A. Back ground: after easter we reflected on the following feasts.
(1) Ascension- when you are dead(tired) with worries, always practicing Jesus teaching allow you to be happy(risen Christ)
(2) Pentecost- you don't know,100% out come for your acton-ex your are traveling and you meet with an accident. When you are with God, HE will see about your happiness.(Remember the presence of God & HIS mercy always-Holy Spirit)
(3)Holy Trinity- God is omni potent, omni presence and knows all your ideas. We can see HiM as 3 persons in our life. My body-Father/He ensure Happiness to me. My mind-Son-what is truth for me/I might make knowingly or unknowingly mistakes due to lack of knowledge of commandments(sin), My Free will- Holy Spirit-I carry out action to observe happy result/ forgetting God may result in No insurance cover for a Happy life
Today we reflect physical live wire of Catholicism, Holy Eucharist and major characteristic of Catholicism " making impossible possible"
B. Preamble to today' s reading:
B.1 Holy Eucharist and it is relevance to our life!
Last Supper Jesus changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and said"Do This in Remembrance of me"(Mt 12:1).
Eating is important for you to live,otherwise you die on starving!.
when you need energy,tieing a loaf of meat to your leg,will not transfer energy but you have to cook,taste and digest. Eucharist,is not to store,but to digest.
Wrong ways of enjoying food,has come to us from original sin. If you want to increase yourWEIGHT
by 1Kg,you need9000 K calories of energy. To achieve that you have to eat 1kg of butter or margarine(oil/fat),or 1kg of pork. BUT REDUCEWEIGHT IS VERY DIFFICULT.A Labourer can burn1200 Kcal/8hrs & needs around 8 days to reduce1kg of his weight and if you do exercise for 30min/day,you need 1 month. You become over weight due to accumulation of additional energy you take by food(don't blame your parents).To control your weight, you should have
(1)Will to reduce
(2)dietary control
(3)exercise
(4)stress free mind(easy to achieve from Catholicism)
B.2 How to achieve impossible things!
When Jesus had the last suffer, first HE clearly shows a important principle of Christianity.
He did not tell His disciples, to go to the room direct, but HE told, when you go, you will meet a person carrying water, asked him,about his master, then meet him and tell him, Jesus wanted a room to have the Pass-over meal.
Can't Jesus tell His disciples to go to the room direct? HE is GOD, HE knows everything!. Method HE proposed, practically is impossible for us to find a room.
HE shows clearly, with the presence of God, in your life, when you go out, you will meet, the person carrying the water. Then how to get to a room. With God, he clearly shows, that Impossible things will make it possible.
Then He showed, another impossible thing for normal person, The Holy Eucharist. The presence of God, in the Eucharist.
B.3 proofs
How far this is true(the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist) in this scientific world?
Evidence(1)
Fr Peter,German Priest was doubting the conversion of bread & wine, into the body & blood of Christ at the moment of consecration in mass. While he was traveling,he stayed at Bolsena (Italy) was celebrating mass: The HOST when he broke for communion,appeared be spattered with blood & bleed into the corporal,the small cloth upon which the Host & chalice rest during the cannon of mass. After this,in1264,Pope Urban 4 institute the feast, Corpus Christi. you can see the blood stained corporal in the church of St Christina. After 700 years Pope Paul 6 celebrated this feast in the same alter.
Evidence(2)
In 1830,at Holy Mass, St Catherine Laboure PHYSICALLY SAW CHRIST at the HOST. You can see her in corrupt body in Paris.
Evidence(3)
St Anthony and Holy Eucharist
Anthony,a franciscan, is from LISBON(portugal).He preached in France/Italy. Bonvillo(Tolouse/france) argued against presence of God in the Eucrastic. He said he would allow his mule,in market place without food for 3 days. Finally Anthony to bring the Blessed Sacrement & Bonvillo to bring oats. After 3 days, publically Anthony carried the Host,to the starving mule & Bonvillo brought oat. Mule turned from the food & kept his head on the ground in an posture of Adoration & did not rise until Anthony retired!.in 1231 at the age of 36 Anthony died & canonised in 1232.St Anthony, in corrupt vocal parts you can see in Padua/ Italy! He was popularly invoked for the recovery of lost articles.
There are many more incidents you can get!
B.4 Unique ritual of catholic!
From material aspect,Jesus left His people with more than memories!.Only possession He had at His death was His robe,which ended up being bartered for by Roman soldiers. Yet HE gave His people something tangible to remember Him
He gave us a beautiful parting memory that we could touch, taste,feel & digest in to our body!.
If you an athletic, you need to eat nourishing food to get energy to your body. Say meat will provide you energy & if you tie a loaf of meat to your thigh!to run, Will you get energy to run? No. You have to prepare meat, enjoy eating, will digest your meat to convert energy into your body!. Similarly Holy Eucharist, you have to digest to receive the spiritual energy!
Hence Eucharist become precious nourishment for your faith,as well as a bonding ritual among members of the church!
B.5 B.3 Worship only to Eucharist!
Holy Eucharist is called the "Real Presence" of Christ, and it alone is given the WORSHIP and ADORATION due to God, because it is considered the real,true and substantial body and blood of Christ himself!. The other ways are mystical and spiritual but not substantial and not considered sacraments in and of themselves.
B.4 The difference between Praise, Respect & Worship!
Many developing country catholics, unknowingly mix up with worship to God & respect to their parents/teachers, undermining the worshipping God.
Praising: temporary respect
A mother will praise her Son for his good work, while she will blame(shout) her son for his bad work at different times. Since human is weak, naturally the child is weak, the child has to be brought up with praise, as well as blame, under the pure intention of make him a good man. So praise is a temporary affair, where we appreciate, while reserving right to point out wrong at a different time. The body language that is being normally use a smile, or praising words from your mouth. Correcting, normally used the facial expression of frowning, with blaming by mouth.
Respect: A person(like your parent) who has been helpful in your life, but you can live without them now!. As a gratitude you respect them like bowing your head to him.
Worship: only God why? Because you are grateful to Him in providing life and allowing you to lead your life happily!. So you kneel only to Him. Without God you accept that you cannot live(Air will be provided to you by God to breath)
Hence praise & respect is temporary in time, while worship is permanent in time. Here one should not identify your mother/father, as living God at your home, so that you confuse worshipping to them rather than God!.
10 commandments are very clear in respect of parents and worship of God(1& 4)
(1) Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me
(2) Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
(3) Keep holy the Sabbath Day
(4) Honour thy father and mothe
B.6 St John Paul II and Holy Eucharist
St JP2 wrote His last en cyclical in 2003(Ecclesia de Eucharistia) on Eucharist & it's relation to the church!, which consists of 6 parts!.
EUCRASTIC
(1) as mystery of faith- how the consecrated bread & wine can become & remain the body & blood,soul & divernity of Christ
(2) the foundation of church
(3)As apostelic(being historical connected what the 12 apostles themselves did)
(4)Requirement to receive communion
(5)Proper dignity,respect & reverence demanded as holy celebrations(frequent visit to Blessed Sacrament,Holy hours of Adoration,Exposition & benediction, Corpus Christi processions, Perpetual Adoration chapels,masses celebrated with reverence and decorum proper to the sacred mysteries to be celebrated)
(6)The role of Virgin Mary
B.7 Pope Francis & Eucharist
According Pope Francis(ref:1st encyclical letter- The light of faith) He explains about Eucharist! Para 44(quote)
" The sacramental character of faith finds its highest expression in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the precious nourishment for faith: an encounter with Christ truly present in the supreme act of His love, the life giving gift of Himself. In the Eucharist we find the intersection of faith's two dimensions. On the one hand,there is a dimension of history: the Eucharist is act of remembrance, a making present of mystery in which the past,as an event of death & resurrection, demonstrates its ability to open up a future,to foreshadows ultimate fulfilment. The liturgy reminds of this by its repetition of the word hodie, the "today" of the mysteries of salvation. On the other hand,we also find the dimension which leads from the visible world to the invisible. In the Eucharist we learn to see the heights and depth of reality. The Bread & wine are changed into Body & Blood of Christ,who become present in His passover to the Father;this movement draws us, body and soul, into movement of all creation towards the fulfilment of God"
B.8 Procession:
Corpus Christi procession remind us, that life itself is a procession. We are only pilgrims here. We are only passing by. We shuffle along, sing our hymns,strew our flowers and at the end of the day, the streets are empty and all our flags fly at half mast!.
