Bulletin Article June 21, 2011
As a personal trainer, I have dealt with my fair share of complaining clients. “I don’t want to eat green vegetables…why do I need to eat 6 small meals…I don’t want to diet, I will just run more…” It’s sad that we think we can cheat our way around achieving goals and getting the outcome we want from life. This week’s gospel is one of my favorites. Jesus gives us a strict diet. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert and still died. Eat this not that. You want eternal life? Eat my body and drink my blood.
Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church.” There are many people who claim they do not agree with the Church’s teaching on certain things. On the forefront of this misunderstanding is The Eucharist. We as Catholics believe that at every Mass, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine are completely transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that it is NO LONGER bread or wine but completely the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We believe that the sacrifice of the Cross is re-presented (made present again) on the altars of our churches. This is what the Church teaches; this is what we believe.
Of course it is hard to believe such a teaching. The question of the Pharisees echoes today, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Yet, there have been plenty of occurrences that point to that truth. To name a few…
Lanciano, Italy – 8th Century
A priest has doubts about the Real Presence; however, when he consecrates the Host it transforms into flesh and blood. This miracle has undergone extensive scientific examination and can only be explained as a miracle. The flesh is actually cardiac tissue, which contains arterioles, veins, and nerve fibers. The blood type as in all other approved Eucharistic miracles is type AB!
Blanot, France – March 31, 1331
The Eucharist fell out of a woman’s mouth onto the altar rail cloth. After the priest tried to recover the Host, nothing remained but a spot of blood the same size and dimensions as the Host.
Bolsena-Oryieta, Italy
A priest doubting Real Presence was consecrating the bread, as he raised the bread, blood began to drip from it.
Avignon, France – November of 1433
A great flood swept through the city. There was a chapel in the town where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed day and night. Two Franciscan brothers wanted to get to the Church to remove the Blessed Sacrament and move it to a chapel on dry land. When they rowed their boat to the chapel, they were amazed. From the door to the altar was completely dry. The floodwaters had been parted and the Eucharist remained on the altar unaffected.
You may think that these miracles happened to people with outstanding faith or nothing like that can happen to me. However, most of these miracles happened during periods of weakened faith or to someone who struggled with doubt in believing that The Eucharist truly is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Christ’s body and blood is so amazing and so powerful that it can perform miracles. Will you let it perform one in your life?
For more information on Eucharistic Miracles, visit TheRealPresence.org.
As a personal trainer, I have dealt with my fair share of complaining clients. “I don’t want to eat green vegetables…why do I need to eat 6 small meals…I don’t want to diet, I will just run more…” It’s sad that we think we can cheat our way around achieving goals and getting the outcome we want from life. This week’s gospel is one of my favorites. Jesus gives us a strict diet. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert and still died. Eat this not that. You want eternal life? Eat my body and drink my blood.
Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church.” There are many people who claim they do not agree with the Church’s teaching on certain things. On the forefront of this misunderstanding is The Eucharist. We as Catholics believe that at every Mass, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine are completely transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We believe that it is NO LONGER bread or wine but completely the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We believe that the sacrifice of the Cross is re-presented (made present again) on the altars of our churches. This is what the Church teaches; this is what we believe.
Of course it is hard to believe such a teaching. The question of the Pharisees echoes today, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Yet, there have been plenty of occurrences that point to that truth. To name a few…
Lanciano, Italy – 8th Century
A priest has doubts about the Real Presence; however, when he consecrates the Host it transforms into flesh and blood. This miracle has undergone extensive scientific examination and can only be explained as a miracle. The flesh is actually cardiac tissue, which contains arterioles, veins, and nerve fibers. The blood type as in all other approved Eucharistic miracles is type AB!
Blanot, France – March 31, 1331
The Eucharist fell out of a woman’s mouth onto the altar rail cloth. After the priest tried to recover the Host, nothing remained but a spot of blood the same size and dimensions as the Host.
Bolsena-Oryieta, Italy
A priest doubting Real Presence was consecrating the bread, as he raised the bread, blood began to drip from it.
Avignon, France – November of 1433
A great flood swept through the city. There was a chapel in the town where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed day and night. Two Franciscan brothers wanted to get to the Church to remove the Blessed Sacrament and move it to a chapel on dry land. When they rowed their boat to the chapel, they were amazed. From the door to the altar was completely dry. The floodwaters had been parted and the Eucharist remained on the altar unaffected.
You may think that these miracles happened to people with outstanding faith or nothing like that can happen to me. However, most of these miracles happened during periods of weakened faith or to someone who struggled with doubt in believing that The Eucharist truly is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Christ’s body and blood is so amazing and so powerful that it can perform miracles. Will you let it perform one in your life?
For more information on Eucharistic Miracles, visit TheRealPresence.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment