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.
Showing posts with label Why do people hate Catholics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Why do people hate Catholics. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

WHY THE WORLD HATES CATHOLICS

The following is based on a recent reply I made on a message board to the question, "Why do people hate Catholics?"

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that we would be hated:
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"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
The world hates the Holy Catholic Church for the same reason it hated Christ: It teaches by the Spirit of God.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate 8 to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, 9 which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 10 (John 14:16-18)
Protestantism, of course, affirms that Christ DID leave us orphans - that's why they believe the preposterous blasphemy that God abandoned His own Church for some 1,000(+) years and let it fall into apostasy and heresy.

Notice how anti-Catholic attacks parallel the attacks upon Christ by looking at the forgiveness of sin.

Christ's enemies called him a blasphemer for forgiving sins:
"He commits blasphemy! Who can forgive sins except God alone?" (Mark 2:1-12; Matt 9:1-8)
Christ gave his Church the same power:

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(Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 15 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. 16 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:21-23)
The world has shifted its accusations and attacks from Christ Himself to his Church:

"Who can forgive sins but God?"

Just as Christ predicted.
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