The Eucharist

For me as a convert, the Eucharist was the hardest thing I had to grapple with before making a definitive decision. It seemed almost blasphemous for Catholics to claim that bread and wine could become Jesus Christ. I, as a Methodist was not exposed to this belief even though they claim to have a similar belief. Methodists don't acknowledge a physical change of the substance and they and other Protestants will reject the Latin Catholic philosophical construct of "transubstantiation" as being a heretical idea. While the East does not tend to use philosophy and is more simplistic in its approach to theology, I myself see nothing wrong with the term "transubstantiation."

What Protestants fail to realize is that the term "transubstantiation" is not being used to explain a mystery, nor does it make that claim. What it does do, is acknowledge that the term is a paradox. The Latin Church was prominent in the West and was much more into scholasticism and more technological advanced than their Eastern brethren. They used philosophy to help reveal beliefs of the Church that those on the outside could not come to grips. The term can be traced back to as early as 1079 by Hildebert of Tours, however it may have been earlier that it was used.

Here is an excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

"The application of the foregoing to the Eucharist is an easy matter. First of all the notion of conversion is verified in the Eucharist, not only in general, but in all its essential details. For we have the two extremes of conversion, namely, bread and wine as the terminus a quo, and the Body and Blood of Christ as the terminus ad quem. Furthermore, the intimate connection between the cessation of one extreme and the appearance of the other seems to be preserved by the fact, that both events are the results, not of two independent processes, as, e.g. annihilation and creation, but of one single act, since, according to the purpose of the Almighty, the substance of the bread and wine departs in order to make room for the Body and Blood of Christ. Lastly, we have the commune tertium in the unchanged appearances of bread and wine, under which appearances the pre-existent Christ assumes a new, sacramental mode of being, and without which His Body and Blood could not be partaken of by men. That the consequence of Transubstantiation, as a conversion of the total substance, is the transition of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, is the express doctrine of the Church (Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, can. ii)." Catholic Encyclopedia

In simple terms, this means that the bread and wine cease being bread and wine (except in appearance with what the 5 senses can deduce) and become the Body and Blood of the risen Lord, Our Saviour Jesus Christ. What I had to decide after learning about the Church's position on the Eucharist was that either this truly is the God of the Universe coming down and changing the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, or it was the greatest blasphemy and folly committed by human beings.

After all, Catholics, particularly in the West, do what is called Eucharistic Adoration. This is where the Eucharist is placed in a device called a Monstrance and the faithful come to adore Christ. The Eucharist IS Christ. There was a miracle that occurred at Lanciano, in Italy the 8th Century A.D. The host and consecrated wine turned into real flesh and real blood. If the Eucharist is not Jesus Christ, then Catholics are committing the gravest idolatry committed by any religious body.

I encourage you if you have not yet been, to go to Eucharistic Adoration especially if you are not Catholic. You will find the true presence of Christ in ways so unexplainable.

Until next time,

-Andrew

Thoughts on devisiveness...

I had posted my thoughts on devisiveness and pride from my point of view on Protestant Christianity on Catholic Answers forums a while back. It got very few replies so either people thought I was a fool or it made them think and/or planted seeds of Truth. I pray it was the latter. This post was made on Holy Saturday.

I want to share this with you all, and please give me your thoughts on the matter!

Yesterday at three o'clock in the afternoon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died for us....

Last night at my Maronite parish, there was a special service for the Great Friday of the Crucifixion. It was probably the most powerful and moving thing that I have ever witnessed in my 18 years of life.

They had a burial shroud set up underneath the crucifix where people laid flowers before it started. And then after they read through the Gospels, and Father gave his homily, Christ was taken down from the Cross, placed on the shroud. I helped to process around the church three times with it, and then we held it up while people walked through it. We then set it back down and then everyone came forward and kissed the feet of Christ. As I knelt down to kiss His foot, I almost bursted into tears.

We chanted a few songs in Arabic, one of them being 'Wa Habibi' which the lyrics are translated as:

Quote:

My Love, My Love What has befallen you? Who saw you and grieved for you, You who are righteous? My Love, what is the sin of our times and our children? These wounds have no cure.

After I came home, I watched The Passion of Christ as I do every Good Friday now. However, while I was watching the re-enactment of what Our Lord went through, it really made me think. I heard them accuse Christ of blaspheming by saying that "He says he's the Bread of Life and that if we don't eat his flesh and drink his blood we won't have eternal life!"

That line struck me hard. But what I really thought about and contemplated, was why would Christ go through all of that for us and then "abandon His followers?" Why would the God of the UNIVERSE take on flesh, and willingly die for you and me, if only then to just leave them without a guide, someone to help them until He comes again in glory? Watching that movie again made me so thankful that God did such a thing and made me feel so unworthy as a human that He had do go through such things.

It also re-affirmed in my heart that Christ would never leave us, and He left us a real, physical Church that will stand until He comes again and He gives us His REAL Body and Blood at every Liturgy.

After witnessing what Our Lord probably went through, I cannot and WILL not accept the modern (past 500 years) idea that He left us alone until some men decided that Christ was wrong, and wanted to redefine what He said and taught. Albeit they did not directly say such things, but by saying the Church He started was wrong, they were saying He was.

This is my reflection on the Passion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You can take it or leave it. I for one can never reject Christ, by rejecting His Church. It cost Him too much...


PS, a video I found that has 'Wa Habibi' along with scenes from The Passion.

First posting!

Glory to Jesus Christ!

This is Andrew (AKA ItalianPapist in some spheres) from the St. Pio Society of Evangelists website. I decided it would be much better to have a blog separate from the main site for several reasons. These are:

--It would not sully the good name of the site in the event that someone posted something vulgar
--and I could not figure out how to get the blog to work for it.

Anyways, I hope this blog will be informational and help keep you up-to-date with the goings on of the Society, (which is not a society in the traditional sense, but more of an informational site to share and promote the Faith). I'll also be posting things about Church news, ecumenical happenings, evangelism events and other great things to help you bolster the Catholic faith, or learn more about it.

Please keep this outreach in your prayers!