Bread of Life

BREAD OF LIFE
 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. (john 6: 50)
The miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ celebrated the first Mass with His disciples at the Last Supper, the night before He died. He commanded His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). The celebration of the Mass then became the main form of worship in the early Church, as a reenactment of the Last Supper, as Christ had commanded. Each and every Mass since commemorates Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through the Holy Eucharist. Because the Mass “re-presents” (makes present) the sacrifice on Calvary, Catholics all around the world join together to be made present in Christ’s timeless sacrifice for our sins. There is something fascinating about continuing to celebrate the same Mass—instituted by Christ and practiced by the early Church—with the whole community of Catholics around the world…and in heaven.

THE REAL PRESENCE

Why does the Catholic Church believe Christ is really present in the Eucharist?
The Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence is the belief that Jesus Christ is literally, not symbolically, present in the Holy Eucharist—body, blood, soul and divinity. Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because Jesus tells us this is true in the Bible:

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” - John 6:48-56
Furthermore, the early Church Fathers either imply or directly state that the bread and wine offered in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is really the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrine of the Real Presence that Catholics believe today was believed by the earliest Christians 2,000 years ago!

This miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

MEDJUGORJE MESSAGE & NEW FILM

Feb 25 Medjugorje Message

Today, February 25, 2015, Our Lady appeared to the visionary Marija and delivered the following message:

“Dear children! In this time of grace I call all of you: pray more and speak less. In prayer seek the will of God and live it according to the commandments to which God calls you. I am with you and am praying with you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

 A note from filmmaker Sean Bloomfield

After the success of The Triumph - which played in cinemas in more than 150 cities around the world and raised over $200,000 for charities - I have often been asked what I will work on next.

Over the past few years, an idea has been brewing, and I’ve been praying for guidance. Now, I’m thrilled to announce Apparition Hill, a documentary that will take audience participation to a whole new level.

First, a little about the origin of the idea…

In recent years, I’ve brought some people who are very close to me to Medjugorje—people who were really struggling in life—and I saw, once again, how powerful and life-changing even a short pilgrimage can be. In just the last two years, I accompanied a skeptic who was struggling to understand a death in his family, a young mother who was terminally ill, and a middle-aged businessman with a daily crack cocaine addiction that cost him everything but his life, and nearly even that.

Immediately after coming back from Medjugorje, the skeptic became a believer, the mother’s illness went into remission, and the businessman has stayed drug-free. These are just a few of the millions of people whose lives have been changed in Medjugorje. I’ve also accompanied some recent pilgrimages, and, in doing so, I was reminded of all the pilgrimages I’ve been on over the years, especially my first one in 2000 which dramatically changed my life.

I have always loved seeing the dynamics of a Medjugorje pilgrimage. It’s like some kind of social experiment: a bunch of people with different backgrounds and different ages are grouped together and immersed into one of the most intense spiritual journeys any of them will ever experience. They arrive as complete strangers, but they go home as brothers and sisters, and the bonds that they forge during that short time often last a lifetime.

These two things—the life-changing experience of Medjugorje, and the unlikely solidarity found in a pilgrimage—are what led me to the idea of Apparition Hill. The idea is really a question: what will happen if I gather a random group of people from all different backgrounds and immerse them in a Medjugorje experience? Of course, we won’t know the answer to that question until the film is complete, but I do expect many surprises—for the group, for me, and for the audience.

Now, more than ever before, I feel a strong call to continue sharing the story of Medjugorje, and I aim to do so with everything that God has given me. Primarily I want to share it with those who do not yet know the love of God. I hope that this film can especially reach and inspire such people.

I can’t tell you how many people have said that they were somehow deeply affected by The Triumph. People have had conversions, people have joined Cenacolo, people have gone to Medjugorje for the first time, and people who have never prayed before have started doing so. This was all due to the power of Medjugorje.

Still, I want to reach an even larger audience with Our Lady's incredibly important message, and I’m hoping that Apparition Hill can do exactly that. But first, we need people! To find the people who will go on the trip and be part of the film, I’ve created an online video contest where you can nominate yourself or someone else by posting a short video. The public can then vote on who they want to see in the film, and we will select the winners out of the entries with the highest number of votes.

Five peoplewill be given an all-expenses-paid, 2-to-3-week trip to Medjugorje, and their entire journey will be documented.

I’m hoping to find a wide range of people who are willing to go to Medjugorje—even if only for the promise of a free European trip - including atheists, agnostics, fallen-away Catholics, people struggling with an illness or the death of a loved one, and of course believers, priests, and people discerning a religious life. The contest is open to anyone who has never been to Medjugorje before.

This will only succeed if it becomes a grassroots movement, and you, individually, have the power to help make Apparition Hill a worldwide success…

First of all, please like the film’s Facebook page and share this news with everyone you know, especially anyone who might benefit from a trip to Medjugorje.

Second, please become a Production Partner by donating to our crowdfunding campaign and help us get this adventure off the ground. We have some great perks to offer.

You can enter the contest at the film’s official website, ApparitionHill.tv.

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