Our Sacramental Life

This is an excellent article on the Blessed Sacrament.

Here is a snippet of the article.

THE FOOD OF OUR SOULS

 

THE sacraments, as we know, are outward signs; and they give the grace which they signify. The Blessed Eucharist is received under the outward form of eating and drinking, and this signifies that the effect produced in our souls is like that produced in our bodies and in our natural life by the food and drink which we take. Through the sacrament of Baptism we received supernatural life.

 

Confirmation ratified the consecration given to our souls in Baptism, brought us into closer union with God, and called us to higher responsibilities in the supernatural order. Now every living being needs food, and the more active it is the more its energy needs to be restored and maintained by regular and suitable nourishment. This is none the less true of the supernatural life of the soul. We must grow in grace; we must have strength to practise high and difficult virtues; we must be able to resist those evil influences which are within us and all around us; and we must counteract what we may call the ordinary wear and tear to which we are subject-even spiritually-so long as we are on trial in this world.

 

We may, in a true sense, say that all sanctifying grace which we receive from God is food for our souls, because. by it our souls are strengthened and our supernatural life intensified. But God has given us one particular sacrament which is in a special sense the food of our souls, and the food which we receive in this sacrament is really and truly God Himself. Suppose that we had been allowed to plan for ourselves, and arrange the spiritual helps that were to be given to us to enable us to lead a holy life. Could we ever have dreamt that it would be possible for us to have our souls nourished by the very substance of Jesus Christ Himself' And even if the possibility of such a thing had crossed our minds, could we have dared to hope or expect that God would give us such a gift? Even though His infinite goodness and love were known to us, could we have imagined that God, Who had taken our nature in order to be more closely united with us, would go still further and give Himself to each of us, individually, under the appearance of corporal food?

Read the whole article here :

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-330.shtml#_Toc349935995

The Gift Divine -- All About the Doctrine of the Real Presence

I strongly believe that it is necessary for Catholics living in Metro Cities all across the world to develop an appreciation for the "Doctrine of the Real Presence".

This is the need of the Hour right now.

The Doctrine of the Real Presence is a "Heavenly Gift" in more ways than one.

Only the Catholic Church has the Unique Distinction of possessing it.

This article, is magnificent in more ways than one as it extols the Beauty and Depth of the Doctrine of the Real Presence.

Here is a snippet of the article.

THE BREAD OF LIFE :

 

ONE day more than nineteen centuries ago a man was preaching to an attentive group in the Jewish synagogue at Capharnaum, a city situated near the Lake of Genesareth in Palestine. He was Jesus, well known to the people of that region as a prophet who taught sublime doctrines and a lofty code of morality, proclaiming them to be the revelations of God Himself. To support His claim, He performed wondrous deeds which evidently could be accomplished only with the miraculous assistance of the Almighty. Even now, as He was speaking, His listeners recalled that two days previously He had fed a multitude of five thousand persons with five barley loaves and two fishes, and some even knew that afterwards He had walked upon the waters of the storm-tossed sea to meet His disciples struggling in their tiny boat. With these thoughts in mind to persuade them that when a man exercised such extraordinary power it must be that the God of truth was attesting the correctness of His statements, the people listened to an astounding promise from the lips of Him whom Catholics acknowledge as the Son of God made man.

 

'I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst. . . . I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. . . . Amen, amen, I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him (John vi. 35-57).

Read the whole article here :

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-173.shtml#_Toc349935838

An Apostle of Christ from the Land of the Rising Sun

He is a Martyr even though he was not killed for the faith.

He is a Martyr because despite his wealth and power he chose the path of Poverty, Humiliation, and Complete Obedience to God's Will.

His name is Justo Takayama Ukon.

He was a Feudal Lord who lived in Feudal Japan but who chose the "Rocky Road" over a life of comfort.

Ukon made a conscious choice to follow along the footsteps of the Crucified Jesus Christ.

He showed no hesitation in renouncing his high social status, his nobility, and wealth and comforts in order to maintain an intimate bond with Jesus Christ and be publicly faithful to the Gospel.

Ukon was a Samurai of Jesus Christ, who acted according to his conscience and fought the good battle -- A Non - Violent Battle as an ardent disciple of Jesus Christ.

