Question:  If it is true that, in receiving the consecrated Host at Mass, we receive the entire Christ—his human body and blood with his created human soul, along with his uncreated divinity, then what is the advantage in partaking also of the consecrated wine which encompasses exactly the same features? K.G. I applaud you for [...]

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, St. Paul speaks about three parts of the human personality: “May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NAB, emphasis added). In other translations, this tripartite division of spirit, soul, [...]

The real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is great mystery, and we should strive to cultivate our faith in this mystery, which is a basic doctrine of our Catholic faith. Scripture makes numerous references to the fact that Jesus is truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist under the outward appearances [...]

St. Anthony Claret, the founder of the Claretian Congregation, to which I belong, was a great saint. He wrote 144 books, preached twenty-five thousand sermons, and was confessor to Queen Isabella II of Spain. He was archbishop of Santiago, Cuba, and he predicted the advent of communism. He worked many miracles and accomplished more work [...]

This tradition of love and devotion began with the early fathers of the Church. In the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom, a gifted preacher and patriarch of Constantinople, clearly grasped the profound meaning of the Eucharist, as evidenced by the words in one of his sermons: “To that Lord on whom the angels even dare [...]

St. Augustine, the great saint who lived in the fourth century and was converted from his worldly ways through the unceasing prayers of his mother, St. Monica, once launched a spiritual teaching with what today’s advertising moguls would call a “teaser.” He said, “There is only one thing God does not know. He does not [...]

Their conversation had come to a crossroads. Who was greater: Moses or Jesus? Jesus did not avoid the issue but bluntly described himself as the Bread of Life, through whom a person may obtain eternal life and spiritual sustenance while still or earth: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never [...]

…Just as God provides us with food to sustain our physical or natural life, even more importantly he provides us with food to sustain our spiritual life. In John 6:27 Jesus says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” [...]

God’s grace is available to us when we participate in the eucharistic liturgy as part of the Mystical Body of Christ, but especially when we, as part of the Mystical Body, are nourished by Christ’s physical body in the premiere sacrament of the Eucharist. The eucharistic presence of Jesus has the power to transform us: there [...]

For the next few weeks, I plan on posting excerpts from Father Hampsch’s book “The Healing Power of the Eucharist.” I am in the process of reading the book now and find it well worth sharing with all of you.  Bob S. ….Consequently, the Eucharist transcends any other source of grace, and as St. Thomas [...]