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 dont believe. You dont believe that the Eucharist IS the Risen Christ.
You just dont 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.
Could you show us somewhere where ealgeone and I have differing interpretations of Scripture?
And who ever said that differing interpretations were a result of differing versions of the Bible?
So while we're at it, how about we compare the Catholic church's Douay-Rheims version of the Bible with some of newer more recently translated versions by the Catholic church.
And of course, we'd find them all perfectly consistent in translation, now wouldn't we? (not)
Show us some of those. Pick a verse, any verse, of your choosing, and show us the *thousands* of different interpretations that verse has.
A little context for RC apologists who use Luther's words to boast of what they do not even know:
You must distinguish between the genuine Christian Church, the true church, and the church which presumes to be the church but is not. The false church has only the appearance, although it also possesses the Christian offices. Even a knave is able to baptize, read the Gospel, go to the Sacrament, and recite the Ten Commandments. All this is and remains proper, but he remains a vile knave and is not to be called a Christian or the Christian Church. No, we say that he is found in the Christian Church just as mouse droppings are found among the pepper or cockleburs among the grain. They merely help to fill the bushel. A body may possess fine, sound, and useful members which man can employ for his various needs; but that same body may also contain perspiration, secretion from the eyes, nasal mucus, scabs, abscesses, and other filth. (LW 23:286-287)
Therefore since this argument is waxing warm in our day, you must be prepared to give this account and reply: the term Christian Church has a double meaning, as other words do too. For there is a true and there is a false church. Now show me the true church. The pope claims to be the true church, but how is he going to prove it? He has the Gospel and Baptism; so do we. The issue is: Who has the true Gospel and Baptism, and who the false? The one Christ is the true one, but all heretics fashion a new Christ. Words have double meanings. Every heretic assigns a special meaning to a word, and he also employs the terms used in the divine Word. The term god, for example, is given the most manifold meanings. I suppose there are a thousand different gods. Mammon is a god. So are the Order of St. Francis and the Carthusian Order. Everybody has his own peculiar god. Therefore you must be wary. Just as the word god really pertains only to the one God but is perverted and applied so variously, thus Christian Church is also misused and loosely used. You must pay no attention to them when they say: Here is the church. Your answer must be: I am well aware that there is one Christian Church, and I know the term Christian Church very well. But it is news to me that you are that church. You may indeed vaunt that you are the Christian Church, but that beautiful name by itself will not mislead me. I know that the heretics are to deck themselves with the fine name of God, of Christ, and of the Christian Church, and thus deceive the world. Therefore it is dangerous and suspicious for them boastfully to appropriate the name of the Christian Church, as if this required great skill and everyone before them were ignorant. You must tell them: If you want to be the church and bear its name, you must prove your title. You must teach correctly, as the holy Christian Church teaches. You must have your life conform to its life. You must manifest your faith and the fruits of faith. Give evidence that you are the Christian Church. But since they do not administer the episcopal office as it should be administered but persecute whom they will and yet insist on being regarded as pious princes and the Christian Church, we are obliged to say that they are the devils church; for the Christian Church does not treat doctrine so wantonly. The heretics frighten and delude many people with their claim to the name church. That is what the people in the Gospel did when they said that Christ must come from Bethlehem and when they spurned Him because He had come from Galilee. Our adversaries talk similarly of us today. They deny our claim to be the Christian Church because we come from Galilee or from Wittenberg, and because we will not await their decision. We will tell them: Lo, there axe Christians also from Galilee and from Nazareth. Just because they believe and proclaim what is displeasing to you, you do not consider them Christians. We will not wait for their decision, nor will we preach to their liking. Let us preach about the Man who will give us abundance also after this life. If we had preached to suit their taste, we would have become great lords long ago. Butso it is saidthere is no gain in that. (LW 23:288-289)
Read more at http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2013/05/luther-we-concede-to-papacy-that-they.html
BTW...I only mentioned my education to counter your insulting and derogatory presumptions that all the smart people are now Catholics and that "Protestants" are ignorant of the faith. I can only guess that holding to such inaccuracies would comfort someone who is unsure of their faith. Those who genuinely believe and know why they believe it have no need to be prejudiced and insulting towards others who disagree with them. Absurd "logic" and "vapid" nonsense is quite evident when all one can do is repeat the same verbiage over and over but all the while ignoring the facts being presented that contradict them. Those three monkeys picture comes to mind - or the ostrich with its head in the sand.
You may want to check out some of the indirect Ad Homs coming from your side of the aisle aimed at a number of Catholics on this thread including myself.
I know what you're driving at but wouldn't it be something if the Catholics in the RF were calm, reasonable and charitable all. the. time.?
You know, sort of a living witness to "Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
I am constantly reminded of the friend of mine whose grandfather was an Iowa mule trainer. He used to say the first step in training a mule was to get a 2x4.....
I am not saying that they are all mules, but some bray more than others.
Not saying non-Catholics are dogs, but, beat a barking dog enough and he’s gonna flip out. You may have to risk getting bit from time to time in order to save a growling hound. I’m not directing this at you but so often the message gets lost in the method.
Yes, Our Lord laid down the Law on occasion, so there’s no need to post your list Elsie, but He’s God after all and yes, we’re supposed to be Christ-like... but look at it this way:
Don’t we want non-Catholics to have what we have? Why would they want to be like a bunch of sour cranks?
Your worship of the Catholic Church is obvious to me.
Will boatbums now be subjected to scorn and derision, or that is reserved for Catholics that have earned degrees in Theology/ Religion?
Only because you don't know the difference...As you said, you learned about religion...The theology you know apparently is Catholic theology...Catholic church history, etc...All that, sans bible...
Along with those things, boatbums clearly knows bible...And is a Christian to boot (indwelt with the Holy Spirit)...
There is no comparison between boatbum's education and yours...
Although we disagree on some things I must say you have class!
Really, you can make this claim because you attended all the classes I attended, you sat through all the lectures and participated ion the discussions, read all the books INCLUDING THE BIBLE, studied the New Testament in Greek. You really did all these things because I don't recall seeing you in any of them.
No mortal, sinful man could do this.
The Mana provided to the Israelites was made by God. The Catholic Communion Wafer does not appear on the ground by God’s command. It is made by the hand of man.
Why, thank you!
Well yeah, cause true “Biblical Christianity” is Catholicism. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Then why do Catholics so many acts in direct disobedience to the Bible (aka - God’s Word)?
Well said!
I see what you're saying here, really I do.
But Catholics would argue that when it is consecrated, there is a triple miracle:
Now, that's kinda hard to explain (scratches head) and the terms "substance" and "accidents" are used in a specialized philosophical sense (which is pretty much out of my league)--- but not to get tangled up in a buncha words, the point is that what we receive in Communion is not that host that came out of a cardboard box from the "Host Supply Inc, Makers of Fine Hosts Since 1962" --- that's been annihilated ---but rather, what we're receiving is Himself.
Or to put it in even simpler terms:
He says "This is My Body."
We say, "Amen."
That's it.
Unbelief in the Eucharist, is unbelief in what the Resurrection is all about.
Jesus never said “be Holy for the wafer is Holy.”
He said “be Holy for I am Holy.”
Catholics would be better off focusing on the Savior and not a symbol.
So then, is the Douay Rheims Bible wrong for translating John 3 with *born again*, mr. greek scholar?
So what do Catholics do about the Scripture verse that talks about Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith and that God does not dwell in temples made by human hands but in us, who are the temple of the Holy Spirit?
Since He’s in us already through faith, then what’s the point of ingesting Him?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.