John 6: 53 57

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Who is this guy? and Why is he here?

• Saint Cecilia parishioner about 10 years (Jinx
  and Erin)
• 1 of 7 kids in a devout Catholic family
• Sitting in Mass one Sunday, our former Pastor,
  Bishop Rizzottos homily was about Stewardship
  and he talked about Time, Talent, and Treasure
• How God has given every single one of us various
  talents and we need to discern what those talents
  are and begin working to use them to further
  Gods kingdom here on earth
• Involved in the music ministry as a cantor our
  daughter was in the St. Cecilia Singers so we
  attended the 900 am Mass, and I would cantor at
  730 am, 9 am, or sometimes the 5 pm Saturday
  Mass.
• About 3 years or so ago I was at a party and
  someone told me the parish was going to initiate
  the LIFE TEEN Program here.
• I was like, OK, greatwhats LIFE TEEN?

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Who is this guy? and Why is he here?

• Fast forward
• I became involved in this ministry
• Im on the Core Team
• And Im involved in the music
• Attended 2 Steubenville Conferences
• During the Year of The Eucharist (October 2004
  October 2005)
• Initiated by John Paul II to assist us in truly
  recognizing or reawakening to the Beauty and
  Amazing Gift that is The Eucharist
• At last Junes Steubenville South Conference,
  after well over 40 years of Catholicismmy eyes
  were opened to a whole new understanding of The
  Eucharist

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The Eucharist

• So what does that mean?
• A whole new understanding
• Its just a beginning,working to better
  understand it everyday
• The Eucharist isAMAZING! The Eucharist
  isINCREDIBLE!
• It is one of the greatest gifts weve been given
  by God
• Eucharist means Thanksgiving
• Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification
• Last June, I realized what the Real Presence of
  Christ meant and what it means to believe that.

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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. For in the blessed
  Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good
  of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.

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The Eucharist

• CCC 1325
• The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and
  sublime cause of that communion in the divine
  life and that unity of the People of God by which
  the Church is kept in being. It is the
  culmination both of Gods action sanctifying the
  world in Christ and of the worship men offer to
  Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy
  Spirit.

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The Eucharist

• CCC 1326
• Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we
  already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy
  and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all
  in all.

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The Eucharist

• CCC 1327
• In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of
  our faith Our way of thinking is attuned to the
  Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our
  way of thinking.

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What is this Sacrament called?

• CCC 1329
• The Lords Supper, because of its connection with
  the supper which the Lord took with his disciples
  on the eve of his Passion and because it
  anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the
  heavenly Jerusalem.
• The Breaking of the Bread, because Jesus used
  this rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master
  of the table he blessed and distributed the
  bread, above all at the Last Supper. It is by
  this action that his disciples will recognize him
  after his Resurrection, and it is this expression
  that the first Christians will use to designate
  their Eucharistic assemblies, by doing so they
  signified that all who eat the one broken bread,
  Christ, enter into communion with him and form
  but one body in him.

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What is this Sacrament called?

• CCC 1329 (continued)
• The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the
  Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the
  faithful, the visible expression of the Church.
• CCC 1330
• The memorial of the Lords Passion and
  Resurrection.
• The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the
  one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes
  the Church's offering. The terms holy sacrifice
  of the Mass, "sacrifice of praise," spiritual
  sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used,
  since it completes and surpasses all the
  sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

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What is this Sacrament called?

• CCC 1330 (continued)
• The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the
  Church's whole liturgy finds its center and most
  intense expression in the celebration of this
  sacrament in the same sense we also call its
  celebration the Sacred Mysteries. We speak of
  the Most Blessed Sacrament because it is the
  Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species
  reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this
  same name.

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What is this Sacrament called?

• CCC 1331
• Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we
  unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers
  in his Body and Blood to form a single body. We
  also call it the holy things (ta hagia sancta)
  the first meaning of the phrase communion of
  saints in the Apostles Creed the bread of
  angels, bread from heaven, medicine of
  immortality, viaticum
• CCC 1332
• Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which
  the mystery of salvation is accomplished
  concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the
  faithful, so that they may fulfill Gods will in
  their daily lives.

