I offer this in Love and the enlightenment of all.
I go to Mass as often as I possibly can because I love My Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross for my sins. He has given me Eternal life. He allows me to partake of His Body and Blood at every Mass I attend.
Saint Padre Pio, a Capuchin Priest, who had the Stigmata, (the five wounds of Christ for over fifty years) tells us “A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
In Luke 22:19, we read: “Taking bread and giving thanks,He broke it and gave it to them saying “This is My Body to be given up for you. Do this as a remembrance of Me.’ He did the same with the cup after eating, saying as He did so: “This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood, which will be shed for you.'”
The following is from “This Is My Body, This is My Blood Miracles of the Eucharist” Book 1 by Bob and Penny Lord.
There are over 100 documented Miracles of The Eucharist. One of the first happened in the year 700 in Lanciano, Italy in the Church of Saint Legontian and Saint Domintian which was under the custody of Basilian Monks of the Greek Orthodox Rite.
A Basilian Monk, was Celebrating the Mass. On that morning, while he was having a strong attack of doubt about the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ really being present in the Eucharist, he began the Consecration for the people of the town. He used the same size host as used in the Latin Rite today. What he beheld as consecrated the bread and wine caused his hands to shake, indeed whole body. He stood for a long time with his back to the people, and then slowly turned around to them.
He said: “O fortunate witnesses to whom the Blessed God, to confound my disbelief, has wished to reveal Himself in this Most Blessed Sacrament and to render Himself visible to our eyes. Come, brethren, and marvel at our God so close to us. Behold the Flesh and Blood of our most beloved Christ.”
The host had turned into Flesh. The wine had turned into Blood.
Had the host and wine disintegrated, it still would have been a great miracle, but today, over 1300 years later, it is still flesh and blood. DNA test have been done on it many times, and the results are always this is human flesh. The blood is real blood. The flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart. The flesh and blood have the same blood type(AB) The preservation of the flesh and the blood, which were left in their natural state for over 13 centuries (without any chemical preservatives) and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remain an extraordinary phenomenon.
This blood is over 1300 years old and still contains all its properties, chemicals and protein of freshly shed blood. still in the testing, it was determined no preservatives were added.
Back to my renderings.
The Catholic Church is the one and only church founded by Jesus Christ. I do not go to church to worship or be turned off by the failings of human beings. I go to Church to worship Jesus Christ and I am not going to let a few misguided sinful men, and women keep me from Celebrating The Mass with my Lord Jesus Christ, His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.
Priest, Bishops, Cardinals and even the Pope are human beings subject to temptation. The Sister preparing us for Conformation, told us the more of God’s Graces we receive, the more the devil would temp us. The devil loves to knock off the shepherd to get to the flock. Only misguided people leave, because they do realize Jesus Christ is our shepherd and it is His Body and Blood we receive in Communion. The priest and bishops are only instruments of God, or if they chose, of the devil. They still have free will to choose good or evil.
If I say, I don’t like the things that have gone on in the Catholic Church and the cover ups, which I don’t, and therefore I am writing the Catholic church off, I would be allowing a few sinful men and women to keep me from the banquet Jesus has prepared for me. All that suffering He did for each one of us to bring us closer to Him. If I did that, I would be playing into the devils hands. That’s just what he wants me to do.
To God Be The Glory for all He Has Done,
Rick Herring