The Mystery of the Eucharist: Christ's Body & Blood

What makes the Catholic mass the greatest celebration and thanksgiving prayer is the  Blessed Sacrament-Eucharist. The word Eucharist literally means "to give thanks" or "thanksgiving."  For Catholic Christians throughout the world, this celebration is the most powerful and life giving entity for the soul, body, and mind.  Jesus Christ's body and blood taken in and consumed transform the human person and allows God to live in and through us to do things that are impossible for man because nothing is impossible for God.  For Jesus himself said, ""With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26) The body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ which is in the Eucharist is a great mystery of God's love and perfect gift given to us.  Every time mass is celebrated this partaking in the precious body and precious blood not only allows us to remember the sacrifice-the holy offering Jesus made in dying on the cross and shedding his blood for us, but it allows us to be one with Christ as he comes into our body and temple, the home of his Holy Spirit.

Jesus said as recorded in Matthew chapter 26, "Take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body given up for you."  When supper was ended he took the cup and again proclaimed, "Take this all of you and drink from it, for this is the cup of my blood poured out for your and for all so that sins may be forgiven.  Do this in memory of me."  As we gather to commemorate and remember the Lord's passion, death, and resurrection-our salvation which was gifted to us, it is a beautiful thing to partake in the communion of the Eucharist as often as possible.

A few months ago I decided that I would attend mass and receive the Eucharist as much as possible on a daily basis.  What I have noticed since is a transformation of my soul and mind.  Certainly, it is not me, but God living with me that has allowed such great change to come about in my life and to inspire and live through me to be a better person and to live in the present moment more and more.  In John's gospel Jesus tells us how vital it is to receive the Eucharist-his flesh and blood that we might be filled up with life...“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53 ) Based on these words of Christ, we have no life without him living within us.  We human beings receive that diving spark that empowers and lights up our souls through the Eucharist.  In addition the scriptures say in John chapter 6 verses 55-59, "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Christ urges us to partake in eating his body and drinking his blood so that God may live in us and so we may live with the Father and Son alive in our physical bodies.  Christ living in us will then give such life and light to our spirits and souls that will live on forever.  Then again in John 6:50 when he says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 

The Eucharist is the life giving bread and the saving cup that Christ ordained during the last supper to be celebrated and offered to God the Father.  When we are at mass and experience this we experience God with us and honor the Lord as he has asked us to do.  The power that is there is for all to receive as Christ transforms our lives in the mystery of the bread and wine that are consecrated on the alter by the priest and offered as an oblation pleasing to God.  May we receive this precious gift in the Eucharist as often as possible and pray that in doing so God may truly live in us and empower us to do his good and holy will in the world as  disciples of Jesus Christ.  That we might bring about the Kingdom of Heaven here on this earth and renew the earth through our lives.  For Christ our Lord said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6:35) We are fulfilled in every way through Jesus Christ, true God and true man-our Lord and Savior.  There is no other way to the father or salvation and when we believe in this mystery of the Eucharist and celebrating the Lord's passion as he himself asked us to do as often as we gather, we will be renewed and receive the Spirit of Jesus Christ, a flame of faith that will burn brightly for the world to see for all eternity! Amen.

To read parts from Pope John Paul II's encyclical on the Eucharist log on to: http://www.michaeljournal.org/eucharist.htm

Waking Up: Renewing the mind & controlling our thoughts to fully enjoy life in the NOW

The mind is a beautiful thing that God has blessed us all with and when it is used correctly and controlled it can be our greatest ally and asset-a true gift from God.  However, when we are controlled by it and consumed by our thoughts, especially negativity we can create a really miserable and ugly life for ourselves and those around us, which can evoke great suffering and agony.  Today, I encourage you to take control of your life by being constantly aware of your thoughts and controlling your mind to harness the positive energy that flows your way.  In doing so you will awaken to a new consciousness and be able to live fully in the now, which after all today is the only thing that we are guaranteed to have.  So wake up and reprogram your mind.  As Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church, says, "Hit the delete button" when bad thoughts come your way.  Cling onto the positive and "if you draw near to God, then God will draw near to you." (James 4:8)  There is great power in positive thinking and great power in the possibility of the present NOW!

A few years ago when I was studying religious studies and theology at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York I was conversing with a friend who said something that I will never forget.  As we were chatting I asked her how her day was and she said, "Today is a good day. Every day is a good day when your feet hit the floor in the morning."  After thinking about this I made it a habit to literally say a thanksgiving prayer each morning when my eyes opened, being consciously aware and grateful for a new day.  This is just one small example of the positive nature of the mind and why it is so vital to be aware of the moment and one's thoughts because in doing so life will be all more joyous and fill our spirits with God's love.

After speaking to my friend and literally awakening to this truth and fact that today was a good day and every day for that matter because it was a gift from God, my conscious self started to come into being.  Now that I am years removed from college and have read a number of texts on the conscious self and living in the NOW by Eckhart Tolle, this truth has become even more powerful and important to my life and the experiences I am blessed to share with others.

We truly can create a "new earth" for ourselves and our human kind when we take control of our minds and attaching ourselves only to the positive thoughts and good things that come in, while allowing the negative and bad to leave.  After reading Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and realizing that time is a physiological concept that causes great pain and suffering as well as fear, not to mention causing humanity to miss the present moment over and over, this is more fully evident.

As a Christian, let us go back over 20 centuries ago when St. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans and focus on his works in chapters 12 & 13.  This man who was spiritually blind and dead, slaying Christians and murdering those who were professing the faith experienced a literal awakening on the road to Tarsus as Paul, then Saul, was struck by God, blinded and then converted.  He later went on to write more than half of the New Testament including some of the most powerful works on the conscious self and importance of controlling one's mind to experience life to the fullest and receive God's joy!  The first scripture to examine is Romans 12:2 which states, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Here Paul urges us as Christians to not be sucked into the things that this world has to offer whether those be material goods, the ideas that people profess that are not beneficial, the world's desire to focus on the self, and also the addictive way that people concentrate too much on how things used to be or what they want in the future.  Instead we must concentrate on the NOW, the one moment and day at a time that we have been blessed with.  By being fully aware and fully there, we experience life in a new way and experience God in our living by simply BEING at one with life.  In addition, Paul says we must be "transformed by the renewing of (our) mind.  Our minds are renewed by being aware of what we are doing and how we are doing it, concentrating on this moment and not projecting into the future only to miss the now, and by living in a state of consciousness by controlling our mind.  Thoughts will undoubtedly come and go, both positive and negative.  However, when we go with those thoughts this is where the renewing of our mind comes in.  We have a choice to "hate what is evil, hold on to what is good" (Romans 12:9).  This involves a conscious choice and will truly renew our minds and lives.  After doing so we will be able to understand and comprehend what God's will is because we will be enlightened and aware, fully present to what the Lord calls us to be and do since a new sense of clarity will come our way.  Distractions and negativity will not be in the forefront of our minds, but a focus on the presence of life and BEING will.  

Furthermore, St. Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 13 to live in love and consciousness so that love and God's spirit may be within us.  Specifically, let us look at and examine Romans 13:11 which states, "And do this, knowing the time, that NOW it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."  So what does this mean for us?  Well, Paul seems to be stating that today, this moment-The NOW is "high time" because it is a gift given to us and we must not wait for tomorrow, which may not come.  Why put off today what we can do now, especially when it involves our faith and walk with Jesus Christ.  Our relationship with God and discerning our purpose is after all what we are called to as disciples to live fully in love...that must not be put off!  Second, Paul understood exactly what was going on, people then and still today are ASLEEP.  Humans must be awakened, to be enlightened to the full conscious self so they can be fully alive and experience God in and through all things.  This awakening will come when we are aware and conscious of life and our thoughts, the present moment, and concentrating on what really matters our relationship with Christ and experiencing salvation in the now.  Finally, St. Paul urges us to recognize that our salvation is at hand.  Jesus himself said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is among men, but they refuse to see it."  Paul is suggesting that Christ came and died for us, he opened the gates of Heaven, but why wait until we die to experience the fullness of God and the joy of salvation...this can and must be done now in the day to day beauty and mysteries of life.  

