So that's why Jesus is the Lamb...

I want to take it back to the Old Testament to explain better. Let’s start with Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) When God tested Abraham and tells him to sacrifice Isaac, Isaac asks where the lamb is and Abraham responds that God will provide the lamb.  (This is important!) And when the angel of God stops Abraham, God provides a Ram. So they are still waiting for the lamb.

Now let’s go to Exodus to the Passover (starting at Exodus 11)

The tenth plague was that the angel of death would pass over Egypt killing every firstborn. To be spared from the plague the Israelites were told to take an unblemished lamb, slaughter it at twilight, take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frame where they were to eat the lamb, that same night they were to eat the meat with no leftovers.  In Exodus 12:14 it says “and this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.” The Church teaches that when Jesus established the New Covenant with His death and resurrection, He didn’t abandon the promises made to the Hebrew people but fulfilled them.

Now let’s look at how Jesus fulfilled the Passover. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

On Palm Sunday as Jesus is arriving in Jerusalem, so are the Passover lambs. This is showing that Jesus is taking the place of the Passover lamb. Also every year on Passover the unblemished lambs were inspected before being given to the families. Now, you are probably thinking what does this have to do with Jesus? A lot actually. Jesus is the lamb, and just as the unblemished lambs where inspected, so was Jesus, by Pilate, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. Also, during the Passover meal Jesus celebrated the Last Supper. During the Passover meal, Jesus takes the unleavened bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples saying, “This is My body,” showing that He is replacing the Passover lamb. And with the wine, blesses it, and gives it to the disciples saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.” Now, the Passover lamb was to prevent pain and suffering of loss of a loved one for the Israelites. Jesus as the Lamb is to save the world from pain and suffering, to open the gates of heaven.

To Summarize: The Israelites had to eat the Passover lamb. It was not enough to that they simply sacrificed the lamb-- they were instructed to also eat it. When we have the Eucharist we also eat the lamb, Jesus the Lamb of God. So that is why recieving the Eucharist is not cannibalism-- we are not eating human flesh, Jesus, but the Lamb of God, Jesus. J

The Eucharist: Real or Not?

I remember in seventh grade, I was sitting in religion class watching my teacher jump up and down yelling, "Jesus IS the Eucharist!" Then looking around at all my classmates who had the same bewildered look on their faces. We all thought she had gone batty!


A week earlier we had taken a religion test and one of the short answer questions was: "What is the Eucharist?" So, being the typical seventh graders we were, this seemed like an easy question. Most of our answers were along the lines of, "The Eucharist is a symbol of Jesus," or "The Eucharist symbolizes the last supper and Jesus giving of himself."


So, when our teacher came in jumping up and down yelling, "Jesus IS the Eucharist!!! It's not a symbol!!! Jesus IS the Eucharist!!!" We seriously thought she had gone off the deep end.


See, the thing with catholics is that we see the Eucharist as a little wafer and think "symbol." that's because, well, let's be honest, it looks like cardboard, feels like cardboard, and tastes like cardboard, we think "how can this be Jesus?" It took me a long time before I believed that the Eucharist was really Jesus. In seventh grade, I couldn't figure out why my teacher was getting so worked up about a silly test. Yes, everyone in the class got that question wrong, but I couldn't see how she could really believe that little wafer was Jesus.

"When Our Lord said, "This is My body," the entire substance of the bread was changed into His body; and when He said, "This is My blood," the entire substance of the wine was changed into His blood." (Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism)

 

This is kinda a crazy concept for us to grasp. And why would Jesus want to be a piece of bread? Well, think about it, God became food that we eat, and people eat a lot. And when we eat, food litterally becomes a part of us. It  goes into blood stream, our skin, our cells, into our very being. God chose the best way to be consumed into our very person because He wanted to be as close to us as possible.

"In the Holy Eucharist we become one with God like food with the body"

 Saint Francis De Sales

 

When we recieve the Eucharist we recieve Jesus, as catholics we believe that Jesus is fully in the Eucharist. So, like my teacher said, "Jesus IS the Eucharist!" At Christ's words, "This is My body," all limitations are stripped away and we stand in the very presence of God It is at the Eucharist that we make Saint Paul's wish our own: "All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, in hope that I myself will be raised from death to life" (Philippians 3:10-11, Good News Bible)

"Not to go to Communion is like someone dying of thirst beside a spring."

St. John Vianney

Oh no! She's up!

"Be the woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, 'Oh no! She's up!'"

That is my goal. This past week I was on a mission trip in South Carolina. I'm was so excited for a couple reasons: one, I love helping people, It's the best way to let Christ shine through us; two, the program is amazing, singing, jumping up and down, and praising God is such an amazing experience and it feels so great to give everything to God; three, I will be away from home, this probably doesn't seem like much, but I break out of my shell more when I'm away.