Our procession points towards God. Christ is in the middle of it, helping us, encouraging us, leading us onwards. He walked with us for 33 years in the flesh. He walks with us now under the appearance of bread.
He waits for us in the tabernacle, gathers us around His table, invites us to enter His sacrifice, enters into us in Holy Communion as food for our journey, obliges us to care for all who travel with us, whether they be of our persuasion or not!. He gives us hope,peace and unity and certainty to our procession. He gives points and directon to our journey. Because Christ is at the head of it, because is at the heart of it, life is not just any old procession. It is a 'Mighty Corpus Christi' procession, the procession through history of the Body of Jesus Christ.
C.
Today's reading:
Exodus(24:3-8) says:
"Moses..told..commands of Lord.. Ordinances..people..voice..'
Hebrews(9:11-15)says"
"..Christ..come..perfect tent..better..made by men's hand..taking with Him..His..Blood..eternal redemption for us..can purify..our service..living God..new covenant..what..promised:His death..cancel sins that infringed earlier covenent"
Mk(14:12-16,22-26)"..unleaven bread..passover lamb was sacrificed.. disciples to jesus,'where..make preparation to eat passover?..sent 2 disciples'..you will meet man..water..say to owner..The Master.. eat passover..He will show..make preparation..As they..eating..took some bread..this is my body..cup..This is my blood..to be poured out to many..I shall not drink..until..in kingdom of God'
Reminds: After,Easter,all sundays upto today, Sunday readings, beautifully drag us to understand the basics of Christianity. Risen Jesus, importance of living with God-for your Happiness(Holy Spirit), what s the characteristic of GOD(Holy Trinity), finally today, summarizes 2 important,aspects of human(1) Though we are having Freedom to take decision, we are not sure to reap,100% anticipated output, only God can give that output(2) the living ritual given by God, for our spiritual nourishment is Holy Eucharist.
D. Conclusions:
With Jesus, God gave us full freedom to use our free will, independent to HIM. So we can take any action pertaining to our life independent to HIM. But, we know, that output of any decision we cannot Guarantee 100%. Certain times, we unconsciously realised that the presence of God for certain Happy events in our life, under the normal cicumstances, it was not possible!.
Hence, if you are wise, you can easily identify the presence of God, into your life!
Then you can further analyse about, who is this God, these 4 sundays you were opportune to analyse "Who is this God, who help you in your life to make impossible to
Possible. Then follow HIS instructions. This is Catholicism.
E. Over all Summary
2014(cycle 1) corpus christi
(Jn6:51) I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,anyone who eats this bread will live for ever!. And bread I shall give you is my flesh,for the life of the world"
Encouraging us the value of Eucharist to have bonding rituals that help us feel & bring closer to God.
C.2
Book of 'Deuteronomy' reminds that Manna was heavenly food given by God prior to Jesus.
It is clear now only heavenly food that God will physically provide is Eucharist!
C.3
Paul says that we become a single body with this communion.
(3rd cycle)message!(13/10/2013)
Out of 10 only 1 leper, a samaritan(foreigner) to thank Jesus. He not only gave us healing by living & dying for us, he gave himself to us in the Eucharist - means "THANKSGIVING". God does not need our thanks!.we need it in order to be fully & genuinely human!
GBU
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