Jesus, Our Friend

 

When you come to know Him, and grow in your relationship with Him, you will soon realize He is the most trusted, loyal, and faithful Friend you’ll ever have! He may be the only true friend you'll ever have!

Sacraments, Grace, Nourishment

The sacraments were given to us by Christ. They are the means by which we receive the sanctifying grace that Jesus earned for us through his passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus, being God, knew that the sacraments would be the perfect and most fitting way for us to receive the grace he earned for us, since as creatures with bodies, we experience the sacraments with all of our bodily senses, sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. We hear the words used in the administration of the sacraments (“I baptize you in the name of the Father . . .” “The Body of Christ . . .” “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”), we feel, taste, and smell the bread, wine, water, oil and other matter used in the sacraments. God knows that we are best led to things spiritual through things that we can experience with our bodies. This makes perfect sense since it is also through our bodily senses that we are tempted and led to sin.

We must always remember that we consist of a body AND a soul. Just as the physical body is born, strengthened, nourished, healed in affliction, helped at the hour of death, guided by authority, and given a place in which to dwell, the soul is brought into spiritual life by Baptism; it is strengthened by Confirmation; nourished by the Holy Eucharist; healed by Penance; helped at the hour of our death by Anointing of the Sick; guided by God's ministers through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and it is given a body in which to dwell by the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Every sacrament is important! As Catholics we are extremely fortunate to have the sacraments at our disposal. Our faith is centered on the sacraments, especially the Eucharist in which Jesus is present and makes himself available to us daily at Mass. Jesus Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist is our greatest source of nourishment and strength for our journey through life, the goal of which is to return to our Father in Heaven and experience the Beatific Vision (to behold God face to face)

As parents we love our children, we want only the very best for them, and so we provide everything humanly possible for them out of love and concern for their welfare. We desire for them to have the best life possible!


Well think about this! God is the PERFECT PARENT and we are all His children. If we, as imperfect parents, want the best for our children, how much more do you think God, the PERFECT PARENT, wants for all of us? He knows what is best for us and He wants the best for us which is exactly why He wants us to do His will (to live and behave in certain ways)!

It is similar to us wanting our children to do certain things and behave in certain ways because we know that it is in their best interest. Just as our children’s lives will be made better by following our direction and listening to our advice, our lives will improve beyond measure by following the direction of our Heavenly Father. God directs us and makes His will known to us through Jesus Christ! The teachings and truths of our faith have been passed on to us beginning with the Apostles and remain with us today in the one teaching authority of the Church referred to as the Magisterium.

In Matthew 7:24-27, at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says these words, 24 "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

Let us build foundations on the Rock and sustain and support those foundations with the grace Jesus provides through the sacraments!

What’s The Big Deal About Saints?

As Catholics, why do we give so much attention to the saints?
I recently came across a brief reflection that appeared in the publication, One Bread, One Body, Volume 24, Issue 6, entitled The Imitation of Christ. The author is very effective in explaining how the saints assist us in our quest to imitate Christ. In fact, it was the following sentence that caught my attention and reminded of something St. Thomas Aquinas said concerning the sacraments.

The author writes, “. . . However, we are human beings, created with human senses, and we relate most readily to other humans. This is why God sent His only Son, Jesus, to take on human flesh (Jn 3:16).

In his treatise on the sacraments, St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that it is because of our human nature that we must be led by things corporeal and sensible to things spiritual and intelligible. (Summa Theologica, Part III, Q.61)

Read the entire reflection below:

“The Imitation of Christ”

Here on earth, we do not see Jesus as He is. "Now we see [Him] indistinctly" (1 Cor 13:12). We get glimpses of Jesus through the splendors of His creation. We can see Him in His eucharistic splendor. However, we are human beings, created with human senses, and we relate most readily to other humans. This is why God sent His only Son, Jesus, to take on human flesh (Jn 3:16).

God is so generous in creating ways for us to relate to Him that He has also created other human beings who point us to Himself. He has sent us saints — holy people who have allowed the light of Christ to shine through their lives so that all may see the goodness in their acts and give praise to God (Mt 5:16). God has given saints for what seems like every imaginable state in life. There are saints for doctors, homemakers, priests, religious sisters, accountants, teachers, lawyers, sinners striving to reform, disciples striving to grow in holiness, etc. Each of these saints is a gift from God sent to help us "see" Jesus in a new and deeper way.

Jesus gave His disciples an example to follow (Jn 13:15; 1 Pt 2:21). In the same way, the saints are examples for us. Heed the call of the saints as they tell us: "Imitate me as I imitate Christ" (1 Cor 11:1).

You can access this great reflection and many others by logging on to http://www.presentationministries.com/home/home.asp.

This is a great website and a valuable resource for those looking to grow in their faith!

Hilary Said This

In one of his writings on the Trinity, Bishop Hilary of Poitiers said this about the Holy Eucharist.

St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315 - 368 A.D.) Early Church Father & Doctor of the Church

When we speak of the reality of Christ's nature being in us, we would be speaking foolishly and impiously -- had we not learned it from Him. For He Himself says: "My Flesh is truly Food, and My Blood is truly Drink. He that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood will remain in Me and I in Him." As to the reality of His Flesh and Blood, there is no room left for doubt, because now, both by the declaration of the Lord Himself and by our own faith, it is truly Flesh and it is truly Blood. And These Elements bring it about, when taken and consumed, that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Is this not true? Let those who deny that Jesus Christ is true God be free to find these things untrue. But He Himself is in us through the flesh and we are in Him, while that which we are with Him is in God. (The Trinity 8:14)