Throughout the week crews were working in nursing homes, ophanages, ranches, houses, etc.. This is one of the many opportunities God has given me to share His love and to use the gifts He gave me.


While we were there we were looking for God Sightings. A God Sighting is when you see God's love shine through someone, something, and action, etc. I had two God sightings that will really stick with me. The first God Sighting I had was when we were working at a Restore Habitat for Humanity store. I was hanging clothes on hangers and the lady who worked there was saying how it is really sad when people can't even afford clothes at Goodwill. She said that people come to their store when that happens. She said one day a woman came in and all she had was $2 and they were able to get her a whole outfit and send her away with a smile.

My second God Sighting during the week was on our last day working. That day we went to a pastor's house. He had been sick all week, was still sick, and needed someone to mow his lawn and weed wack for him. After we had finished we went in to tell him we were finished and the adult in my crew (who is also a pastor) went over to him and held his hand as he prayer over him. It was a very powerful experience for me and it was almost as if Jesus was right there with him, healing him. :)


My reason for adding my God Sightings into this blog post is tp show you that God Sightings can be anything. It can be as simple as picking up trash. Most people when they think of God Sightings they think of a burning bush. Yes, that would be a God Sighting, but it doesn't have to be something so obvious. usually God works through the simple things in life.

I pray most days. I've prayed with people before. I've prayed over people before. And I've been prayed over. Praying is one of those things that is reoccuring, something I'm use to. But, when I saw Dave pray over that man, it was so amazing. I can't even really explain it. I just knew Jesus was there, I could feel Dave's passion for Christ and feel the strength in his prayer.

"Be the woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, 'Oh no! She's up!'"

That is my goal, and I challenge you to be someone's God sighting.

“Why is the Catholic Church making such a big deal about the HHS Mandate?”

Probably what you’ve heard when you ask this question is: “The U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation that would force employers, including Catholic institutions, to pay, directly or indirectly, for insurance for sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, stands as a religious liberty crisis.” [Quote from the USCCB website]

You might still be thinking “what’s the big deal? What does this have to do with me?” Let me tell you, it has a lot to do with you! The Catholic Church is strictly pro-life, so forcing us to provide insurance for sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, is flat out against our religion. It is a violation of our conscience. If you have ever done an examination of conscience before confession, you might have noticed that abortion, birth control, contraception, etc. might have been on that list. Now, I’m not saying that you have to be Catholic to be Pro-Life, but this blog is from a Catholic stand point. What I am trying to get across is that Abortion is wrong, and the HHS Mandate is wrong because it violates our religious freedom which the first amendment has protected us from since 1791.

Here are the results of the poll on abortion, remember these stats are mostly Christian/Catholic views. And this is a combination of the poll on this blog and on Facebook.

   9.09% said: “Abortion is perfectly fine. It's her body; she can do what she wants.” This is not the right answer. It may be her body, but it is also her child. And killing it by having an abortion is in violation of the 5^th commandment. Now, some people will say that it’s not a baby yet, that it is a fetus. Think again, a fetus is a baby that is still inside of its mother’s womb. God alone is Lord over life and death; you don’t get to decide who lives and who dies.

      6.06% said: “Abortion is only ok if the girl is raped.” I can see why people would think this, but it is still wrong. The girl may not have intended to have a child yet but, she has one now. If she can’t take care of the baby she could always give it up for adoption. I see where this one is hard and I know it would be hard to go through the pregnancy, but killing an innocent life doesn’t make you childless, it makes you the parent of a dead child. At least with adoption the child is able to live, even if they never meet their father.

     84.85% said: “Abortion is murder.”  Remember this is mostly a Christian and Catholic point of view, but this still makes me happy that almost 85% said that it is murder, because that is exactly what abortion is! Like I said before, only God has the right to decide who gets to live and who dies. God was loving enough to give us free will and there are consequences that come along with bad choices. If you decide to have sex out of marriage, then there are consequences that come with that. So, what gives you the right to decide if the baby lives or dies?

     0% said: “Abortion is ok if the baby has a defect/disease.” I am very happy that no one voted on this one! I’m still going to explain why this is wrong though. “Every person, from the moment of his life in the womb, has an inviolable (sacred) dignity, because from all eternity God willed, loved, created, and redeemed that person and destined him for eternal happiness.” (YOUCAT # 280) God made this child because He loves them. Killing a child with a disease/ medical defect because you think they won’t be happy would be like killing someone who has depression; you can’t decide before the child is even born if they will be happy or not!

God does not make mistakes; He knows each and every one of His children. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” God meant for that child to be born, not for it to be in heaven before it could even have a chance to make a difference in the world.

I’m fighting against abortion and for religious liberty, will you fight with me?

