The Eucharist
John 6:29-69
When Jesus spoke about his body & blood being real
food and drink, the Jews who heard it were horrified, said it was a hard saying
and walked away. If they thought he was speaking symbolically why would they
go? After all they had witnessed at first hand his miracles, they had seen him
cure the sick and raise the dead why would a symbolic statement make them give
up following him. The reason they walked away is that, they understood
perfectly that it was a literal statement, and they couldn't stomach the
concept
John 6:66 "After this many of his disciples drew
back and no longer went about him."
We know from Mark 4:34 That Jesus always explained
his parables to the disciples, but on this occasion he did not explain anything
because this is not a parable but it is Jesus explaining that he will give us
his real flesh to eat.
At Verse 52 it says
'The Jews then disputed amongst themselves, saying,
'how can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Jesus knew what they were thinking, he had opportunity to
say ' look guys, don't take it literally, I didn't mean you actually had to eat
my flesh. Instead of doing that look at what he says…
Verse 53
'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 on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed'.
Far from allaying their concerns he hammers home his point
even harder! He really couldn't have made this more clear.
St Paul
in 1Corinthians verse 16-21 writes
'the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a
participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ?
Then in 1 Corinthians 11 he reminds us of the story of
the last supper and then adds this,
'whoever, therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body of the Lord.
Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For
anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks
judgement upon himself.'
How can you profane that which is merely symbolic? Why would
you bring judgement on yourself if you didn't discern the body, if it wasn't
actually the body?
In Luke 24 13-31…
we read the story of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.
How Jesus after his resurrection appears to two of the
disciples but they don't recognise who he is. He asks way they are so miserable
and they tell him about the cruxifion. He then explains to them how the whole
of the Old Testament pointed to himself, his coming and his death. When they
arrive at Emmaus they invite him to stay with them for a meal and this happens,
'When he was at table with them, he took the bread and
blessed, broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they
recognised him, and he vanished out of their sight.' at verse 35 it says 'they
told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the
breaking of the bread. As a man He vanished out of their sight, because he was
in the breaking of the bread.
What the church says.
We are to believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ. His
body, blood, soul, and divinity. If we do not believe this we are not Catholic.
When we believe it we will start to see it, not the other way round.
Council of Florence
1439 declared
'every effect which bodily food and bodily drink produce in
our corporeal life, by preserving this life, increasing this life,
healing this life, and satisfying this life - is also produced by this
sacrament in the Spiritual life.
1) It preserves the supernatural life of the soul by giving
spiritual strength to resist temptation. It reinforces the ability of our free
will to withstand the assaults of the devil. The council of Trent
called in ' an antidote by which we are preserved from grievous sins'.
2) As well as giving strength to resist mortal sin, it is
also an antidote by which we are freed from our daily venial sins, (Council of
Trent). It must be emphasised that the main effect of communion is not to
remit sin, and if you receive communion knowingly in a state of mortal sin you
are also committing the very serious sin of sacrilage.
3) It gives us a spiritual joy in the service of Christ, in
defending his cause, and in making the sacrifices required of us in imitating
the life of our saviour.
Finally we have Christ s own promise that communion is a
pledge of heavenly glory, and our bodily resurrection from the dead.
Miracles authenticated by the church
Siena
- Italy
August 17th 1730
A consecrated host was discovered perfectly fresh after
being buried under ruins for 250 years. Rigorous scientific experiments made on
it since have never come up with an answer was to why.
Amsterdam
- Holland 1345
The Eucharist thrown into a fire remains unscathed.
Blanot - France - March 31st 1331
The Eucharist fell from a woman's mouth onto an altar rail
cloth. The priest goes to recover the host but all that remains is a large spot
of blood, the same size and dimensions as the host.
Bolsena-Orvieta – Italy
A priest who had ceased to believe in the true prescience
was saying Mass, and as he consecrated it blood began seeping out of it. This
is what prompted Pope Urban IV to establish the feast of Corpus
Christi.
Lanciano - Italy
- 8th century
A priest doubts the true prescience, however as he
concecrates it, it transforms into flesh and blood. This miracle has undergone
extensive examination without the scientists knowledge of what they were
testing. The report came back that it was,
'cardinal tissue containing arterioles, veins and nerve
fibres' the blood type was AB.
The blood group of all approved Eucharistic miracles has
always been AB.
Buenos Aires
1996
On August 18th 1996
Fr Pezet had just finished saying Mass when a woman told him that there was a
discarded host at the back of the church. As he was unable to consume it he
placed it in water and put it away in the Tabernacle to dissolve.
On Monday 26th upon opening the Tabernacle he saw that the
host had turned into a 'bloody substance'. He informed the Cardinal (now Pope
Francis) who gave instruction that it was to be professionally photographed.
Photographs were taken on September 6th. For several years it SAS kept secret
but as it seemed to suffer go decomposition it was decided to have it
scientifically tested.
On October 5 1999
in the prescience of the Cardinal's Representatives Dr Castanon took a sample
and sent it to New York for
analysis. Not wishing to prejudice the study he did not inform the team of what
it was. one of the scientists was Dr Frederic Zugiba a cardiologist and
forensic pathologist he testified the following.
''The anaylised material is a fragment of the heart muscle
found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves. This muscle is
responsible for the contraction of the heart. It should be borne in mind that
the left cardiac ventricle pumps blood to all parts of the body. The heart
muscle is in an inflammatory condition and contains a large number of white
blood cells. This indicates that the heart was alive at the time this sample
was taken. It is my contention that the heart must have been alive, since white
blood cells die outside of a living organism. They require a living organism to
sustain them. Thus their prescience indicates that the heart was alive when the
sample was taken. What is more, these white blood cells had penetrated the
tissue, which further indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as
if the owner had been severely beaten about the chest.'
Two Australians witnessed these tests and knowing where the
sample had come from asked Dr Zugiba how long the white blood cells would have remained
alive if they came from a piece of human tissue which had been kept in water.
Dr Zugiba explained 'a couple of minutes'. They then told him the the source of
the sample had been kept in ordinary water for one month, and then in distilled
water for three months before being submitted for analysis. Dr Zugiba said this
was impossible and could not be explained scientifically.
Finally the told him the sample came from a consecrated host
made of white unleavened bread. Amazed Dr Zugiba replied,
“how and why a consecrated host would change it's character
and become living human flesh and blood will remain an inexplicable mystery to
science a mystery totally beyond her competence"
What the Saints have said:
St Augustine
'Recognise in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this
chalice what flowed from his side..
St Francis of Assissi
'O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe,
God and the Son of God, should humble himself like this under the form of a
little bread, for our salvation. In this world I cannot see the most high Son
of God with my own eyes, except for his most holy body and blood.
St Maximilian Kolbe
God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the
Altar. He remains amongst us until the end of the world. He dwells on so many
altars though so often offended and profaned.
'You come to me and unite yourself intimately to me under
the form of nourishment. Your blood now runs in mine, your soul incarnate God
penetrates mine, giving courage and support. what miracles! Who would
ever have imagined such!
St Therese of Lisieux
'Do you realise that Jesus is there in the tabernacle
expressly for you - for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your
heart... Don't listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to
receive Jesus.
Receive communion often, very often... There you have the
sole remedy, if you want to be cured.
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