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The Eucharist The MassThe witness of Saint
Justin Martyr ( AD 155 )

• Wrote to the pagan Roman emperor Antoninus Pius
• CCC 1345
• On the day we call the day of the sun, all who
  dwell in the city or country gather in the same
  place.
• The memoirs of the apostles are read, as much as
  time permits.
• When the reader has finished, he who presides
  over those gathered admonishes and challenges
  them to imitate these beautiful things.
• Then we all rise together and offer prayers for
  ourselvesand for all others, wherever they may
  be, so that we may be found righteous by our life
  and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so
  as to obtain eternal salvation.

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The Eucharist The MassThe witness of Saint
Justin Martyr ( AD 155 )

• CCC 1345 (continued) Please see the NOTES view
  of this Slide
• When the prayers are concluded we exchange the
  kiss.
• Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and
  wine mixed together to him who presides over the
  brethren.
• He takes them and offers praise and glory to the
  Father of the universe, through the name of the
  Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable
  time he gives thanks (in Greek eucharistian)
  that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.
• When he has concluded the prayers and
  thanksgivings, all present give voice to an
  acclamation by saying 'Amen.'
• When he who presides has given thanks and the
  people have responded, those whom we call deacons
  give to those present the "eucharisted" bread,
  wine and water and take them to those who are
  absent.

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CCC 1346

• CCC 1346
• The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to
  a fundamental structure which has been preserved
  throughout the centuries down to our own day. It
  displays two great parts that form a fundamental
  unity
• - the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with
  readings, homily and general intercessions
• - the liturgy of the Eucharist, with the
  presentation of the bread and wine, the
  consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.
• The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the
  Eucharist together form "one single act of
  worship" the Eucharistic table set for us is the
  table both of the Word of God and of the Body of
  the Lord.

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CCC 1347

• CCC 1347
• Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal
  of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking
  with them he explained the Scriptures to them
  sitting with them at table "he took bread,
  blessed and broke it, and gave it to them."

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CCC 1358

• CCC 1358
• We must therefore consider the Eucharist as
• thanksgiving and praise to the Father
• the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body
• the presence of Christ by the power of his word
  and of his Spirit.

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The Real Presence

• CCC 1373 "Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was
  raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of
  God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in
  many ways to his Church in his word, in his
  Church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered
  in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the
  imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the
  author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the
  person of the minister. But "he is present . . .
  most especially in the Eucharistic species."
• CCC 1374 In the most blessed sacrament of the
  Eucharist the body and blood, together with the
  soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and,
  therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and
  substantially contained.

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The Real Presence

• CCC 1375
• It is by the conversion of the bread and wine
  into Christ's 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 God's. This
  is my body, he says. This word transforms the
  things offered.

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The Real Presence

• If Christ walked through these doors this very
  moment, what would you do? I submit to you
  virtually all of us would probably faint.
• Any that didnt and were not completely
  immobilized by complete and total amazement,
  would fall prostrate and begin to cry in
  unimaginable joy, adoration, praise, and worship.
  
• Yet, we and our teens seem to approach the
  Eucharist and receive Him most every Sunday like
• Were getting the mail,
• Driving car pool, or driving to work,
• Going to the store, or doing our homework,
• Its just one of the many things Ive got to do
  today. And once I do, I just check it offwhats
  next on the list?

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The Real Presence

• So, what should we do to respond to the Lords
  invitation to receive Him in the sacrament of the
  Eucharist,
• We must prepare ourselves for so great and so
  holy a moment
• Humble ourselves
• Examine our conscience
• Observe the fast required of our Church
• Bodily demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to
  convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this
  moment when Christ becomes our guest

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Recognition and Realization

• Luke 2413-35
• The apostles on the road to Emmaus
• How He was made known to them in the breaking
  of the bread
• Recognition and Realization

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Recognition and Realization

• John the Apostle
• From a well-to-do family (fishing) who, when they
  met Our Lord, put themselves completely and
  unhesitatingly at his disposal.
• First met Jesus through John the Baptist
  Behold the Lamb of God. They heard him say
  that and they stayed with him and never left him
  again.
• By far the youngest apostle not even 20 when he
  answered the Lords call
• Kind of like a teen from St. Cecilia Young and
  from a wealthy family
• Johns whole life was centered on his Lord and
  Master in his faithfulness to Jesus he found the
  meaning of his life. He put up no resistance of
  any kind to His call he was found on Calvary
  when all the others had disappeared.
• The disciple whom Jesus loved was leaning
  against His breast when Jesus revealed who would
  betray Him.
• Jesuss extreme expression of love and confidence
  occurred from the cross when He entrusted to John
  the greatest love He had on earth His most holy
  Motherthe Mother of God.
• Woman behold your son. Behold your mother.

