Father Corapi: The Catholic Church Ultimately Cannot Fail In Her Mission!

When you were an altar boy, had the Eucharist been well explained to you? And what do you think of It now? While your faith you've been with for 35 years has given you a relationship with Christ that has made a real difference, Catholicism provides the Eucharist, and there's nothing better than spending time with a friend in person -- it makes a "Real" difference.
1324 The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." --Catechism of the Catholic Church
I would bet the farm that if you had served at the Masses (and joined them in a Rosary or two following) that Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her good friend Fr. John A. Hardon (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, herself, suggested my husband read Fr. Hardon's writings regarding the Catholic Church; you can too.:)) attended, that you would not only still be Catholic, you would understand what's "missing" in your current church/faith. (I can't say enough about the saints and blesseds. They lead people to the full understanding of the Eucharistic Lord.)

Thank you!

“The natural man does not think it strange that man (or woman) can become God; but the natural man has a problem that God can become man.”

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19)

You are right when you said sin does not make us humans; but the scriptures do teach us: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And as it written, There is none righteous,no,not one.”

We know: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

According to God’s word only one, that is,Jesus Christ, born under the law, born of woman, was without sin and was made sin for us:

“For He(God)was made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

No, it is not deifying when you pray to her. You know someone is losing a debate when they misrepresent the position of the other side. I repeat, the Catholic Church for 2,000 years has taught Mary is a created being, just like you and me. As such, she is not God in any way and it is a serious sin to worship anything other than the One true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.No Catholic can or would worship Mary.The Bible says she was “full of grace”, can you have sin in you in such a state? The fact that God kept her sinless is by the grace of God alone.
You do not understand the communion of saints. The saints are in heaven with Jesus this very minute, they are not dead, but alive. Do you ask others to pray for you or do you pray for others? If yes, why? Does this mean you are asking them to be another mediator between God and man? The saints and believers on earth are all members of the Body of Christ, and as such, come boldly unto the throne of grace. If you can ask a friend to pray for you and not “deify” that friend in the process, why can’t a believer on earth have recourse to the saints in heaven for the same reason, with Mary being one of the saints in heaven.
Friend, you really need to study Church history. Prayers to the saints have been part of the Church from the beginning, not 250 years ago. For example, suppose today a Baptist minister prayed to Mary from the pulpit, asking her to intercede with Jesus on a prayer request. The whole congregation would be up in arms, as this would not be in keeping with the Baptist doctrine. Now, i challenge you, tell me where in Church history,where there was ever any controversy about this “new” doctrine of praying to the saints. You won’t find any my friend as it was accepted practice from the Apostles from the beginning.
BTW, who wrote the book of Hebrews? No one knows. Why then do you accept it a Scripture if not for Catholic Sacred Tradition? It is why i accept the Book of Hebrews and believe we can pray to the saints. Think and pray about it. Faith is a gift.

You are correct, I find very puzzling why you misrepresent the teachings of the Lord’s Body, His Church? If it wasn’t for that Church receiving the Scriptures originally and faithfully copying them by hand over the centuries, you would have no knowledge of Him at all. I am glad God is faithful and has protected the Church for 2,000 years as He promised He would do, why do you fight it? Read John 17 and pray about it.

just curious, since you don’t believe in the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church” as the Nicene Creed states, which church do you belong to?

Dear mlizzy - Like you, I was taught that the Eucharist is the real presence, the real flesh and blood of Jesus. I recall that great lengths were taken to ensure that no particle of the sanctified bread or wine was ever dropped or contaminated in any way. I can understand and appreciate Roman Catholic theology based on Jesus saying, "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"; and "Take and eat; this is my body..". My understanding of scripture and my experience tells me that spiritual life in Christ comes through His Word and Holy Spirit indwelling the believer but not through ingesting corruptible elements. I don't say this to offend you. I'm simply answering your question. I believe Jesus fully explains to His confused disciples what He meant by 'eating His body and drinking His blood'. He does this in John 6:63 when he says, "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." This is the conclusion of the matter for me. Having said this, know that I do not take receiving communion lightly. Communion is the recognition and remembrance of Christ'ss broken and bloodied body - given for me and for my salvation. In communion, I vicariously recall the exchange of my life for His. Let me ask you something. What does receiving the Eucharist do for you that's different from what the Holy Spirit does in and through the believer?

Actually I was saved when I was 19 years old, back in May of 1953 after I had attended a Non-Denominatioal Church/Chapel.

For over 3 years I had heard: “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The message was enhanced to me that night, by hearing: “If you do and go to hell, it will be because you never asked the Lord to save you!” He said, you may be a member of this church, you may be in the choir, or be a deacon, but have never “Called on the name of the Lord,you are not saved but, you can ask the Lord to save you right now,tonight.”