God's Healing Hand

I would like to tell you how God pulled me out of the hole I had dug myself into. I had never had a good relationship with my dad, we just didn't get along no matter what. At one point in my life everything seemed to keep piling up; my grandma was slowly dying of cancer, my relationship with my dad had gotten worse, I was sick of constantly getting picked on in school, and I had no relationship with God; I just wanted it all to be over. I started to fall into depression. I couldn't take it anymore. I started cutting myself and I thought about killing myself. Luckily I never got the strength to follow through. Eventually I was able to get help and I was able to stop cutting.

That anger never left me though; I was angry at what I had done. About a year later I had heard a voice in my head saying, "You deformed the body I gave you," as you can probably imagine, that made me feel awful!

This past week I was on LEAD, which is an amazing retreat at Franciscan University of Steubenville. On Tuesday night we were talking about past hurts, we were given a piece of paper and I started making my list. As I was kneeling, I put my hands in front of me and close my eyes and Jesus is there! I could feel my hands closing around His hands. He was there with me! In that moment I realized He had always been with me! He holds my hand everywhere I go;it's like the footprints prayer, He's been carrying me my whole life. I just never realized it! After that I was able to offer up my hurts and give God my life.

Ever since that night I have been on the road to healing. It wasn't easy to let go of something that has been hurting me for so long, but I know God is helping me through it. God pulled me out of everything that was weighing my down, I know He can do it for you too! Trust in God, great things will happen!

Do You Ever Feel Useless?

Lately that has been nagging me. I know God has a plan for me, I just feel like I am useless. I want to make a difference, to share God's love, be like Jesus, but how do I do that? I'm only 15, how am I supposed to make a difference in someone's life? Am I on the right path?


Earlier this year I could really feel why God had put me where I was. At first I really questioned my decision to leave private school and go to public, I didn't know anyone and I went from having 50 kids in my grade to 700ish kids in my grade (that's a little nerve wrecking!) And I'm shy, I really had no clue why I chose public school.


Then it happened.
I was sitting in science class and the kid next to me started talking to me, he was one of the first people to really talk to me, one of my first new friends. He knew I was Catholic because of my bracelet and my dog-tag. About a week later, he asked me about my view on Satan. Obviously, being a Christian I dislike Satan. (Actually, At Baptism and Confirmation I took a vow that says that "I renounce Satan and all his nasty deeds...") I asked him why he was asking me such a strange question and he told me that he was thinking about becoming a satanist. I didn't even know that satanists were real until he said that. I literally didn't know what to say. I was shocked! How could anyone want to worship Satan? Why would anyone want to? It scared me that he would even consider something like that.


That night I went home and cried and prayed to God to help me think of something to do. How am I supposed to deal with something like that? How could I convince him that he was making a HUGE mistake?


A week later he told me that he had made up his mind and he was now satanist. It breaks my heart to think that he could actually do that. But that night, I had a dream, I don't remember the dream but that morning I decided that everyday I was going to tell him that Jesus Loves Him! To me, that was God telling me that I can do something, even if it takes years, he will one day realize that Jesus loves him and is willing to forgive him and bring him back. That helped me to grow stronger in professing my faith. Anyone who knows him, knows that I am christian and that I care about him. And that is my goal in life, to share God's love and be Jesus to others.

Made in God's Image :D

You know what, I may not be the prettiest girl, or the tallest, or have the next new thing, but you know what, that is not what God made us for. We were made for so much more! God made each and every one of us in His image. (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 9:6, 2 Corinthians 4:4) So why is it that our society thinks that you have to have outer beauty to do anything? The sad thing is I know people who think that "ugly" people can't do anything--yet this person is the least coordinated person I've ever met. Why do looks make a difference in what you can or cannot do? Why should there be a line between "pretty" and "ugly"?

"There is not, never has been, and never will be a single person for whom Christ did not suffer."

We are all His children, why then is there separation? What is the difference? Jesus died for you, for me, and everyone on this earth. God puts people in our lives for a reason, but if you treat that person horrible, you may never find out why God put them there. He gives us blessings in everything. The girl you see walking down the hallway may be the one to change your life forever. Or maybe that guy you bumped into in the store needed your help. Or a kid in school that doesn't have many friends and needs someone like you to talk to.

You never know what God has in store for you. Always remember to keep an open mind and be ready for anything He throws at you. I wasn't ready when he threw a whole bundle of things at me and luckily God had put people in my life to help me through it. :)

 

 

 

 

 

"The true friend is the one who’s coming in the door while everyone else is going out. Friends are the ones who love you when you’re hard to love, stand by you when it’s not the popular thing to do and are there for you when you need it, even if it means they don’t get anything back."

No matter what, Jesus will always be there for you. He will always be standing there with open arms. He will never leave you!