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 20, 2012

I GET TOO MUCH STRESS

" I get too much stress at home and I wish I would just die. Why am I even alive?" God has a plan for your life—for you. There are many wonderful things that He wants you to do in life: many kind smiles to strangers, many donations to feed the hungry, many visits to lonely and sick people. You may someday have your own family to cherish and raise in God's love. Happiness really isn't about how other people treat us; it is about how we treat other people. It is not about how much love we get, it is about how much love we give. "How can you say that God cares about us, when you do everything that He says and then He rewards the people that don't believe in Him?" God loves all of His children, even the ones who do not believe in Him yet or disobey Him. Now sit down, because I am going to drop a bombshell on you: as a Christian, you are obligated to love those wicked people, and help them, and pray for them. Christ commanded us to. And just when you thought that following Christ could not get any harder! You can do it, though, with His help. In fact, nothing can be done without His help. So ask for it as often as possible. No, unfortunately, this help does not include things of this world that we want, like money and love. It is limited to the only thing that really matters, getting us to eternal happiness.
" I used to belong to a church and I put my heart in the ministry, then I began to have rain fall in my life. Money problems, bills, my home was in foreclosure, and I lost jobs. I even lost my friends in the church. It's hard to keep my faith and to believe. Where does a fallen Christian go?"
Do not make the mistake of thinking that God shows special worldly favors to Christians. Do you remember what happened to all the Apostles? After a very hard time preaching, they were all tortured and killed because of their beliefs. If you are Christian because you think that God will make this life easier for you, you will not be a Christian for long. God will not intervene to bring you jobs or money. This is not because he does not want to; it is because he knows that his grand plan to bring you home to him in heaven includes all of your troubles. He knows that the road you are on now, even though you don't like it one bit, is the best one to lead you straight to heaven and to an eternity of happiness. Talk to God every day, and ask him for the grace to bear up under your troubles. You can ask him to take those troubles away, but he is well aware of them and will take them away as soon as that is the best course for your salvation. Don't forget, he expects you to use the gifts that he gave you, your intelligence and common sense, to try to make this life more pleasant for yourself.
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