Persevere with Jesus Christ...

As I was perusing through a used books warehouse sale recently, God somehow led me to a 1961 Holland-printed, Canadian-published copy of The Fulton J Sheen, Sunday Missal.  Without any hesitation, I purchased it for a mere equivalent of USD1.50...truly a great blessing from God!

One can never seem to find priceless spiritual books like these anymore, with such wisdom in thinking even from back then...breaking God's word into human understanding and application.  Today, it seems that people do not treasure these spiritual literature anymore...abandoning them...throwing these away...

As documented in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI stressed that “the world today is often excessively caught up in outward activities and risks losing its bearings.”  How very true these words from the Holy Father...

In any case, glancing through the priceless, almost mint pages, of the Missal, I would like to “multiply” this USD1.50 “investment” and share some of the beautiful excerpts of Bishop Fulton Sheen with all of you - as we move into Pentecost Sunday.  Truly, this saintly man continues to be a living prophet for our time.

“The whole world is dying of hunger.  The East is suffering from hunger of body; the West from hunger of soul.  The words of the Gospel are everlastingly true: “they have nothing to eat.” (Mark 6: 36)


Calvary was only one small place on the earth, a by-way of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome.  But what took place there, the sacrifice of the God-Man, can affect men everywhere in all corners of the earth.


The Mass plants the Cross in a town, in a village, in a mission, in a great cathedral; it draws back the curtains on time and space and makes what happened on Calvary happen here.


On the Cross, our blessed Lord knew how every individual soul in the world would react to his supreme act of love; he knew whether or not we would accept him or reject him.


But no one of us knows how we will react until we are confronted with Christ and his Cross, and see it unrolled on the screen of time.


We can know something of the role we played at Calvary by the way we act at the Mass in the twentieth century (or at this present time) and by the way the Mass helps us to live.


In every Mass, therefore the Cross of Calvary is transplanted into New York, London, Tokyo, Nairobi, Hong Kong (or wherever you may be located): all humanity is taking sides, either sharing in that Redemption or else rejecting it, either being on the Cross with the Victim or beneath it among the executioners.


The Mass is that which makes the Cross visible to every eye; it placards the Cross at all the crossroads of civilization; it brings Calvary so close that even tired feet can make the journey to its sweet embrace; every hand may now reach out to touch its Sacred Burden, and every ear may hear its sweet appeal, for the Mass and the Cross are the same.


This world of ours is full of half-completed Gothic cathedrals, of half-finished lives and half-crucified souls.  Some carry the Cross to Calvary and then abandon it; others are nailed to it and detach themselves before the elevation; others are crucified, but in answer to the challenge of the world, “Come down”, they come down after one hour…two hours…after two hours and fifty-nine minutes, Real Christians are they who persevere unto the end.  Our Lord stayed until he had finished.


So we must stay with the Cross until our lives are finished.


Our human nature is the raw material; our will is the chisel; God’s grace is the energy and the inspiration.


Touching the chisel to our unfinished nature, we first cut off huge chunks of selfishness, then by more delicate chiseling, we dig away smaller bits of egotism until finally only a brush of the hand is needed to bring out the completed masterpiece - a finished man (or woman) made to the image and likeness of the pattern on the Cross.”


We continue to remind ourselves on this journey that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, coupled with the intercession of our Blessed Mother, that truly makes our souls more Christ-like...in the process, bringing about a new Pentecost to transform the world around us...

“Keep your eyes on the crucifix; for Jesus Christ without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever.”

– Bishop Fulton Sheen

Nourishment for Your Soul…The Holy Eucharist

The past few days have been simply quiet here.  I spent a fair bit of my time, caught up in the reading and sourcing of good spiritual books; at used and second hand books store.


Echoing the words of Manchester United Boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, on the use of micro blogging websites, “Get yourself down to the library and read a book.  Seriously, it is a waste of time…”

Anyway, over the weekend, I watched my favorite football (or soccer) team, Manchester United clinch the record 19th English Premier League title.

If United can play to true to its form and absolutely get it correct, tactically, they can end the season with both the Premier League trophy and the European Cup.  But first, they would need to overcome, what is currently the best, passing cum potent attacking, team in Europe, if not, the world, Barcelona, at the Wembley Stadium, this Saturday, May 28.  This would surely cement the Old Trafford team’s presence across the continents.

Speaking of presence, I somehow, dreamt of the Eucharist last night. If I recall it correctly, I was holding this larger-than-normal piece of consecrated host and staring at it with a deep sense of the sacred.  Let me simply share my thoughts on this.

As a youth, I use to be fascinated by this and often wondered…how on earth can Jesus break himself into so many million and billion tiny little pieces?

Even worst, I often stared, without blinking, during the Eucharistic consecration when the priest puts his hands over the bread and wine and say some words, hoping to witness a miracle…yet, I don’t see Jesus physically coming down into them at the altar?

Perhaps, I did not possess the saintly eyes of faith to see beyond the physical form of bread and wine.

Do you truly believe in the real physical presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?

Bishop Fulton Sheen shared that when Jesus made the first Eucharistic statement, Judas Iscariot began his corrupt plot to betray the Lord.  Judas (and even many others today) simply could not embrace the doctrine of the Eucharist.  The Eucharist just does not make human sense!



Many cradle Catholics grow up still bound in this Eucharistic controversy.  Many other Christian denominations continue to accuse and influence Catholics of being non-biblical.

The Holy Eucharist is actually the third sacrament of initiation in the Catholic Church; not only a sacramental sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise, but it makes present again, the sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross in an unbloody manner.  It reminds us, outside of our human senses, by faith of Christ’s everlasting presence.


“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6:51-52, Douay Rheims)

“And taking bread, he gave thanks, and (break); and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20, Douay Rheims)

These words of Jesus are not mere metaphors.  With over 2,000 years of tradition in this belief, the Eucharistic doctrine is actually very scriptural and is the most important truth of our Catholic faith.  This is what distinguishes Catholics from other Christians.

The bread and wine actually becomes the Body and Blood of Christ.  The changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is known as “Transubstantiation” - the very heart of the Mass.

Simplistically, it means that whatever makes the bread to be bread or wine to be wine (the substance) is gone, not present, after consecration.  Only validly ordained priests (not pastors or laymen) can perform this act of consecration.

The Host is Jesus Himself, rather than merely a ‘symbol’.  Catholics were actually given the gift of knowledge of this great mystery of faith – the Eucharist, the heart and summit of the Church’s life (Catechism of the Catholic Church) – the most perfect expression of the worship we owe to God.

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood.  This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until He should come again, and so to entrust to…the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection.” (Vatican Council II, Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy)

In the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine are truly transformed into the Body and Blood of Our Lord, but without any change in their visible outward appearance; together with the soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  “…The whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained.” (Council of Trent, 1545-1563)

“We believe in the everlasting gift of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, brought to us each day in miracle form on every altar in the world, at the Consecration of the Mass.” (Bob and Penny Lord, This is My Body, This is My Blood)

The consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist signify nourishment and are nourishment for the soul.  Our Lord Jesus never leaves us, pilgrims, on this journey through life.  He is always here to help us, to heal us, to carry us.

Through the Holy Eucharist, we continue to feel His strength and power, especially during our times of weakness, doubt, hopelessness, worries, stress, sickness and temptation.

The various Eucharistic Miracles throughout the world today and centuries past, further testifies of His love for us. However, that topic would have to be an interesting sharing for another Blogosphere day.

The Church...The Rock...

Just completed this book by Jeff Cavins; a great conversion story. Inspiring and satisfying to the longing and hungry heart.






The opening pages of this book carry an excerpt from Pope John Paul II (Tertio Millennio Adveniente), “God therefore goes in search of man who is His special possession in a way unlike any other creature”.

This very down-to-earth book describes vividly the journey of an angry son who left the Catholic Church out of rebellion; unable to fill the emptiness within – “I wasn’t being fed”. This is the testimony of a baptized Catholic on a spiritual search – raised in a devoted Catholic family, was an altar boy, attended weekly Mass, goes to confession as a family, carries a rosary, held the Bible with great reverence, wore a scapular. This book reveals how he turned away from the Eucharist because he wanted something more.


It tells the engaging story of the encounter with Bible Christians communities; confidently “on fire”, Bibles worn from daily use, born again! The book contains simple honesty, largely disillusioned, about the Catholic mass being “dead”, built on empty traditions, Catholics being viewed as ignorant, even dumb sometimes, not knowing Christ and worst of all, not even knowing the Word of God. The author’s marriage to a Protestant and more than 12 years serving as a Protestant pastor makes this conversion story so much more emotionally intriguing and relevant in the midst of this chaotic world we live in.


The journey then unpeels layer-by-layer of the author’s re-discovery of the truth, the misconception that he would be better fed elsewhere and how this truth redefines the apostolic tradition of our one holy Catholic Church; how the Bible then truly comes to life.


What makes this conversion story appealing to all is the revelation of many Catholic theological insights in simple layman lingo, at times, humorous; all these interwoven between God’s gentle promptings in calling the author and his family back to the Catholic Church. This is a story of reconciliation with the Catholic Church, a prodigal son’s repentance and return to his father, coupled with the faithfulness of a mother who prayed for his return home at every Mass.


This book proclaims the treasures of our Catholic faith and also equips us to evangelize this faith to others. Appropriately, the closing sentence in the Postscript of this testimony reads,”…you can do greater things than you have ever imagined.”


If your heart is hungry, this never-can-put-down book will feed you with good nourishment