Sacraments Building Community

What are the names of the sacraments that serve to build up communion in the Church?

Someone who is baptized and confirmed can receive moreover a special mission in the Church in two special sacraments and thus be enlisted in the service of God: Holy Orders and Matrimony.

The two sacraments have something in common: They are directed to the good of others. No one is ordained just for himself, and no one enters the married state merely for his own sake. The sacrament of Holy Orders and the sacrament of Matrimony are supposed to build up the People of God; in other words, they are a channel through which God pours out love into the world.

---

What happens in Holy Orders?

The man who is ordained receives a gift of the Holy Spirit that gives him a sacred authority that is conferred upon him by Christ through the bishop.

Being a priest does not mean just assuming an office or a ministry. Through Holy Orders a priest receives as a gift a definite power and a mission for his brothers and sisters in faith. (YOUCAT questions 248 & 249)

CALLED - Discern & Ask!

In social media we see all sorts of signs, pictures, and because of Twitter and other social media that causes us to say a lot with a little, new acronyms and words have popped up, some have actually become words in the dictionary. Some of these acronyms are now common place like LOL (Laugh Out Loud) or TTYL (Talk To You Later), while there are others that are more recent like, TBT (Throw Back Thursday), but at the end of the day these messages that are being sent out, must be discerned to know what they mean.

4th Sunday of Easter readings (A)

This sort of discernment is what we must do in our relationship with God. God gives us messages and signs everyday; some are obvious and others are not. In order to communicate with God we must always engage in prayer and practice The Gifts of the Holy Spirit in our life which help us to be attuned to God's presence. Sometimes when we receive a message it might need further reflection or thought, in other words, discernment to understand what God is telling or asking of us. Discernment is an everyday (24/7/365) operation in the Christian life, it never stops, sometimes the discerment can be about simple everyday events, sometimes about major decisions or life choices such as our vocation. Whatever the case is, the Gospel is quite clear that Jesus calls us by name which means everyday (admit it or not) the truth is, we are being called!!! We are His sheep and are called to listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Listening to the Good Shepherd will help us make the choices we need to make. Jesus also said that He is the gate, meaning there is a particular entrance, a particular way of life that a Christian is called to embrace. Making the right choices comes only through proper discernment.

Another part of the equation of discernment is asking questions. Even if we should hear the message clearly and understand what it means on the surface, always dig deeper below the surface. For example, I was out with some friends and one friend was helping me navigate parts of the west side of Cleveland that I was not familiar with (native Eastsider! ;-))... during the journey, we were approaching a three-way intersection my only options were left and right and so, I asked my friend which way do I go? He said, "just stay straight." I was alarmed and said, "that's not an option, I'm not intending on crashing into anything!" My friend replies, "I mean, stay in the lane you're in, which turns into the left hand turn lane and turn left." ... In this case, I knew, or thought I knew what, "just stay straight," meant, but in reality it needed further questions to discern. This is like the command to love one another as God loves us; we hear it, know it, but asking everyday how to love is the question that goes below the surface.

God is calling us, everyday, may we take time to listen, discern, ask in order that we may grow closer to Christ and allow our witness to bring others to Christ.

Why Confession (Reconciliation)?

But we have Baptism, which reconciles us with God; why then do we need a special sacrament of Reconciliation?

Baptism does snatch us from the power of sin and death and brings us into the new life of the children of God, but it does not free us from human weakness and the inclination to sin. That is why we need a place where we can be reconciled with God again and again. That place is confession.

It does not seem like a modern thing to go to confession; it can be difficult and may cost a great deal of effort at first. But it is one of the greatest graces that we can receive again and again in our lifeit truly renews the soul, completely unburdens it, leaving it without the debts of the past, accepted in love, and equipped with new strength. God is merciful, and he desires nothing more earnestly than for us, too, to lay claim to his mercy. Someone who has gone to confession turns a clean, new page in the book of his life. (YOUCAT question 226)

~ from Catechism in a Year

THE EUCHARIST IS...

What names are there for Jesus' meal with us, and what do they mean?

The different names indicate the unfathomable richness of this mystery: the Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass, the Sacrifice of the Massthe Lord's Supperthe Breaking of Breadthe Eucharistic assemblythe memorial of the Lord's Passion, death, and Resurrection the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Sacred Mysteries Holy Communion.

Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass, the Sacrifice of the Mass: The one sacrifice of Christ, which completes and surpasses all sacrifices, is made present in the celebration of the Eucharist. The Church and the faithful, through their self-offering, unite themselves with Christ's sacrifice. The word Mass comes from the Latin dismissal, Ite, missa est, "Go now, you are sent."

The Lord's Supper: Every celebration of the Eucharist is still the one supper that Christ celebrated with his disciples and, at the same time, the anticipation of the banquet that the Lord will celebrate with the redeemed at the end of time. We men do not make the worship service; the Lord is the one who calls us to worship God and is mysteriously present in the liturgy.

The breaking of bread: "The breaking of bread" was an old Jewish ritual at meals, which Jesus employed at the Last Supper to express his gift of self "for us" (Rom 8:32). In the "breaking of bread" the disciples recognized him again after the Resurrection. The early Church called their liturgical feasts "the breaking of bread".

Eucharistic assembly: The celebration of the Lord's Supper is also an assembly of "thanksgiving", in which the Church finds her visible expression.
Memorial of the Lord's Passion, death, and Resurrection: In the celebration of the Eucharist, the congregation does not celebrate itself; rather it discovers and celebrates again and again the presence of Christ's saving passage through suffering and death to life.

Holy and Divine Liturgy, Sacred Mysteries: In the celebration of the Eucharist, the Church in heaven and on earth unite in one feast. Because the Eucharistic Gifts in which Christ is present are, so to speak, the holiest thing in the world, we also speak about the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Holy Communion: Because we unite ourselves with Christ at Holy Mass, and through him are united with one another, we speak about Holy Communion (communio = fellowship). (YOUCAT questions 211-212)

The Different Ways We Can Refer to the Eucharist

What names are there for Jesus' meal with us, and what do they mean?

The different names indicate the unfathomable richness of this mystery: the Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass, the Sacrifice of the Massthe Lord's Supperthe Breaking of Breadthe Eucharistic assemblythe memorial of the Lord's Passion, death, and Resurrection the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Sacred Mysteries Holy Communion.

Holy Sacrifice, Holy Mass, the Sacrifice of the Mass: The one sacrifice of Christ, which completes and surpasses all sacrifices, is made present in the celebration of the Eucharist. The Church and the faithful, through their self-offering, unite themselves with Christ's sacrifice. The word Mass comes from the Latin dismissal, Ite, missa est, "Go now, you are sent."

The Lord's Supper: Every celebration of the Eucharist is still the one supper that Christ celebrated with his disciples and, at the same time, the anticipation of the banquet that the Lord will celebrate with the redeemed at the end of time. We men do not make the worship service; the Lord is the one who calls us to worship God and is mysteriously present in the liturgy.

The breaking of bread: "The breaking of bread" was an old Jewish ritual at meals, which Jesus employed at the Last Supper to express his gift of self "for us" (Rom 8:32). In the "breaking of bread" the disciples recognized him again after the Resurrection. The early Church called their liturgical feasts "the breaking of bread".

Eucharistic assembly: The celebration of the Lord's Supper is also an assembly of "thanksgiving", in which the Church finds her visible expression.
Memorial of the Lord's Passion, death, and Resurrection: In the celebration of the Eucharist, the congregation does not celebrate itself; rather it discovers and celebrates again and again the presence of Christ's saving passage through suffering and death to life.

Holy and Divine Liturgy, Sacred Mysteries: In the celebration of the Eucharist, the Church in heaven and on earth unite in one feast. Because the Eucharistic Gifts in which Christ is present are, so to speak, the holiest thing in the world, we also speak about the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Holy Communion: Because we unite ourselves with Christ at Holy Mass, and through him are united with one another, we speak about Holy Communion (communio = fellowship). (YOUCAT questions 211-212)

Where we are & Where we are

The Road to Emmaus... is one of my favorite passages in Sacred Scripture. The Road to Emmaus is one of those passages that touches my spirit and energizes me in different ways every time I read and pray with it. Sometimes this story is the shot in the arm I need when I'm going through a rough time and at other times it pushes me to do more; to crave the heart that is burning for God!

The Road to Emmaus comes on the scene at a great time in the Church Year! Why? Well, because it helps us to understand where we are and it helps us to understand where we are.

3rd Sunday of Easter Readings (Cycle A)

First, where we are... So, spiritually speaking, we're in the post Lenten resolution phase where maybe we're finding it hard to be the person we committed ourselves to being during Lent? Maybe we're not keeping up with the person God is calling us to be? Maybe we're finding ourselves going through some spiritual regression after the Easter Sunday high starts to fade... that whole 'regressing back to bad habits' or 'things we said we won't do anymore' phase... very much like making a New Year's resolution only to break it a couple weeks later. So yeah, we can find ourselves like Cleopas the other disciple who are questioning and feeling downcast and trying to figure out what is going on?... like, what the heck?... has new life set it?... where am I? THE GOOD NEWS is, hope is NOT lost, that Jesus meets us where we are, just like He met Cleopas and the other disciple on the road, He meets us where we are, right here, right now, no matter what!!!! The key is to invite Christ in, truly see Him in the scriptures, truly see Him in the breaking of the bread; and either gain strength in following Christ or recommit ourselves to the person God is calling each and everyone one of us to be! NOW IS THE TIME!

Second, where we are... So, at Mass, why am I in the pew? Why do I come week after week? To give praise to God? YES! But wait! There's more!... In the Road to Emmaus what are we given but a blueprint of the Mass! No joke, legit, for real, seriouly! When we come to Mass and we begin with the Sign of the Cross and the priest says, the Lord be with you ...He's really saying, the Lord be with you in a real sense of knowing not only are you welcome but know that the LORD IS WITH YOU, walking with you, journeying with you and with you no matter what is going on in your life!!!! Just like the disciples on their way to Emmaus we break open scripture and enter into the Eucharist, the breaking of the bread so that we may ENCOUNTER CHRIST - in The Word, Sacrament, & Community! So at Mass, we are invited to enter into the public prayer of the Church we are invited to bring our whole selves into it! We are encouraged to bring our questions, our intentions, our concerns, our joys, our sorrows, our whatevers and to place them on The Altar so that we like the bread, be taken, blessed, broken open, and given for others! How cool, how awesome is that?! That's crazy awesome that Christ invites us to encounter Him in such an intimate way.

Is choosing not to go to Mass as sin? YES! Why? The Church says going to Sunday Mass (or Saturday Vigil) is our obligation or duty or responsibility. Why? The answer is not, "because the Church says so," but rather, the Church says so because... it is in the Sacred Scripture, in the Eucharist, and in the community we gather with, which is modeled by Christ, that Christ Himself is inviting us to encounter Him. So, what's the basic definition of a sin? Choosing our will or some thing over God or God's will. So when we choose not to go to Mass, admit it or not - but it's true - we're really saying, "I don't want to encounter you Jesus," "I don't want to spend time with you," "I don't want to engage my path to enternal life in Heaven." So, therefore, choosing not to go to Mass is a sin because we are choosing something other than God, we're saying no to the encounter.

The Road to Emmaus... it really can help us to know where we are and where we are... may we encounter Christ anew through this scripture passage and the Mass inviting Christ to be with us so that our hearts too may burn with His love and give us the strength, courage, and wisdom to tell the Good News! Amen!

 

 

Conviction and Fire

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081813.cfm

How do you feel about Jesus' mission? How do you think and feel about Jesus' message? When we get caught up in Jesus' messages of peace, love, joy, and forgiveness don't we allow ourselves sometimes to feel like Jesus is making us feel like we are in the happiest place on earth? Like we're in some sort of magic kingdom? Like everyone is happy all the time and our troubles simply melt away??? With Jesus - yes - sure - absolutely our troubles should melt away because Jesus is our way, our truth and our life!