And I did, and I have never had any doubt about the indwelling, and presence of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Praise God, I did not earn, or deserve eternal life, it was by His mercy, grace and his gift that He saved me!”

Tell me how you came to know Jesus Christ as your Saviour! I know you know He (Jesus) added to the church daily such as would be saved.”

Some tell you, you have to be baptized to be saved, and you must be a member of their church to go to heaven. Others say you have to keep the law, and the Sabbath. Others, say you cannot go to heaven, unless you believe the in the literal blood and body is in the elements as you remember Hin in His death.

I’m just so thankful, God in His holy soveriegnty, did not say that in: “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12)
Neither did he add all these in John 3:16-17. Nor in Romans 10:9-10 or Romans 10:13)

Our God said: Receive; believe, repent and call and we shall be saved!

Man (and Satan) make salvation complicated/God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ keeps it simple, where even a child can receive and believe!

We can claim the promise in Phil. 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

And we know: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (1 Peter 1:23)

The Body of Christ (the Eucharist) is my everything. It's why I get out of bed in the morning. Prior to converting to Catholicism, my sins were like scarlet.

I have a good friend, in fact my MS-Synod Sunday School teacher, who is over 80 now, and still has her same fervent belief in Jesus (and Luther). But she never really sinned all that much in her life, and although I feel she'd be a saint if she was a Catholic, she doesn't seem to *need* the power of the Eucharist to get on. Maybe you are of the same mold?

But you can be certain that the Body of Christ IS the Body of Christ. All the saints and blesseds have said so, and they led lives that most of us couldn't live for even one single day, much less a lifetime. That strength came from somewhere, right? And they all have reiterated time and time again, this power came from the Eucharistic Lord. And since I am not smarter than Mother Teresa of Calcutta, nor Pope John Paul II, nor Father John A. Hardon, nor Padre Pio, nor even St. Bernadette, I not only have listened to them (and all the other saints as well) I now, because of it, receive the same "power" that they did (through the Most Holy Eucharist).

For over 1,500 years, the whole church believed and taught the Real Presence. The words of Jesus and St. Paul are very clear and the testimony of the early church fathers is unanimous. One example, St Ignatius was taught the Faith by St. John. Do you think if you were taught personally by St. John over a number of years and were thought trustworthy enough in doctrine to be chosen a leader after the death of St John, that you would understand what the Eucharist is? St. Ignatius wrote around 100AD, the Gnostics abstain from the Eucharist since they don’t believe it’s the Body of Christ. Now you can say you still don’t believe, but i know i would be very afraid denying a central doctrine of orthodox Christianity. But this is an area where we both are correct in our doctrine, the Catholic receives Jesus in the Eucharist and you in your service merely are receiving bread. I’ll take Jesus every time. This is the Apostolic Faith that the Holy Spirit guided the Church into for almost 2,000 years. The Bible does say there will be a time when sound doctrine will not be listened to and there will be a general falling away from the Faith. I think we may just be in that time.
You ask what the Eucharist does for the believer that the Holy Spirit does in the believer? It is the most intimate way Jesus instituted for the believer to receive grace for the soul after properly confessing our sin and publicly stating we are not worthy to receive Him. I think about His dying for my sins and thank Him for this sacrifice and reconciliation with the Father. Jesus blesses this Faith, because we are following His command, just like the Apostles did, the Church Fathers did and all Christians for 2,000 years. The peace it brings me can not be described, each week I receive Jesus thru the Word and Sacrament just as the Church, the pillar of truth has always taught. Can’t you see it is the Holy Spirit that moved the Apostles and early Church to accept this doctrine. You believe the Holy Spirit is moving you to the opposite belief, really? You privately interpret Scripture against the direct words of Christ and then add in your experience to come to a different conclusion than all of Christendom for 1,500 years. Does that make any sense at all?

ping

I was raised in a Christian home and from my earliest memories, i have believed Jesus died for my sins and by the grace of God, i have been reconciled to the Father thru being in Christ. All those who die in Christ will be saved, those outside of Christ will not.
when you say “some say you must be baptized to be saved” are you referring to Jesus, Peter, Luke and Paul as recorded in the Bible? OR are you referring to the Catholic Church which received this from the Apostles?
you seem like a very sincere man, i have a very simple question for you and i hope you think about it before answering. The Apostles and disciples of Christ spread out far and wide in the years after Jesus’s ascension into heaven, preaching the Gospel and adding to the Church all that should be saved. Can you name any Christians after the Apostle John died until the the 16th century that believed Baptism was not how you had your sins washed away and how you were added to the Church? You say Satan makes salavation complicated, but it’s the Holy Spirit that leads the Church into all truth, so it is the pillar of truth. Read Second John verses 9-11, you seem to have a different doctrine than the orthodox, historical Church has received.

