Fr. Barron on the Mystery of Eating Jesus' Flesh

[angelamariapreuss]

Oh, my God the things that come out of your mouth! "Peter confesses the real truth and the Church has followed him ever since". I never have sufficient answers to why I believe as a Catholic. But you Father Barron with the Holy Spirit speaking through you give us the best words, answers, to both evangelize and defend the Faith. Besides that Peter received the keys and that Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus said that he would build his Church on Peter the rock. I love Saint Peter!

[prreyreyland]

I wish the Pope could talk to the people like this. Please God allow that.

[savioblanc]

@prreyreyland Maybe its time to get a Pope whose first language is English - Dolan for Pope maybe? :D

[angelamariapreuss]

@savioblanc I think I would be afraid if we had an English speaking Pope. Remember the Pope must speak to the world...If you can't understand his speaking, I have to listen over and over, you can always read his work. Father Mitch Pacwa on EWTN has link to the Holy Fathers weekly address's. It's good!

[angelamariapreuss]

@prreyreyland The Pope has his role and Father Barron his. Do you know that "Pope Benedict Prior to becoming Pope, he was "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century" as "one of the most respected, influential and controversial members of the College of Cardinals"; he had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of Pope John Paul II's closest confidants". Read the Pope in English and you will understand him.

[angelamariapreuss]

@prreyreyland Remember the Pope is not a rock star. He is not a celebrity. He is the successor to Saint Peter. He serves the servants of the Catholic world and all her languages, French, Irish, Africa, China, South America, ever nation on Earth. I don't know if it is right to ask the Pope to step down to our level, I think it is our work to rise to him. And thank God for Father Barron. He is a great help! in presenting our faith. Remember we can read the words of the pope on the Vatican website.

[Pi10sco]

@ndzoko LOL. You would not be the first to be shocked. The ancient Romans persecuted the Church because of such beliefs. But Jesus was not only a man, he was God. When we partake of his Body, we take his Divinity too. And unlike the human sacrifice of the Aztecs, or Carthaginians, or Minoans, He does not tell us to keep sacrificing other people. He has already sacrificed Himself: how could you ever trump that? He did so because He loves us. Surely if He loves us, we should love each other?

[quantumystery]

If transubstantiation were a physical transformation we would detect that change. Anybody can distinguish bread from meat, wine from blood. If the sacrament really was human flesh & blood I doubt many would voluntarily consume it. The Roman Catholic Church admit that no physical transformation is detected yet defend the doctrine by spinning the definition of the word "substance" to include things beyond our senses. At the end of the day it's a word game.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery Uhm, not really. And it's not "spinning". Recognizing that what is "real" is beyond what we can detect with our senses is not only logical, but essential to any life of faith.

“’Reality’ is not just what we can measure. It is not only ‘quantums,’ quantifiable entities, that are real; on the contrary, these are always only manifestations of the hidden mystery of true being.” – Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)

[quantumystery]

@MatthewWarner I agree there's more to the world than meets the eye. Nobody is claiming otherwise. But if we can't see it how do we know it exists? Or what it is? That's why science requires evidence. Objective, verifiable, repeatable evidence is preferred when we can get it. Science doesn't claim to know everything but it makes no claims without evidence. Without evidence one can only speculate. It's a fact that some of what passes for evidence in religion would be called anecdote in science.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery It's called philosophy. It's a great error of our day that science is the end all be all. It's very helpful at doing just as you said it does. But it will not tell us the deeper truths about what created science in the first place. About the first mover. About the great I AM. About the uncaused cause, the source of all things. About what is morally good. About things above and beyond the natural order. And just bc science can't tell us doesn't mean we can't know it just as well.

[quantumystery]

@MatthewWarner I'm puzzled how you determine the deeper truths without a source of objective data. If you were Muslim you'd be equally convinced of the deeper "truths" of Islam. Likewise if you were Mormon, Moonie, Jehovah Witness etc. Consider the chemical formula for water: H2O. If every tribe of chemists had their own formula one might get the impression that chemistry isn't ready for prime time. So it is with religion.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery I'm puzzled why u think "deeper truths" require physical evidence to explore or know? This is what philosophy is. Check out some Thomas Aquinas and you'll know what I'm talking about.

