Lent - Day Six - Sheep and Goats

Gospel
Matthew 25:31-46 ©

I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

  ‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

  ‘Next, he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”

  ‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.

I awoke on Sunday after a night where my bed had a tendency to spin merrily as I lay upon it as the vino projected its effects and wound me up for the morning's hangover.  The coffee pot was my savior that morning.  Everyone was around the fire which was burning low and the Master was enjoying a breakfast of figs and grapes. I sat down after claiming coffee and a hunk of bread, this was the most that my body would be able to accept.  A wise man once said, "The man drinks the first wineskin and the second, but the third, the wineskin drinks the man."   I felt that I was living proof of that wisdom. 

A man wandered into our camp.  He was dirty and disheveled and it was apparent that bathing was not his habit.  His eyes held the look of madness and I could not imagine how he had come here in this oasis in the middle of the desert.   I felt a tug at my heartstring for the man who was looking longingly at the great amount of food that was on display. My companions took no notice of the man, it is as if he were invisible to them.  They kept their eyes on the Master and tended to His every want.  I noticed that the man hand no sandals and his tunic was worn to a frazzle.  No one in the camp paid him any attention.   I got up and went to my collection of belongings.  I took out a pair of new sandals, a tunic, one of my best, and I approached the stranger and presented them to him and asked him to please accept them as a gift  He looked at me and tears formed in his eyes.  He said that this was the first kindness he had experienced in a long, long time.  I took his hand and set him in my place and gave him some of the dates and figs, and bread along with a large cup of water which had just been drawn from the well and was ice cold and he ate and drank and I was pleased to see him become more human as the food gave him energy and new clothing gave him dignity.  I bent down to ask if I could get him more food or drink and when he turned and looked at me,  I saw that it was the Master's face. 

Was He Kidding Or What?

Foreward:

There is no work as onerous as reinventing something that has already been invented, found to be useful and still does the job.  What follows is a reprise of a blog entry made several years ago on the Feast of Corpus Christi.  I was writing with passion that day and except for the addition of a comma here and an article there, I am reproducing it here.  Sometimes, and this is one of those occasions, I can't find anything to fix.  Praise to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Corpus Christi 2017  Michael

For fifteen hundred years there was no conflict when it came to the Holy Eucharist.  The Church believed that it was the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. Some of the "reformers" took issue with this, notably not the prototype heretic Luther who maintained that it was a sacramental union between Jesus and man.  Other reformers such as Calvin, Knox, and others believed it was only a symbolic memorial.

The Council of Trent at that time confirmed what everyone up until that time believed:

 Christ “instituted this Sacrament, in which He poured forth as it were the riches of divine love towards man” so that the Eucharist would be:

a remembrance, “to venerate His memory” and “show forth His death until He comes to judge the world.”

the “spiritual food of souls, whereby” He feeds and strengthens “those who live with His life.”

an “antidote, whereby we may be freed from daily faults [venial sins] and be preserved from mortal sins.”

a “pledge of our glory to come, and everlasting happiness”

a “symbol of that one body whereof He is the head, and to which He would fain have us as members be united by the closest bond of faith, hope, and charity…   Source: Laura McAlister

The Council of Trent like many councils was a reactionary council called to combat issues that came to because of the rebellion of Luther and the others.  Contrary to what some critics of the Church say the Council of Trent did not invent transubstantiation but rather codified what up until that time had been believed by everyone, everywhere.  I can see why today's Protestants would have trouble with the concepts codified by Trent.  The Council rightly defined the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.  This position taken to its logical end proves the Catholic point and thus was bitterly contested by the "reformers."  But for the sake of this blog let us suspend the tenants of the Council of Trent and go to what the "reformers" claim is the only source of Christian Doctrine, the Bible itself.  Let us also restrict ourselves to what the founder of the Catholic Church, Jesus, Himself said about the Eucharist.  (Please supply quotation marks where you think they should go,,,)

While they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave to his disciples and said; Take and eat. This is My Body And taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and gave to them saying: Take and drink this.  For this is My Blood of the New Testament which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins.  (John 26: 26-28)

Amen, Amen, I say to you; Moses gave you not bread from Heaven, but my Father gives you the true Bread from Heaven.  For the Bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.

John 6:32, 33

I Am the Bread of life: He that comes to me shall not hunger and he that believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:35

I Am the Bread of Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead. This is the Bread which comes down from Heaven; that if any man eats of it, he may not die.  I Am the living bread which came down from Heaven.  If any man eats of this bread he shall live forever, and the Bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.

John 6: 48 - 52

Amen, Amen I say unto you: Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you.  He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6: 54-55

For my Flesh is food indeed and my Blood is drink indeed.  He that eats my Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me and I in Him.  As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eats me, the same shall live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven. Not as your Fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eats this Bread, shall live for ever.