So the Gospel this weekend seems like quite the departure from all that doesn't it??? Talking about the world being on fire, not peace but division and people in opposition to one another!!! What gives? What can we make of this? Don't we feel just a little uneasy about it? In this "departure" Jesus is asking us to be mindful of two things. First Jesus is reminding us that indeed we have to be people who are fire for the kingdom; people who live our lives with great conviction about our faith. On fire about love. On fire about forgiveness. On fire about our morals. On fire for the Gospel. On fire about our faith. On fire for CHRIST! And so we are called to have great conviction about our faith and live it passionately!!!

Second, there is a cost that comes with being a disciple of Christ. There will be times that we will not always agree or see eye to eye with others, that we will be in opposition with others and thus we pray a price for following Christ. Not everyone in this earth will choose Christ, hence division will be part of the disciple's earthly experience.

I'd like to think this is like the classic division between Coke and Pepsi. Some people may not care but the truth is that some people like Coke and some like Pepsi and they're serious and have convictions about what they like and they're not going to be a convert to the other side! In the same way and even more so, we are to have that strength of convicition of faith. We are called to live out our faith with great conviciton knowing that not everyone will agree, not everyone will go along, but we shouldn't be any less of who Christ calls us to be and how he calls us to follow Him. Not everyone will embrace the baptism with which Jesus is baptized!

At the same time we also need to be aware of the oppositions we let leak into our own lives. Sometimes we choose to see the world and our faith through our own parameters, our own lenses - hence the 80's throwback glasses. Jesus calls us to follow him 100% - completely - and so we have ask ourselves: Am I seeing clearly through the eyes of faith or am I choosing to see in different ways? The cost of disicipleship and the cost of being on fire for Christ means that within ourselves we also have to be honest about how we are choosing to see and use our faith and make sure we are following Christ as he has called us to follow Him and not following Him on our own terms.

This week may we take time in prayer and ask ourselves...

Am I on fire for Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven?

Am I truly doing my best to see with the eyes of faith and not my own?

Am I strong in my convictions about my faith and seek to know more?

Am I taking time to invite the Holy Spirit into my life to strengthen my resolve to follow Christ even if I may not know what exactly it is that I need?

Am I aware that I'm saying yes to Christ and I'm willing to endure the cost of discipleship because I am on a mission, a journey to the true magic kingdom - God's heavenly Kingdom???

Men In Black - Catholic Church Defenders!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvrSqAWsvhs

JesusCare

This week has been a tension filled one for our country and our freedoms.

The issue of healthcare is once again center stage but also our freedoms, for if government can compel or penalize us to buy something, in this case healthcare, then what other control will we be "taxed" with? Please read and be informed, check out information for Fortnight for Freedom http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/fortnight-for-freedom/index.cfm I want to be clear that I am NOT against providing quality access to healthcare for all, in fact I believe it is a right, but what I am opposed to is the violation of the 1st Ammendment to the Constitution, compromise of freedom, and the dangerous slope towards socialism that Obamacare has put us on.

Now regardless of where you fall on the debate - pro-Obamacare, pro-Romney, or another solution, WHAT IS IMPORTANT is the right to have quality healthcare. Interestingly enough, this weekend, in scripture we hear about "JesusCare"

In Jesus' healing of Jairus' daughter and the woman with hemorrhages Jesus shows us His power to heal and make us whole. Contrary to what the First Reading tells us today, that we are made for life and to live fully, the truth is that whether it be our fault, the fault of another, or the fault of our circumstances, we have suffering and brokenness in our lives!

We learn that Jesus offers us true life if we but have have faith in Him. However, our faith, our trust in the Lord is something that we must do a check-up on every so often, just like going to the doctor for a check-up on our health, our spiritual health needs the same, if not more, care. We need to examine our trust in God and have an openness to trusting God because unlike a doctor that can, in most circumstances, map out the way to recovery or mitigating a health issue, Jesus' way works in ways that are not always on par with our expectations or assumptions.

