Back ground
Last 2 sundays, we were reminded of Holy spirit & basic faith of Christianity Holy TRINITY!. This sunday we were reminded about Eucharist- The heart & soul of christian faith!. Catholic teaching reaffirms the real presence of Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist. Church & the Eucharist are intimately united & can never be divided. Catholics believe, the consecrated wafer of bread & wine miraculously transformed into the real body & Blood of Christ at the mass, when priest speaks the words of Christ"This is my body/this is my blood".
B. Preamble for today's reading
B.1. 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!(See B-2-5 below)
B.2- last letter of St John Paul2
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.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 him now!. As a gratitude you respect him 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 mother
B.6 How far this is true 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 travelling,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's example
Bonvillo(Tolouse/france)didn't believe presence of God in Eucharist. He allowed his mule,in market place starving for3 days. Anthony &Bonvilo brought Eucharist &oats respectively. Mule turned from food & kept his head on the ground in an posture of Adoration &did not rise until Anthony retired!.
There are many more incidents you can get!
C. Today's reading
(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.
D. Conclusions:
D.1 Ritual among horses
Horses respond more to someone who breathes slowly and deeply into their nostrils!so that they can capture the essence of that persons smell. This is how horses greet and bond with each other. This is a ritual.
Jesus understood the need for people to have a tangible things to remember Him by. It was His ultimate gift to His staff- bread & wine representing tears and all the laughter!
D.2
What are bonding rituals in church?
Listed in B.2-5
D.3 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"
D.4 last year corpus christi 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!
D.5 Catholic Church & Catholic educators in developing world!
Most of the developing countries, where catholics are in minority, confuse about worshipping, undermining to worship only Eucharist!. In action most of them tend to Worship parent(+teachers+elders+
GBU
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