John 6:56-59

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him.

John 14:23

From the above, we can see that Jesus considered the gift of His Body and Blood essential to salvation. The Doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a hard thing for some people to believe. It was hard for the people in the time of Jesus.  In John chapter 6 verse 60 we read: " After hearing it, many of his followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' Jesus does not say that He is only kidding, or what he said before should be taken as a symbol.  When he refuses to compromise or place a spin on what he said, the saddest moment of His life up until that time occurred because the people turned away and John says " After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more."  (John 6: 66) This too is what the "reformers" did or caused to happen among the poor souls that the clawed away from the Church.  They rejected the great gift of Jesus and just walked away, 

So, there you have it. The Blessed Sacrament is a gift that is misunderstood by some, laughed at by others, seen as a symbol, seen as a rite of passage, seen as something "you do."  The Blessed Sacrament is the union of Jesus and the recipient. You cannot get closer to God in this life than by receiving Him, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity into yourself.  If God can create the world in seven days from nothing, can He not also give us Himself in the form which appears to our senses as being bread and wine?  Does He not have the power and the will to do this?  If you say no then your God is too small.

Why Catholics Go To Church Every Sunday

The Main Ceremonial doors leading into St, Mary of Vernon
Church in Indian Creek, Illinois. 

One of the features of being a Catholic is the requirement that we attend Mass every Sunday and holy day of obligation.  For the average Protestant actual attendance at Church is not a requirement although there are many Protestants that attend both on Sunday and come back on Wednesdays, but this is not a requirement that binds under sin.  For a Catholic Sunday is the most important day of the week and attendance at mass is mandatory. Failure to attend is considered a very serious sin.  But, why is this so? Why is it considered so very important? There are any number of excuses that can serve to allow us to blow off Sunday Mass.  For example, we might just not feel like going, or we may feel that it is boring, or maybe we are convinced that we can worship God anywhere and do not need to be so formal about prayer and worship.  Maybe we think that we are too busy, too tired, or any number of other self-serving excuses. But as we will see, none of these excuses work very well. 

With thanks to Our Sunday Visitor here are ten reasons why Catholics believe attendance at Sunday Mass is so very important. 

• God asks us to make one day holy. We are to set aside one day to refocus physically, mentally, and spiritually. Going to Mass allows us to see things from a different perspective. We realize that not every idea that we have about God or how to live a Christian life is exactly on target. We exchange our agenda for God's.  We receive inspiration and strength for the week ahead. 
• Jesus gives us the gift of Himself. When we gather as a community we fulfill the command of Jesus to love and to be loved by God. We receive and are fed by the Word of God, the Scriptures that we hear proclaimed and we receive the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 
• We need to be part of a community.  Man is a social creature. A human being who keeps themselves away from other human beings can become an authority in themselves in that they begin to believe that their ideas are the only view of the world that are correct. They have no one to answer to but themselves. This is scary. When we are in a Christian community we give each other support, we make each other accountable and we give encouragement to one another, sometimes just by being there.  We see that we are not alone and we are reminded that we are part of the Body of Christ. 
• God has a special message for us.  We come together and listen to the Word of God and the prayers of the Mass and God speaks to us in a special way.  Each Mass should allow us to walk away with one thought that will help us in our spiritual lives. We receive this gift simply by focusing on what is going on around us and we open ourselves to what God is telling us. 
• People need our prayers.  Scripture commands us to pray for one another.  Certainly we can (and should) do this at home but when we pray for others at Mass we pray in a special way.  We pray as part of the Body of Christ, the Communion of Saints, and heaven and earth are united and the bonds of space and time are loosened. 
• We need to stand up for what we believe.  Being a follower of Christ calls us to be counter-cultural. Think back to the early Church. People would attend the Breaking of the Bread knowing full well that they might be arrested and become entertainment for the emperor in the arena. Today too our attendance shows that we are not closet Christians but rather Christians that are testifying to the Truth by being publicly present at public worship. We pray the Nicene Creed and publicly proclaim what we believe and who we are.  
• We need to acknowledge our mistakes.  At every Mass we have an opportunity to review the previous week and see where we have fallen short in word, deed, and thought. We admit that we have sinned in what we have done and what we have failed to do and we seek the forgiveness of God.  This serves as a reality check.  Are we as "good" as we think we are? Before communion we acknowledge that we are not worthy and ask God to heal us. 
• We need ritual in our lives.  Mass is a ritual. This means that through the prayers, movement and the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ we are formed, disciplined and consoled. The sameness of the Mass carries us along the spiritual journey and we pray even if we don't feel like praying. 
• We need to experience something bigger than ourselves.  At Mass we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus and enter into God's great plan for our world to bring the Gospel message to all people. At Mass heaven and earth are joined in expressing praise to God and we join the choir of angels and sing the eternal praise of God when we sing; "Holy Holy, Holy..."  The Mass gives meaning and purpose to our lives and gives us a sense of wonder and awe.  

