Learning to Preach Christ, and Him Crucified ( Part I)

By Pamela Mandela on May 31, 2020 02:00 am

Part 1: What do we Preach?

Preaching Christ, and Him crucified was a theme that was developed by St. Paul. In 1 Corinthians 1:23, he writes that “we preach Christ crucified”. But in the verse before this, he decries the attitudes of Jews and Greeks alike, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom”! He first tackles the Jews, who demand proof in the form of miracles and signs. And why? Because they cite Moses, whose miracles it is lost to them, that these were totally overshadowed by the good works that the Lord Jesus did while He lived amongst men as the God-man. Paul, who became all things to all men so that by all possible means he might save some (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23), puts his foot down on this matter. He emphatically states that no matter what others may do, we must preach Christ. We do not dare to modulate; we cannot tone down; and, we will not modify or adjust the great subject matter for which we were commissioned to go out to preach. This matter is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  

Then there were the Corinthian Greeks, who looked for what they esteemed to be wisdom. But theirs is the wisdom of the world, not the Wisdom of God which Paul preached. The Greeks also much-valued memories of the articulateness of famous public speakers and thought that true wisdom surely must come from such skilful vocalizations. To these, St. Paul writes that he determined to know nothing amongst them except the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Adding that he even came amongst them in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. And it is for this very reason that his message and preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom. They were but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that their (our) faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the Power of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:2-5).

Is This Theme Relevant Today? 

There are some in the world today, who behave like the Jews and Greeks of Paul’s time. For them, this Jesus remains a stumbling block and utter foolishness. They would rather prefer that Christ crucified is not preached. They advocate for intellectual preaching to be at the forefront, even though neither the heavens nor they themselves can understand this kind of preaching which takes no reference to the Bible. These are the sort of people who chase after so-called eloquent preachers, whose sermons require you to have a dictionary at hand! Yet we know that some of these intellectual indulgences have led many to a downfall; for such preaching is not blessed by God for the salvation of souls. 

But to the faithful believers, those whom the Lord God has called, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God (cf. verse 24). We learn from St. Paul that the foolishness of God is far much wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is so much stronger than human strength (cf. verse 25).This is why the Christian must endeavour to preach Christ, and Him crucified even when others endorse worldly philosophies and arguments. This Christ who died for sinners, the people’s Christ, will be preached in simple language and plain speech so that the common people can also understand.  

What do We Preach?

The preaching we do should be modelled to St. Paul, the model for all preachers who says, “we preach Christ crucified” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). If we are to preach the gospel fully, we must have a very clear description of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ:

• We preach Christ as God

For us, the Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true Man (CCC, 464). His Incarnation does not make Him part God and part man; neither does it imply that he is the result of some form of a mixture of the divine and the human. We preach that He became truly man while remaining truly God. As the early Church did, we too must defend and clarify this truth of the faith against any heresies that falsify it.

Thus, we preach not a man-made into God, nor God degraded to the level of a man, nor something that is in between a man and God. We preach the Absolute God; the Creator of Heaven and Earth; the Triune God Himself. He who is one with God the Father in every attribute. He who is eternal, and without beginning of days or end of life (cf. Revelation 22:13). He who is all-present, all-powerful and all-knowing. He who knows all things from eternity. Him who is the great Creator, the Preserver, and the Judge of all. He who is in all things equal and exact in the image of the invisible God (cf. Colossians 1:15). 

The preaching shall not err on the Deity of Christ – we shall preach a Divine Saviour upon whom our souls are trusting. We identify that it is only the shoulders of the almighty God which can carry the enormous weight of human guilt and human need. We preach Jesus Christ the Son of Mary and the reputed Son of Joseph, who worked in the carpenter’s shop, all the while being the God who made the heavens and the earth. 

We preach Christ, who had no place to lay his head. Him who was despised and rejected by men, but who is nonetheless the Eternal God, and Lord of the Universe (cf. Psalm 145:1-7). We preach Christ who was nailed to the cross, bleeding from every pore, and dying on the cross; yet in spite of everything, living forever. We preach the Christ who suffers indescribable agonies, yet all together being the God at whose right hand are the eternal pleasures. 

We preach Christ who was man and therefore could sympathize with us so He could suffer in place of us. In order to be the covenant head, He had to have been made in every way like the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve (except that He was without sin). With this one exception, he was bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; nevertheless, He was as truly God as He was man. The very one of whom Isaiah prophesied to be called the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (cf. Isaiah 9:6). So, as we preach Christ crucified, we preach the glory of heaven in union with the beauty of the earth. We preach the perfection of humanity unified with the glory and dignity of Deity.

• We preach Christ as the Messiah

We preach Christ as the One sent from God. We preach Jesus of Nazareth who was that promised Deliverer of whom it was written in both the law and the prophets. We preach the great Deliverer who would come as a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. We preach Him who was sent from God to be the Saviour of sinners. We preach Him who took this responsibility on himself without authority, that He could truly declare, “Here I am, I come to do your will, O God” (cf. Hebrews 10:9 and Psalm 40:7-8).

We preach He, who became the Substitute for sinners by divine decree because “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (cf. Isaiah 53:6b). We preach our great High Priest, who was divinely anointed; we preach our matchless Prophet, who was sent to us from God; we preach the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is rightly ruling as the eternal Son of the eternal Father.

We preach this truth which should bring hope and comfort. We preach God’s Anointed Christ, who does what He does by God’s appointment. We preach Him who speaks for his Father as well as for Himself, who has the authorization of the Eternal to support His declaration. We, therefore, must come confidently to him, putting our trust in him. This should lay a firm foundation of whom we preach so that we can then preach what He does.

• We preach the Work of Christ

The Lord God made this everlasting covenant with humanity, in which the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the Security and Representative of His people. It was in the fulness of time that He came down from the heavenly Throne, and was dressed in the flesh. First, He produced active righteousness by the perfect obedience of his daily life. In the end, He provided passive righteousness by His sufferings and death on the cross. Right from the Incarnation, to the Suffering and Death, to the Resurrection, and the Ascension; now in the Intercession before the Father’s Throne, and looking forward to His glorious second coming. Here is a theme that the angels might yearn for; a theme that could awaken hope in my sinful heart. But we preach Christ crucified, whose wounds and bruises remind us to tell how “He was pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds, we are healed” (cf. Isaiah 53:5). Salvation is to be found at Calvary, where the Lord Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit; where He defeated the powers of darkness and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Every true servant of Christ must be able to speak very distinctly about the Lord Jesus Christ standing in the place of sinners, and being numbered with the transgressors not because of His own, but of their transgressions; Christ paying our debts and discharging all our liabilities (cf. Isaiah 53:12). A truth we can only preach if we can take the place of the Lord Jesus as He took ours, so that we are beloved, accepted, made heirs of God. And we believe that in due time we will be glorified with Christ forever (cf. Romans 8:17). Those who hear the preaching must always clearly recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is a divine and all-sufficient substitute for the sinner. Everyone who puts their trust in Him will be eternally saved (cf. John 3:15).  

• We preach Christ’s offices.

In His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ carried out three functions – Priest, Prophet and King (cf. Hebrews 1:1-3). In baptism, we are We appreciate and preach the Lord Jesus Christ as the one great High Priest, who always lives to make intercession for us (cf. Hebrews 7:25). We recognize and must preach him as the Prophet whose words are divine, which come to us with an authority that cannot be repealed. We acknowledge and remember to always preach Him as King. The preaching must put the crown of praise on His royal head, claim from His people the unfaltering allegiance and loyalty of their hearts, and assert the undivided service of their lives.

We must preach the qualifications of Christ for these offices. His love and tenderness; His patience, power, and perseverance; His self-giving sacrificial love. His ability to save completely those who come to the Lord God through Him; His gentleness that will not break the bruised reed, nor snuff out the smouldering wick (cf. Isaiah 42:3). We must delight to preach Christ who bends over the broken-hearted and wraps up the wounded (cf. Psalm 147:3); who readily hears the cry of a contrite spirit (cf. Psalm 34:18).

The preaching must bring out the magnetic character of the Lord Jesus which attracts sinners to Himself (cf. John 4 & Matthew 9). His glorious nature, excellence and charm (cf. Revelation 5) preached should make sinners fall in love with Him and trust Him to save them. He sure is the sinner’s only hope. He is the remedy for the diseases of the soul (sins) – from the raging fever of lust, to the shivering fever of doubts and fears, and the cruel infection of despair. We preach the Lord Jesus who heals them all – from the blind eye to the deaf ear; the hardened heart of stone to the dull and seared conscience. We preach how He is the mighty one who will save (cf. Zephaniah 3:17). The preaching must tell the sinner clearly that there is no other hope, but in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:12).

The Lord Jesus Christ is to preach as the Christian’s only joy. When we were sinking in the waves of sin, He was the life preserver. Now that He has brought us safely to land, we must have Him for our food and drink. When we were sick in our sins, He was our medicine; now that He has restored our souls, we want Him as our continuous sustenance. The Lord Jesus Christ supplies our every need in giving Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. All we need to do is take all of Him and enjoy Him to our heart’s contentment. All that He is, and all that He has, He has given to us (cf.2 Peter 1:3).

We must hold onto the Cross of the Lord Jesus as our only confidence; we must look for light to the Sun of righteousness; we must crucify our whole beings with the Lord Jesus (cf. Galatians 2:20 & 5:24) so as to be taken up to Heaven to live and reign with Him for eternity (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12). We preach Christ as such.

Learning to Preach Christ, and Him Crucified ( Part I)

By Pamela Mandela on May 31, 2020 02:00 am

Part 1: What do we Preach?

Preaching Christ, and Him crucified was a theme that was developed by St. Paul. In 1 Corinthians 1:23, he writes that “we preach Christ crucified”. But in the verse before this, he decries the attitudes of Jews and Greeks alike, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom”! He first tackles the Jews, who demand proof in the form of miracles and signs. And why? Because they cite Moses, whose miracles it is lost to them, that these were totally overshadowed by the good works that the Lord Jesus did while He lived amongst men as the God-man. Paul, who became all things to all men so that by all possible means he might save some (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23), puts his foot down on this matter. He emphatically states that no matter what others may do, we must preach Christ. We do not dare to modulate; we cannot tone down; and, we will not modify or adjust the great subject matter for which we were commissioned to go out to preach. This matter is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  

Then there were the Corinthian Greeks, who looked for what they esteemed to be wisdom. But theirs is the wisdom of the world, not the Wisdom of God which Paul preached. The Greeks also much-valued memories of the articulateness of famous public speakers and thought that true wisdom surely must come from such skilful vocalizations. To these, St. Paul writes that he determined to know nothing amongst them except the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Adding that he even came amongst them in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. And it is for this very reason that his message and preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom. They were but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that their (our) faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the Power of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:2-5).

