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.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?


To be saved, you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). However, that's not all. Sacred Scripture clearly shows other things you must also do to be saved:
  • You must endure to the end. Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:13, Mark 13:13.
  • You must accept the Cross (suffering). Matthew 10:38, Matthew 16:24-25, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27.
  • You must be baptized with water. Mark 16:16, Titus 3:5, I Peter 3:20-21.
  • You must be a member in God's true church. Acts 2:47.
  • You must confess your sins. James 5:16, I John 1:9.
  • You must keep the Commandments of God. Matthew 5:19-20, Matthew 7:21.
  • You must heed the words of St. Peter, the first Pope. Acts 11:13-14, Acts 15:7.
  • You must eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ. John 6:51-58, I Corinthians 10:16, I Corinthians 11:23-29.
  • Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. CCC 1996, John 1:12-18, John 17:3, Romans 8:14-17, 2 Peter 1:3-4.
The only Church that meets all the requirements of Salvation is the Holy Catholic Church.

11 comments:

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

I seems that you have narrowed it down that the only folks that will be with our Lord in Heaven are those that are members of the RCC.

Still praying for you my friend in Christ Jesus. Lloyd

Unknown said...

Dear Lloyd,
We will be praying for you when I attend my Rosary group next Thursday

Susan Kane said...

I understand what you are saying. I agree with all, except the one where I must belong to the RCC, in order to be saved. The scripture you cited tells about the saving of at least 3000 souls. At that time in history, many off shoots of Christianity were trying to blend with the pagan beliefs. To belong to the 'True church' meant to belong to the unadulterated teaching of Christ.

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

Thank you Michael, I can use lots of prayers. Also, pray for the millions of Christians that are in the same predicament as I am...Not a member of the RCC. God bless, Lloyd

Unknown said...

When did the Church established by Jesus Christ get the name Catholic?


Christ left the adoption of a name for His Church to those whom he commissioned to teach all nations. Christ called the spiritual society He established, "My Church" (Mt. xvi, 18), "the Church" (Mt. xviii, 17).

In order to have a distinction between the Church and the Synagogue and to have a distinguishing name from those embracing Judaic and Gnostic errors we find St. Ignatius (50-107 A.D.) using the Greek word "Katholicos" (universal) to describe the universality of the Church established by Christ.

St. Ignatius was appointed Bishop of Antioch by St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome. It is in his writtings that we find the word Catholic used for the first time. St. Augustine, when speaking about the Church of Christ, calls it the Catholic Church 240 times in his writings.

Anna Elissa said...

Not all Catholics will go to heaven, but all who go to heaven are Catholics. How? Those who die as non-Catholics, if at their last moment convert, they are baptised by the Lord Himself, become Catholics, and enter heaven.

Now this "last moment" can be anytime. It can be a split fraction of second after the hospital's EKG goes flat. Therefore, even though other people around the deceased's deathbed consider him to die as a Protestant/Muslim/Hindu/Buddhist/atheist, who knows? Maybe he goes to heaven as a Catholic! Thanks to the Lord's mercy.

While I adhere to the Church's teaching Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, and I fully support evangelization to non-Catholics, I really don't think we should judge others in this matter; that's God's prerogative. We sow the seed, we plow the soil, we add the fertilizers, but in the end it is God who grows the plants.

Unknown said...

Outside the Church There is No Salvation

The following is a summary of the teaching of the Magisterium Church, and of the Church Fathers and Doctors, on the dogma expressed in the words, "Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus." Further details, arguments, and explanations can be found at the blog, Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, from which much of this material has been summarized.

In brief, the Church's understanding of this doctrine is that all who are saved receive the grace of salvation in and through Christ; this grace always contains a reference to Christ's mystical body, the Church, and brings the justified person into a mysterious contact with that Church.

Hence also, those who know God's plan to save men as members of his mystical body, are obliged to be united to this Church, and commit a grave fault by rejecting it.

But those who are, without their fault, unaware of this plan of God, can be saved without belonging visibly to the Church, and only united to it through the mysterious bond of grace and charity working in their soul, which unites them spiritually with all who have grace, unites them with the Church.

In this sense they are saved in and through the Church; without belonging to it in this sense (Extra Ecclesiam) they would not be saved.

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

This doctrine sort of sounds like what the LDS church does for those who are not members... They call this doctrine, "Baptism of the Dead". Does the RCC also have this doctrine? Just curious. God bless, Lloyd

Unknown said...

Baptism of Desire:

That doesn't mean that only those who have been formally baptized can be saved. From very early on, the Church recognized that there are two other types of baptism besides the baptism of water.

The baptism of desire applies both to those who, while wishing to be baptized, die before receiving the sacrament and "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of conscience" (Constitution on the Church, Second Vatican Council).

Baptism of Blood:

The baptism of blood is similar to the baptism of desire. It refers to the martyrdom of those believers who were killed for the faith before they had a chance to be baptized.

This was a common occurrence in the early centuries of the Church, but also in later times in missionary lands. The baptism of blood has the same effects as the baptism of water.

PJ said...

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. Yes, the scriptures you quoted are correct, but it seems you have left out a VERY IMPORTANT one, ACTS 2:38. Repent, (turn away from your sins and don't do them anymore)everyone of you in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of your sins,and you SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is God's command to the Jews who had crucified Christ. asked Peter how they were supposed to be saved. It didn't say anything about joining the Catholic Church. The 'TRUE CHURCH' are those who believe in Christ's Doctrine. Acts 4:12 says when talking about Jesus Christ, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. Anyway, I didn't mean to get on a soap box, but it does seem like you completely left out one of the most important books and scriptures for Salvation. Being saved is a lifetime journey. Yes, it was a gift because He gave it to us, but He bought us with the price of His blood and therefore expects us to Live for Him, have a relationship with Him and abide by His Words. We have to live for Him to stay saved. Oops! There I go again. Sorry, I just get reved up when someone tries to say that their religion is the only ones going to heaven. Don't forget, the Jews are actually God's Chosen People according to the Bible, we Gentiles (anyone other than a Jew) is grafted into the family. We are all now considered to be in the family of God, (those of us who believe in and live for God. Jesus is the way, the truth and the light and we have to believe on Him to be saved. That is the ONLY WAY we will get to heaven. It doesn't matter if we are Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jewish or Jehovah Witness. We will All go to heaven ONLY if we abide by God's Word, and His Word says we must keep His commandments (do everything He tells us to do, not just the ten commandments). OK, I feel better now. Thank you for letting me get on my soap box, I just kind of lose it when someone tells me the only way I'm going to heaven is to be "their" religion. My faith is apostolic Pentecostal, but the church I "belong" to is the Bride of Christ", and His church contains all denominations as long as they believe in Him.

As you told Lloyd, I will keep you in my prayers. We all need all the prayers we can get.

God Bless,
PJ

Unknown said...

ACTS 2:38. Repent, (turn away from your sins and don't do them anymore)everyone of you in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of your sins,and you SHALL receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2: 38 Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized,* every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.u

ACTS CHAPTER 2

* [2:38] Repent and be baptized: repentance is a positive concept, a change of mind and heart toward God reflected in the actual goodness of one’s life. It is in accord with the apostolic teaching derived from Jesus (Acts 2:42) and ultimately recorded in the four gospels. Luke presents baptism in Acts as the expected response to the apostolic preaching about Jesus and associates it with the conferring of the Spirit (Acts 1:5; 10:44–48; 11:16).

u. [2:38] 3:19; 16:31; Lk 3:3.