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, January 19, 2013

HOW MUCH TIME WILL YOU GIVE ME?

I am always with you. I am present among you and wait. I long for your presence with Me. Day and night, I am always there for you.

How much time will you give Me? I am waiting, full of longing for the moments of meeting with you. And they are often so short, so fleeting, and often your heart is elsewhere. How precious is the time I have given you. It is of eternal value for you and for others. Use it, give it to Me.


To what extent you so often place much value on your earthly wishes and desires. How much effort you put into them, and yet they pass. You have time for so many and such useless things that pass away and disappoint.

Against this, is not every hour you give Me comfort and strength for you? Is this not time that multiplies itself into eternity, a time in which your longing brings you to Me, a time in which your love stretches into eternity, because it is united with my love?

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

LORD as You will, let it be done to me, and as you will, let all things come to me. Grant only that Your will be plain to me.

LORD, when You will, let it be time for me, and when You will, just give the sign to me, now and in all eternity.

LORD, what You will, let me embrace, Your will can only bring me grace; in You my one true resting place.

LORD, since You will it, I embrace it; and since you will it, I can face it. Into Your hands my heart I place.

Fr. Rupert Mayer, SJ

January 19, 2013 at 5:09 AM

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