Is This Theme Relevant Today? 

There are some in the world today, who behave like the Jews and Greeks of Paul’s time. For them, this Jesus remains a stumbling block and utter foolishness. They would rather prefer that Christ crucified is not preached. They advocate for intellectual preaching to be at the forefront, even though neither the heavens nor they themselves can understand this kind of preaching which takes no reference to the Bible. These are the sort of people who chase after so-called eloquent preachers, whose sermons require you to have a dictionary at hand! Yet we know that some of these intellectual indulgences have led many to a downfall; for such preaching is not blessed by God for the salvation of souls. 

But to the faithful believers, those whom the Lord God has called, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God (cf. verse 24). We learn from St. Paul that the foolishness of God is far much wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is so much stronger than human strength (cf. verse 25).This is why the Christian must endeavour to preach Christ, and Him crucified even when others endorse worldly philosophies and arguments. This Christ who died for sinners, the people’s Christ, will be preached in simple language and plain speech so that the common people can also understand.  

What do We Preach?

The preaching we do should be modelled to St. Paul, the model for all preachers who says, “we preach Christ crucified” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23). If we are to preach the gospel fully, we must have a very clear description of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ:

• We preach Christ as God

For us, the Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true Man (CCC, 464). His Incarnation does not make Him part God and part man; neither does it imply that he is the result of some form of a mixture of the divine and the human. We preach that He became truly man while remaining truly God. As the early Church did, we too must defend and clarify this truth of the faith against any heresies that falsify it.

Thus, we preach not a man-made into God, nor God degraded to the level of a man, nor something that is in between a man and God. We preach the Absolute God; the Creator of Heaven and Earth; the Triune God Himself. He who is one with God the Father in every attribute. He who is eternal, and without beginning of days or end of life (cf. Revelation 22:13). He who is all-present, all-powerful and all-knowing. He who knows all things from eternity. Him who is the great Creator, the Preserver, and the Judge of all. He who is in all things equal and exact in the image of the invisible God (cf. Colossians 1:15). 

The preaching shall not err on the Deity of Christ – we shall preach a Divine Saviour upon whom our souls are trusting. We identify that it is only the shoulders of the almighty God which can carry the enormous weight of human guilt and human need. We preach Jesus Christ the Son of Mary and the reputed Son of Joseph, who worked in the carpenter’s shop, all the while being the God who made the heavens and the earth. 

We preach Christ, who had no place to lay his head. Him who was despised and rejected by men, but who is nonetheless the Eternal God, and Lord of the Universe (cf. Psalm 145:1-7). We preach Christ who was nailed to the cross, bleeding from every pore, and dying on the cross; yet in spite of everything, living forever. We preach the Christ who suffers indescribable agonies, yet all together being the God at whose right hand are the eternal pleasures. 

We preach Christ who was man and therefore could sympathize with us so He could suffer in place of us. In order to be the covenant head, He had to have been made in every way like the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve (except that He was without sin). With this one exception, he was bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; nevertheless, He was as truly God as He was man. The very one of whom Isaiah prophesied to be called the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (cf. Isaiah 9:6). So, as we preach Christ crucified, we preach the glory of heaven in union with the beauty of the earth. We preach the perfection of humanity unified with the glory and dignity of Deity.

• We preach Christ as the Messiah

We preach Christ as the One sent from God. We preach Jesus of Nazareth who was that promised Deliverer of whom it was written in both the law and the prophets. We preach the great Deliverer who would come as a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. We preach Him who was sent from God to be the Saviour of sinners. We preach Him who took this responsibility on himself without authority, that He could truly declare, “Here I am, I come to do your will, O God” (cf. Hebrews 10:9 and Psalm 40:7-8).

We preach He, who became the Substitute for sinners by divine decree because “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (cf. Isaiah 53:6b). We preach our great High Priest, who was divinely anointed; we preach our matchless Prophet, who was sent to us from God; we preach the King of kings and Lord of lords, who is rightly ruling as the eternal Son of the eternal Father.

We preach this truth which should bring hope and comfort. We preach God’s Anointed Christ, who does what He does by God’s appointment. We preach Him who speaks for his Father as well as for Himself, who has the authorization of the Eternal to support His declaration. We, therefore, must come confidently to him, putting our trust in him. This should lay a firm foundation of whom we preach so that we can then preach what He does.

• We preach the Work of Christ

The Lord God made this everlasting covenant with humanity, in which the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the Security and Representative of His people. It was in the fulness of time that He came down from the heavenly Throne, and was dressed in the flesh. First, He produced active righteousness by the perfect obedience of his daily life. In the end, He provided passive righteousness by His sufferings and death on the cross. Right from the Incarnation, to the Suffering and Death, to the Resurrection, and the Ascension; now in the Intercession before the Father’s Throne, and looking forward to His glorious second coming. Here is a theme that the angels might yearn for; a theme that could awaken hope in my sinful heart. But we preach Christ crucified, whose wounds and bruises remind us to tell how “He was pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds, we are healed” (cf. Isaiah 53:5). Salvation is to be found at Calvary, where the Lord Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit; where He defeated the powers of darkness and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Every true servant of Christ must be able to speak very distinctly about the Lord Jesus Christ standing in the place of sinners, and being numbered with the transgressors not because of His own, but of their transgressions; Christ paying our debts and discharging all our liabilities (cf. Isaiah 53:12). A truth we can only preach if we can take the place of the Lord Jesus as He took ours, so that we are beloved, accepted, made heirs of God. And we believe that in due time we will be glorified with Christ forever (cf. Romans 8:17). Those who hear the preaching must always clearly recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is a divine and all-sufficient substitute for the sinner. Everyone who puts their trust in Him will be eternally saved (cf. John 3:15).  

• We preach Christ’s offices.

In His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ carried out three functions – Priest, Prophet and King (cf. Hebrews 1:1-3). In baptism, we are We appreciate and preach the Lord Jesus Christ as the one great High Priest, who always lives to make intercession for us (cf. Hebrews 7:25). We recognize and must preach him as the Prophet whose words are divine, which come to us with an authority that cannot be repealed. We acknowledge and remember to always preach Him as King. The preaching must put the crown of praise on His royal head, claim from His people the unfaltering allegiance and loyalty of their hearts, and assert the undivided service of their lives.

We must preach the qualifications of Christ for these offices. His love and tenderness; His patience, power, and perseverance; His self-giving sacrificial love. His ability to save completely those who come to the Lord God through Him; His gentleness that will not break the bruised reed, nor snuff out the smouldering wick (cf. Isaiah 42:3). We must delight to preach Christ who bends over the broken-hearted and wraps up the wounded (cf. Psalm 147:3); who readily hears the cry of a contrite spirit (cf. Psalm 34:18).

The preaching must bring out the magnetic character of the Lord Jesus which attracts sinners to Himself (cf. John 4 & Matthew 9). His glorious nature, excellence and charm (cf. Revelation 5) preached should make sinners fall in love with Him and trust Him to save them. He sure is the sinner’s only hope. He is the remedy for the diseases of the soul (sins) – from the raging fever of lust, to the shivering fever of doubts and fears, and the cruel infection of despair. We preach the Lord Jesus who heals them all – from the blind eye to the deaf ear; the hardened heart of stone to the dull and seared conscience. We preach how He is the mighty one who will save (cf. Zephaniah 3:17). The preaching must tell the sinner clearly that there is no other hope, but in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:12).

The Lord Jesus Christ is to preach as the Christian’s only joy. When we were sinking in the waves of sin, He was the life preserver. Now that He has brought us safely to land, we must have Him for our food and drink. When we were sick in our sins, He was our medicine; now that He has restored our souls, we want Him as our continuous sustenance. The Lord Jesus Christ supplies our every need in giving Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. All we need to do is take all of Him and enjoy Him to our heart’s contentment. All that He is, and all that He has, He has given to us (cf.2 Peter 1:3).

We must hold onto the Cross of the Lord Jesus as our only confidence; we must look for light to the Sun of righteousness; we must crucify our whole beings with the Lord Jesus (cf. Galatians 2:20 & 5:24) so as to be taken up to Heaven to live and reign with Him for eternity (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12). We preach Christ as such.

Prayer For Protection Through The Precious Blood Of Jesus

Lord JESUS, by faith in your merits, I now take your precious blood and sprinkle it over myself and my family right from the crown of my head to the very soles of my feet. I claim total and complete protection for my life and my family. Lord JESUS, keep me free today from evil, sin, temptation, Satan’s attacks and afflictions, fear of darkness, fear of man, sickness, diseases, doubts, anger, all calamities and from all that is not of thy Kingdom.

Fill me Lord JESUS with gift of your Holy SPIRIT and grant me the gift of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment so that I will live today in your glory by doing that which is right.

I praise you, Jesus

I Thank you, Jesus

I Love you, Jesus

I Adore you, Jesus

Holy Spirit, you makes me see everything, and shows me the way to reach my ideals, you who gives me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me, and you who are in all instances of my life with me, I in this short dialogue want to thank you for everything an affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desire may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your Perpetual Glory.

(MENTION YOUR REQUEST)

Thank you, Holy Spirit for your love towards me and my loved ones.

AMEN

Prayer For Protection Through The Precious Blood Of Jesus

Lord JESUS, by faith in your merits, I now take your precious blood and sprinkle it over myself and my family right from the crown of my head to the very soles of my feet. I claim total and complete protection for my life and my family. Lord JESUS, keep me free today from evil, sin, temptation, Satan’s attacks and afflictions, fear of darkness, fear of man, sickness, diseases, doubts, anger, all calamities and from all that is not of thy Kingdom.

Fill me Lord JESUS with gift of your Holy SPIRIT and grant me the gift of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and discernment so that I will live today in your glory by doing that which is right.

I praise you, Jesus

I Thank you, Jesus

I Love you, Jesus

I Adore you, Jesus

Holy Spirit, you makes me see everything, and shows me the way to reach my ideals, you who gives me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me, and you who are in all instances of my life with me, I in this short dialogue want to thank you for everything an affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desire may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your Perpetual Glory.

(MENTION YOUR REQUEST)

Thank you, Holy Spirit for your love towards me and my loved ones.

AMEN

Catholics don't worship Mary, Saints or  Angels. 

Worship requires sacrifice, that is how it has always been in the ancient days and even now in Catholicsm. 

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered up to God and God alone. 

Protestants removed the holy Sacrifice and reduced their worship down to prayers and hymns. 

That's why they're confused as to the difference between worship and veneration.

What Is The Mass

Is not a church service. 

It’s a Sacrifice Offering (Jesus Body and Blood)

Four Readings of Scripture (Jesus The Word)

An exposition of Scripture (Jesus teaching)

And a meal of Jesus himself (Eucharist)

Prayers

Worship 

Song

It is like the Old Testament sacrifice. 

The New Testament re-presentation of The Sacrifice.  The only sacrifice able to save completely. (The One at Calvary for Eternity) The Only sacrifice that is acceptable to God -His own Son Body and Blood for our sins. 

It is not just communion. It is a feeding on Jesus Himself to nourish us for the journey. 

The Mass is all about Jesus and not about us. We have nothing to offer but His own self giving for us. 

And in response we Worship and give Him His own back to Him, with our ENTIRE selves united to His Perfect Sacrifice. 

Hebrews 9:1-14

The Mass is said daily through the entire world at all times. So no matter when you pray and unite yourself to Him with a Mass being said you can be a part of the Only Sacrifice Acceptable to God for Your Sins. 

A Daily prayer to do that if you cannot make one in person:

Offering

O Jesus, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians, and my personal intentions. 

Spiritual Communion 

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

Catholics don't worship Mary, Saints or  Angels. 

Worship requires sacrifice, that is how it has always been in the ancient days and even now in Catholicsm. 

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered up to God and God alone. 

Protestants removed the holy Sacrifice and reduced their worship down to prayers and hymns. 

That's why they're confused as to the difference between worship and veneration.

What Is The Mass

Is not a church service. 

It’s a Sacrifice Offering (Jesus Body and Blood)

Four Readings of Scripture (Jesus The Word)

An exposition of Scripture (Jesus teaching)

And a meal of Jesus himself (Eucharist)

Prayers

Worship 

Song

It is like the Old Testament sacrifice. 

The New Testament re-presentation of The Sacrifice.  The only sacrifice able to save completely. (The One at Calvary for Eternity) The Only sacrifice that is acceptable to God -His own Son Body and Blood for our sins. 

It is not just communion. It is a feeding on Jesus Himself to nourish us for the journey. 

The Mass is all about Jesus and not about us. We have nothing to offer but His own self giving for us. 

And in response we Worship and give Him His own back to Him, with our ENTIRE selves united to His Perfect Sacrifice. 

Hebrews 9:1-14

The Mass is said daily through the entire world at all times. So no matter when you pray and unite yourself to Him with a Mass being said you can be a part of the Only Sacrifice Acceptable to God for Your Sins. 

A Daily prayer to do that if you cannot make one in person:

Offering

O Jesus, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians, and my personal intentions. 

Spiritual Communion 

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

From the commentary on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation

Those who have a sure hope, guaranteed by the Spirit, that they will rise again lay hold of what lies in the future as though it were already present. They say: Outward appearances will no longer be our standard in judging other men. Our lives are all controlled by the Spirit now, and are not confined to this physical world that is subject to corruption. The light of the Only-begotten has shone on us, and we have been transformed into the Word, the source of all life. While sin was still our master, the bonds of death had a firm hold on us, but now that the righteousness of Christ has found a place in our hearts we have freed ourselves from our former condition of corruptibility.

This means that none of us lives in the flesh anymore, at least not in so far as living in the flesh means being subject to the weaknesses of the flesh, which include corruptibility. Once we thought of Christ as being in the flesh, but we do not do so any longer, says Saint Paul. By this he meant that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; he suffered death in the flesh in order to give all men life. It was in this flesh that we knew him before, but we do so no longer. Even though he remains in the flesh, since he came to life again on the third day and is now with his Father in heaven, we know that he has passed beyond the life of the flesh; for having died once, he will never die again, death has no power over him any more. His death was a death to sin, which he died once for all; his life is life with God.

Since Christ has in this way become the source of life for us, we who follow in his footsteps must not think of ourselves as living in the flesh any longer, but as having passed beyond it. Saint Paul’s saying is absolutely true that when anyone is in Christ he becomes a completely different person: his old life is over and a new life has begun. We have been justified by our faith in Christ and the power of the curse has been broken. Christ’s coming to life again for our sake has put an end to the sovereignty of death. We have come to know the true God and to worship him in spirit and in truth, through the Son, our mediator, who sends down upon the world the Father’s blessings.

And so Saint Paul shows deep insight when he says: This is all God’s doing: it is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ. For the mystery of the incarnation and the renewal it accomplished could not have taken place without the Father’s will. Through Christ we have gained access to the Father, for as Christ himself says, no one comes to the Father except through him. This is all God’s doing, then. It is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

From the commentary on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation

Those who have a sure hope, guaranteed by the Spirit, that they will rise again lay hold of what lies in the future as though it were already present. They say: Outward appearances will no longer be our standard in judging other men. Our lives are all controlled by the Spirit now, and are not confined to this physical world that is subject to corruption. The light of the Only-begotten has shone on us, and we have been transformed into the Word, the source of all life. While sin was still our master, the bonds of death had a firm hold on us, but now that the righteousness of Christ has found a place in our hearts we have freed ourselves from our former condition of corruptibility.

This means that none of us lives in the flesh anymore, at least not in so far as living in the flesh means being subject to the weaknesses of the flesh, which include corruptibility. Once we thought of Christ as being in the flesh, but we do not do so any longer, says Saint Paul. By this he meant that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; he suffered death in the flesh in order to give all men life. It was in this flesh that we knew him before, but we do so no longer. Even though he remains in the flesh, since he came to life again on the third day and is now with his Father in heaven, we know that he has passed beyond the life of the flesh; for having died once, he will never die again, death has no power over him any more. His death was a death to sin, which he died once for all; his life is life with God.

Since Christ has in this way become the source of life for us, we who follow in his footsteps must not think of ourselves as living in the flesh any longer, but as having passed beyond it. Saint Paul’s saying is absolutely true that when anyone is in Christ he becomes a completely different person: his old life is over and a new life has begun. We have been justified by our faith in Christ and the power of the curse has been broken. Christ’s coming to life again for our sake has put an end to the sovereignty of death. We have come to know the true God and to worship him in spirit and in truth, through the Son, our mediator, who sends down upon the world the Father’s blessings.

And so Saint Paul shows deep insight when he says: This is all God’s doing: it is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ. For the mystery of the incarnation and the renewal it accomplished could not have taken place without the Father’s will. Through Christ we have gained access to the Father, for as Christ himself says, no one comes to the Father except through him. This is all God’s doing, then. It is he who has reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Salvation

Philippians 2:12

So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Jesus redeemed us from our sins with his suffering and death. 

But that doesn't mean our salvation is automatic. We have to do our part.

Even when our sins are forgiven -- for instance, through the sacrament of confession -- we still have to make up for the temporal punishment that is connected with sin (example: paying for a broken window).

Also, we have to live in accord with Jesus' commandments. That is why we need to pray, to sacrifice, to do acts of charity.

Think of it this way.

Imagine a young woman has a chance to go to college, but her family doesn't have the money. Along comes a rich uncle, who agrees to pay all her tuition and other expenses. 

Does that mean the young woman receives a college degree automatically? No. She has to attend class, study hard, write papers, and pass her exams. She has to do her part.

It's like that with Jesus. He "pays our tuition," but we have to attend class, pass exams, etc., before we can get a degree (salvation).

Salvation

Philippians 2:12

So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Jesus redeemed us from our sins with his suffering and death. 

But that doesn't mean our salvation is automatic. We have to do our part.

Even when our sins are forgiven -- for instance, through the sacrament of confession -- we still have to make up for the temporal punishment that is connected with sin (example: paying for a broken window).

Also, we have to live in accord with Jesus' commandments. That is why we need to pray, to sacrifice, to do acts of charity.

Think of it this way.

Imagine a young woman has a chance to go to college, but her family doesn't have the money. Along comes a rich uncle, who agrees to pay all her tuition and other expenses. 

Does that mean the young woman receives a college degree automatically? No. She has to attend class, study hard, write papers, and pass her exams. She has to do her part.

It's like that with Jesus. He "pays our tuition," but we have to attend class, pass exams, etc., before we can get a degree (salvation).

What Is The Mass

Is not a church service. 

It’s a Sacrifice Offering (Jesus Body and Blood)

Four Readings of Scripture (Jesus The Word)

An exposition of Scripture (Jesus teaching)

And a meal of Jesus himself (Eucharist)

Prayers

Worship 

Song

It is like the Old Testament sacrifice. 

The New Testament re-presentation of The Sacrifice.  The only sacrifice able to save completely. (The One at Calvary for Eternity) The Only sacrifice that is acceptable to God -His own Son Body and Blood for our sins. 

It is not just communion. It is a feeding on Jesus Himself to nourish us for the journey. 

The Mass is all about Jesus and not about us. We have nothing to offer but His own self giving for us. 

And in response we Worship and give Him His own back to Him, with our ENTIRE selves united to His Perfect Sacrifice. 

The Mass is said daily through the entire world at all times. So no matter when you pray and unite yourself to Him with a Mass being said you can be a part of the Only Sacrifice Acceptable to God for Your Sins. 

A Daily prayer to do that if you cannot make one in person:

Offering

O Jesus, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians, and my personal intentions. 

Spiritual Communion 

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

What Is The Mass

Is not a church service. 

It’s a Sacrifice Offering (Jesus Body and Blood)

Four Readings of Scripture (Jesus The Word)

An exposition of Scripture (Jesus teaching)

And a meal of Jesus himself (Eucharist)

Prayers

Worship 

Song

It is like the Old Testament sacrifice. 

The New Testament re-presentation of The Sacrifice.  The only sacrifice able to save completely. (The One at Calvary for Eternity) The Only sacrifice that is acceptable to God -His own Son Body and Blood for our sins. 

It is not just communion. It is a feeding on Jesus Himself to nourish us for the journey. 

The Mass is all about Jesus and not about us. We have nothing to offer but His own self giving for us. 

And in response we Worship and give Him His own back to Him, with our ENTIRE selves united to His Perfect Sacrifice. 

