The Real Presence

The Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus Christ. There are many people and heresies that attack this statement, because they do not believe the real presence of Jesus Christ. The early Church fathers stated firmly that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. The Church teaches, "The doctrine of the Real Presence asserts that in the Holy Eucharist, Jesus is literally and wholly present—body and blood, soul and divinity—under the appearances of bread and wine." I truly believe the Eucharist is Christ's real presence and so has the Church after it was instituted. If you feel like you want to read more about this topic, go to: "The Real Presence". This is a good website to learn more about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Miracle of Lanciano

Miracle of Lanciano:  In the Church of St. Legontian in Lanciano, Italy, the eucharist changed into real flesh and blood. This change supposedly happened because a Basilian monk there was doubting that Jesus was truly present in the Eucharist. The flesh and blood were tested and these were the results: the flesh and blood were real and human, the flesh came from the heart (myocardium, endocardium, vagus nerve, left ventricle), flesh and blood have AB blood type (identical to that found on the Shroud of Turin), proteins were present in the blood that proved that the blood was fresh, and it has remained preserved since its transformation. This transformation is very helpful for non-catholics to look at and understand what happens in the Eucharist. The Eucharist ALWAYS changes into the body and blood of Christ during mass, although it usually only changed in essence. What this means is that the bread and wine does not change physically (taste, shape, color, etc. remains the same) but its essence changes (what makes it up on the inside; it’s in no way physical). So, the Miracle of Lanciano is so interesting because it shows non-Catholics what happens but in an extreme way.

Annulment vs Divorce

Many catholics believe that an annulment is a divorce of a catholic couple but this is incorrect. A divorce is the separation of two married people and is not validated by the Church. A civil divorce can only be acknowledged if an annulment is given (church divorce). An annulment recognizes that a marriage never happened either because of unjust reasons such as someone being forced into marriage. An annulment states that a valid marriage never existed and therefore it is possible to become separated because their marriage wasnt valid. "According to the Church...a true marriage a man and a woman become one flesh before the eyes of God...However, various impediments can render an individual unable to contract marriage. For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void), after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, the Church can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. In this case, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged, the contracting parties are free to marry -Catechism of the Catholic Church"

Women as priests?

Every since the beginning of priesthood, women have tried to become a priest. Further, in 1994 Pope John Paul II formally declared that the Church does not have the power to ordain women. He stated, "Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church’s judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful" (OrdinatioSacerdotalis 4). I am sorry for you women out there because Jesus made man priests, not women and that is how it has been ever since. For this reason, women CAN NOT be priests.

Purgatory

Purgatory is thought about often about by church followers as a scary place. It is the place between earth and heaven where you are purified completely of your sins so that you are capable of going to heaven in a holy state. Many people are scared and terrified of the aspect of purgatory. Personally, I love the idea because it helps me realize that God loves me and tries his best to help me reach my goal of heaven. Its like bowling. In bowling, you try to knock over all the pins (go to heaven) but you don't always bowl a strike. You have to try again until you knock them over and even if its a spare you still reach your ultimate goal. This is how purgatory is; purgatory is the equivalent of trying to get that spare to reach your goal ultimate goal of Heaven. Whereas getting a gutterballs gives no chance of knocking over pins and signifies how lost you become from that goal of salvation in Hell. Catechism 1031 says that "The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: 'As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.'"

prayer

What is prayer? Prayer is the way we connect to God. It is a conversation with God. Many people do not pray or do not feel like they can pray because they are distracted. It is very easy to get distracted during prayer by many things like people talking, etc. Prayer is necessary in our relationship with God because it is us talking to him. For example, in a relationship with a girl on earth if they do not talk then their relationship suffers. But if they talk, their relationship grows. This is just how our relationship with God works but by through prayer. We all need to pray more, and you will see that you are a happier person because of prayer.

Service Hour Reflection

      For my Sophomore Service hours I completed a variety of tasks with several different organizations. I worked at the Beacon, Challenger Football, A Mentally Challenged Bingo Party, and giving out toys at the hospital. At the Beacon, I was responsible for a number of tasks: first I helped make green beans (sounds a lot easier than it really is because it involved opening hundreds of cans to feed the number of people that showed up) and secondly I cleaned all the dishes, which too sounds a lot easier than it really is. At Challenger Football, I just played with the mentally disabled kids and gave them a fun great time of football. At the Bingo Party, I helped mentally disabled adults and kids play bingo. Finally at the Children’s Hospital, I helped give out toys to sick kids around Christmas time.

      Before helping with the service projects, I always feel disappointed to be “wasting” my day away to do required service for school. I always think that it is going to be awkward helping other people and not a lot of fun, but it never seems to happen that way. After every service project,, I felt great; I felt completely at peace and like I had just done something great. I think its so weird how we always hate our service hours but end up loving doing them after. I realized that, like we learn in Theology, we truly are ultimately fulfilled by God and our social aspects, which is shown by the great feeling of happiness that we feel after completing a service project.

      My service relates greatly to my Jesuit education because our education emphasizes the ambition to be Men for Others. I feel like I have successfully completed this task by helping the mentally disabled have fun, give toys out, and make food/clean for homeless or less fortunate people. I see these experiences connecting to my long term goals because I wish to develop myself to constantly do service and constantly help others, which I believe these projects has helped me move along my path. I think everyone should learn to love service because it is needed and a very fulfilling thing to do.

      I personally, loved doing my service hours with my dad. It’s great to see him out enjoying helping others even though he necessarily doesn’t have to help. It further makes my pops a good role model for me to follow through his regular and spiritual life. These service projects were very difficult at times but very fun at others and I am very thankful for having done them.