Credits and References :

Newsbits -- Japan
Pages 31-32
Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
March 2015
Vol - 16, N0-11


 

A Floating Catholic Church

 A Group of Singaporeans holidaying in Cambodia were delighted when they came across a "Floating Catholic Church".

It was once a Karaoke Lounge, before Jesuit Priests bought it to serve the small number of Catholics in the village.

Jesuit Father Henri Bratasudarma is the Parish Priest of this Fascinating Church.

It has many floating villages and three of them have Catholic Communities. When Father Henri first arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia there were only 20 Catholics attending Mass on Sunday. Gradually, the number of Catholics attending Mass increased.

Father Henri is extremely grateful to the Missionaries of Charity Sisters, as they went around visiting the poor in their habits. Their Presence was like an advertisement of the presence of the Catholic Church in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

After discussing the matter with the local Catholic Bishop, the Jesuit Priests decided to buy over the floating karaoke parlour and turn it into a centre of activities for the Catholic Community.

These include Adoration Sessions before the Holy Eucharist, Masses, Catechism, English and Khmer Lessons for Vietnamese Children and a day in a week when they feed "Rice Soup" to the poor.

Credits and References :

Newsbits -- Cambodia
Page 28
Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
June 2007
Volume 9, N0-2



 

The Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ

The Devotion to the Holy Wounds and the following promises were revealed by Our Lord to Sister Mary Martha Chambon (1841-1907) of the Monastery of the Visitation of Chambery. The cause for her beatification was introduced in 1937.

Promises of Our Lord for those who practice this Devotion :

1. This Aspiration must often be repeated near the sick : My Jesus Christ, Pardon and Mercy through the merits of your Holy Wounds. This Prayer will bring solace to both soul and body.

2. A Sinner who will say, the following prayer will obtain conversion : Eternal Father, I offer you the wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ to heal the wounds of our souls.

3. At each word, that you pronounce of the Chaplet of the Holy Wounds, I allow a drop of my Blood to fall upon the soul of a sinner.

4. Each Time, that you offer to my Father the merits of my divine wounds, you win an immense fortune.

5. Souls that have contemplated and honoured my Crown of Thorns on earth will be my Crown of Glory in Heaven !!

6. I will grant all that is asked of me, through the invocation of My Holy Wounds. With My Wounds and My Divine Heart, everything can be obtained.

7. Plunge your actions into my wounds, and they will be of value. All your actions, even the least soaked in my Blood will acquire by this alone an infinite merit and will please my Heart.

8. When you have some trouble, something to suffer, quickly place it in my Wounds and the pain will be alleviated.

The Chaplet of the Holy Wounds

On the Large Beads of the Rosary say the following

1. Eternal Father, I offer thee the wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ to heal the wounds of our souls.

On the Small Beads ( Say 10 Times)

2. My Jesus Christ, Pardon and Mercy through the Merits of thy Holy Wounds.

Credits and References :

Pilgrim's Guide to Paradise
By Flavio Raposo
Pages 50 -53
July 1999

 

Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary October 7 2016

A Healing Prayer

Introduction :

For many people the Rosary is an important aspect in their lives. It is a simple prayer and a soothing prayer.

For those, with a life long devotion to the rosary it will seem strange to know that there are people who find it hard to say. But, such people exist in this world of ours.

Rushing through Life :

This is a Frenetic Age in which we live. Everything is instant -- Fast Food, Jet Aircraft, Fax Machines, Computers, and Smart Phones.

Press a switch and a device comes on, press another button and the Air Conditioner or Heating Device comes on.

Television, Computers, Smart Phones, and CD Players are all at the command of a button.

At work it is rush, rush, everywhere as we dash from Office to the Xerox Machine and back to the Office again.

We are attuned to speeding and find relaxing very difficult.

It is exactly the same when we come to say our Rosary. We must slow down and concentrate if we are to get any meaning out of the various mysteries of the Rosary.

But it is not so easy today, to say the "Family Rosary". seldom are all the members of a modern catholic family together at the same time.

It is quite trying for the children of this age to say the Rosary in a restless and rushing world they are accustomed to.

Healing Power :

Today, Young People seem to be interested in meditation. They could be taught to realize that the Rosary is one of the oldest forms of meditation. The Older Generation, discovered a healing power in the rhythm of the beads slipping through their fingers. The Older Generation had a wisdom which Young Catholics could well study.