So you can see that for a Catholic going to church each Sunday while it is an obligation, it also provides many benefits.  I think that regulations, such as the "obligation" to go to Mass every Sunday are written for the people that only want know what the minimum requirements are.  For most Catholics attending Mass on Sunday is the high point of each week and they attend willingly and are very sad indeed when serious circumstances do not allow them to attend. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ brighten your life this week and may you feel a part of the Communion of Saints. 

The 2016 Convert - A - Catholic Challenge is underway. I am looking to be saved from the Catholic Church and looking for your most compelling arguments as to why I should join your denomination.  Write me by clicking this link.Click Here 

Thanksgiving - Should God Continue to Bless Us?

Thanksgiving Day is a lot of things to us Americans. It is: 

• A day off from work or school.
• A day of eating, drinking, and making merry. 
• A day to watch parades with large balloons. 
• A day to be sit and watch football games. 
• A day to stuff a turkey and ourselves.

This day should also be a day to think very carefully about the blessings we have received from God, both the blessings we have received in common as a nation (supposedly) under God and for the blessings we have personally received. 

The very fact that the United States has lasted over two hundred years so far shows that God is still blessing us.  Why He continues his benevolence to such wayward children as we are is a mystery to me. We are very disobedient to Him.  America today is not the same America our ancestors could look up to.  In the olden days abortion was recognized as a repugnant evil by not only the Catholic Church but also by most main line denominations.  Today The Catholic Church stands almost alone in opposition to the murder of babies in the womb.  We also have forsaken the seven capital virtues for the seven capital sins.  Our Supreme Court has stepped in and reinvented marriage. No longer is marriage between a man and a women, a sacred covenant instituted by God. No, now it is a question of "equality."  Sadly, this same court has decided that even those of us who are opposed to birth control must furnish it for everyone who wants it in spite of the fact that we consider it sinful.  So I guess one thing we should be thankful for is for the fact that God continues to bless us in spite of our evil ways. 

As far as personal blessings go, I thank God for all of the things he has placed in my life, both the good things and the things that I view as not so good which are there to help make me strong.  I also thank Him for the things He has chosen to withhold from me because His wisdom is supreme in all things. 

The challenge is still open...Convert The Catholic - tell me why I should leave the Catholic Church, make your strongest case. Who knows maybe you will convince me!  

God bless you this day. 

In Love With The Bride of Christ - A Catholic Speaks His Mind.

I was born a Roman Catholic, and therefore in the jargon of the day I am called a cradle Catholic.  I thank God for my membership in His Church and want to share some of the reasons why being a Catholic makes me happy.

• Eucharist - as a Catholic, every time I go to Mass I receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ - as He is in Heaven today!  You can get no closer to God this side of heaven.  Catholics take very seriously indeed Christ's instructions to eat His Body and drink His blood as found in the Gospel of John Chapter 6. 
• Bible - At every Mass besides being fed the Bread of Life we receive generous portions of the Word of God to further enrich our souls. 
• Preaching - At every Mass the priest explains to us what the readings we just heard mean and how to apply them to our lives.  I know Protestants say we can interpret the Gospel for ourselves but then why are there thirty-thousand denominations each with a slightly different interpretation of the same concepts?  I feel safer relying on the Holy Spirit working in accordance with the promise of Jesus to keep His Church, the Bride of Christ pure and safe until He returns.
• Reliability - The Catholic Church has never once changed her doctrine.  She teaches the same truths that were handed down to her by the Apostles.  It is the Sacred Tradition that assures me that her teachings are true. One example of how her teachings have not changes comes to mind.  Back in the 1950's all churches stood united against birth control and abortion.  These things were viewed as evil and against the Law of God.  One by one the denominations gave in to "modern thought."  One by one they began to allow birth control and later on abortion was seen to be okay.  The Catholic Church stands virtually alone today in speaking up for the rights of the unborn and continues to preach against the culture of death afflicting the world today.  
• Real First Century Christianity - Some denominations today are trying to get back to the original teachings of the Apostles and the Church Fathers.  Well, the Catholic Church is already there and as a matter of fact, she never left the teachings of the Apostles.  Remember that for the first fifteen centuries there was only one Church, the Catholic Church.
• Universality - The Roman Catholic Church is universal.  It is not a national church, it is open to all.  It has one leader, the Pope, successor of Peter whom Jesus appointed as the leader of His Church.  We can trace the origin of the Catholic Church to that day when Jesus gave the keys of the Kingdom to Peter.
• Sacraments - The seven sacraments of the Church are opportunities for her members to experience the gift of grace of God in different ways.  I have already mentioned the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Triumphantly Raised Jesus but there are six more sacraments each providing grace for the soul.  
• Reconciliation - Yes, reconciliation is one of the seven sacraments but I have to mention it separately because it is such a powerful gift.  Some Protestants say that a priest has no authority for forgive sins. They do not take into account the words of Jesus when he said; "Those things you loose on earth are loosed in heaven, those things you bind on earth are bound in heaven."  This gave the power to forgive sins to the Apostles and to those that followed.  Some say that they go direct to Jesus and pray for forgiveness so they do not need to confess to another human.  Well, okay, but if we take the words of Jesus seriously we need to ask ourselves if a priest can forgive sins, how will the priest know if he is going to loose or bind unless we tell him our sins?  I go to confession regularly - because I sin regularly.  I confess my sins to God's minister and he in the name of Jesus and His Church grants me pardon and absolution for all of my sins.  I in effect get to start over again, grace floods my soul and I try to not commit the sins I confessed again. To experience forgiveness is to experience love in its most exquisite form.  To hear the words of absolution gives me assurance that the rend I created in the fabric of my relationship between God, man and His Church has once again been healed. 