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Recognition and Realization

• John 213 - 7
• John recognizes his Savior
• It is the Lord!
• Simon Peters reaction He jumped into the sea.
• They ate together (verse 13) Jesus came over
  and took the bread and gave it to them,

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Recognition and Realization

• God's love for us is poured out in the sacrament
  of the Eucharist, where Christ is truly present
  for us, giving us life and healing.
• We must achieve a new recognition, realization,
  and love for the sacrament of the Eucharist.
• We must realize the true gift that is the
  Eucharist, and rediscover the absolute love and
  beauty contained within it and the grace that it
  provides.
• Lead your children and our parishs youth to a
  new recognition and realization of our Savior in
  The Eucharist.
• We must be leaders to each other and to our
  teens.
• We must inspire our teens to be leaders to their
  peers.

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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?

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The Infinite Power of the Mass

• "Suppose you are most anxious to get from God
  some real favor and suppose He told Blessed
  Michael the Archangel to gather into one vast
  cathedral
• All the millions of the faithful, bishops,
  priests, religious etc. who are now on earth,
• All the souls in purgatory,
• All the millions of saints in Heaven,
• And all the missions of angels
• And then, suppose that all these with the Blessed
  Virgin at their head, were told to bow down in
  profound adoration before God, and with all the
  fervor they were capable of, to praise Him and to
  ask Him to grant you the favor you desire.
• Consider what an immense amount of glory this
  would give to God, and what wonderful power it
  would have with Him!

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The Infinite Power of the Mass

• Yet, the power of one single Mass is infinitely
  greater than all this. And Why?
• Because in the Mass it is not angels and saints
  alone who pray for you it is Jesus Christ
  Himself, and He not only prays for you but He
  also offers up His merits for you, and as He is
  God, His prayers and His merits give infinitely
  more glory to God and are infinitely more
  powerful than the united prayers and offerings of
  all the angels and men, even if they were
  continued for all eternity.
• We ought then to value the Mass above all things
  we should never miss Mass when we have an
  opportunity of attending it we should try to
  hear it with the greatest attention, and most
  important of all, we should offer out prayers in
  union with the prayers of Christ, this will make
  them all-powerful.

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The Happy Mass

• Someone once told me that theyd heard our 500
  pm Mass referred to as the Happy Mass.
• And I thought for a moment, What a
  compliment!it is a Happy Massevery Eucharist is
  a Happy Mass, because of the very thing were
  celebrating, remembering, and thanking God for
• His timeless gift of endless unconditional
  love, everlasting life, AND unity with Him,
  everyone on earth, the heavenly host of angels,
  and the entire communion of saints.
• If thats not something to get happy aboutI
  dont think I will ever know what is!
• And the music is a bonus. You dont need upbeat
  music in fact, you dont need music at all to
  celebrate a most amazing gift from God The
  Eucharist.

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• 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

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Scriptural references for the Mass

• Sign of the Cross Eph 113 Rev 73 Mt 2819
• The Lord be with you 2Timothy 422
• Lord have mercy Psalm 511 Bar 32 Luke
  1813, 38, 39
• Glory to God Luke 214
• Holy Holy Holy Isaiah 63 Rev 48
• Blessed is he who comes
• in the name of the Lord Mark 119-10
• Consecration Mark 1422-24
• Our Father Matthew 69-13
• Lamb of God John 129,36
• I am not worthy Luke 77
• Kneeling Psalm 956 Acts 215
• Singing 2 Macc 107,38 Acts 1625
• Sign of Peace 1 Sam. 256 1 Thess 526
• Incense Jeremiah 415 Rev 48
• Served by Priest Ex 283-4, Rev 206
• Offering of Bread and Wine Gen 1418 Mt 2626-28
• Eucharist John 653-54

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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.'"

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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

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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.

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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.

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CCC 1393

• CCC 1393
• Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body
  of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is given
  up for us, and the blood we drink shed for the
  many for the forgiveness of sins. For this
  reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ
  without at the same time cleansing us from past
  sins and preserving us from future sins
• For as often as we eat this bread and drink the
  cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord.

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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.

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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. 

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Church Fathers

• Saint Justin Martyr ( AD 155 )
• 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.

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Saint Justin Martyr

• AD 155, under ruthless interrogation by
  Ruticus, 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."