The Mass is said daily through the entire world at all times. So no matter when you pray and unite yourself to Him with a Mass being said you can be a part of the Only Sacrifice Acceptable to God for Your Sins. 

A Daily prayer to do that if you cannot make one in person:

Offering

O Jesus, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians, and my personal intentions. 

Spiritual Communion 

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

Why Go to Mass?

MARCELLINO D’AMBROSIO • 7/1/2014

The sacrifice that transcends time

The Mass is first of all a sacrifice — the perfect sacrifice, created by Jesus. Through the priest we offer Jesus, Body and Blood, to the Father, just as Jesus offered Himself to the Father on the Cross. In an unbloody way, we repeat — make present — Christ's death and Resurrection. Through this memorial of Jesus, we offer God our praise, sorrow for our sins, and deepest thanks. The Mass is not an additional sacrifice or a repetition of Christ’s sacrifice; rather, it is a re-presentation of the one sacrifice of the cross.

The Mass is also a meal. At the Consecration, the bread and wine, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become the Body and Blood of Christ. Not a mere symbol, but Jesus's real flesh and real blood, under the appearance of bread and wine. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive Jesus Himself. He is real food for our soul.

Instinctively, those who believe in God know that they owe him worship. After all, we’ve received everything from him. So we ought to give him thanks and offer him a pleasing sacrifice.

The question is, though, what sort of sacrifice pleases him? How can we adequately thank the Lord for what he has given us?

Scripture is clear: There is no sacrifice worthy of the name except the one sacrifice that Jesus offered on the cross. Hebrews 10:12 says that Christ “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins.” That sacrifice cannot be repeated. The Mass is not an additional sacrifice or a repetition of Christ’s sacrifice; rather, it is a re-presentation of the one sacrifice of the cross.

Because Christ was a unique human being, the sacrifice he offered on the cross once and for all is a unique act. He was a human being, so it was an act that took place in history and is therefore past. He is God, who is outside of time and lives in the eternal present: past and future are always present to him. This means that the actions of Christ on Calvary and on Easter Sunday morning are eternal acts that can be made present again by the power of the Spirit.

This is what happens in the Eucharist. The power of Calvary—the sacrifice that takes away sins, heals, and transforms—becomes present and available to us. It can be applied to our need.

But that’s not all. The cross is incomplete without the Resurrection. You can’t understand what happened on Good Friday apart from what happened two days later on Easter Sunday. The Resurrection, too, is made present every time the Eucharist is celebrated. When we go to Mass, we are mysteriously present at the foot of the cross, watching the Savior give his life for us. And we’re also standing outside the open tomb with the women who greeted the risen Jesus. “This is for you. I give my life to you,” Jesus is saying at every Mass. “Receive my power.”

Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice in order to bring us salvation and give us his Spirit. Pentecost is the fruit of the sacrifice of the cross and the victory of the Resurrection. Thus, the church teaches that every Mass is a new Pentecost, a new opportunity to receive the Spirit afresh (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 739).

To sum up, the Mass is Christ’s sacrifice made present again. It’s not recalled, as if it had been absent or was merely a past event. It’s re-presented. And so when we go to Mass, we are connected to the life-giving power of these saving events that have the power to make all things new. And we are offering to the Father the only sacrifice that could possibly please him: the perfect offering of his perfect Son. But it is our offering as well, since the Son has generously made us members of his body.

Really present in priest and people

It is true that God is present everywhere, including when we pray to him alone or when two or three of us gather in his name. However, in the Eucharist, there are at least four extraordinary ways that the Lord Jesus is present that transcend the ways he is present outside the liturgy of the Catholic Church.

First, Christ is present in the community. Even when it’s hard to see Christ in our fellow Mass-goers, he’s really there. People gather from various places; some of them are distracted and preoccupied. As they come into that church, though, they’re no longer just scattered individuals but members of Christ’s body. At Mass we deepen our communion not only with Christ but with the whole Church, including the saints and our beloved deceased.

Second, Christ is present at Mass in the person of the priest. Some Catholic priests are astounding in holiness and powerful in their preaching. Others are not. The good news is that Christ’s presence doesn’t depend on the priest’s personal virtue. Christ makes himself present through a unique charism the priest has been given through the sacrament of holy orders.

This is one of the reasons the Catholic priest wears vestments when he celebrates the Eucharist: it signifies that he’s acting in the person of Christ (in persona Christi), not in his own person. The ordained priest is an icon of Christ, the true Priest. Through him, Jesus makes his priesthood present in a very special way.

We encounter Jesus, the living Word

Third, the Lord is present in the Eucharist in the Word of God. 

The Catholic Church sees the word of God as a tremendous gift, and this understanding is reflected in the Eucharist. The first part of the Sunday Mass centers on readings from Scripture: one passage from the Old Testament, a psalm response, another passage from the New Testament, and then the Gospel. These readings are arranged so that Sunday Mass-goers hear the most important passages from the entire Bible over the course of three years. It is a comprehensive and ongoing Bible study.

But this liturgy of the word isn’t a corporate catechism lesson intended to present abstract doctrine. Through the readings the Lord wants to speak to us personally, penetrating to the depths of our hearts with a nourishing, challenging word that draws us to conversion. This has happened time and time again in the Church’s history.