In Our Lady's Apparitions to Saint Bernadette, Our Lady asked for the Rosary to be said. So, She must have set a high value on it.

Conclusion and Helpful Suggestions :

Don't start out by saying a whole rosary specially if you are unaccustomed to it. Say 1 or 2 Decades instead.

Try to be relaxed and give yourself most importantly time.

Finally, Practice makes Perfect. We can start with one decade, but eventually we could end up saying all 5 decades.

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Intercede for all Young People.

Credits and References :

A Prayer that Heals
By Eithne Murphy
Pages 18-19
Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
October 2007
Vol - 9, N0-6

10 Reasons For Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration

1. Your Sacrifice will make the streets safe for God's People :

Those willing to make a sacrifice and keep Jesus Christ company in the middle of the night are the ones who are zealous for his glory in the sanctuary.

They are the ones that will release God's Power and make the streets safe for "His People".

When we unite ourselves with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, we unite ourselves with all the power on earth and in heaven. When you go before Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament you release his power and his graces upon the whole world.

Those who are willing to make a sacrifice and come to Jesus Christ in the middle of the night have that faith !! They have put their faith in the greatest power on earth.

2. Your Sacrifice thanks Him for all He has done for you :

Through Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross, We have the "Gift" of the Holy Eucharist. Good Friday follows Holy Thursday because the passion and death of Jesus Christ was the "Price" that he paid so that we may have divine, immortal, everlasting life in him in the new and everlasting covenant of the Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist flows from "Our Lord's Passion". He poured out His very last drop of blood on the Cross so that he may fill you with his "Divine Love" each time that you receive him in Holy Communion.

What a wonderful opportunity we have in thanking him for this great gift !!

Your Sacrifice of spending an Hour with Jesus Christ in the middle of the night is thanking him for all the sufferings that he endured to give us the gift of the "Holy Eucharist".

3. What Sacrifice can be compared to His ??

Jesus Christ gave up his "Sacred Body" on the Cross for love of you that he may give his body to you in the Holy Eucharist, making himself one with you forever in everlasting glory.

Like wheat which is beaten, broken, and crushed before it becomes bread, Jesus Christ was willing to be beaten, broken, and crushed in "His Passion" that he may become for us the "Living Bread come down from Heaven".

He said, "The Bread I will give to you is "My Flesh" for the life of the world".

Jesus Christ continues to immolate Himself in sacrificial love for us in the Holy Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is the "Immaculate Victim", the "Sacrificial Lamb".

Does the Sacrifice of spending one hour with Him in the middle of the night even begin to compare to the sacrifice that He has made and continues to make for love of us in the Blessed Sacrament ??

4. Your Sacrifice will win Graces for Many :

After the "Last Supper", Jesus Christ went to the garden to pray. As, He began to pray He started to sweat blood because He realized that the "Gift of the Holy Eucharist" that he had just given mankind on "Holy Thursday" night would be appreciated by so few and rejected by so many.

He saw down through the ages; He saw how many would walk away from "His Eucharistic Love" and not even bother to come to Mass on Sunday.

He saw in how many "Tabernacles of the World" He would be left alone and forgotten.

He saw how few would believe in "His Real Presence" and fewer still would respond to "His Appeal" to be loved day and night in the Blessed Sacrament.

He saw how most people would live their lives as if he were not here, God living among his people in the Blessed Sacrament.

Your sacrifices will gain many graces for those who are far from Jesus Christ and bring them back to him in the Blessed Sacrament.

5. Your Sacrifice consoled Jesus Christ in the garden :

When Jesus Christ was in the garden, An Angel from Heaven came to console him. This Angel consoled Jesus Christ, by showing him every "Holy Hour" that you would ever make.

Jesus Christ saw the many sacrifices you would make to get up in the middle of the night each week to keep "Him" company in the Blessed Sacrament for one hour.

These Sacrifices greatly comforted, consoled, strengthened, and encouraged him.

Jesus Christ was pleased that "His Love would be returned with "Our Love" for him in the Blessed Sacrament.

6. Your Sacrifice consoles Jesus Christ now !!

When Jesus Christ was in the garden, Scripture says that "His Heart was filled with sorrow to the point of death. He came to give Himself to Humanity through the Gift of the "Holy Eucharist" yet, so many would reject "His Eucharistic Love".

