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, August 3, 2011

THE EUCHARIST: YOUR GREATEST GIFT

Dr. Miravalle describes how the Eucharist is our greatest gift and how Our Lady is related to it. He describes the Eucharist as the greatest self-giving that even God can give and makes possible the greatest intimacy that we can have here on earth.

Posted by at
Labels: , ,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross reconciled us with the Father and opened the Father’s kingdom of heaven to us. Because the Father lives in eternity and continually sees Christ’s sacrifice, the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist re-presents Christ’s sacrifice for us.

When the priest celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the Father’s sight we are present at Christ’s one sacrifice. When we approach for reception of the Holy Eucharist, in the Father’s sight we are approaching Christ Himself on the cross as He gives us His body, blood, soul and divinity.

August 4, 2011 at 5:18 AM
Tortoise said...

Holy Eucharist is a sacrament of the living. We must be in the state of grace to receive it fruitfully. It is good to receive the Sacrament of Penance frequently.

August 4, 2011 at 5:22 AM

Post a Comment