This is how the Lord wants to work in our lives, and we can cooperate by cultivating openness to the words we hear at Mass. It’s not just at the table of the Eucharist that we’re nourished. The pulpit is like a table, too, as the Second Vatican Council explains:

The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since from the table of both the word of God and of the body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life, especially in the sacred liturgy (Dei Verbum, 21).

We read Scripture first because it builds up our faith. Christ is present in it, preparing us to discern the Real Presence of his Body and Blood under the signs of bread and wine.

In addition to the readings, the word of God comes to us through the prayers of Mass. Listen carefully and you’ll discover that these prayers are almost entirely scriptural. They’re either direct quotes or paraphrases, like the Creed, which the Church Fathers put together as a summary of the essential Scripture passages.

Take the greeting that the priest usually gives us when he walks in: “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” That’s a direct quote from St. Paul: 2 Corinthians 13:14. Or the Gloria that we pray most Sundays: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.” That’s Luke 2:14. At every Mass we sing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might.” That’s Isaiah 6:3. What about “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”? That’s what John the Baptist said (John 1:29). And then there’s the centurion who told the Lord he wasn’t worthy to welcome him under his roof (see Matthew 8:8); we quote him every time we pray before Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy . . .” Through the readings and the prayers of the Mass, we are immersed in God’s word.

This is my body, my blood

The final and most special way that the Lord is present in the Eucharist is in his Body and Blood, present to us under the signs of bread and wine.

Jesus is God, and so he is omnipresent. But Jesus is now and forever man as well as God; his humanity can’t be present everywhere in the same way as his divinity. Jesus’ glorified humanity is at the right hand of the Father. In the Eucharist, and only in the Eucharist, he makes his Body and Blood present to us in a real way. This is why the sacramental presence of Christ’s Body and Blood is so extraordinary. In all of the other sacraments Jesus gives us his grace, says St. Thomas Aquinas; while in the Eucharist, the “sacrament of sacraments,” he gives us his whole self, his divinity and his humanity.

How is this possible? The transformation of the bread and wine happens the same way Mary’s virginal conception did: through the power of the word and the power of the Spirit. The incarnation may seem impossible, yet all Christians believe it. It is accomplished the same way creation was: God spoke and the world was made out of nothing through the power of the word and the Spirit. Likewise, in the Eucharist, the One who said, “Let there be light” says, “This is my Body,” and “This is my Blood.” Through the power of the Spirit invoked upon the gifts, the awesome change takes place.

About the year A.D. 1200, as some Catholics were struggling to find a way to explain this change, they came up with the word transubstantiation. Many people struggle with this word today. One reason we find it hard to understand is that the word substance has different meanings. For us, substance is something you can touch. 

In theology, though, substance means something that underlies what you can see and touch; it’s the essence of the thing that resides under its appearances. Surface characteristics—“accidents,” as theologians call them—have to do with everything that could be otherwise—say, how long your hair is or how fat or thin you are.

Transubstantiation, therefore, means that while the bread and wine look the same on the surface, their underlying essence is changed. This is the opposite of what happens in the world, where appearances change while the essence stays the same. (Getting a haircut or gaining five pounds isn’t going to affect the essence of who I am.)

In the Eucharist, though, the underlying, invisible substance is transformed from bread and wine to Christ’s Body and Blood. Everything looks the same as before. Even with a microscope, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, for the level at which this change happens is far too deep for human probing. But in the Eucharist, Christ is as truly present in his Body, Blood, soul, and divinity as when he walked the roads of Galilee, healing and preaching.

The feast of faith

The Eucharist is a meal. It’s the Lord’s Supper as well as a holy sacrifice. Christ becomes present so that we can not only see him under the appearances of bread and wine but also receive him into ourselves. Very tangibly, he becomes our food.

But why bread and wine?

Bread is our basic daily nourishment. The Our Father’s “give us this day our daily bread” is a petition for all our needs and necessities. The Fathers of the Church also understood it as a prayer for the spiritual nourishment we need on a daily basis—the Eucharist and the word of God.

Wine is the blood of the grape. We can appreciate the significance of this only if we understand the meaning of blood in the Old Testament. There, blood is equated with life. It’s not seen as sustaining life—rather, for the Jew, blood is life, and it belongs to God. It’s for this reason that the Mosaic law forbids drinking blood or eating any animal that still has blood in it. Even today, Jews who keep a kosher table eat only animals that have been appropriately butchered and drained of all blood.

In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us a share in God’s divine life by giving us his own Blood. His plan for us goes way beyond making us into decent folks who have gotten rid of gross immorality. Jesus came so that we might share in everything he has and become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

What is this divine nature? Essentially, it’s the inner life of the Trinity: three Persons eternally pouring themselves out in self-giving love for each other. This is agape, or charity, and drinking Jesus’ Blood gives us an opportunity to share in it so that it can become the principle and power of our own lives.

In order for us to stay alive, every cell in our body needs to be bathed with blood that nourishes, cleanses, and purifies our system. Similarly, taking the Blood of Christ in Communion will bring us to full spiritual vitality. It will strengthen and cleanse our entire being—spiritually and even physically, if it be God’s will.

The One we take upon our lips and into our bodies in the Eucharist is the same Jesus who raised Lazarus and healed the man born blind: the risen Lord, who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and whose kingdom will have no end.

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/why-go-to-mass