We received a letter from a reader
which brought up a point regarding this matter; a point which we felt
needed to
be clarified. This concluding document is, in essence, our response to
said letter.
Our Response
We
thank you for this opportunity to address this global issue
for the
last time, being so the Will of God.
Of the Seven Sacraments it is the Holy Communion which provides
supernatural nourishment to the soul when the bread and wine have been
properly transubstantiated
into the Body and Blood of Christ. Although it sounds as cannibalism it
is not and it was never intended to be understood as that. Through the
Grace of God, I actually know what happens to the bread and wine at the
Consecration so, to me, the fact that it provides unequaled
supernatural
nourishment to the soul is an absolute reality
and not because someone told me.
With that said, let us ask ourselves the following questions:
(a) How did the repented
thief manage to be in the Kingdom with Jesus
"this day"?
[39]
And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If
thou be Christ, save thyself and us. [40] But the other answering,
rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art
condemned under the same condemnation?
[41]
And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil.
[42] And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into
thy kingdom. [43] And Jesus said
to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
[Luke 23]
Obviously he did not fulfill what too many understand as an absolute
requirement,
as it seems
to be spelled out in John 6: 53-54
(b) Why didn't Jesus tell His
Apostles/Disciples to recruit the man who
was "casting out devils in Thy Name" but "who followeth not us"?
[37]
John answered him, saying: Master,
we saw one casting out devils in thy name, who followeth not us, and we
forbade him. [38] But Jesus said: Do not forbid him. For there is no
man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me. [39]
For he that is not against you, is for you. [Mark 9]
After all, if they did not fulfill what too many understand as an
absolute requirement,
as it
seems to be spelled out in John 6: 53-54, they would be lost
forever.
(c) How did those who, in the
very early stages of Christianity did not
consume the properly transubstantiated bread and wine, enjoyed the
promised Eternal Life?
After all, if they did not fulfill what too many understand as an
absolute requirement,
as it
seems to be spelled out in John 6: 53-54, they would be lost
forever.
(d) What about God's chosen
ones - Abraham, David, Moses, John the
Baptist? None of them consumed the Transubstantiated bread and wine.
Did they miss the promised Eternal Life? Of course not!
They obviously did not fulfill what too many understand as an
absolute
requirement,
as it seems
to be spelled out in John 6: 53-54.
(e) Last, but not least,
what
about those who have never heard
of Jesus because of the
monumentally failed Evangelization effort?
Let us use the official Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church
(4) to answer that question.
"Outside
the Church there is no salvation"
847
This affirmation is not aimed at
those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his
Church:
Those who, through no fault of
their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who
nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in
their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of
their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.
848 "Although in ways known to himself
God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of
the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him,
the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to
evangelize all men."
The Catechism is absolutely correct here. We can, in all humility,
state so because through the Grace of God, and not because of his
intellect, miguel de Portugal knows the way in which
"God
can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the
Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him."
Given the above, it is
obvious that the consumption of the
Transubstantiated bread and wine
is not an absolute
requirement for the salvation of a soul but, as we do not tire of
repeating:
it is the greatest help that a
human could possibly have in journeying through Time towards
Eternity.
Back to what John wrote and look at it as it was originally intended.
53 Jesus replied to
them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat
the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you. 54 Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal
life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.
Jesus is the Word of God made Flesh.
If we consume - eat and drink - the Word of God, we will have Eternal
Life.
We have warned the Faithful about the dangers of Biblical Literalism.
(5) Let's face
it, if we "go
literal", precious little of the Catholic Faith would remain standing.
For example, in the Last Passover Meal Jesus said:
....This is my body, which is given for
you. Do this for a
commemoration of me. [Luke 22:19]
Passover Meal takes place once a year and is conducted in accordance
to
the
instructions God gave Moses and to which Jesus adhered to
(Remember?
Do not think that I am come to
destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill.
[Matthew 5:17]).
Now then, if we
"go literal", the Mass should be offered only once a year, on the day
of
Passover the date of which is to be determined according to the
parameters used by
Jesus and not the Temple Masters.
(6) In addition, the format
would be exactly that which
Jesus used.
In closing, we wish to remind one and all that, just as
The sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the sabbath.
[Mark 2:27],
organized religion was made for man, and not man for organized
religion. Man was made for God! Period!
