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It is strange, in the Church today, that many priests who encourage parishioners to go on processions which honour the Blessed Virgin Mary are reluctant to take part in, or allow, devotion and processions which honour her Son, Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament. Surely, those who love Mary should be even more glad to show love for her Divine Son!
Whoever needs help need only go to the hearts of Jesus and Mary, who work together to help and save us. This happened in Lourdes, for example, when Mary appeared to Bernadette, then Jesus was made Present in the grotto in the Blessed Sacrament.
Lourdes is not just an example of care of the sick. In looking at the Domaine in Lourdes, we have a picture of the Church which is in the world but not of it. We have a place for the sacraments, and for Reconciliation, a place for Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, a place for devotion to Mary, a place where contemplatives pray for Church members - and much mutual help between pilgrims during our pilgrimage, including care of strangers.
If we have Christ as our Saviour we have Him with us at all times, for example, on all our journeys and in every danger or time of apprehension; and He can always be met in the Blessed Sacrament, in a special way.
The Lord asked me to speak boldly about Christ's Real Presence in the Most Holy Eucharist. I should tell everyone: "The Person of Whom I speak, as I show you a painting of Jesus Christ, is a real Person: A Divine Person, the God-man, still alive, and Present amongst us, deserving of the greatest respect, reverence and love."
A child needs to learn that the body and soul make one unique person. The body is made alive by the soul. The soul can never die; but when it leaves the body, the body dies. Until that time, a person should feed his body with food and drink, and feed his soul with spiritual food and drink, which is Jesus Himself, 'Hidden' in the Sacred Host or chalice.
We can explain to a child that just as a car has parts, which makes it what it is, and has a purpose - to convey people along a road - and needs special fuel such as petrol, so a human being us composed of a body with a living soul or 'spirit' to make it alive. The spirit and body together are a person, whose purpose is to love God and become like Him, and whose 'fuel' is food for the body. and Holy Communion - Jesus Himself - for the soul.
Christ offers His sacrificial prayer from our altar whilst engulfed in the glory of the Holy Spirit, by Whose power He has been made Present amongst us: substantially Present, under the appearance of bread and wine.
Christ offers His sacrificial prayer from our altar whilst engulfed in the glory of the Holy Spirit, by Whose power He has been made Present amongst us: substantially Present, under the appearance of bread and wine.
Christ is our Divine Saviour, Who becomes Present with us, in the Blessed Sacrament. He deserves our adoration; and people in the Church who make decisions about the design and re-ordering of our church buildings would be wise to realise that the place to which Christ comes should look more like a throne-room than a garage.
The Precious Blood which is offered from our altar in sacramental form is the Precious Blood of Christ, poured out for us on Calvary, to save us. We, at Mass today, are present to that same Sacrifice: the same Blood and Body, and the same Victim, Christ.
The Precious Blood which is offered from our altar in sacramental form is the Precious Blood of Christ, poured out for us on Calvary, to save us. We, at Mass today, are present to that same Sacrifice: the same Blood and Body, and the same Victim, Christ.
It is the Will of God that people act with reverence and respect in church, in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in a sacred space consecrated for prayer. By noisiness and disrespectful behaviour, people give no honour to God and make it difficult for fellow-Catholics to pray.
God, who knows our nature, encourages us in holiness by giving us help, that we sinful humans need: things we can see, touch and feel, such as the water at Lourdes, the image of Our Lady, the grotto itself, the beautiful scenery, and lights and music and rituals, especially the Holy Eucharist.
The Lord showed me how pleased He is when people reduce the risk of dropping, dirtying or desecrating the Sacred Host by these measures: kneeling to receive Holy Communion, on the tongue, at an altar-rail, with hands folded beneath a clean cloth, and a server holding the patten beneath each chin, as the priest moves along.
Christ was betrayed and left alone with His enemies because people were afraid - or did not believe in Him. Today, He sees many Catholics betray Him when they dispute or ignore His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, or other teachings of the Church, and when they criticize priests and lay-persons who speak the truth about sin and virtue.
There are three groups that endanger their salvation by not benefiting from the 'Bread of Life' which is Jesus our Eucharistic Lord: those who refuse to believe in Him or to join the Church, those other Christians who insist on believing that their Orders are valid, but who receive only bread, and those Catholics whose Communions are ineffective because of the refusal of those Communicants to believe in what Christ teaches them through His Church.
God is loving, pure and wise; therefore God chooses, for intimate friendship, a person who loves Him and is reverent, prayerful, humble and obedient. That obedience includes loving his neighbour, and the Church. God cannot bring into close union with Himself those who hate fellow creatures, or believe Jesus was a liar, or hide away in sin, or despise the Church, or are self-important, or pray with little reverence, or despise popular devotions that lead people closer to Heaven, including honour to the Blessed Sacrament, and to the Virgin Mary and other Saints.
The Sacred Host is Christ Himself, made Present in a sacramental form, under the appearance of bread. This Host can be seen as a lens, through which we can see Heaven, because, in this Blessed Sacrament is all the life of the Godhead! Christ is merciful in coming to us in this way; we are too weak, at present, to bear the sight of His Divinity.
The Lord asks Catholics who doubt His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament: Ff Christ could become man, through the Virgin Mary, and allow Himself to die and be buried, and yet visit Abraham and the Prophets in the underworld, then ascend to Heaven to live there in glory, can He not come down to earth again, by the same power, as the Holy Spirit makes Him Present on the altar, as the bread and wine are changed into Christ's Body and Blood, and His friends prepare to receive Him?
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