick Jagger reportedly wrote 'Sympathy for the Devil' under Anger's influence and recorded a startlingly avant-garde soundtrack for his 1969 film Invocation of My Demon Brother, using cutting-edge synthesizer equipment."

The devil would catch up with this band by the end of that year, notes Knowles; in 1969 a band member who recently left was murdered by a handyman, while during a concert at Altamont Raceway in California the Hell's Angels famously killed a disgruntled fan at a Stones concert.

The Grateful Dead?

They were originally known as The Warlocks.

The Doors?

Their leader -- who also died very young (and mysteriously) -- claimed to have been possessed by an Indian spirit as a boy and as a young man married a practicing witch.

Prayer needs here.

The list of rock bands and their links to the occult are too numerous to detail or even synopsize.

As pointed out by an Orthodox bishop, a few other examples include: "Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac has several times dedicated their concerts to the witches of the world. An album of the rock group Venom entitled, 'Welcome to Hell,' contains the following words on the back cover: 'we are possessed by all that is evil. The death of your God we demand: we spit at the virgin you worship, and sit at the Lord Satan's left hand.' The 'Rune' album of Led Zeppelin displays on the cover the famous black occultist Aleister Crowley. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, a self-confessed Satanist, bought Crowley's old mansion. John Bonham, a drummer for the band, died in the house in 1980; Robert Plant allegedly split the group up after the death and blamed Page's obsession with the occult for his death."

Deceptive?

You better believe it.

Page is the one who wrote "Stairway to Heaven," one of the most famous rock songs of all time (voted number three by VH1) and the single most requested song on FM stations in the 1970s. The musician described a process whereby he and his co-writer had basically "channeled" this song.

Stairway to "heaven" or a ladder to hell?

"I was holding a paper and pencil, and for some reason, I was in a very bad mood. Then all of a sudden my hand was writing out words," recalled that song writer. "'There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.' I just sat there and looked at the words and then I almost leaped out of my seat'" (this from Stephen Davis, Hammer of the Gods, p. 164).

The writer, it seems, "often remarked that he could feel his pen being pushed by some higher authority" (p. 262).

The infiltration -- or inspiration -- appears to have been pervasive.

Adds Knowles about this group, "They also understood the effect that endless repetition of a powerful riff had on a listener's subconscious, as it did with voodoo, Sufism, and the ancient Mysteries. Sticking close to this surefire formula, Led Zeppelin released a remarkable strong of smash-hit albums."

We must be careful about "inspiration." We certainly should never channel. And we should be careful about the radio and iPods and the internet, and certainly VH1 and MTV. For as it notes in Scripture, Satan, among other titles, is "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).

[Resources:Spiritual Warrior Prayers and Michael Brown retreat, New Jersey]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Unknown said...

"Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller or soothsayer, charmer, diviner or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord." (Deut 18:10-12)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says we must reject all forms of divination, including "recourse to mediums" (CCC, No. 2116), which are psychics who channel spirits of the dead in order to get information.

"In channelling, you're basically invoking spirits and allowing them to use your person, your body, your voice, to speak through you, therefore, what you're going to get may appear to be of God but it isn't."

Anonymous said...

Aleister Crowley -- 1875-1947 --

Crowley was the foremost Satanist of the modern era. He made no bones about the fact he served Lord Satan. He was so evil his own mother called him "The Beast".

He called himself regularly by this name and by the number, 666. Crowley devised a hybrid brand of Black Magick that is in vogue today. He was convinced that he was incarnating a new magical era that would supercede Christianity.

Crowley spent much of his later life seeking the Whore of Babylon, whom he thought could be an ideal magical [sex] partner.

Crowley influenced the Rock group, the Beatles, greatly. The Beatles dedicated their album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", to Crowley.