Posted on 04/04/2015 1:59:27 PM PDT by Steelfish
The Resurrection & The Eucharist by Fr. Rodney Kissinger S.J. (Former Missouri Synod Lutheran) http://www.frksj.org/homily_ressurection_and_the_eucharist.htm There is an important connection between the Resurrection and the Eucharist. The Eucharist IS the Risen Jesus.
Therefore, the Eucharist makes the Resurrection present and active in our lives and enables us to experience the joy and the power of the Resurrection. The Resurrection is the reason for the observance of Sunday instead of the Sabbath. According to the Gospel it was early in the morning on the first day of the week that the Risen Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.
It was also on the evening of that first day of the week that the Risen Jesus appeared to the Apostles when Thomas was not present. Then a week later, on the first day of the week, he appeared again when Thomas was present.
So the Apostles began to celebrate the first day of the week, Sunday, as the beginning of the re-creation of the world just as they had celebrated the Sabbath as the end of the creation of the world. Originally the Liturgical Year was simply fifty-two Sundays, fifty-two celebrations of the Eucharist, fifty-two celebrations of the Resurrection. Today the Eucharist is still the principal way of celebrating the Resurrection and proclaiming the Mystery of Faith: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”
As we have seen the joy and the power of the Resurrection is not found in the empty tomb or in the witness of some one else it is found only in a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus. The Eucharist, the Risen Jesus, gives us an opportunity for this personal encounter. Will all who receive the Eucharist have a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus? Yes they will. Unfortunately, not all will recognize the Risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene had a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus but did not recognize him. She thought it was the gardener. It was not until she recognized Jesus that she experienced the joy and the power of the Resurrection. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus had a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus and thought that it was a stranger. It was not until they recognized him in the “breaking of the bread” that they experienced the joy and the power of the Resurrection.
The Eucharist is also a pledge of our own resurrection. “I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Eucharist tells us that in death life is changed not ended. It is not so much life after death but life through death. Death is the door to life. This takes away the fear of death and gives us consolation at the death of a loved one.
The Eucharist also continues the two fold effect of the Resurrection which is to confirm the faith of the Apostles and to create the Christian Community. These are two sides of the same coin. To believe is to belong. Community was an integral part of the life of the first Christians. They were of one mind and one heart. When the Apostles asked the Lord to teach them how to pray, he taught them the “OUR Father.” In the Creed we say, “WE believe.” It is a personal commitment made in the community of believers.
The Eucharist also confirms the faith of the recipient and is the principle of unity and community. Without the Christian Community we lose our roots and our identity and our ability to survive in our culture which is diametrically opposed to Christ.
Through the Eucharist the Risen Jesus continues his two fold mission of proclaiming the Good News and healing the sick. Every celebration of the Eucharist proclaims the Good News and heals the sick. The Liturgy of the Word proclaims the Good News and the Liturgy of the Eucharist heals the sick. If people were healed simply by touching the hem of His garment how much more healing must come from receiving His Body and Blood?
How ridiculous it is then when people ask, “Do I have an obligation to go to Mass on Sunday?” If obligation is going to determine whether or not you go to Mass forget the obligation. You have a greater problem than that. Your problem is faith, you don’t believe. You don’t believe that the Eucharist IS the Risen Christ.
You just don’t realize the connection between the Resurrection and the Eucharist. In just a few moments we will receive the Eucharist and once again have an opportunity for a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus.
Let us ask for the faith to recognize him in the “breaking of the bread” so that we are able to say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God,” and in so doing experience the joy and the power of the Resurrection.
Jesus was there talking to the "seventy-two others" that He appointed wasn't He. He was NOT talking to the original 12 apostles. It saddens me to see Catholics misuse scripture to try to usurp authority.
>>"However when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come." John 16:13<<
Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Once again the Catholic Church lies to people. The Holy Spirit is given to all true believers. That nicolaitan power grab by the Catholic Church is what God hates.
>>"If they refuse to listen even to the Church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector." - Matthew 18:17<<
Unfortunately the Catholic Church has so corrupted the meaning of the word ekklesia that it's unrecognisable to what the true meaning is.
