The Eucharist, The Core and life of Christianity

Who will walk away…? Who will accept without questioning?

 

The mystery of the Eucharist has always been a test of faith and a reflection of the depth of our relationship with and trust in God’s Word, even for those who walked away from Jesus as spoken of in scripture. This is first attested to in the Bible passage of “John CH6: vs51-66”. However, in its very essence, the Eucharist is the lifeblood of Christianity. Without it there is no New Covenant because the New Covenant is sealed in the Body and Blood of Christ. If we claim to be a Christian and believe in Jesus Christ, it can not be conditional or selective based on what we are willing to accept.

Our Lord was and remains well aware of those who would not trust in His word (John CH6; v64). That is not to say we must understand everything, no one can know the mind of God. But we must accept with trust in faith. As Christians we acknowledge God as the Creator of all things from nothing and Jesus Christ as God incarnate or “in the flesh”, made man. If we say we accept this how difficult can it be for God to consecrate or “set apart” the bread and wine as an extension of His very being; to spiritually take up bread as He took up human flesh or to take up wine as He took up blood, the life force of the body. Both bread and wine, as does man, come from the earth as forms of life. In this case by His word it becomes HIS flesh and HIS Blood and sustenance for our soul.

 

Divinity of Jesus

Jesus expressed His Divine authority over all creation. He did so by His word in the raising of the dead and the healing of the sick just as He raised Lazarus from the dead. We as true Christians accept these things in faith. He made the blind see, the lepers clean and the crippled walk by His word and we accept these things in faith. He commanded the demons to enter the swine and destroyed them, tamed storms, winds, rough seas, and made trees flourish or wither and die by His word. We accept these things in faith without question but we can not and will never comprehend them in our human nature. Jesus also expressed His humanity as in the tears of love and sorrow He shed over Lazarus’ death, His sadness of the sins of man, His affection toward children, His anger in the temple, and His frustration with those who slept during His suffrage in the Garden, and His sacrificing Himself for His love of man.

As Christians we are to accept these things in faith and our expression of that faith is in our trust without questioning His word. Yet there remain some who continue to deny Jesus’ proclamation of the Eucharist with no less justification than any other miracle we claim to accept. The faith of the apostles was confirmed in their unquestioning trust and acceptance of His word when Jesus asked them, “Will you also leave me” (John CH6; vs67-69). Again, we are not required to comprehend all matters of faith, only to accept, trusting in the Word of Christ.

 

One Nation Under God?

"One Nation Under God", but are we still?

Our nation is formed upon the principles of God and Christianity and we as a people claim to be predominantly Christian. Our constitution was formed to protect all religions and especially the faith of our people; the Christian faith. If you doubt it look at the murals in the capitol building and see the depictions including the cross of Christ in them. When our constitution is used by the faithless to infringe on our practice of faith, it is due to our silence to that abuse and our separation from God that allows it to be used in such a manner and it is only by our returning to God that will save this country from the eminent collapse we are facing if we remain absent of his word and morality. For those who spoof this and believe God is only loving and does not demand we live a code of charity and love without infringing on the faith and God given rights of others, they will not change or return to Him until they personally suffer the great losses a life without true faith spawns.... or the loss of the greatest country known to the world now weakened and cripple both morally, financially and in exceptionalism as it was born and previously flourished. One day their children will ask their parents, "what happened that we do not have the same freedom and opportunities that you had?" What will we tell them? We wanted free things in stead of freedom and voted for those who would give to us in exchange for the opportunity to prosper to our greatest desires and potentials?

Thanksgiving Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln

The “Separation of Church and State” as it has been manipulated in recent years is deceptive and abused by those intending to replace God’s own moral values as written in the hearts of all mankind with man’s contrived replacement, “political correctness”. Today we see how “political correctness” is nothing more than an avenue used by some to seek their own personal goals as is evident in its conflict and infringement upon the religious rights provided every American citizen under our Constitution specifically intended to preserve our rights to freely express our acknowledgment of God, whether publicly or privately, no less critical to our freedom than our right to free speech.

