The one question you had for me was: While I can understand a person's faith faltering under the above circumstances, I fail to understand leaving the Eucharist behind.
From a childs perspective growing up in the church I believed there was no other religion to even consider. I didn't speak against the other denominations for I was too young to draw an opinion one way or the other. I just knew it wasn't for me. I believed that this must be the way they were brought up, much like how I viewed myself being brought up Catholic and so having a sense of belonging, acceptance. I believed everyone who was good was going to Heaven anyhow. So live and let live.Today I know that is not the case, according to the Word
Concerning doctrine I wouldn't have known the meaning of the word let alone attempting to understand why we did what we did. The fathers and catechism teachers said this is the way we do it, this is the way to God, and so never questioned it, even far into my adulthood. But I was still sinning; What was going here? I have no power to stop. I have to say I never was comfortable with the confessional. I knew I had to go, because I couldnt partake in the sacraments if I do not. But something about it made me more scared than anything. What do you say to someone hiding behind a perforated screen? Are you really going to give this stuff to God for me? If you already know you’re doing wrong why not learn what power there is to overcome sins hold. It’s not of our own will and determination I assure you. “I’ll never do that again”, everyone must have said this line a few times to themselves and then go back and do it again.
The Scripture says: “They believe in God, but deny the Power there of”, the power to lead a sanctified and holy life with integrity which can only come from God and not of ourselves. We will always be classified by God as sinners, all of us no matter what office or title we hold in this world due to the original Fall. It is only by Resurrection Power afforded us by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed Blood at Calvary that we Come Alive in Him and Him in us. We thereby “Walk in the Spirit” being free from sins hold. Resurrection Power flowing daily, breaking us before Him daily, freeing us from the penalty of sin. This is the Only Sacrifice the Father sees, the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No other ingredient need be added. It is Finished He said. His Finished Work, One Sacrifice for all, for all time.
Concerning the Last Supper one can certainly remember,with gratitude and in His memory as He instructed us to celebrate , as many times we wish of what He in fact was going to do and Finish for us. Never did He imply the symbols of bread and wine would “replace” His Sacrifice. If that were the case, and the symbols held that kind of power, He wouldn’t have had to endured The Cross at all. So there must be a shedding of blood for the remission of sin, and that He accomplished in totality
The book of Hebrews explains to the Jews as well as to us the difference between the old Levitical sacrificial system and the “New Covenant” Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice. The newly converted Christian Jews were “holding on” to the old way in effect adding to the New Covenant which kept them “under the Law” which could never take away sins. Basically undermining the power, Resurrection Power of the Perfect Sacrifice afforded us through the Finished Work of Christ at the Cross. Jesus bore the Judgment of God upon Himself because He was the “Only One” who could fulfill the Law in its entirety. And so the saying “if you live by the Law then you will die by the Law”. I would recommend revisiting Hebrews several times over and see deeply what is being said here.
I hope my explanation through my experiences answers your question. It occurred to me the focus of your question hinged on the symbol of the church and not necessarily the church itself. You believe the Eucharist holds the power of our salvation. I understand your bewilderment as to why someone would give up their salvation “by leaving the Eucharist” of which one can only find in a particular church. This is where I believe the church holds power over the people. God wants to empower us you,and I with His Spirit. We would then look directly to Him and know for certain it is in fact Him doing it. We would not fall into serving the creature instead of the Creator. Meaning we would not worship things created either by Him or by us. If we are, then we are worshipping things less than ourselves and definitly less than God
1 Peter 1:19 But with the Precious Blood of Christ (payment in full on behalf of sinners) as a Lamb without blemish and without spot (lambs offered as substitutes in Old Jewish economy, the Death of Christ was not an execution, but rather a Sacrifice, the Offering of Himself as a Perfect Sacrifice, for He was Perfect in every respect [Exodus 12:5]
1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world (refers to fact that God knew He would create man and man would Fall needing to be Redeemed by Christ going to the Cross, all done before the Universe was created. Means the Cross of Christ is the Foundation Doctrine of all Doctrine) but was manifest in these last times for you
1 Peter 1:21 Who by Him do believe in God (it is only by Christ and what He did for us at the Cross that we are able to “Believe in God”), Who raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him Glory; that your Faith and Hope might be in God (speaks of a heart Faith in God, who saves sinners in answer to our Faith in the Resurrected Lord Jesus Who died for us)
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the Truth (the great system of Truth respecting the Redemption of the world which refers to the Cross) through the Spirit (everything is done through the Spirit) unto unfeigned love of the Brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of the corruptible seed (refers to fact that the Born-again experience is not at all by virtue of any descent from human parents) but of incorruptible (which is the Lord Jesus Christ) , by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. (the story of the Bible is the story of man’s Redemption, which is the story of the Cross)
1 Peter 1:24 For all flesh is as grass (contrasting which is begotten of God with that which is begotten by man [Isa. 40:6-8]) and all the glory of man as the flower of grass (temporary glory). The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away.
1 Peter 1:25 But the Word of the Lord endures forever. (by contrasting to that of man’s, which perishes quickly) And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
The pursuit for the Knowledge of God should never stop. Fearing God is the beginning of Knowledge. We cannot live long enough in these mortal bodies to know everything about Him. He gives us a path and it is straight and narrow, right through the Cross, everything else is broadway
Thanks again for your reply. I pray a peace for you and your family in the Love of Jesus Christ the Righteous
It is unfortunate that Catholicism of the pre-Vatican times was often mired in guilt. Part of this problem, I believe, stems from two issues in my extensive readings. First, the heresy of Jansenism was still roaming through the Church. Jansenism was the idea that strict adherence to rules and regulations was critical for our salvation. It was very nearly a "works" salvation. It led many a nun to emphasize rules over love of Christ.
