Hambone v3.0

“I am the Bread of Life”

Today Catholics observe the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ:

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
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.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.” — John 6:51-58

The Latin Rite Churches use the word “transubstantiation” to describe the miracle in which bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Eastern Orthodox Churches teach that this consecration occurs but do not use the word “transubstantiation”. Both Churches acknowledge the solemnity of this consecration. Most other Christian groups observe the Eucharist as a symbolic event.
The mystery of the Eucharist, and how it becomes Jesus’ Body and Blood, is perhaps the most difficult belief to explain. Perhaps that is why it’s a mystery. Or as St. John of Damascus explains:

If you inquire how this happens, it is enough for you to learn that it is through the Holy Spirit … We know nothing more than this, that the word of God is true, active, and omnipotent, but in its manner of operation unsearchable.

Amen!

Posted

in

by

Hamous

Tags:

Comments

24 responses to ““I am the Bread of Life””

  1. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    The mystery of the Eucharist, and how it becomes Jesus’ Body and Blood, is perhaps the most difficult belief to explain.

    The belief is that through the Holy Spirit the bread and wine are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ. How it happens is a miracle done by the Holy Spirit. That’s all we need to know.

    A much much more difficult belief to explain is the Holy Trinity.

  2. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    The mystery of the Eucharist, and how it becomes Jesus’ Body and Blood, is perhaps the most difficult belief to explain.

    The belief is that through the Holy Spirit the bread and wine are actually changed into the body and blood of Christ. How it happens is a miracle done by the Holy Spirit. That’s all we need to know.
    A much much more difficult belief to explain is the Holy Trinity.

  3. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I was looking at it from more of an ecumenical perspective. All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula. While certainly difficult to explain there is little disagreement among us. Not so with transubstantiation.

  4. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    I was looking at it from more of an ecumenical perspective. All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula. While certainly difficult to explain there is little disagreement among us. Not so with transubstantiation.

  5. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula.

    Ahem! 😉

    I was wondering if your post was referencing a specific Catholic holiday or a simple Sabbath observation?

  6. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula.

    Ahem! 😉
    I was wondering if your post was referencing a specific Catholic holiday or a simple Sabbath observation?

  7. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    The Eucharist is the centerpiece of every Catholic (and Orthodox) mass. Nothing simple about it. It is the sacrament of sacraments. Once a year we solemnly commemorate Jesus’ gift of that sacrament.

  8. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    The Eucharist is the centerpiece of every Catholic (and Orthodox) mass. Nothing simple about it. It is the sacrament of sacraments. Once a year we solemnly commemorate Jesus’ gift of that sacrament.

  9. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Ahem! 😉

    Let me ask you this: if a Catholic converts to LDS are they baptized in your church?

  10. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    Ahem! 😉

    Let me ask you this: if a Catholic converts to LDS are they baptized in your church?

  11. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Last week was the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The week before was Pentecost.

    All baptisms seen by the Church as legitimate use the Trinitarian formula

  12. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Last week was the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. The week before was Pentecost.
    All baptisms seen by the Church as legitimate use the Trinitarian formula

  13. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Let me ask you this: if a Catholic converts to LDS are they baptized in your church?

    To become a member, yes.

    Once a year we solemnly commemorate Jesus’ gift of that sacrament.

    Got it.

    Also, you can replace “simple” with “weekly”.

  14. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Let me ask you this: if a Catholic converts to LDS are they baptized in your church?

    To become a member, yes.

    Once a year we solemnly commemorate Jesus’ gift of that sacrament.

    Got it.
    Also, you can replace “simple” with “weekly”.

  15. Katfish Avatar
    Katfish

    Mass is celebrated every day in most parishes (except Good Friday). Many parishes display the Holy Eucharist 24 hours a day in an Adoration Chapel (my parish is one of them).

    The Holy Eucharist is at the very core of our faith; it is an essential part of the Church. This is obvious when you see that Christ is not only with us in spirit, he is physically present.

  16. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    Mass is celebrated every day in most parishes (except Good Friday). Many parishes display the Holy Eucharist 24 hours a day in an Adoration Chapel (my parish is one of them).
    The Holy Eucharist is at the very core of our faith; it is an essential part of the Church. This is obvious when you see that Christ is not only with us in spirit, he is physically present.

  17. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    RE: Solemnity of Corpus Christi;

    Corpus Christi

    The Solemnity of Corpus Christi commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist, paralleling Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) commemorating Our Lord’s institution of the Eucharist. Corpus Christ was introduced in the late 13th century to encourage the faithful give special honor to the institution of the Holy Eucharist to the Blessed Sacrament. The official title of this Solemnity was changed in 1970 to The Body and Blood of Christ (Latin: Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi); and it is still on the Roman Missal’s official Calendar for the universal Church on Thursday after Trinity Sunday; however, where it is not a day of obligation (as in the United States) it is usually celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.

    Corpus Christi became a mandatory feast in the Roman Church in 1312. But nearly a century earlier, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, promoted a feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament. From early age Juliana, who became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and longed for a special feast in its honor. She had a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to the Bishop of Liége, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became cardinal legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Panaléon, at the time Archdeacon of Liége and who later became Pope Urban IV. Bishop Robert de Thorete ordered that the feast be celebrated in his diocese.