U make it sound like faith has to be based upon something that is just a matter of opinion, subjective experience or relativism. Not so. Good faith works w reason. And reason and logic do not need physical evidence to operate. This is a fallacious limitation "scientism" puts on pursuit of truth.

[quantumystery]

@MatthewWarner Philosophy comes in a many flavors. Do they all represent truth?

We agree that science doesn't know the unknown but neither does religion. There's something about the religious mindset which makes folks imagine that believing a thing makes it so. You can't solve the great mysteries by embracing man-made mythology. Knowledge must have a source.

We're beginning to get repetitious. I'll not intrude on your space anymore lest I wear out my welcome. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery Thx4 ur thoughts. I encourage u to keep exploring. U seem 2 have a false view of good religion/philosophy. Sure, some people practice bad religion based on man-made myths. Just like some scientists practice bad science. It doesn't mean it's ALL bad. Reason is bigger than natural science. It doesn't sound like you've read any good philosophy. Read Thomas Aquinas. Read Mere Christianity (CS Lewis). Explore the intellectual tradition of Catholicism. I think it'll surprise u. God bls

[quantumystery]

@MatthewWarner I've never stopped exploring. From "Mere Christianity" I discovered that Lewis gives us 3 choices. Jesus had to be liar, lunatic or lord. What's missing? A "none of the above" option. His theology is a house of cards - multi levels of assumptions.

Aquinas' non-contingent contingency doesn't prove that Jesus walked on water or any of the excruciatingly elaborate theology of Catholicism. Have you considered doing a bit of exploring yourself? The results might surprise you.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery There we go! See, you're using reason and logic to come to conclusions about the truth without the use of the natural sciences. You're refuting your own previous premises.

Of course, I disagree with you on those points for the most part. But just because we disagree just makes one of us wrong. it doesn't mean one of us is basing our beliefs on "man-made myths" or that either of us think that just because we "believe something makes it so."

[quantumystery]

@MatthewWarner I was pondering how alien & incomprehensible religious & scientific thought are to each other & it occurred to me why this is so. Science is a bottom up approach - it starts with data & evidence and tries to find answers. Religion is the opposite. Religion starts with the answer and tries to find evidence. It's like knowing the ending of a mystery novel. Any clues that don't fit your pre-fabricated paradigm are regarded as false. Religion is not slave to facts as is science.

[angelamariapreuss]

@quantumystery Nice, indeed religion is freedom!

[quantumystery]

@angelamariapreuss Religion is freedom? That's not quite the conclusion I would draw but it's a spectacular illustration of how alien & incomprehensible the religious mindset is to lesser mortals. Anyhow, I hope your faith profits you.

[angelamariapreuss]

@quantumystery You a lesser mortal? I think not! Woe to me and to any Catholic who does not acknowledge that we are all miserable creatures, sinful and prideful. That is why we wear ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, to remind us that we are made of dust. We all had our part in the Crucifixion, no one escapes that, not even the Saints. Any Catholic that presents them self on a moral high ground, and there are many, is guilty of the sin of pride.

[MatthewWarner]

@quantumystery There is more to life and reality than the natural sciences. So why would you expect to be able to know them all by limiting your pursuit of them to what you can know strictly by what you can learn from natural, scientific data?

[ndzoko]

Chritianity, for outsiders, is probably the most bizarre religion in existence. One has to eat the flesh of god and drink his blood, to go to heaven ? And I thought the aztecs(human sacrifice) were barbarians.

[Ndftblwannabe1]

@MatthewWarner No worries brother! Just a misunderstanding (:

[Ndftblwannabe1]

@MatthewWarner brother I fully agree with you. I love mass and receiving Jesus through theEucharist! I simply meant that IF Jesus was speaking as misthotos described, it would be quite deceiving on Jesus' part.

[MatthewWarner]

@Ndftblwannabe1 Sorry about that, I misunderstood where you were coming from and which you were responding to. Sorry about that!

[Ndftblwannabe1]

@misthotos Also, I don't think you have any right for a second to determine who misses or enters heaven....

[Ndftblwannabe1]

@misthotos I just want to humbly point out, that by your reasoning, Jesus deliberately chased away people by essentially knively misleading them. He literally said to eat His flesh, even after they question it, He intensifies it. By your logic, Jesus wouldnt be very nice there.