Rejection broke his heart. "He looked for one who would comfort Him but found none". He called on his apostles to comfort him, but they preferred to sleep because it was in the middle of the night. They slept through Christ's greatest crisis even after he pleaded with them "Could you not watch one hour with me ??"

You are the "Apostles of Jesus Christ" today. Today is another hour of great crisis. Today, Jesus Christ calls out to you in the middle of the night, "Could you not watch one hour with me ??"

He looks to you to comfort Him now !!

7. Be a "Prayer Warrior for Peace" :

Countless Men throughout the ages have made many sacrifices to go to war. How few men are willing to make even a small sacrifice in order to bring about peace.

There has never been a weak army that has ever won a battle against a stronger one. Evil prevails throughout the world today because those who are against God are willing to make more sacrifices than those who are for God.

There is a "Spiritual Warfare" going on today between good and evil. This is the greatest war in the history of humanity because the destiny of the Catholic Church and the world are in the balance.

There is a "Spiritual Red Alert". Who will awake from the complacency of indifference and become a "Soldier for Jesus Christ", a prayer warrior for peace ??

Who will be a "Man of God" and take up the spiritual arms of prayer and sacrifice ??

Who will answer the appeal of Jesus Christ who calls out in the middle of the night ?? Could you not watch One Hour with Me ??

8. Your Sacrifice makes up for the Ingratitude of others !!

Jesus Christ healed ten lepers. Only one came back to give him thanks for the miracle of a clean body.

Jesus Christ said "Were not all ten made whole ?? Where are the other nine ??

Every Sunday, Jesus Christ performs a far greater miracle for us. The "Gift of the Holy Eucharist" makes us immortal with divine life.

Each "Holy Communion" will leave our soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven.

In spite of the fact, that Jesus Christ asks us to give thanks for this "Great Gift" by coming back during the week and visiting him in the Blessed Sacrament, only very few do.

Your Sacrifice will make up for the ingratitude of the "Other Nine" for the many who never think of visiting Him at all.

9. Jesus Christ will call you "Blessed" :

The Holy Eucharist is the continuation of Christ's Incarnation on earth, where the same Jesus Christ born 2000 years ago in Bethlehem is truly present with us now as He was then.

Again, He comes quietly and humbly.

Again, only the humble can see with the eyes of faith the humble "Jesus Christ" hidden in the Blessed Sacrament.

This is the faith that prompts you to come out in the middle of the night to adore him. If He were visible and we could see him with our senses, everyone would run out to welcome Him even in the middle of the night.

But, He remains hidden in the Blessed Sacrament because he is calling us to faith that we may come to him in humility. Your sacrifice is the Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh that pleases Him. Your sacrifice is of more value than all the gifts in the world.

Jesus Christ will truly call you "Blessed" in more ways than one.

10. Be Like Saint John the Apostle !!

Only Saint John had the courage to follow Jesus Christ all the way to the Cross. Because of his spirit of sacrifice, he is known as "The Apostle whom Jesus Christ loved".

Be willing to make a sacrifice by keeping Jesus Christ company for 1 Hour each week in the middle of the night and you too, for all eternity will be known in Heaven as "The Apostle" whom Jesus Christ loves.

If the thought of getting up in the middle of the night seems like too much of an inconvenience to you, the secret is to think of Jesus Christ instead of yourself.

Jesus Christ longs with infinite longing  for everyone to come to him in the Blessed Sacrament. Yet, He is rejected today as he was then. Your sacrifice will help bring all humanity to Him where everyone will worship him as the Lord of Lords in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus Christ longs with infinite longing to make all men one in His "Eucharistic Heart".

At the Last Supper, how privileged Saint John was to come close to Jesus Christ and rest his head on the Heart of Jesus Christ.

You are even more privileged than Saint John in being invited to spend an Hour with Jesus Christ in the middle of the night. Before the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus Christ calls you to come close to Him and rest your head on "His Sacred Heart".

His infinite love for you will make this sacrifice a joy, and forever you will be known in "Heaven" like Saint John, as "The Apostle whom Jesus Christ loves".

Credits and References :

The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
Worthy is the Lamb Newsletter
By Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament
Year 1996
Pages 1-9