Secondly, Catholic theologians from the mid-1800's to even into today have changed the focus of moral theology from what it used to be. Our Tradition, St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, and so forth, had always taught that moral theology was to concentrate on the Virtues. First, Temperance, Justice, Prudence, and Fortitude; followed by Faith, Hope and Love. Naturally, all would lead to love. The purpose of moral theology, then, ends in love. Our reason for doing what we do should be based on love. However, moral theologians, perhaps with Jansenism in mind, began to move towards a focus on the Decalogue. The reason we do things, then, becomes following the Ten Commandments. It is not hard, then, brother, to see why the Catholic Church became mired in guilt, rules-following, and everything that goes along with that.
I, too, had endured some of what you speak of as a child. We grew up as product of our society. I believe, though, that God's Providence is behind everything, and that there was a particular reason for everything - although sometimes we don't understand it. I think that before an institution is willing to change, it must first hit a lower point and realize "we need to reform". I don't doubt that Vatican 2 was God's effort to move the Church into a better direction then it was heading. And frankly, things take awhile to become implemented after Councils, to weed out the old ways and faulty traditions that had no purpose in today's time (perhaps they were useful in different times, but no longer).
As to the Eucharist, it appears you have a misunderstanding of the teachings. We don't believe we re-sacrifice Christ. That clearly is Protestant teaching, as Catholics don't and never have taught that. Unfortunately, catechism was and continues to remain a weak point in the Catholic Church. Most don't know their faith because THEY choose not to learn it. Most think the Church should provide classes and so forth. But even if there are classes, they don't come. And most certainly will not avail themselves to reading a book or accessing Catholic Web Sites that teach the faith. From my experience before returning to the Church, I didn't place God on a very high list on my priorities. As we both mention, I think the Church of the recent past focused on rules, rather than on love. This is changing. But for us, well. WE didn't put much effort into learning our faith at the time of our falling aways (in my opinion). The teachings were there, but I didn't care. I didn't see the connection between God's Blessings and my life. Religion wasn't a high priority. And I believe many Christians endure this temptation.
But back to the Eucharist, the Church believes that at the Mass, we are allowed to participate in the re-presentation of Christ's one time sacrifice. We, as the Body, offer our own petitions and sacrifices to the Father (since Christ CURRENTLY intercedes for us in heaven - not one time/done). Since Christ is the Victim AND the Priest, a Victim who has risen from the Dead, His sacrifice continues into eternity. Its value is eternal because the Priest continues to offer the Victim's internal disposition (which is the important part of the Sacrifice - not the material value of it). Thus, the Catholic Church completely agrees with the Letter to the Hebrews
As to "living by the Law" - this means obligating God to pay you back salvation for your good deeds. We cannot obligate God for anything, as all we have is a gift from Him, both natural and supernatural gifts. Thus, our faith, our works, our repentance. All inspired and embued within us by God. Those under the Law believe that they can "do" the external actions of the Law and make God "owe" them. This is entirely false and refuted by Paul in Romans and Galatians. HOWEVER, the Protestant mistake here is that then, NO works are needed at all - that works merely are indications of our faith. This is not the message of the Gospel. We MUST obey the Commandments - but as our priests and nuns got wrong - we do it out of love - not out of following rules and regulation. Thus, the Gospel does NOT forbid or do away with the Law at all. It merely says we must have a different internal disposition. We must do all in love. And when under love (rather than the Law), we don't need to be perfect. We just need to turn to God and try our best to give of ourselves.
It occurred to me the focus of your question hinged on the symbol of the church and not necessarily the church itself. You believe the Eucharist holds the power of our salvation.
Brother, don't you remember that the Church DOESN'T teach that the Eucharist is a symbol? It is a reality of the Risen Christ, in the form of Bread, just as God came to Moses in the form of a burning bush, or a pillar of fire, or a cloud over the Ark. God has the power to appear to man in any form. Certainly, the form Jesus takes has symbolic connotations. It is bread - which gives nourishment, providing us food for the journey. Spiritually, Christ is our nourishment. He enters into us, giving us sanctifying Grace, the Life of God, which enables us to BECOME virtuous, to LOVE! And thus, Christ is really present in the Eucharist, feeding us spiritually, enabling us to walk with Him into eternal life.
If you didn't know this, I ask you whose fault can we lay the blame on? The Church has AT LEAST taught that much... I didn't realize the profound fullness of all of this until I did the reading and prayfully considered Catholicism again as an older adult. My lateness is based on my laziness. I will not answer for your reason, but the Church has NOT taught anything else on the subject. From what I gather above, you were like me, fell away, and came into the fortunate company of some Protestant brothers and sisters. You saw the power of the Spirit in them, no doubt. Looking back to your days as a Catholic, in comparison, you probably thought that THEY had the "blessings" of God - they were active in their faith. Thus, when they taught you their ideas on the Eucharist, you naturally believed them. But I truly wonder how things would have went if you were aware of the true teachings of the Church on the Eucharist. The reason why the Church believes that the Eucharist holds "the power of salvation" is that it IS CHRIST HIMSELF! We see Christ VISIBLY in faith, not by imagination in our thoughts alone. We take Him into our bodies, literally. He sanctifies us, enabling us to become more virtuous. And thus, we are not placing our hopes in a piece of bread or the Church institution, but Jesus Christ Himself.
I truly appreciate the chance to speak with you. I have a certain affinity and curiosity with former Catholics, as I think we have traveled down the same road, although we have taken a different fork in the road now. May God continue to bless you, and that you do come to the knowledge of the Truth.
Brother in Christ