From the Jerusalem Catecheses

Body and BloodSacred Chalice with Symbols of Bread and Wheat/© MariuszSzczygiel/Getty Images

By Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

“The Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation”

On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat: this is my body.” He took the cup, gave thanks and said: “Take, drink: this is my blood.” Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt? Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question it and say that it is not his blood?

Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. His body is given to us under the symbol of bread, and his blood is given to us under the symbol of wine, in order to make us by receiving them one body and blood with him. Having his body and blood in our members, we become bearers of Christ and sharers, as Saint Peter says, in the divine nature.

Once, when speaking to the Jews, Christ said: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall have no life in you. This horrified them and they left him. Not understanding his words in a spiritual way, they thought the Saviour wished them to practise cannibalism.

Under the old covenant, there was showbread, but it came to an end with the old dispensation to which it belonged. Under the new covenant, there is bread from heaven and the cup of salvation. These sanctify both soul and body, the bread being adapted to the sanctification of the body, the Word, to the sanctification of the soul.

Do not, then, regard the eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and wine: they are in fact the body and blood of the Lord, as he himself has declared. Whatever your senses may tell you, be strong in faith.

You have been taught and you are firmly convinced that what looks and tastes like bread and wine is not bread and wine but the body and the blood of Christ. You know also how David referred to this long ago when he sang: Bread gives strength to man’s heart and makes his face shine with the oil of gladness. Strengthen your heart, then, by receiving this bread as spiritual bread, and bring joy to the face of your soul.

May purity of conscience remove the veil from the face of your soul so that by contemplating the glory of the Lord, as in a mirror, you may be transformed from glory to glory in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Reading taken from the Office of Readings. If you are interested in praying the Liturgy of the Hours, then please visit www.universalis.com.

+Fulton J Sheen To Be Beatified

Blessed Fulton Sheen.pngBishop Sheen Portrait / © Greg Hildebrandt 

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, USA, announced Monday that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified December 21 at the City’s Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception. For the Full Story Click HERE

Francis of Assisi

st-francis-373549_1920‘Saint Francis Statue’/Pixabay

Prayer of Saint Francis

 

​L’Eglise, la jeunesse et le monde

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Introduction

“Jesus has won, we know that, perfectly. Then why so many doubts? Why be afraid? Why not rejoice with us about the love of our Creator? Let us be glad, let us be hopeful, let us be Christians.”

Aurélien

L’Eglise n’a jamais compté autant de monde qu’aujourd’hui. Elle ne cesse de croître et le message de salut qu’elle porte atteint toujours plus le cœur et la vie des gens au travers du monde. L’Eglise, telle qu’elle est – et bien que composée de pécheurs – reste incroyablement belle, majestueuse et, évidemment, Sainte. Cependant, en Occident, où l’argent et le libéralisme sontmaîtres, le risque est de nous cacher, d’essayer l’invisibilité. Pour nous, catholiques, la grande tentation est celle de raser les murs, de baisser la tête et de cacher nos manières de vivre, nos passions, notreamour pour Dieu et pour l’humanité. Comme le prophétisait avec justesse le Cardinal Ratzinger en1986, la nouvelle évangélisation doit passer non pas par des « théories – aussi subtilement pensées fussent-elles – [mais] par l’union intime d’une vérité cohérente en soi et de sa mise en œuvre dans lavie [qui] peut faire briller cette évidence de la foi attendue par le genre humain » (Conférences données en 1986 sur invitation de Mgr Giussani, fondateur du mouvement « Communion et Libération »). Si l’on veut changer les mentalités de ce monde « moderne » toujours plus tourné vers la préoccupation individualiste et égalitariste, il faut pouvoir former et accompagner la jeunesse qui saura attester, lorsque son temps viendra, du bonheur résultant de la vie de chrétien telle que Dieunous l’a donnée. C’est par un témoignage de vie parfaitement authentique et par un suivi soucieux despréoccupations de nos jeunes que nous pourrons relancer l’élan missionnaire qui a si bien habité l’Eglise primitive dans les premiers siècles. Nous ne devons reculer en rien sur ce que nous croyons et ne pas faire de concessions sur le message de l’Evangile qui doit être pris dans son intégralité même si certains messages et passages nous gênent – mais n’est-ce pas se laisser déranger par Dieu qui fait de nous des témoins de son Christ ? Cependant, l’exigence de la vérité ne doit pas supplanter l’exigence de l’Amour (cf Mt 22, 37-40) qui est le fondement de la vie en Dieu (cf 1 Jn 4, 16). Il ne sert à rien d’êtreprosélyte ou provocateur : vivons en chrétiens et réjouissons-nous de la Bonne Nouvelle, alors, dans sa miséricorde infinie, le Père enverra son Esprit Saint : cela suffira à rendre au monde un espoir et aux jeunes un sens à leur vie.

Aurélien Muzard, séminariste français

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