St. Pius Catholic Church

Hello Everyone,

Happy Monday morning.  What a great weekend it was around here at the parish.  Thank you one and all for coming out to the Pro-Life Pancake Breakfast yesterday.  Since I have been here at the parish, I think that it was the highest attended pancake breakfast yet.  Thank you for your generosity and support.  Also thank you for your generosity towards helping the people of Haiti recover.  With the spur of the moment second collection the previous Sunday, we as a parish contributed $9000 to help with relief efforts in Haiti and after this weekend's collection I am sure that number will go up even more.  It has been amazing to see how we as a nation have come together to raise money for Haiti in their time of need.  Please continue to keep the unborn and the people of Haiti in your prayers. 

Also I would like to continue to invite everyone to continue praying about joining the pilgrimage that I will be spiritual director for coming up in October.  There several parishioners who have told me that are seriously considering going on the trip, as people from other pilgrimages that I have been a part of.  Your not going to want to miss this trip, we again are going to: Portugal, Spain, and France, with stops in: Fatima, Lisbon, Santarem, Salamanca, Avila, Burgos, Loyola & Lourdes from October 9-19, 2010.  Then there is also a post-trip excursion, for four more days in France, available for an extra fee to: Nevers (This is where St. Bernadette's incorrupt body is), Lisieux (To see the Carmelite Monastery where Saint Therese of Lisieux was a nun), Rouen, and Paris.  All the details and information, as well as, registration are available at: www.pilgrimages.com/frzorjan

A reminder to all of our teens that TEC 271 (Boys Weekend) is coming up on February 13-15, 2010 at the Believers Together Center at Christ the King Church in Moline, Illinois.  And for the girls interested in going on TEC, the next girls weekend is March 6-8, 2010 also at the Believers Together Center at Christ the King Church in Moline.  Details and registration is available at: www.northwest-tec.com

For those who listen to the Christian Music Station K-Love here in the Quad Cities.  There is a great Christian concert coming up at the I-Wireless Center on Friday night March 12 at 7pm.  The event is called "Winter Jam" and is going to feature some great bands.  Headlining the show is Third Day, and if you have never seen Third Day then you are in for treat.  Joining Third Day is also: Newsboys, Tenth Ave. North, Firefly, Sidewalk Prophets, and more.  Tickets are only $10, and only are available at the door the day of the show, there is no advance ticket sales for the show.  First come, first served until the event sells out that day. 

Otherwise than that there is not a whole lot else going on right now.  It was requested that I put my homily from this past weekend on unity and peace on my blog, and I will do so soon, hopefully next week.  I need to tweak a few things before I can post it.  This week in the little lesson section, we will answer the question: "Are Catholics cannibals for consuming the body of Christ?"  This question was posed two weeks ago to one of the Catholic teens from TEC by a Protestant and they did not know how to answer this question, so here is a formal answer.  I hope it helps.

Till next week.

In Christ,

Father Peter Zorjan
Assistant Pastor at Saint Pius X
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Are Catholics Cannibals Because They Consume the Body of Christ?"
(This answer comes from an extensive study done by Johnny Proctor on his blog, it is well written and worth reading.  Source Citation at the end of the lesson.)

We have to first start with a study of John 6, in answering the question.

The Gospel of John in chapter 6 reveals the intent of Christ and his Father toward the Holy Eucharist in conjunction with the impending crucifixion, death and resurrection. In the beginning of chapter 6, Jesus performed a very public miracle of feeding the 5000+ with 5 loaves of barley bread and 2 fishes.  This is a prelude to the latter part of the chapter in which Jesus discusses in depth how and that he will feed them again..... with his body and blood.  The entire discourse in can be read in John 6  .

Jesus compares himself to Manna from heaven which miraculously fed the children of Israel in the dessert (vs.32-51). There were never leftovers and it was not man made.  It came directly from God the Father to his children to sustain them. Jesus has now become our Manna to feed and nourish us.  But we must take and eat, come and drink, in order to be nourished and fed.

Most disturbing to the Jews was Jesus words: "I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.  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." (vs.48-51)

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" (vs.52)

Jesus then did not correct his choice of language nor speak as he did countless times when speaking in a parable ("The kingdom of God is like a house...")  Instead, he reiterated his literal discourse to reemphasize and clarify, not correct.

