[jodyel]

Ping

[mosesdapoet]

Until the Demo-Coms shut it down because it will interfere with the “collective” the US is a free country to express your view points. Particularly when it’s divisive and creates friction between opponents.

[tellw]

I just attended Mass at Westminster Cathedral in London. I didn’t receive communion because I am not Roman Catholic, but I noticed they were only distributing the host to communicants, without offering the cup to drink from as well. When did that become practice?

[Springfield Reformer]

Ping for later

[Arthur McGowan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Lanciano

[Arthur McGowan]

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-real-presence

[agere_contra]

There's no need for any confusion. The Gospel is very clear.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Very clear.

And then the Gospel adds a telling narrative detail.

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

What happens then? Does Jesus say 'Oh no! I only meant it symbolically'?

No he does not:

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

And how did the disciples take this?

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Christ meant what He said. He gives us His literal Body and Blood as food for our salvation. He is not using metaphor. He is not speaking symbolically. His words leave no doubt of His meaning.

And then we have the final fact that many of His disciples left Him because of this 'hard teaching'.

If Jesus had somehow meant His words about His Body and Blood to be taken symbolically or metaphorically - wouldn't He have explained this to the disciples before they abandoned Him?

But Jesus stood by His words. He meant what He said - we must eat His body and drink His Blood.

The bread and wine offered by the priest in the Mass become Christ's Body and Blood. His real presence, which we eat and drink in obedience to His words.

After mass some of Christ's real presence - His Body and Blood - is reserved in a tabernacle. This can be found at the back of the Church or in a special side chapel. There will be a lit candle nearby to indicate His presence.

Whenever you pass a Catholic church it's good to remember that God Almighty, the Creator of the World, is literally, tangibly present there.

You can shortcut all this controversy and hard teaching by going to be with Him. Kneel before the tabernacle. It is like the very Ark of the Covenant, multiplied across thousands upon thousands of churches by the unbounded Mercy of God.

Seek God there, and let Him speak to you.

God bless.

[Arthur McGowan]

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/resources-for-the-eucharist/the-real-presence-of-jesus-christ-in-the-sacrament-of-the-eucharist-basic-questions-and-answers.cfm

[Arthur McGowan]

http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/eucha3.htm

[Arthur McGowan]

https://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology/HETHOSAQ.HTM

[Chainmail]

Worldwide lithium shortage showing up again, Joydel? Haven’t you got anything to do healthier than attacking fellow Christians? Guess attacking atheism or Islam is riskier.

I will pray for you.

[don-o]

From the source

ABOUT US

In the year 2000, we learned that a mantra-style meditation coupled with a mystical spirituality had been introduced to the evangelical, Christian church and was infiltrating youth groups, churches, seminaries, and Bible studies at an alarming rate.

In the spring of 2002, we began Lighthouse Trails Publishing with the hope of exposing this dangerous and pervasive mystical paradigm—six months later we published our first release, A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen.

As we learned more about contemplative spirituality (also known as the spiritual formation movement), we came to realize it had entered the church through a number of avenues—Willow Creek, Purpose Driven, and the emerging church just to name a few of the more prominent ones.

Because the premise of this spirituality is both pantheistic (God is all things) and panentheistic (God is in all things), thus refuting the gospel message of the Cross, we are compelled to address this issue—Lighthouse Trails Publishing and our research ministry, Lighthouse Trails Research Project, are here as a service to the body of Christ.

-----------------------------------------------

Though you choose to post a typical anti-Catholic piece (been done to death), yet the site as a whole claims to have a different emphasis.

It is interesting to read THIS PAGE to learn how Focus on the Family, John MacArthur and Charles Stanley have all gone off the rails. Perhaps posting of some of that might stimulate some interesting discussion. The current thread will surely be the same old, same old that has been gone over ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

[Petrosius]

We can also add the First Apology of St. Justin Martyr from around the year A.D. 155:

And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone.

This was the teaching and practice of the early Church, the same Church that gave us the canon the the Scriptures. It is either trustworthy in both or in neither.

[mlizzy]

Another poignant use of Perpetual Adoration is as perhaps the premiere alternative to the mass media's monopoly of our time and manipulation of our minds, especially through television and personal computers. When exploring this subject on his popular EWTN show, Life on the Rock, host Jeff Cavins talked about how many people (Catholics included) sit in front of a TV and/or computer several hours a day. First, the proliferation of stations due to cable and satellite dishes increases our television choices making it harder to turn the set off. Secondly, the use of remote control allows us to watch (if not comprehend) several shows at one time. Our mind is literally flooded with images until the shows practically overwhelm our senses and our ability to find any goodness or truth or beauty in what we are viewing. Similarly, browsing endless websites, entering random chat rooms, or spending hours on computer games can eventually lead us to deny the necessity to bear witness in the real world, if not the belief of His Real Presence in it.

By contrast, the eyes of a soul who often looks upon the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament see not random images, but a single Light. Unlike television viewing, where the TV dominates the exchange, in Eucharistic Adoration there is constant communication, the Lord listening as the soul speaks, then the soul listening as the Lord responds. And while many agnostic computer experts dream of capturing time and space by literally plugging us (complete with tiny microchips in our foreheads) into the "Net," Fr. Hardon in his article "Prayer Before the Blessed Sacrament," explains that "The prayer before the Eucharist believes that time is erased by the miracle of the Real Presence, and so is distance and space." Computer technology may lead you to believe that through the information highway man can someday conquer the world, but faith in Christ's Death and Resurrection, strengthened by belief in the Real Presence convinces us that Christ already has. --Tom O'Toole

Tom intereviewed Frs. Fanelli and Lane in the late 90s, and whereby Fr. Fanelli started up the first Adoration Chapel in Cook County, Chicago, in 1986, there are now over 200. I've spent many hours in Adoration throughout the years, myself, and if I'm not filled with the Holy Spirit while there, I don't know what it is that makes me more tolerant and patient (after I leave), if only for a few hours or days. In other words, there's a discernible difference [a peace] in one's attitude after spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It's undeniable, and can only be experienced (or understood) by one who attends, with the belief that Christ is Truly present. http://www.therealpresence.org/chap_fr.htm

[verga]

I told you (not asked) you to take me off your ping list if it was just hate filled diatribes.

TAKE ME OFF NOW!