The last scripture I would like to examine from Paul's letter to the Romans is in Chapter 14.  In this chapter Paul is speaking about doing everything for the Lord.  He states, "If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." (Romans 14:8-9) Jesus Christ came so that we might live and live for the Lord.  God sent his Holy Spirit to fill us and empower us that we might be fully alive and do all things for Christ so we might be filled with great joy!  As Paul stated, whether we "live or die we belong to the Lord."  During our lifetime let us live and be fully alive in Christ that we might have great joy through his love and spirit that is within us.  As we aspire to live this way each day we will be truly alive and be able to do the will of God, not by our own accord, but by God who is in us.  This  BEING and living totally in the Now will allow us to experience the pure beauty of life, the joy, and fullness of God's salvation here on earth and then in the world to come.  Remember that, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)  

In closing, by renewing our mind and controlling our thoughts and what we concentrate on we have the ability to change our lives and as Eckhart Tolle so emphatically states, "be awakened to the true self that is within us already."  In doing so we as Christians are liberated and can experience the kingdom of Heaven here on Earth and the salvation that was won for us as Christ poured out the gift of grace by dying on the cross and rising to new life.  May we too experience this new life NOW and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  May we then use our life as an example and witness to bring about the Kingdom of God here on Earth for all men and women to see and enjoy!  "This is why it is said, 'Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'" (Ephesians 5:14)

Reflections on Eckhart Tolle, the Present, and Power of NOW: Becoming a fully Conscious & Present Christian

Recently a friend of mine introduced me to an amazing text entitled A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.  Little did I know when I began reading this text that my life and the world in which I live in would be flipped upside down and completely changed forever.  The perspective that has been gained from reading this text as well as The Power of Now has been remarkable.  I have always believed that as a Christian it is so vital that we seek out God's presence in our lives on a daily basis.  For the Lord manifests himself to us in so many ways, yet we often are "too busy" or distracted by our own minds and thoughts to recognize God.

Eckhart Tolle's purpose in writing these texts was to help awaken and enlighten people to become fully aware and conscious.  In doing so we uncover the BEING we were created as and experience life in a beautifully new way.  Over the past two months I can say that my life has been changed.  Whether I am washing my hands, cooking a meal, working out,  teaching in the classroom, or simply watching sports, there is a new freshness and experience by being fully present to the NOW and moment at hand.  For years I had thought and dwelt on things from the past, especially the negative and "bad" (as we label things) stuff in life.  In doing so I had created my own mental problems...Later we learn from Eckart that problems are mentally constructed things that don't actually exist because in the NOW there are no problems.  One must simply accept what comes his or her way and be at one with it.  When I was not dwelling on things that happened or what did not go my way, namely what I was expecting, I was projecting into the future.  Now, it must be said that having goals is a good thing, however looking into the future and concentrating on what one will do is dangerous and often creates great fear or more "problems" in the mind.  Let alone, this distracted myself from being fully present in the moment.

Now that I have read A New Earth and realize the value of being fully conscious, of observing my thoughts and not allowing a mental dialogue or mind control to take place over me, I am free and liberated in a way that has been life changing.  No longer do I think of things as good or bad, but they are and life is...After all, we cannot control almost everything that happens, we can only accept them and be one with what occurs.  In doing so Eckhart suggests we do not lose out on the present moment, but arrive at fully consciousness and then can act according to the situation in a most responsible manner.  Life and the daily activities I partake in from brushing my teeth to go to work to eating dinner with my wife and family all have changed.  The tasks and things are not changing, but my BEING fully in the moment not thinking about the past or future, but simply living in the NOW as a conscious being has revealed a new freshness and beauty that I had been too distracted to see and appreciate before.

Therefore, I encourage you to read Tolle and be transformed through the renewing of your mind.  It is amazing to think that St. Paul had encouraged Christians from the beginning days as he so emphatically wrote in his letter to the Romans, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)  For centuries human beings has missed the fact that we are to be fully present in the NOW, awakened to the light of our true selves by being fully conscious.  Through this enlightenment as Tolle says, we are able to "BE."  After all as Genesis 1:27 so beautifully professes were are, "made in the image and likeness of God."  Let us not forget that when Moses saw God in the burning bush and experienced God face to face he then asked the Lord his name.  God replied, "I am." The beauty of life is that we are and by fully awakening our spirit becomes alive simply because "we are."  A great inner peace will come to you and your life will be filled with joy through living in the NOW.  As Eckhart Tolle mentions in his works time and time again, the only guarantee and moment that matters is NOW, for this is all we have and that ever will be.  The NOW is what makes up today and by living in the present moment and being fully there in body, mind, and soul we become fully alive and fulfill our purpose of BEING!

To learn how to access your copy of A New Earth or The Power of Now, as well as to read reflections by Eckhart Tolle please visit this amazing resource at: eckharttolle.com