Jesus continued:

"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." (vs.53-58)

This discourse was thought of as symbolic by NO ONE. Jesus at this point had over 70 disciples and countless followers.  Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" (vs. 60) Jesus asked them, "Does this cause you to stumble?" (vs. 61)

Jesus never corrected his assertion nor assuaged their doubt.  Jesus' pattern had been to clarify the truth of his message and if he did speak symbolically or metaphorically, it was clearly understood as such.  He prefaced his parables with the appropriate language for clarity.  This is the only time recorded in the New Testament that any of Jesus' disciples left him because they found a doctrine of his too hard to accept.  "As a result of this discourse by Jesus, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him." (vs.66)  In fact, even the remaining 12 disciples struggled deeply but accepted Jesus' hard sayings by faith.  Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"  Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." (vs. 67-69)

Jesus said, "If you tear down this temple, I will raise it up in 3 days." (John 2:19)  This saying by Jesus brought mockery and scathing rebuke by the Pharisees and some Rabbis who assumed he was speaking of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, not the Temple of Christ's body.  This is interpreted as ironic symbolism.  Holy Scripture clarifies and says "He was speaking of the Temple of his body.  When he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this." (John 2:21-22)  However, with his discourse on the Eucharist, Jesus nor his disciples who penned the Gospels ever rephrased but only reemphasized his literal message.  We now know that Jesus' temple was indeed torn down and indeed raised on the 3rd day as he said. The discourse with the Eucharist is no different.

Cannibalism

The taking of the Eucharist is not cannibalism as early critics assessed. Jesus' body and blood are not evident, but rather the elements of bread and wine are evident.  In John 20:29, after Jesus had appeared to the disciples and made his plea to "doubting Thomas" to feel his wounds as proof of the miracle of the resurrection, Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you believe. Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."  There is an ingredient required in being faithful..... and that is believing despite not seeing, having faith based on what Jesus said without proof.  He surely told the disciples time and time again that he would rise after 3 days, but Thomas believed only when he saw.  The blessing in this is that we are extended a special grace because we choose to believe, even though we do not see.  Notice that the Lord didn't banish Thomas for his lack of faith, but he went on to remain one of the 12 apostles.

Symbolism or Reality?

When you think about it, eating bread and drinking wine is an odd way, symbolically speaking, to "remember" the Lord.  "Do this in remembrance of Me," Jesus said.  The "remembrance" is to remind us of the paschal sacrifice of Christ which God coordinated perfectly during the Passover celebration.  Why bread and wine?  Everything Jesus has done up until this point in scripture is for a reason and has specific meaning.  Do you remember me, Amy Proctor, every time you have a glass of milk?  If so, why?  Jesus commanded or instituted the regular and routine taking of the Eucharist for his Church to partake with the encouragement for us to remember why he did it and what it means... that He is the Passover Meal for us. If we forget that, what is bread and wine?


Why believe?

St. Paul and the early apostles and Christians believing in the Eucharist literally.  Catholics have a distinct advantage in understanding this because we have not only the Bible, but also Sacred Tradition. Acts. 1:1-3 talks about the 40 days after Jesus had risen from the dead but before he had ascended into heaven.  Theophilus wrote what he said was his first account of what Jesus began to teach via the Holy Spirit during those 40 days, and that Jesus had given orders to the apostles and spoke and instructed them about the things concerning the kingdom of God.  Much of what we know today as oral or holy tradition probably came from that time... the 40 days after the resurrection but before the ascension and also during his earthly ministry.  He taught about the sacrament of confession immediately after resurrecting, the first time he saw the disciples... already and immediately imparting to them all the necessary truths to carry on the kingdom of God on earth (John 20:21-23).  This is probably where the teachings about Mary came from (who else but divine Jesus could reveal the mysteries of Mary his mother and the theology that comes along with her?)  In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, St. Paul talks about the resurrection of the dead, which is a doctrine in this modern day relating to what is also called the "rapture".  He says this: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive......"  Where did the doctrine of the dead in Christ (or what happens to those who die as Christians before the 2nd coming of the Lord occurs) come from?  Oral tradition.  The instruction of the Lord.  We can trust the Church with our whole hearts because he gave us his words through both Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition.  I wholeheartedly believe that Jesus emphasized the truth of the Eucharist to his disciples and apostles during those 40 days before he ascended into heaven.  St. Paul talks first hand about the Supper of the Lord and taking of it unworthily.... just as Jesus instructed about the resurrection of the dead in I Thessalonians., so did he give instruction about the Mass and the Holy Eucharist directly to the disciples.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

Source: http://www.johnnyproctor.com/eucharist.html