When we look at the healed woman, despite the multitude of people that may have touched Jesus, He knew something was different about her encounter with Him. Jesus knew because of her great faith, that she was healed, His power was accessed. Common sense would have said, like the disciples, that it could have been anyone brushing up against Jesus and so to ask such a specific question, "Who touched me," does not make much sense. Again, Jesus knew something was different about the woman's touch and the healing power she accessed.

When we look at Jairus' daugther being healed. Common sense would have said all was said and done, Jairus' daughter was dead but because of Jairu's faith in Jesus, the divine power to heal was accessed, and Jairus' daughter lived. This is another instance where Jesus' healing power was accessed and broke through a troubled situation.

A few things as we live our faith this week, as we take time to access JesusCare! First, may we come to know Jesus' profound desire for us to find healing and wholeness through Him and His power to save! Second, let us engage in an activity that accesses Jesus' healing power - through prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, Reconciliation, forgiving someone, etc. Lastly, let us remember that our access to JesusCare is free and requires only our TRUST in Him - no matter where we are, who we are, where we've been, where we are going, or whatever someone may do to us - TRUST GOD!!!

Readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year/cycle B) http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/070112.cfm

J. Bap ~ Sunday Homily 6/24/2012

J. Bap. ...a scriptural abbreviation for John the Baptist used in some scholarly books I have seen.

If nothing else, one thing we can take away from the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist is it's about Who I am and Who I am Called To Be Why is this?

For starters, we are clued into the reality that we are to learn from the whole of St. John's life, from the circumstances that brought him into the world and what he did by the very fact that we not only celebrate his death but also his birth. Typically we do not find ourselves celebrating the birth of too many people throughout the course of the Church year with the exception of our Blessed Mother and of course Jesus (and anyone else I may have forgotten - but only b/c if I did, it's b/c it's rare!)! Therefore, since we celebrate the Nativity of J. Bap, we are alerted to take note of his whole life and what we can learn from it.

There are 3 things that John the Baptist did that we can incorporate into our lives and these 3 things we can say are the "3 Ps" which are POINTER, PROCLAIMER, and PREPARER.

John the Baptist was a POINTER simply by the way he lived. St. John's life's mission was to point to Christ and that he most certainly did. For us, we too, are POINTERS to Christ. This comes simply from the way we live and the decisions we make. Either what we do and who are will point to Christ or by the same token will point in directions not oriented toward Christ. And so we ask ourselves, are my decisions, values, actions, etc. pointing to a life oriented in Christ or not?

J. Bap we know, was also a PROCLAIMER, a sharer of the Good News. John the Baptist told us point blank, to prepare the way of the Lord encouraging people to repent and performing Baptisms of repentence in the Jordan. St. John was very vocal about what his life was about, where it was headed, and what he needed to do to get there. In the same way do we everyday assert the very fact that we are beloved children of God with a specific meaning and purpose? Are our lives oriented towards the promised life to come, lived with a sense of being created for more than what this world can offer? Are we PROCLAIMERS of the Good News by the stories we share? To share The Story means not only the literal telling of a story of faith but also comes in the simple ways we make our faith known. For example, sharing scripture or a prayer or a word of support on someone's facebook page or on your twitter account or on a blog such as this. We are called to be PROCLAIMERS in ways big and small.

Lastly, St. John was a PREPARER and teaches us to do the same. J. Bap literally did prepare the way of the Lord but in doing so, he also taught us how to prepare the way and for some of us that means getting out of the way; an openness if you will to God's will. John the Baptist was faithful to what God called him to do, but he also didn't try to be the Messiah either, in other words, St. John did his job and let God do His. John the Baptist was open to the possibilities of what God would do with preparing the way. Elizabeth and Zechariah too were open to the possibilities of God, of the possibility of having a child in their age and of naming him John (a name not in his family) and what all that would mean. How often do we pray about something without being open to the outcome or the possibilities of God? Sometimes it is easy to pray about something and then try to do everything we can to make the petition happen, rather then allowing God to work it out in the way He knows is best for us or in other words, to simply trust or have faith.

This week let us learn from the life of John the Baptist and realize the POINTER, PROCLAIMER, and PREPARER in each of us and what we need to do allow these 3 Ps to become a greater lived reality.