These are but a few of the reasons that I have for the joy in my heart that I experience because I am a Catholic.  My Church is despised by those who think her ideas are outmoded.  She stands as a conscience to a world that has lost it's way.  She points in loving ways as to what should be and she, like her founder receives a crown of thorns for the trouble.  I will never, ever, leave the Catholic Church for She is the repository of all we know of God, His laws and His love. 

God bless you and your family and friends,  Come home to the Catholic Church.   Below please find some links that you may find helpful.   Remember, I answer questions about faith, I am happy to do so.  I do not respond to hate mail. 

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/

http://chnetwork.org/converts/

4th Sunday of Advent - Journey's End in Sight

Our journey is almost done. We have come a long way in four weeks. We are ready to celebrate the birth of our savior.  The Gospel for today speaks about Mary visiting Elizabeth.  Notice that Elizabeth's infant leaped in her womb as Mary greeted her.  John the Baptist already recognized that the Christ was in Mary's womb. Elizabeth tells Mary that she is "Blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb."  Mary carried in her body, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.  She was the first tabernacle, the new Arc of the Covenant, she was the new Eve who negated Adam and Eve's no by saying "Yes."  It was to be her privilege to be the Mother of God!  

Mary is our mother too. We are adopted sons and daughters in the Household of God.  She calls us her sons and daughters.  She stands next to her Son in heaven and she constantly prays for us to Him.  Jesus perfectly obeyed all of the commandments the Father passed down to us on Mount Sinai.  This includes the fourth commandment, "Honor thy father and they mother."  Jesus honors His mother and we too as members of the household claim her as our mother too.  This is why Catholics honor Mary because Christ our Savior did it first and we want to imitate him as well. 

As we look forward to the celebration of the Holy Birth, let us thank God for giving us a spiritual mother who understands us and who loves us and speaks for us to the Lord our God.  

The Body and Blood of Christ

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi, or in English, The Body of Christ.  I've already written about the Eucharist in a previous blog page but today is a special day and I have to take a moment and express my love for the Precious Body and Blood of Jesus that we receive in a real way in Holy Communion.  


The Catholic Church, in fact the whole world up until the 1500's acknowledged that Jesus was present in the Eucharist in a real way and that the Mass was where Christians would gather and unite with the Lord in a very intimate and special way.  


Where do we get the idea that Jesus is really present in the sacred species?  We get it from John who wrote down the very word of Jesus:

"I am the bread of life; whoever

comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will

never thirst."

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless

you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do

not have life within you.

 Whoever eats  my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal

life, and I will raise him on the last day.

 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me

and I in him.

The words of Jesus convey the necessity of eating His Body and drinking His Blood as a requirement for having His life within you, He could not have made it any clearer. 

The Christ of the Eucharist is the Resurrected, Triumphant Christ who will reign forever.  In greatest humility, I thank the Lord for becoming bread for me so that I might have his life within me.  At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, when we Catholics sing that age old song;

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

A veil is removed and we actually sing with the Angels and Saints as they glorify God, in effect, heaven comes to earth and we, through the Blessed Sacrament are One in Christ - we offer true worship, that is, worship in spirit and truth. 

Praise God from whom all blessing flow!