Not at all! I am saying there are those that say Baptism saves you. But the Holy Scriptures teach clearly Jesus saves, then you are baptized, and you are added to the Church. God adds us to the church, not the church adds to the church. Just as we become heirs, and joint heirs of His beloved Son Jesus Christ. What I am saying (from my life experience) most people in these churches say; You gotta be baptized to be saved; and they never ever mention the name of the person that saves, which know is Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said, I have not baptized, except Chrispus and Gaius; (1 Cor. 14)And we know Jesus did not baptize any (even though some have tried to tell me He did) In all the teaching of salvation, God in His sovernty never mentioned salvation by baptism, but He did say receive, believe and call, and you willed be saved. "Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized were baptized unto His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4) Oh! I am glad you are saved, and are a Child of God, and a joint heir of Jesus Christ. That is what we rejoice and glory in, that which God hath done, and only could be done by God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Man can do a lot of things without God, and they do, and they leave God out of it, which makes it godless. We all must remember the messages to the churches in Revelation: Some had left their first love; to another they were told; Thou hast a name that liveth, and art dead. Again, lest us rejoice that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life; and Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD." (Psalm 150:6)

I was reading last night and it struck me so forcefully that while Satan devours and consumes mortals, sucks in everything of creation to digest and defile it, our God, our Lord Jesus feeds us, literally, by His own Flesh and Blood.

The Eucharist is such a gift! ~And we are so undeserving of anything.

I was reading last night and it struck me so forcefully that while Satan devours and consumes mortals, sucks in everything of creation to digest and defile it, our God, our Lord Jesus feeds us, literally, by His own Flesh and Blood. The Eucharist is such a gift! ~And we are so undeserving of anything...
So correct! Your commentary gave me the goosebumps, actually, so I have to go grab a sweater, but here's a comment as part of Matt C. Abbott's latest article on RenewAmerica that I thought you might like ...
Carolyn Van Pelt wrote:

I'm not anyone of any consequence whose opinion would matter, but I frequently read your column and appreciated 'The Catholic who's anti-Catholic.' I was gone from the Church for 20 years. Left after a major conversion in my 20's and because a good friend, who 'corrected' everything I'd been taught in eight years of Catholic school, told me I needed to be 'born again.' I wandered from one Protestant church to another like a homeless orphan until five years ago, when through the faithful prayers and rosaries of my mother, I came home to the one, true Church.

However, while I was gone, I met so many Catholics who also had left and harbored great hatred for the Church — and I do mean hatred. Sadly, because of years of my association with Evangelical fundamentalists, I became one of them. I'm still healing. It's been a whirlwind journey. It hurts to read it, but it's true. The bigotry is real, and I was one of them.

Now, after several great confessors and a wonderful priest who told me to get up from the ashes, use what I've learned and bring those who have wandered from The Faith, home, I've humbly embarked on that mission, stumbling with a new blog of my own, praying that for every soul I embittered, the Lord will let me bring 10 back. I learn a great deal from you and appreciate your witness for the truth. --Link.

Beautiful.

“In that instant he is in a special way God-the Spouse.”

God the Spouse?

Puke.

Disclaimer: I am not impressed with piety. I don't care too much for religious objects. I am impressed with power that has the ability to change a life. I am impressed with Christ, the hope of glory, in the believer. My faith is not in the church. I don't look to the church to affirm or confirm my faith in Christ. My faith is in Jesus the Anointed One. He is my Savior, the Messiah, the soon coming King of Kings. My relationship with Christ needs no priest or pastor. Jesus is my high priest.

I have no problem believing that God has the power to make Jesus physically present in Communion. However, I'm not convinced by the Word or the Holy Spirit in me - that He does. I believe that Jesus explains to His confused disciples the deeper meaning of His unpalatable statement "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you..." , when he concludes His John 6 discourse with this statement: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). Regarding the early church fathers. They were not unanimous on many subjects including the real presence. In John 6, Christ taught that eternal life is through believing in Him, not through eating His flesh.

I have a question for you. Experientially, what does Communion do for you beyond what the Word and the Holy Spiritis doing in you? I.e., How does Communion make a difference in your life beyond what the the Word and the Holy Spirit are currently doing in you?

I have a question for you. Experientially, what does Communion do for you beyond what the Word and the Holy Spiritis doing in you? I.e., How does Communion make a difference in your life beyond what the the Word and the Holy Spirit are currently doing in you?

You sound like you have a strong faith already, so I can see why you may not see the value in receiving the Eucharistic Lord, but what difference does Holy Communion make in my life? There's no real way to explain it in a few words. But for an example, someone who had known me for years and years as a teen and young adult, met up with me when I was 33 or so, and she said, "You don't even seem like the same person. You were always so cynical, inappropriate, and harsh. (I had to stop her!) *smiles* But there's a big huge world of difference between partaking in His *daily* Flesh and not.