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.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

THE DEVIL'S TACTICS

Satan is the most cunning creature ever created by God. He has been studying you and me ever since we were born, and he knows what we have said, what we have done, and what we do when we think no one is looking. He has assigned his best demons to us, choosing them based on our personal weaknesses and their greatest strengths. The purpose of this webpage is to discuss some of Lucifer's tactics, based on real life experiences.

First off, the devil uses ridicule and personal attacks from the educated and so-called "intellectual" class to camouflage his existence. Just bring up the subject of "the devil" at a party or at work, and you are bound to hear something like, "Oh, come on. This is the 21st Century.

No one believes in that medieval stuff anymore. The Catholic Church just made up a bogey man to enrich themselves. Only idiots believe in ghosts and demons and such." So be prepared to be ridiculed and made fun of if you bring up the topic of the reality of the devil.

The so-called "enlightenment" of the 18th Century which replaced faith in God with faith in science and reason in the material world is still a very strong mind-set to a lot of people. In reality, The Enlightenment is that false light that the Bible says that satan can disguise himself as (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

If the devil isn't real, then the Bible is lying to us, because in the desert, Jesus physically talked to satan, and was even carried by Satan to the high point overlooking the world's kingdoms. And Jesus performed exorcisms as well. So if you are confronted with ridicule, then ask the ridiculer why the Bible is lying about the reality of satan, who appeared in the Garden of Eden from day 1.

Secondly, the devil will use your own strengths against you, as some of the martial arts do in self defense. For instance, if you like helping down-and-out people, he will send you a member of the opposite sex who really appeals to your physical senses, and who will regale you with tales of personal woe, all in an attempt to win your heart.

And because you really do want to help him/her because of your Christianity, you reach out to them. But be forewarned, the goal of this person is to ruin your life, and if you fall for the trap, you will soon be in a state of mortal sin, either through fornication or adultery.

This is one of his oldest and best traps, because he will spring it on you when you are at your weakest, say, after a divorce, after the death of a loved one, or after a huge personal loss of some kind, when you feel all alone and unloved. The person Satan will send into your life at your weakest point will tempt you with your main weakness, and will confuse you with his/her seeming goodness and his/her very apparent dark side at the same time.

The wonderful side is the bait to draw you in; the dark side is the trap that will spring shut after you capitulate. DON'T BE FOOLED. The way to recognize this person is that you will feel very good when he/she is around you, and you will feel very guilty when he/she is not around you. And you will have lots of sleepless nights as a result.

Another cunning tactic of the evil one is spiritual pride. This occurs when he sees that he is losing you to Jesus and he knows he can't stop you. So then he goes to Plan B, which is to instill in you the thought that since you know so much more than everyone else about the bible, about the sacraments, about the catechism, etc., then you are somehow better than everyone else who isn't as knowledgeable about God.

Being knowledgeable is a wonderful thing, but in no way does it ever make you better than the great unwashed out there in the world who don't take the time to study theology. Pride is the devil's great sin, because he thinks he is equal to God, as do a lot of people today. But Satan is only a created creature, like you and me, and he is only opposite to Michael the Archangel and the Blessed Virgin Mary, not God.

So don't fall for this trap - we are servants of God, no matter how much we know or don't know. And remember - Satan will ALWAYS outwit us with his knowledge, because he has a superior intellect, no matter how smart we think we are.

BUT, since Satan doesn't have a heart and is full of pride, if our thoughts and actions come from our heart and our humility, we will beat him every time, in Christ Jesus. Mother Mary is the epitome of what we should be, and the more we attach ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, the more Satan fears us.

One of Satan's greatest ploys is the occult. So many people read their daily horoscope, or play with Ouija boards, or have their fortunes told at the rundown shacks of "psychics" in town. DON'T DO THESE THINGS! This is akin to playing with fire.

These things are NOT harmless fun and games, but demonic gateways for Satan and his minions to attach themselves to your soul. The only way to get out of this trap once you get involved with it is to confess it to a priest, and push back against it. Sprinkle any occult object with holy water and burn it. Your life will be a living hell if you do not.

Depression is the devil's compensation for living for him and not for God. He will whisper to you that you are no good, and you might as well end it all now, because God will never forgive you, since you let Him down so much. Of course, before you sin, he will whisper in your ear that you have had a rough life, and you deserve a little pleasure in life. After all, look at all of the rich people who lead sinful lifestyles all the time with sex and money and pleasure, and nothing bad ever happens to them!

And besides, God will always forgive you, and you can go to confession this week anyway. So what's the big deal? So many people fall for this depression trap, and commit suicide as a result. DON'T BE FOOLED. God will ALWAYS forgive you if you repent, and the odds of going to heaven after suicide are pretty slim, although even that can happen, if there is enough time for you to repent after you initiate the act.

And always remember that Satan will show you a great physical time, for a while. He will give you money, sex, power, or whatever, to convince you that you have the secret of life, and that the Mother Teresa's of the world who are God's servants are stupid and dumb. But he will ALWAYS pop your balloon after he has blown it up and puffed you up with pride.

He will let you get away with your favorite sin time after time after time, but one day, you will not get away with it. Either you will be devastated in this life because of your sinful lifestyle (death of a loved one, jail time, depression, etc.), or even worse, you will die unexpectedly and go straight to hell. The bible says that it IS IMPOSSIBLE to please God if you live in the flesh (Romans: 8:8).

There are many many other tactics of Satan, such as allowing you to come in contact with bad influences at work, like the good old boy or the good old girl, who are always joking and kidding around about sex. Another strategy of his is to always upset you, so that you will start to question why God allows these bad things to happen to you.

After all, you will start to think, I am a good person, and if God loved me, then He wouldn't let these things happen to me. Well, guess what - none of the saints ever lived perfect and cushy lives either! Read Job chapter 38 if you want the answer to this question! Still another of his demonic methods is to make life so easy and cushy for you with money and good luck, that you will start to question why you need God at all!

There are many other ways he can get us, but these methods mentioned above are some of the ones that are apparent. And remember, the more you commit yourself to Christ, the more demons Satan will assign to you to trip you up. Prayer, the Rosary, Adoration, helping the less fortunate, performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy on a regular basis, reading scripture, praising God, Daily Mass, singing hymns of praise in your car, etc., are all ways to drive these demons nuts. They have no power over us UNLESS we give in to their temptations. So always remember that you have 2 choices in life:

1. Either your body can drag your soul to hell;

2. OR, your soul can lift your body to heaven.

CHOOSE WISELY!
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment