The Binding Force of Tradition - Fr. Chad Ripperger

EVANGELIZATION: THE WEAPONS OF CHRISTIANITY DO NOT INCLUDE BOMBS OR BULLETS!

I found an excellent article about evangelization on the front of Meménto, a newsletter/publication of the FSSP  --   Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri (The Priestly Fraternity of 
Saint Peter).  This piece, addressed Dear Friends of the Fraternity, was written for the June 2016 issue.

I have quoted here some excerpts.

"As we observe the increasing violence around the world from those who think that we, as Catholics, are the infidels, God has given us the opportunity to reflect on how strongly we believe the truths of the Holy Faith and how seriously we take them.
The martyrdoms of the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen this past March [of 2016] ... reveal the diabolical hatred of Jesus Christ and His Church." 

"Christ commanded the Apostles to teach all nations and to baptize them."

In other words -

"He wants converts to His Church.  Not only that, He actually expects all the members of His Church to be true cooperators in this work ..." 

"Failure to make efforts to evangelize the Faith  --  either by example or by word  --  compromises the divinely mandated mission of the Church in her unique work for the salvation of souls."

"So, when Catholics have grown unconcerned about evangelization and fail to live in a habitual state of grace ... this serves to promote the very force that is terrorizing the world."  (Emphasis mine.)

"It has become evident that we cannot all just get along  --  and maybe that is a good thing  --  but how we don't get along is very important.  We do not go lopping off heads;  rather, with firmness of Faith we go to the Cross and profess unashamedly the divine identity of the Crucified ..."

"Always remember:  the weapons of Christianity  --  devout prayer, penance, the Rosary, and (most especially) the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass  --  wage more terror in hell than a bomb does in an airport."

"No prayer, no sacrifice goes unremarked by our merciful Father in heaven."

- Fr. Gerard Saguto, FSSP
  North American District Superior

THE MOST PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS ONE CAN HAVE -- RECEIVE HIM ON YOUR TONGUE AT HOLY MASS!!

 http://www.traditionalcatholicpriest.com/

In the fullness of time God sent his messenger, the archangel Gabrielle, to a virgin in Israel with a stupendous announcement.  She was to become the Mother of God! 

 
Jesus was born, grew into manhood, spent three years in his ministry, and, in the end, suffered and died for us  --  to save us from an eternity in hell ... if we choose to accept him fully.

Jesus did not leave us alone.  Not only did the Holy Ghost come to guide His Church but Jesus, having risen from the dead, left us with his Body and Blood whenever his apostles and their successors consecrate bread and wine.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  
What an amazing thing that Jesus left for His Bride the Church.  He left His very Self for us.

We are often reminded by our more Evangelical friends the need for a personal relationship with Jesus.  We need to meet Our Lord in prayer.  We need to ask our heavenly family to intercede for us.  We need to change our whole lives to be Christ centred.

See John Chapter 6.
The truth in the original teaching about Holy Communion has been well summed up at My Flesh is Real Meat, My Blood is Real Drink

"  There are so many important things said on the subject in this passage that verses 50-60 are listed here: This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "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; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats 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 he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever." This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" Those who believe that Holy Communion is a mere symbol, hold a question in their minds similar to that of the Jews who said, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?” How he did this may be a mystery but Jesus made it clear that this is exactly did. If there were any doubt as to what he was saying it is removed when he says, “ My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” There is nothing more that he could have said if he had wanted to indicate an actual presence rather than a symbolic one. However if he had intended to leave behind only a symbolic presence, he could have stated it much more clearly. He could have said: this represents my Body or my Blood. However, that’s not what was said. The Jews knew that Christ literally meant what he had said, and so in disbelief they abandoned him in verse 66. It insults the intellect to believe that the Jews would have left merely over a symbol.  "

 [Emphasis mine.]

At each and every Catholic Mass (and at every Orthodox Divine Service) what had been bread and wine are now the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
When the priest places the Host on your tongue you are actually receiving the God of the Universe.  The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the very Word of God.
What can be more intimate than that?
Christ humbles himself so much because he has so much love for us!

There we are, God’s army being fed with His very flesh.  Each soldier is being refreshed.  Plus we are in communion.  We are being both unified and strengthened.

That leaves us with a great responsibility.
We HAVE to be prepared.  Do we expect God, who IS good, to come into us when we are dead to him?

Don’t be afraid to not receive at every Mass.

There are times in our lives when we are going through rough times with those we love.  We may be (at the time of Mass) still harbouring feelings of anger or perhaps even hatred.  Sometimes we may be concerned that we are in a state of mortal sin.

We must still go and assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass but we must not present ourselves to receive Our Lord unworthily.  We can still receive "Spiritual Communion":  When the priest receives the precious Body and Blood of Jesus we too can receive spiritually.

[ I do wish this was preached from the pulpit. ]

Dear Lord, may I receive you in this Communion With open arms, And a loving, contrite heart, So that I may be filled with Your grace, For my good and Your glory! Amen.

http://copiosa.org/mass/transubstantiation.htm

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED GOD DURING THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION?

Every now and then we a privileged by God as He draws us into His closer presence.

After Adoration tonight we celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (Ordinary Form).  My mind began to wander during the Prayer of Consecration.  To help bring myself back to the reality of the miracle taking place right before me I began to picture our Lord spilling His blood as He hung on the cross.

OUR SOULS ARE WORTH THAT MUCH???

The love of God became especially real to me at that moment, as the priest consecrated the wine and it became the Blood of Jesus.
He suffered and died for us so that we may escape eternal suffering in hell.  Our sins require that as a punishment, but God's love caused Him to pay the price for us.
Jesus also had to become God Incarnate so that He could remain present with us on the altars of the Church until the end of time.

And there I was about to receive His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity!
I suddenly felt so "real", so in-tune with the reality of God's eternal presence.

God Himself was placed on my tongue.  God not only entered my spiritually, as at Baptism, He also entered my physically.  And not just me alone.  Tonight He entered each individual assisting at Mass.

Image from http://veneremurcernui.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/holy-sacrifice-of-the-mass-freeing-souls-from-purgatory.jpg

Thank you Lord!

Eternal Father,
I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family.
Amen.