>>"The Church of the living God, the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth." - 1 Timothy 3:5<<
Pillars and foundations hold things up they don't create or make things up. If Catholics are so gullible as to take that phrase and somehow believe that the Catholic Church can create "truth" other than what is taught is scripture they will pay the price by partaking in the plagues the will come upon that "church".
>>"You are Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. - Matt. 16:18<<
How often does it have to be shown that Peter is NOT who the ekklesia is built upon? The propensity for Catholics to give glory to man rather than to God is not going to turn out well for them.
You still haven't shown where what the Catholic Church teaches as "tradition" is what the apostles taught. We are left then to consider the Catholic Church accursed.
If it literally means dedicating oneself "entirely" to Mary without limit and without acknowledgment that Mary is a handmaid of the Lord Whom we both serve, this would, on the face of it, be "totalizing" or "divinizing" Mary.
I'm with you here. I don't feel obliged to defend this. I would view it with alarm and disapproval if somebody who prayed this way lacked a Catholic, Christ-centric understanding.
There are those who thus abuse Marian devotion. The Mariavites (excommunicated in 1906) come to mind.
However, the classic, Church-approved Morning Offerings are quite different from what you sent me. An old one that many of us learned as children goes like this:
Most Holy and Adorable Trinity,
one God in three Persons,
I firmly believe that You are here present;
I adore You with the most profound humility;
I praise You and give You thanks with all my heart
for the favors You have bestowed on me.
Your Goodness has brought me safely
to the beginning of this day.
Behold, O Lord, I offer You my whole being
and in particular all my thoughts, words and actions,
together with such crosses and contradictions
as I may meet with in the course of this day.
Give me, O Lord, Your blessing;
may Your divine Love animate me
and may both my joys and my sufferings tend
to the greater honor and glory of Your Sovereign Majesty.
Amen.
Here's Morning Offerings for every day of the week: note that they are all directed to God! http://www.catholicity.com/prayer/morning-offerings.html
Don't be distracted by the dubious stuff you pick up while hauling your dragnet through the Internet. The Church could be described in these terms:
Matthew 13:4-48 "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet which was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind,
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
Scripture is a dead horse to you? I’m not surprised but it’s still sad nonetheless.
Mrs. Don-o quoted the scripture to you explaining everything to you. In typical Mea Scriputraist you twisted it to be unrecognizable.
I am praying that God comes into your mind and opens it to the truth and softens your heart as well.
This one will surely lead you to hell stormprepper:
D&C 130 “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones...”2 Yet, in stark contrast to that, Jesus once said, “
Okay, that's an assertion, upon what is that assertion based?
So God has a body, Jesus has a body, yet the Holy Ghost does not. Why is that stormy?
Prayer of Pope Pius XII
Enraptured by the splendor of your heavenly beauty, and impelled by the anxieties of the world, we cast ourselves into your arms, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus and our Mother, Mary, confident of finding in your most loving heart appeasement of our ardent desires, and a safe harbor from the tempests which beset us on every side.
Though degraded by our faults and overwhelmed by infinite misery, we admire and praise the peerless richness of sublime gifts with which God has filled you, above every other mere creature, from the first moment of your conception until the day on which, after your assumption into heaven, He crowned you Queen of the Universe.
O crystal fountain of faith, bathe our minds with the eternal truths! O fragrant Lily of all holiness, captivate our hearts with your heavenly perfume! O Conqueress of evil and death, inspire in us a deep horror of sin, which makes the soul detestable to God and a slave of hell!
O well-beloved of God, hear the ardent cry which rises up from every heart. Bend tenderly over our aching wounds. Convert the wicked, dry the tears of the afflicted and oppressed, comfort the poor and humble, quench hatreds, sweeten harshness, safeguard the flower of purity in youth, protect the holy Church, make all men feel the attraction of Christian goodness. In your name, resounding harmoniously in heaven, may they recognize that they are brothers, and that the nations are members of one family, upon which may there shine forth the sun of a universal and sincere peace.
Receive, O most sweet Mother, our humble supplications, and above all obtain for us that, one day, happy with you, we may repeat before your throne that hymn which today is sung on earth around your altars: You are all-beautiful, O Mary! You are the glory, you are the joy, you are the honor of our people! Amen. [http://catholicism.about.com/od/tothevirginmary/qt/Honor_Immacula.htm]
What belongs to God alone is given to Mary.
Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Queen and Mother, the refuge and consolation of all troubled souls! I kneel here before thee with my family and choose thee for my Lady, Mother, and Advocate with God.
I dedicate myself and all who belong to me to thy service forever. I beg thee, O Mother of God, to receive us into the company of thy servants. Take us under thy protection. Help us in life and at the hour of our death.
Mother of Mercy, I name thee Lady and Queen of my family and relatives, my interests and all my undertakings. Take charge of them; dispose of everything as it pleases thee.
Bless me and all my family. Never let any of us offend thy Son. In every temptation defend us; protect us in every danger; provide for us in the necessities of life; counsel us in doubt; comfort us in every sorrow, in every sickness, and especially in the final sorrow of death.
Never let the powers of Hell boast that they have enslaved any of those who here consecrate themselves to thee. Grant that we may all enter into Heaven to thank thee and, in thy company, to praise and love Jesus our Redeemer for all eternity.
Amen. Thus, may it be. Amen. [http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english3/p02357.htm]
Dedication of England to Mother of God
O Immaculate Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of Grace, and Queen of the kingdom of thy Son, humbly kneeling before thee, we offer thee this country in which we live. It once was thine. O Immaculate Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of Grace, and Queen of the kingdom of thy Son, humbly kneeling before thee, we offer thee this country in which we live. It once was thine.
Before it was robbed of the holy Faith all its children were thy children, and thou wast honoured throughout its length and breadth as its Protectress and its Queen. Again do we consecrate it to thee; again do we dedicate it as thine own Dowry. We offer our own hearts, that their love and service may ever grow and increase. We offer all our brethren those multitudes who know thee so little or know thee not at all. [http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=606]
Consecration to Mary [a href=http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=441> Catholic Online.]
My Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you; and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore, good Mother, as I am your own, keep me, guard me, as your property and possession. Amen.
Mary is the goddess of Catholics.
This is what we have been saying all along that catholics do to Mary.
CB's postings show that.
This is another reason we disagree with "sacred" tradition as used by the rcc.
The sad part is the rcc has invested so much in promoting this false teaching they cannot back off of it now without losing all credibility. So the false teaching continues.
Looks like trolling, to me.
(not to be confused with trawling -- or cast netting)
Don't you have a public street corner to go loudly "pray for people" on, or something?
"Jesus was there (Luke 10:16) talking to the "seventy-two others" that He appointed wasn't He. He was NOT talking to the original 12 apostles.
Yes. Did I say anything different?
"The Holy Spirit is given to all true believers.(Acts 15:8)"
Yes. Did I say anything different? "All true believers" are also guarantors of doctrine in the Church. This is called the Sensus fidelium, "the sense of the faithful."
Nevertheless,there are different gifts for different people in the Church, because it fits many different members together in one Body, not like a bucket of identical zooplankton, but differentiated: so the members, though equal, are not identical. St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12, is rich with this beautiful teaching and rewards receptive reading: it's one of my favorites. Let me give you this section:
Now you are Christ’s body,I think it's pretty clear that there are manyy, diverse gifts, and the differently-gifted persons God has "appointed" in the Church to serve different functions.
and individually parts of it.
Some people God has appointed in the church to be,
first, apostles;
second, prophets;
third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then, gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all apostles?
Are all prophets?
Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds?
Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
>>"If they refuse to listen even to the Church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector." - Matthew 18:17<<... Unfortunately the Catholic Church has so corrupted the meaning of the word ekklesia that it's unrecognisable to what the true meaning is.
Aha. So tell us: when you have a dispute with a believer---let's say you have a dispute with me --- where do YOU go with the disputant to get a ruling?
">>"The Church of the living God, the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth." - 1 Timothy 3:5<<... Pillars and foundations hold things up they don't create or make things up.
True! Agreed!
>>"You are Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. - Matt. 16:18<<... "How often does it have to be shown that Peter is NOT who the ekklesia is built upon?"
Sure, the Church is built on "Rock" because of Peter's FAITH. How often do you have to read that verse before you figure out there's a reason why Jesus renamed this guy "Rock"?
"You still haven't shown where what the Catholic Church teaches as "tradition" is what the apostles taught."
Since you won't listen to the Church --- not only in the sense of "Roman" as you say, but in the sense of "What all of Christendom believes" --- historic Christianity --- because you do not "venerate anything on this earth," including the evangelical fidelity, spiritual depth, and fearless love of God found in the early Fathers of the Church who transmitted the true Traditions --- you reflexively set aside all evidence.
I have never once seen you defend Tradition in any form, even though St. Paul wrote, "Stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us." You don't don't defend or explain that except to explain it away.
This is just sad.
If you're willing to fairly explore the Tradition instead of preemptively kicking it to the curb, I would recommend the Fathers of the Church. Specifically: This is an introductory YouTube clip that will cost you just 4 minutes of your time:
Mike Aquilina on the early Church fathers --- just a first, thought-provoking taste.
I know you'll want more in-depth, so I recommend:
The Fathers of the Church by Mike Aquilina, and Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church by Pope Benedict XVI.
They're both available for under $10 at the link.
I hope you will find it enlightening and gratifying to explore YOUR faith-family tree. This is your family: let nobody be estranged.
Might as well throw in “totus tuus” (totally yours, St John Paul II’s now famous {infamous?} motto in reference to Mary) while you’re at it. Get it all out in the open.
And/or the “Hail Holy Queen”, the prayer at the end of every Rosary:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
(Shrugs) I’m not too concerned. Why? Because every Catholic who is true to his faith knows that the only way these prayers and devotions to Mary are possible at all, the reason they are prayed in the first place, the reason there is such devotion, is towards the ultimate goal of seeing JESUS face to face. In other words, all devotion to Mary is a desire for Christ.
It is only those who have an axe to grind against Catholicism who refuse to see this plain truth.
Sorry to interrupt your conversation. Enjoy your “last word”, which I’m quite confident you will post to take, for how much it achieves (which is precisely nothing).
I am giving those Mea Scripuraists the opportunity to demonstrate that they are indeed at least christian, if not fully Christian, instead of the narrow minded bigots they appear to be.
I am convinced that taking another Mea Scripturaist to task for referring to a Catholic as "it", twice, once after being corrected by that Catholic would be a darn good way to demonstrate that.
I believe the Bible has something to say about that: Matthew 7:1-2 "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Bullfeathers. You won't find a Catholic here who will defend a "totalizing" or "divinizing" approach to Mary. You won't find that in Catholic Biblical commentary or in the Catholic Catechism.
So you post bits of some over-the-top Mary devotees who take that approach. That doesn't mean this is Catholic doctrine or even typical Catholic practice.
I could just as well post stuff by Victoria Osteen and say, "Well, there's Protestantism for ya."
I have been linking to passages from the Catechism for years on this forum, and have seen almost zero evidence that anybody has ever gone to the links. It could be that people go and never allude to it again. But to me, it raises the suspicion that some people don't care what the Catholic Church really teaches.
They just want to sort through the fish they find in the Kingdom of Heaven's dragnet, seize some strange-looking specimen, and yell "Gotcha."
Consecration to Mary [a href=http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=441> Catholic Online.]
My Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you; and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore, good Mother, as I am your own, keep me, guard me, as your property and possession. Amen.
Using your definition we see catholics do indeed do what they claim not do.
I want to reiterate that I have never met a Catholic who took an idolatrous approach to Mary, despite the impression a superficial reading of devotional literature could produce.
As Cynical Bear very sensibly remarked,
Your joking right? The little girl adored her dad. He adored his daughter. The wife adored her husband. Weren't those children adorable at the Christmas program? Get the picture?
Exactly, CB. Expressions like this show normal hearts welling with affection and devotion. They do not denote idolatry.
A sensible response, courtesy of CynicalBear and I.
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