    Pope Urban IV later published the Bull Transiturus (September 8, 1264), in which, after having extolled the love of Our Savior as expressed in the Holy Eucharist, ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. More than four decades later, Pope Clement V published a new decree which embodied Urban IV’s decree and ordered the adoption of the feast at the General Council of Vienna (1311). Pope John XXII, successor of Clement V, urged this observance.

    The processions on Corpus Christi to honor the Holy Eucharist were not mentioned in the decrees, but had become a principal feature of the feast’s celebration by the faithfl, and became a tradition throughout Europe. These processions were endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV.

    I was curious as to the history of the Catholic celebration.

    http://www.wf-f.org/CorpusChristi.html

  18. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    RE: Solemnity of Corpus Christi;

    Corpus Christi
    The Solemnity of Corpus Christi commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist, paralleling Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) commemorating Our Lord’s institution of the Eucharist. Corpus Christ was introduced in the late 13th century to encourage the faithful give special honor to the institution of the Holy Eucharist to the Blessed Sacrament. The official title of this Solemnity was changed in 1970 to The Body and Blood of Christ (Latin: Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi); and it is still on the Roman Missal’s official Calendar for the universal Church on Thursday after Trinity Sunday; however, where it is not a day of obligation (as in the United States) it is usually celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.
    Corpus Christi became a mandatory feast in the Roman Church in 1312. But nearly a century earlier, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, promoted a feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament. From early age Juliana, who became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and longed for a special feast in its honor. She had a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to the Bishop of Liége, Robert de Thorete, to the Dominican Hugh who later became cardinal legate in the Netherlands, and to Jacques Panaléon, at the time Archdeacon of Liége and who later became Pope Urban IV. Bishop Robert de Thorete ordered that the feast be celebrated in his diocese.
    Pope Urban IV later published the Bull Transiturus (September 8, 1264), in which, after having extolled the love of Our Savior as expressed in the Holy Eucharist, ordered the annual celebration of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. More than four decades later, Pope Clement V published a new decree which embodied Urban IV’s decree and ordered the adoption of the feast at the General Council of Vienna (1311). Pope John XXII, successor of Clement V, urged this observance.
    The processions on Corpus Christi to honor the Holy Eucharist were not mentioned in the decrees, but had become a principal feature of the feast’s celebration by the faithfl, and became a tradition throughout Europe. These processions were endowed with indulgences by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV.

    I was curious as to the history of the Catholic celebration.
    http://www.wf-f.org/CorpusChristi.html

  19. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Let me emphasize what i was getting at in my #3 post. Note that my smiley inclusion was to avoid getting contentious.

    All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula.

    In order to sustain that comment and the ones Hamous made previously regarding baptisms of The Church of Jesus christ of Latter-Day Saints not being legitimate according to the Catholic Church is because LDS Church does not follow the Trinitarian formula would be to say “All Christian churches, except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, baptize in the Trinitarian formula”, or it is to say that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not a Christian church. The former is true in that the LDS Church does not accept the belief in the Holy Trinity. The LDS baptismal prayer in and of itself is identical, almost verbatim, to the Catholic baptismal prayer. The latter is totally and completely absurb. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints fully believes and declares that Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father, That He suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for all our sins (and pains). That Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which man may be saved. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. That He is the center of all the eternities.

    You can’t get more Christian-based theology than that. Same goes for the Churches’ actions regarding themselves and their fellow man.

  20. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    Let me emphasize what i was getting at in my #3 post. Note that my smiley inclusion was to avoid getting contentious.

    All Christian churches baptize in the Trinitarian formula.

    In order to sustain that comment and the ones Hamous made previously regarding baptisms of The Church of Jesus christ of Latter-Day Saints not being legitimate according to the Catholic Church is because LDS Church does not follow the Trinitarian formula would be to say “All Christian churches, except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, baptize in the Trinitarian formula”, or it is to say that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not a Christian church. The former is true in that the LDS Church does not accept the belief in the Holy Trinity. The LDS baptismal prayer in and of itself is identical, almost verbatim, to the Catholic baptismal prayer. The latter is totally and completely absurb. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints fully believes and declares that Jesus is the Only Begotten of the Father, That He suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for all our sins (and pains). That Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven by which man may be saved. Jesus is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. That He is the center of all the eternities.
    You can’t get more Christian-based theology than that. Same goes for the Churches’ actions regarding themselves and their fellow man.

  21. wagonburner Avatar
    wagonburner

    I wasn’t trying to pick a fight but theologically the differences between Catholic and LDS teaching on the Trinity are irreconcilable. Not much either of us can do about that. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see who was right 😉

  22. Hamous Avatar
    Hamous

    I wasn’t trying to pick a fight but theologically the differences between Catholic and LDS teaching on the Trinity are irreconcilable. Not much either of us can do about that. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see who was right 😉

  23. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    I know you weren’t trying to pick a fight, Hamous. I even feel a bit guilty for brining in the Mormon issue to what is a good post; but in the end i couldn’t let it go but neither did I want to box it out.

    Regardless of “who is right” I hope and pray I may enjoy your company in heaven. (That means I hope to make it there too 😉 )

    That’s a pretty funny South Park scene.

  24. Darren Avatar
    Darren

    I know you weren’t trying to pick a fight, Hamous. I even feel a bit guilty for brining in the Mormon issue to what is a good post; but in the end i couldn’t let it go but neither did I want to box it out.
    Regardless of “who is right” I hope and pray I may enjoy your company in heaven. (That means I hope to make it there too 😉 )
    That’s a pretty funny South Park scene.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.