Who can receive the Eucharist?

The Catholic Church rightly regards the Eucharist as the most important of the seven sacraments of the Church as contained within what appears to be a small wafer of bread is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is also perhaps the most obvious division between Catholics and Protestants. Unlike many Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church practices what is called closed communion. While other Christians are often (although not always) happy to welcome Christians of a different denomination to share in their “communion services”, the Catholic Church does not allow non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist. Many non-Catholics (and even non-Christians) are puzzled and sometimes offended by this. This attitude is viewed as damaging ecumenism and fostering division. Non-Catholics cannot (under ordinary circumstances) receive the Eucharist. This is for essentially the same reasons as exist which might prevent a Catholic from receiving the Eucharist – most non-Catholics deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, for example. In addition, Scripture makes it very clear that the Eucharist is the highest sign of Christian unity. If non-Catholics were to receive the Eucharist in a Catholic Church this would imply a unity which does not, regrettably, exist. Therefore, Non-Catholics can not receive the communion, but can receive a blessing at mass.

The Permanence of Marriage

     Among Catholics, one of the most sensitive and often-avoided topics is the stinging reality of divorce and its consequences. While there must be a pastoral response to assist those parties who seek counseling when their failed marriage ends in divorce, one must never compromise the truth of Christ’s teachings for the sake of the pastoral response. The words and teachings of Jesus Christ on divorce are clear, and it is the responsibility of the Church and its pastors to safeguard, proclaim, and defend them. A section from the Gospel of Mathew shows how Jesus responds to the question of divorce (see end of post). When Jesus came, he elevated matrimony to the same status it had originally possessed between Adam and Eve—the status of a sacrament. Thus, any valid marriage between two baptized people is a sacramental marriage and, once consummated, cannot be dissolved. Jesus, therefore, taught that if anyone so married divorces and remarries, that person is living in perpetual adultery, a state of mortal sin. The Church views marriage as a bond that can not be broken and is viewed as permanent in the eyes of God. Therefore, the Church only accepts an annulment or declaring a marriage null and void. This topic is very controversial in the modern world and the Church will remain in her view.

“And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one”? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’ He said to them, ‘For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.’"

The Process of Becoming a Saint in the Catholic Church

In this post I want to talk about the process that a person has to go through to become a Saint in the Catholic Church. This process of becoming a Saint is called canonization. There are 4 steps to becoming a Saint. The 4 steps are Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint. A person becomes a Servant of God when they are accepted into consideration of becoming a Saint. After the Vatican Congregation  for the Causes of Saints determines that the servant of God lived a life of heroic virtue, he is granted the title of venerable. Heroic virtue doesn't mean a person was perfect or sinless, but that he worked to improve himself spiritually and never gave up trying to be better and grow in holiness.  After the Church establishes one miracle, the venerable person’s cause is presented to the pope to see whether he deems him worthy of being called blessed. This step is called beatification and is the next-to-last step. Another miracle and the blessed person’s cause is presented to the pope again for his judgment. If he determines that the evidence is clear and that contrary reports aren't credible, he may begin the canonization of the person. If all goes well, the candidate is publicly recognized as a Saint. 

The picture is a picture of an incorruptible Saint. Some Saints bodies don't decay like a normal persons would after they die. This is an example of an incorruptible.

The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy

The Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, Italy is a miraculous that occurred during the celebration of mass in the city of Lanciano, Italy. The monk that was giving the mass had began to doubt the real presence of the Christ in the bread and wine. After saying the words of consecration he noticed that the bread and wine had turned into a real piece of flesh and real blood. Many tests have been performed on the bread and wine turned into real flesh and real blood by real scientists and they have proven it to be a real flesh and real blood. They tested the blood type of the blood and it turned out to be AB, the same blood type that was found on the Shroud of Turin. They also discovered that the piece of flesh is one that would have been from a human and this flesh is consistent with that of the human heart.
It is almost coincidental that the miracle occurred in Lanciano, Italy. Lanciano is the Italian word for lance and this is coincidental because when Christ was dying on the cross, the roman soldier pierced the side of Christ and from it came water and blood. This is important because without Christ coming to earth as the only begotten son of Christ and dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins then the infinite gap created between us and God could not have been bridged.
The Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, Italy is different from the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. In the real presence Christ is present in spirit and the bread and wine symbolizes the body and blood of Christ which he instituted at the Last Supper. If the normal bread and wine of the Eucharist were to be tested by scientists then it would not turn out to be actual blood and flesh of Christ. In the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, Italy, it actually became the body and blood of Christ and this could be backed up and tested by science.

Controversial Topics: Abortion

I know abortion is a very, very controversial topic, but I did a class work exercise on it and I wanted address it in this blog. I read an article about Saint Gianna, an Italian doctor with many children. The article focused on her difficulties with her baby that she was about to have. They discovered cancer in Gianna in the 9th month of pregnancy and giving birth to the new baby would probably end in both Gianna and her baby to die. The doctor said she should get an abortion, but Gianna decided that she wanted to have the baby even though her life was at stake. She, being a very dedicated Catholic, wanted the doctors to try to save the baby rather than killing the baby to save her life. This was a very bold move by her. This is why abortion has become so controversial. It all depends on peoples opinions. Gianna's opinion was that her baby's life was more important than her's, so she wanted the doctors to try to save the life of the baby instead of her. Some other people think their life is more important than an unborn baby. These people most likely believe that unborn baby's aren't yet considered alive, so they don't consider it murder. Of course, the views of the Catholic Church are very strict. The Church believes that life starts at conception so that once the baby is created, it is considered alive. This means that unborn babies are considered alive. Some others do not agree with the Catholic Church. They believe that life starts once the baby has been born. This difference of opinion is what has caused the major controversy surrounding abortion.

The Main Obstacle Christians Face

I wanted to discuss what I believe to be the Main Obstacle of Living a Truly Christian Life. In my opinion, temptation is the main obstacle of living a truly Christian life for many Christians. Temptation is from the devil who tries to prevent you from living a truly Christian life. Some people face personal and minor temptations. However, some people face serious temptations. There are many people in the world today who face serious temptations which may include: self-harm, drug addictions, etc. These are things that can most definitely become obstacles of living a truly Christian life. Self-harm may be interpreted by some as “blemishing God’s creation,” pornography could be interpreted as “a bad distraction on the internet,” and drug addictions can also be interpreted as “blemishing God’s mind and body which he gave you.”  Without temptation and evil, there would be no sin. This possibility was changed when Adam and Eve committed the Original Sin (the first sin which was committed which brought sin into the world). Although everybody does face some kind of temptation, there are many ways that you can overcome these temptations. One way that these temptations can eventually be overcome is through prayer. For example, in the Our Father Prayer, we pray “…and lead us not into temptation…” This is a great example which portrays for you that praying for the overcoming of temptation can eventually help one achieve the ability to overcome their temptation. Prayer is a very strong way to get many tasks done and overcoming temptations just happens to be one of those tasks. Overall, I believe that temptation is the number one obstacle to living a truly Christian life.