God’s intrinsic presence in the foundation and success of our country is made profoundly clear throughout history. Our "Declaration of Independance", our "Constitution of the United States", the first Christian Bible deemed officially acceptable by our government to be used in educating our children within our public schools, the Christian murals painted on the inner walls of our capitol building, and numerous publicly proclaimed prayers and proclamations of past presidents and government officials referencing prayer, God or our Creator, and invoking His intervention.

It is that time of year we publicly give thanks as a nation. In doing so let us give honest recognition to God upon whom our nation was founded, succeeded and without whom we can not recover as a nation.

 

Lincoln wrote the following proclamation on October 3, 1863, which was then enacted. The New York Times within two days published a copy of his proclamation. The idea seemed to catch on, and the northern states celebrated Thanksgiving on the date noted in Lincoln's proclamation, the last Thursday in November, which fell on November 26, 1863.

 

The text of Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation follows:

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States
A Proclamation

 

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

 

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

 

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

 

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

 

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

 

Abraham Lincoln

 

Renewing the Church and Her Mission in the Year of Faith

Address at the Catholic Life Congress in Philadelphia

Nov. 17. 2012

BY ARCHBISHOP CHARLES CHAPUT

My comments today will be simple. I want to focus on just three points. The first point is where we are as a Church and as individual Catholics, given the current environment of our country. The second point is what we need to do about it. And the third point is who we need to be, or become, to live the kind of witness God wants from us. Before we get to that, though, I want to offer a few preliminary thoughts.

 

Language matters. It both expresses and shapes our thinking. Vulgar language suggests a vulgar soul. Obviously, lots of exceptions exist. A peasant can have a rough vocabulary and still lead a saintly life. And a political leader can have a golden tongue and still be a complete liar. But, in general, words are revealing. They have power because they have meaning. So we should take care to understand and use them properly.

 

The words of the Nicene Creed are the defining statement of Christian identity. They’re the glue of the Catholic community. Jews are Jews by virtue of being born of a Jewish mother. But being a Christian has nothing to do with blood or tribe or ethnicity or national origin. Christian identity comes from the sacraments, sacred Scripture and the Creed. What we believe and profess together to be true as Catholics is the foundation and

the cement of our unity.

 

Every word in the Creed was prayed over, argued over and clarified by decades of struggle in the early Church. The words are precious and uncompromising. They direct us toward God and set us apart from the world. When people sometimes claim that Islam and Christianity have so much in common, they need to read, or reread, the Creed. Catholics pray the Creed every Sunday at Mass as the framework and fundamental profession of our faith. Devout Muslims reject nearly every line of it.

 

God Have Mercy on Our Country

A nation claiming to be 80% Christian just re-crucified Christ again by its casual practice of faith if practiced at all, and by its abandonment of His Church and morality; for indifference, prejudice, deceit, perversity and selfishness for self-indulgence.

"The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live (just) as he lived." (1 John CH2: vs3-6)

Those who remain faithful will persevere as scripture tells us, and pray for the Mercy of Christ as we experience the results of the choice our nation has made.

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. All these are the beginning of the labor pains. Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved." (Matthew CH24: vs7-13)

Love of God or Secularism?

Homily of Fr William J Kuchinsky speaking of the love of God, our first commandment, and the conflict between living faithfully and today's overwhelming growth of secularism in our society.

We each are but one being, one person. Without the soul the body dies. There is no separation between body and mind and soul that enables us to live in ways defiant of God while remaining faithful to God. Many forget that just as our Creator is boldly and proudly acknowledged in the founding documents and principles that laid the foundation of our country, the very principles that while protected and appreciated in love of God led us to grow and to flourish as a nation we for centuries have exclaimed "God bless America", so must those principles be preserved to retain the gift of America as one nation under God.



