John 6: 53 57

1
John 6 53 - 57

• "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. Just as the
  living Father sent me and I have life because of
  the Father so also the one who feeds on me will
  have life because of me.'"

2
John 6 60 - 62

• This saying is hard who can accept it?
• But Jesus knew they were struggling and said to
  them,
• Does this shock you? What if you were to see
  the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
• Remember crazy love,bizarre love

3
The Eucharist

• CCC 1324
• The Eucharist is the source and summit of the
  Christian life. The other sacraments, and
  indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of
  the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist
  and are oriented toward it.

4
The Real Presence

• CCC 1375
• It is by the conversion of the bread and wine
  into Christs body and blood that Christ becomes
  present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers
  strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the
  efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action
  of the Holy Spirit to bring about this
  conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares
• It is not man that causes the things offered to
  become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who
  was crucified for us, Christ himself. The
  priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these
  words, but their power and grace are Gods. This
  is my body, he says. This word transforms the
  things offered.

5
The Real Presence

• CCC 1377
• The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the
  moment of the consecration and endures as long as
  the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is
  present whole and entire in each of the species
  and whole and entire in each of their parts, in
  such a way that the breaking of the bread does
  not divide Christ.

6
Eucharistic Miracles

• Lanciano, Italy (700 800 AD)
• As a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt
  about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.
• During Holy Mass, after the two-fold
  consecration, the host was changed into live
  Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood,
  which coagulated into five globules, irregular
  and differing in shape and size.
• Scientific investigation occurred in 1970-'71 and
  again in 1981. The analyses were conducted with
  absolute and unquestionable scientific precision
  and they were documented with a series of
  microscopic photographs.

7
Eucharistic Miracles

• Lanciano, Italy (700 800 AD)
• These analyses sustained the following
  conclusions
• The Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real
  Blood.
• The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human
  species.
• The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the
  heart.
• The Flesh is a "HEART" complete in its essential
  structure.
• The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type
  AB (Blood-type identical to that uncovered in
  the Holy Shroud of Turin).
• In the Blood there were found proteins in the
  same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are
  found in the make-up of the fresh normal blood.
• In the Blood there were also found these
  minerals chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium,
  potassium, sodium and calcium.
• The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood,
  which were left in their natural state for twelve
  centuries and exposed to the action of
  atmospheric and biological agents, remains an
  extraordinary phenomenon.

8
Eucharistic Miracles

• Blanot, France (Easter Sunday, March 31, 1331)
• One of the last to receive was a woman named
  Jacquette.
• The priest placed the Host on her tongue, turned,
  and started walking toward the altar.
• It was then that several people saw the Host fall
  from the woman's mouth and land upon the cloth
  that covered her hands.
• The priest immediately left the altar and
  approached the railing but instead of finding
  the Host, he saw a spot of blood the same size as
  the Host, which had apparently dissolved into
  blood.
• When the Mass was completed, the priest took the
  cloth into the sacristy and placed the stained
  area in a basin filled with clear water. After
  washing the spot and scrubbing it with his
  fingers numerous times he found that, far from
  becoming smaller and lighter, it had actually
  become larger and much darker. On removing the
  cloth from the basin he was surprised to find
  that the water had turned bloody.

9
Church Fathers

• Saint Cyril of Jerusalem ( AD 350 )
• Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as
  simply that for they are, according to the
  Masters declaration, the Body and Blood of
  Christ.
• Even though the senses suggest to you the other,
  let faith make you firm. Do not judge this
  matter by taste, but be fully assured by the
  faith, not doubting that you have been deemed
  worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ.

10
Church Fathers

• Saint Justin Martyr ( AD 150 )
• Wrote in an Apology to the Roman Emperor
• We call this food Eucharist and no one else is
  permitted to partake of it, except one who
  believes our teaching to be trueFor not as
  common bread nor common drink do we receive
  these but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made
  incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh
  and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have
  been taught, the food which has been made into
  the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down
  by Him, and by the change of which our blood and
  flesh is nourished, is both the Flesh and Blood
  of that incarnated Jesus.

11
Church Fathers

• Saint Justin Martyr ( AD 150 )
• Under ruthless interrogation by Rusticus, the
  Roman Prefect
• Rusticus "Hearken, you who are called learned,
  and think that you know true doctrines if you
  are scourged and beheaded, do you believe you
  will ascend into heaven?
• Justin "I hope that, if I endure these things,
  I shall have His gifts. For I know that, to all
  who have thus lived, there abides the divine
  favour until the completion of the whole world.
• Rusticus "Do you suppose, then, that you will
  ascend into heaven to receive some recompense?
• Justin "I do not suppose it, but I know and am
  fully persuaded of it.
• Rusticus offer sacrifice with one accord to
  the gods.
• Justin "No right-thinking person falls away
  from piety to impiety.
• Rusticus "Unless ye obey, ye shall be
  mercilessly punished.
• Justin "Through prayer we can be saved on
  account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we
  have been punished, because this shall become to
  us salvation and confidence at the more fearful
  and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and
  Saviour.
• Thus also said the other martyrs "Do what you
  will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice
  to idols."

12
John Paul II

• John Paul II points us in the direction we need
  to be looking as we quote from his Encyclical
  Letter Ecclesia De Eucharistia
• The Church draws her life from the Eucharist.
  This truth does not simply express a daily
  experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart
  of the mystery of the Church.
• Consequently the gaze of the Church is
  constantly turned to her Lord, present in the
  sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers
  the full manifestation of his boundless love.

13
The Source and The Summit

• So, we should draw our life and all our hope from
  the Eucharist. Jesus Christ waits for us in the
  Tabernacle and in the Monstrance. So, visit him
  frequently and do not pass by him without
  acknowledging him or with an indifferent heart.
• Passing a Catholic church, acknowledge Christ in
  the Tabernacle. There are Tabernacles in our
  Catholic schools (in the chapels of St. Thomas,
  St. Agnes, Jesuit, Duchesne)right here about 75
  feet from where we are right now.
• Anticipate seeing Him as you would a good
  friend.  When you receive Eucharist at Mass, have
  in your heart a prayer and thought of
  Thanksgiving
• Use the words of Thomas, Thank You Jesus. My
  Lord and my God, I believe and trust in you. 

14
We are Called to bring Jesus Christ into the World

• Into our homes
• To the dinner table
• To places we will be on vacation
• To our work
• Into the hallways and classrooms of our High
  Schools
• Everywhere we go, everywhere we are

15
How do we do this?

• 1 Seek Holiness for yourself, Sanctifying
  Grace
• Create a firm foundation with a Daily Prayer Life
  
• Morning offering and Prayer
• Read the Bible - Daily scriptures for the week
  are in every weekly Bulletin
• Subscribe to Bible Geeks Spread the Word on
  www.lifeteen.com
• Evening prayer prayer of thanksgiving and
  blessing
• Draw close to the Sacraments, the Eucharist,
  Adoration, Reconciliation, and Confirmation
• Be another Christ - Holiness should be
  natural, cheerful and joyful. You should exude
  grace. There are no and were no grumpy saints.

16

• Dont fail to respond to the Master who calls.
  Follow Him to become, like the apostles, fishers
  of men. Make Christs word reach those who still
  dont know Him. Have the courage to bear witness
  to the gospel on the streets and in the town
  squares, in the valleys and mountains of the
  nation!
• 
  John Paul II

17
Am I Truly Prepared to Be One With Jesus?

• Am I in a state of grace, that is - I am not
  aware of any unconfessed sin?
• If not, then I need to celebrate the Sacrament of
  Reconciliation first.
• Have I observed the one-hour fast from food and
  drink (except for food and medicine) before
  receiving Our Lord?
• Do I believe in the Real Presence do I believe
  that Christ is present Body and Blood, Soul,
  and Divinity?
• Am I faithful to the moral teachings of the
  Church in my personal and public lives?
• Do I know them? Am I faithful to them? Am I
  living them?