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.

Monday, June 27, 2011

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

From: " Brother, save yourself "
by very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P, S.T.D.

[1] I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
• Do I give God time every day in prayer?
• Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
• Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
• Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the Church?
• Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
• Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

[2] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
• Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
• Have I been angry with God?
• Have I wished evil upon another person?
• Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

[3] Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.
• Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?
• Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
• Do I do needless work on Sunday?

[4] Honour your Father and your Mother.
• Do I honour and obey my parents?
• Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
• Have I given my family good religious example?
• Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
• Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

[5] You shall not kill.
• Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
• Have I physically harmed anyone?
• have I abused alcohol or drugs?
• Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
• Have I been angry or resentful?
• Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
• Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
• Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

[6] You shall not commit adultery.
• Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
• Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
• Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?
• Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?
• Have I been guilty of masturbation?
• Have I sought to control my thoughts?
• Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
• Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
• Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?
• Am I careful to dress modestly?

[7] You shall not steal.
• Have I stolen what is not mine?
• Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
• Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
• Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
• Do I pay my debts promptly?
• Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• Have I lied?
• Have I gossiped?
• Have I spoken behind someone else's back?
• Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
• Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
• Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

[9] You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.
• Have I consented to impure thoughts?
• Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?
• Do I seek to control my imagination?
• Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?

[10] You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.
• Am I jealous of what other people have?
• Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
• Am I greedy or selfish?
• Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
• Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?

If you realize that you are not doing the right thing, then repent.
Come to the Lord with a humble and contrite heart.

Jesus instituted the Priesthood on Holy Thursday at the last Supper, He also instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance on the evening of His Resurrection when He appeared to the Apostles and gave them power to forgive sins. (Also to priests)

John 20:21-23
21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.
22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
* * *
Act of Contrition
O my God, I repent with my whole heart of all my sins, and I detest them, because I have deserved the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because I have offended you, infinite Goodness. I firmly purpose with the help of your grace, which I pray you to grant me now and always, to do penance and rather to die than offend you again. I purpose also to receive the holy Sacraments during my life and at my death
* * *
About confession with the Priest
Words of Jesus to Sister Faustina (Divine Mercy)
When you go to confession, to this fountain of mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flow down upon your soul...In the Tribunal of Mercy [the sacrament of Reconciliation]...the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated...Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy..

Come with faith to the feet of My representative...I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest... I Myself act in your soul... Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light...

Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full... From this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.

Our Lord has emphasised the need for us to go to confession and to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist in order to obtain the greatest gifts of His Mercy.

We as Catholics have the source of Mercy in the confessional and in the Precious Blood of the Eucharist. Let us proclaim this message.


Imprimatur:
+ Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York Nihil Obstat:
John M.A. Fearns, S.T.D
Censor Librorum
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