Obama, Election and Christianity

As is undeniable by the testimony of our forefathers recorded in the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution which subsequently followed during the founding of our great country, America, regardless of whether an individual likes the idea or not, was established and has thrived successfully until recent times upon the principles of morality and faith in God, our Creator. By the historic and elegant murals depicting historic Christian moments in time that beautify the inner walls of the Capital building, to the Bible artifacts and records validating the very Capital building’s use for Christian worship services during the early years of our nations infancy, Christianity has been the unforced but predominant guiding light to our formation and success as a country. That success was reflected in our becoming the most powerful yet charitable and free nation in the world, respected by nations of peace while feared by those of human indifference.

Over the last 50 years the separation of “Church and State” has been distorted and abused by those who seek only self gratifications and power, to convince those unaware that this separation was intended to remove and keep separated from government the influence of morality and faith in God. In fact its intended purpose was clearly to preserve faith and morality as given us by God and recognized as our unalienable rights, while keeping government from adopting and forcing any one practice of faith on the people as had taken place previously while under the rule of England. But in this last fifty years we have gradually but progressively separated from living our faith in God and as a result have abandoned true morality. We have raised ourselves as a people to God’s level by establishing our own moral code we now refer to as “political correctness”. We have done this to our detriment. The greatest proof of the distortion of political correctness is most evident in its conflict with the very rights we hold so dear that were adopted to protect our unalienable rights and our free practices of faith. Today we see how a very small minority who deny any existence of God can successively limit our rights to freely practice our faith or show any public signs of prayer not only in government buildings and on government lands which in fact belong to the majority of the people, but in the general public. In this distorted morality we call political correctness we see ourselves now attempting to change the defined meanings of words such as “marriage”. Never before has marriage referred to any form of human relationship other than that between a man and a woman joined as one under God and consummated only in the intimacy of the act of natural human procreation, and now we intend this union to encompass the union between same sex partners, something that even the perversion of the Caligula society had not pursued. And our political correctness has spawned permissiveness.

 Today we have inadvertently found ourselves under the governance of a president who we elected to office four years ago and who in the opinion of many is undoubtedly considered the most socialistic, anti-christian, defiant and morally and politically corrupt individual to have occupied the white house. Many are not even aware of why he fits these catagories if they rely on such news medias as MSNBC, NBC, and a couple others to obtain their information, because they do not report on the negative when it comes to Obama if they can avoid it. But that is another story.

Our country has fallen to the influence of an extremely charismatic man who has done nothing positive for our country compared to his abuse of the power of the office of the president, led us to the edge of financial collapse; more openly subjected us to falling under future terrorist attack, brought us to a severely weakened political state throughout the world due to our abandonment of rational foreign policies and ignorance toward our allies, and unlike never before, has sent our own American ambassadors and retired military now government representatives into harms way, denied them adequate protection for four months as they requested it, and refused them when they fell under attack and cried for help for seven to nine hours, leaving them to be murdered at the hands of terrorists. Why? because to send them help would acknowledge the falsity in Obama's claim that he killed Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda is decimated. Sure he approved the killing of Bin Laden, then boasted about it until Al-Qaeda killed four of our government officals. But if the terrorists are not decimated, then to suggest they are would be to give the American people a false sense of security and open them up to become victims again, would it not?

 Our country was founded upon the principles of God as its foundation and guiding light and without those principles our country will not recover. Just as all life and creation was given us by God and just as our country was bestowed to us under God’s Blessing, our abandonment of God rejects His blessing and our Gift of America will be lost.

 At this election, Christians have a choice to make unlike any other election in the history of this country. To choose a leader who believes in Our Creator and the America God blessed us with, or to choose the political correctness that has replaced God’s instilled moral code. We may think God is more liberal in modern times, but as scripture tells us, He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Prior to voting it would be most proper to pray “the Lord’s Prayer” for guidance and vote according to your heart. I do not speak as an official representative of the Catholic Church, only as a lay person who once lived without giving God His due recognition but who now found true life in Jesus Christ.

 

This article reflects the author's personal opinions and or conclusions and are not to be considered representative of any official authority speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church.