THE EUCHARIST

BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

The cup of blessing which we bless, 

is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? 

The bread which we break, 

is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 

Because there is one bread, 

we who are many are one body, 

for we all partake of the one bread.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

There is nothing so great, my children, as the Eucharist. If you were to put all the good actions in the world against a Communion well made, it would be like a grain of dust against a mountain. -- St. John Vianney

SAINT ISAAC JOGUES

Saint Isaac Jogues (January 10, 1607 – October 18, 1646) was a Jesuit priest, missionary, and martyr who traveled and worked among the native populations in North America. He gave the original European name to Lake George, calling it Lac du Saint Sacrement, Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1646, Jogues was martyred by the Mohawks near present day Auriesville, New York. Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf and six other martyred missionaries, all Jesuits or laymen associated with them, were canonized in 1930, and are known as "The North American Martyrs". Their feast day is October 19, except in Canada, where the feast is celebrated on September 26. After his death his body was thrown in the St. Lawrence river.

St. Issac Jogues was canonized on June 29, 1930 by Pope Pius XI along with seven other Canadian Martyrs. His Day of Remembrance is October 19. -- Wikipedia

SAINT JEAN DE BREBEUF

Martyr; Apostle of the Hurons

Saint Jean de Brébeuf (March 25, 1593 – March 16, 1649) was a French Jesuit missionary who traveled to New France (or Canada)in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron for the rest of his life, except for a short time back in France in 1629-1630. He learned their language and culture.

In 1649 Brébeuf and several other missionaries were captured when an Iroquois raid took over a Huron village. Together with Huron captives, the missionaries were ritually tortured and eight were killed, martyred on March 16, 1649. Brébeuf was beatified in 1925 and canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 1930. -- Wikipedia


Memorial: October 19

SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH

REACH GOD

He has done this so that they would look for God, 

somehow reach for him, and find him. 

In fact, he is never far from any one of us. 

Acts 17:27

Saint Ignatius's most famous quotation comes from his letter to the Romans:

I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ. Let me become the food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God. -- St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Romanos 4:1

 DESIRE IN LIFE

You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, 

but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

1 Peter 4:2

I no longer desire to live a purely human life. Make this your choice if you yourselves would be chosen. -- St. Ignatius of Antioch

NEW HOPE

The Law brought no perfect blessing--

but on the other hand we have the bringing in of 

a new and better hope by means of which we draw near to God. 

Hebrews 7:9

Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keepig the Sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which our life is blessed by Him and by His death. -- St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Magnesios 9:1


Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

St. Ignatius of Antioch

GOD BEARER

 
Ignatius of Antioch also known as Theophorus from Greek "God-bearer") (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117) was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, he wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.

Life

Ignatius converted to Christianity at a young age.Later in his life he was chosen to serve as the Bishop of Antioch, succeeding Saint Peter and St. Evodius (who died around A.D. 67). The early Church historian, Eusebius, records that Ignatius succeeded Evodius. Making his apostolic succession even more immediate, Theodoret of Cyrrhus reported that St. Peter himself appointed Ignatius to the episcopal see of Antioch. Ignatius called himself Theophorus (God Bearer). A tradition arose that he was one of the children whom Jesus took in his arms and blessed.

Ignatius is one of the five Apostolic Fathers (the earliest authoritative group of the Church Fathers). He based his authority on being a bishop of the Church, living his life in the imitation of Christ. It is believed that St. Ignatius, along with his friend Polycarp, with great probability were disciples of the Apostle St. John.

Rome Epistles attributed to Ignatius report his arrest by the authorities and travel to Rome:

    From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated. — Ignatius to the Romans, 5.

Along the route he wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop. He was sentenced to die at the Colosseum. In his Chronicle, Eusebius gives the date of Ignatius's death as AA 2124 (2124 years after Adam), which would amount to the 11th year of Trajan's reign, i.e., A.D. 108.[9]

After Ignatius' martyrdom in the Colosseum, his remains were carried back to Antioch by his companions and were interred outside the city gates. They were moved by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychaeum, or Temple of Tyche, which had been converted into a church dedicated to Ignatius. In 637 the relics were translated to the Basilica di San Clemente in Rome.
Veneration

Ignatius' feast day is observed on 20 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, he is commemorated, according to its Synaxarium, on the 24th of the Coptic Month of Kiahk (which currently falls on January 2, but is equivalent to December 20 in the Gregorian Calendar due to the current 13-day Julian-Gregorian Calendar offset).In the Indian Orthodox Church, his feast is observed on the 20th of December. His celebration is on 1 February in the General Roman Calendar of 1962.

Today Western Christianity follows the Syriac churches in keeping his feast on 17 October.

Ignatius's letters proved to be important testimony to the development of Christian theology, since the number of extant writings from this period of Church history is very small. They bear signs of being written in great haste and without a proper plan, such as run-on sentences and an unsystematic succession of thought. Ignatius is the earliest known Christian writer to emphasize loyalty to a single bishop in each city (or diocese) who is assisted by both presbyters possibly elders and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. Philippians 1:1

For instance, while the offices of bishop, presbyter and deacon appear apostolic in origin, the titles of "bishop" and "presbyter" could be used interchangeably:

    Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God, and with the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and is at last made manifest — Letter to the Magnesians 2, 6:1

Ignatius is known to have taught the deity of Christ:

    There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible, even Jesus Christ our Lord. —Letter to the Ephesians, ch. 7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation

He stressed the value of the Eucharist, calling it a "medicine of immortality" (Ignatius to the Ephesians 20:2). The very strong desire for bloody martyrdom in the arena, which Ignatius expresses rather graphically in places, may seem quite odd to the modern reader. An examination of his theology of soteriology shows that he regarded salvation as one being free from the powerful fear of death and thus to bravely face martyrdom.[11] Ignatius is claimed to be the first known Christian writer to argue in favor of Christianity's replacement of the Sabbath with the Lord's Day:

    Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace…. If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny … how shall we be able to live apart from Him? … It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practise Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity — Ignatius to the Magnesians 8:1, 9:1-2, 10:3, Lightfoot translation.

He is also responsible for the first known use of the Greek word katholikos (καθολικός), meaning "universal", "complete" and "whole" to describe the church, writing:

    Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, J.R. Willis translation.

It is from the word katholikos ("according to the whole") that the word catholic comes. When Ignatius wrote the Letter to the Smyrnaeans in about the year 107 and used the word catholic, he used it as if it were a word already in use to describe the Church. This has led many scholars to conclude that the appellation Catholic Church with its ecclesial connotation may have been in use as early as the last quarter of the 1st century. On the Eucharist, he wrote in his letter to the Smyrnaeans:

    Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God … They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Antioch
MEMORIAL: October 17

Published: 10/18/10 - 5:29AM ; 12/21/10 - 4:24AM ; 1/25/11-6:36AM ; 1/17/13-7:31AM

UNION WITH GOD

"The Son of Man must suffer many things 

and be rejected by the elders and chief priests 

and scribes, and be killed 

and be raised up on the third day."

Luke 9:22

Many people would like to attain union with God but they cannot bear the contradictions he sends them. They hate the sickness which strikes them, or the poverty they suffer, or the insults they receive. Since they cannot be resigned, they never succeed in reaching total union with God. -- St Alphonsus de Liguori

Know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life. -- 1 John 5:20

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him." 

John 13:31

SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER

PROGRESS IN SERVICE
Then once more you shall distinguish 

between the righteous and the wicked, 

between one who serves God 

and one who does not serve him.

Malachi 3:18

It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man's progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.  -- St Francis Xavier

FRANCISCO DE JASSO Y AZPILICUETA

 Apostle to the Far East, Honored in Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion, Beatified 25 October 1619 by Pope Paul V, Canonized 12 March 1622 by Gregory XV

Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Roman Catholic missionary born in Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre (now part of Spain), and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas which had thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. In these areas, being a pioneer and struggling to learn the local languages in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. It was a goal of Xavier to one day reach China.

St. Francis Xavier

Priest (Memorial)

December 3

Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a).

The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him.

Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534 joined his little community (the infant Society of Jesus). Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope.

From Venice, where he was ordained priest in 1537, Francis Xavier went on to Lisbon and from there sailed to the East Indies, landing at Goa, on the west coast of India. For the next 10 years he labored to bring the faith to such widely scattered peoples as the Hindus, the Malayans and the Japanese. He spent much of that time in India, and served as provincial of the newly established Jesuit province of India.

Wherever he went, he lived with the poorest people, sharing their food and rough accommodations. He spent countless hours ministering to the sick and the poor, particularly to lepers. Very often he had no time to sleep or even to say his breviary but, as we know from his letters, he was filled always with joy.

Francis went through the islands of Malaysia, then up to Japan. He learned enough Japanese to preach to simple folk, to instruct and to baptize, and to establish missions for those who were to follow him. From Japan he had dreams of going to China, but this plan was never realized. Before reaching the mainland he died. His remains are enshrined in the Church of Good Jesus in Goa.


Comment:

All of us are called to “go and preach to all nations” (see Matthew 28:19). Our preaching is not necessarily on distant shores but to our families, our children, our husband or wife, our coworkers. And we are called to preach not with words, but by our everyday lives. Only by sacrifice, the giving up of all selfish gain, could Francis Xavier be free to bear the Good News to the world. Sacrifice is leaving yourself behind at times for a greater good, the good of prayer, the good of helping someone in need, the good of just listening to another. The greatest gift we have is our time. Francis gave his to others.

Patron Saint of: Japan, Missionaries

Saint of the Day
Lives, Lessons and Feast
By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.; revised by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M.

Published: December 3, 2010 - 5:51AM (MEMORIAL)

SAINT THOMAS MORE

KNOW

"Be still, and know that I am God! 

I will be honored by every nation. 

I will be honored throughout the world."

Psalm 46:10

What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?  -- St Thomas More

DO RIGHT

"They do not know how to do right," 

declares the LORD, 

who store up in their fortresses 

what they have plundered and looted."

Amos 3:10

Whoever bids other folks to do right, but gives an evil example by acting the opposite way, is like a foolish weaver who weaves quickly with one hand and unravels the cloth just as quickly with the other.  -- St. Thomas More 

BEST

Then the king said to them, 

"Whatever seems best to you I will do." 

So the king stood beside the gate, 

and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands.

2 Samuel 18:4

Nothing can come but that God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best. -- St. Thomas More to his daughter

ST. THOMAS MORE

Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), known to Roman Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII and Lord Chancellor from October 1529 to 16 May 1532. More opposed the Protestant Reformation, in particular the theology of Martin Luther and William Tyndale whose books he burned and whose followers he persecuted. More also wrote Utopia, published in 1516, about the political system of an ideal and imaginary island nation. More later opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England because it disparaged papal authority and Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Tried for treason, More was convicted on perjured testimony and beheaded.

Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr of the schism that separated the Church of England from Rome; Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared More the "heavenly Patron of Statesmen and Politicians". Since 1980, the Church of England has remembered More liturgically as a Reformation martyr. -- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Published: 9/9/10-5:32AM; 12/2/10-5:51AM