[MatthewWarner]

@Ndftblwannabe1 He didn't deliberately chase them away. He was simply honest about the truth. They left because they didn't want to believe it or found the teaching to be too hard.

Jesus spoke a hard, plain teaching. They could not accept the hard teaching. This much is clear. There is nothing not "nice" about that. In fact, it's one of the (if not THE) most loving acts Jesus ever did....give us himself in the Eucharist. Calling it "not nice" is just silly.

[CatholicBruin]

Great video! :)

"See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God... Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." -St. Ignatius, ~107 A.D.

[sonoflittlecloud]

Thank you Fr Barron, for the great work you are doing. The world NEEDS people with your faith and the courage to spread it. Of course, the Eucharist is the greatest thing we humans have, it is to satan and his followers what kriptonite is to superman.

May God bless you and preserve you to us for a long time.

[Rsambo00]

God Bless Father Barron

[misthotos]

No wonder why so many Catholics miss Heaven. Instead of receiving Christ by faith (the only way He can be received), they think they are receiving Christ by communion. Sad.

[MatthewWarner]

@misthotos We receive him by BOTH! Pretty cool actually!

[Pi10sco]

@misthotos When we take communion, we are participating in Him through our faith in the Eucharist, and by following His specific instructions to his Apostles, who are our spiritual forefathers. One Holy and Apostolic Church.

[misthotos]

Christ wasn't talking about "eating" him, He was talking about believing on Him. "Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." (John 6:47) NOT "He that believeth on me and takes part in Eucharist." Salvation is by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. "I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (v 35) Eating and drinking Christ= coming to him and beleiving on Him.

[MatthewWarner]

@misthotos Catholics also believe in salvation by Grace alone. But's got nothing to do w/ the fact that Jesus himself said repeatedly & very clearly that we must eat his flesh & drink his blood (literally - yet mysteriously) to have eternal life. It's also what 1st Christians believed.

The Eucharist we believe in is the SAME "Him" that we believe in anywhere/anyhow. We believe in Him everywhere he comes to us - both spiritually & physically. Both in his own body & through his body the Church.

[punkpersonified]

AQUINAS IS SUCH A TANK!!!

[conordeane]

And the Word was made Flesh! Fr. Barron you are doing an excellent job. Thank God for you and this work you are doing! Don't stop!

[bleedingcry]

actually John 6:58 Jesus explains it's not literal food you eat then at John 6:63 he talks about it being words and the flesh profiteth nothing that this is spirit and life his WORDS - the word became Flesh he is talking about his WORD

[MatthewWarner]

@bleedingcry with all due respect, that interpretation makes no sense. Are you saying that Jesus' flesh "profiteth nothing"? Surely you are not. When Jesus is speaking of the "flesh" here he is not discounting eating HIS flesh (which he made quite clear just prior that doing such was necessary for LIFE). When he says the "flesh profiteth nothing" he is reminding us that our limited natural reason can not explain this mysterious truth He has just revealed.

[bleedingcry]

@MatthewWarner Why would he say not as your fathers did eat manna? Kinda sounds like it's spiritual/ his word not physical- very interesting topic : )

[MatthewWarner]

@bleedingcry Bc he is referring to how in the old testament God fed His people bread. Just bread. Bread that fulfilled their temoral and bodily hunger. The Eucharist feeds them w/ JESUS...not just bread. satisfying an eternal hunger and need. And translation clearly indicates a gnawing/physical eating. & Jesus emphasizes it multiple times to clarify (u must eat my flesh). It is spiritual also. Nobody ever said it wasn't. But also a physical mystery. chk that link I put, i think u will like it.

[MatthewWarner]

@bleedingcry And you are using some confusing definition of "WORD" here. The WORD in scripture is JESUS. It's not the bible...if that's what you're trying to say. And saying something is "spirit and life" is not anything like saying what he just said was "not literal." Which you also seem to be implying.

[MatthewWarner]

@bleedingcry Check out this link to understand a little more of the Catholic perspective and what I think is a much more complete interpretation of that scripture and this teaching: catholic[dot]com/tracts/christ­-in-the-eucharist

[KaonNeutre]

Today's religions are the science of how to bring something, meaningless and defying any sense of reason, to something that barely hold together by thousands of suppositions, carelessness upon details, dismisses of unwanted understanding, and for the only reason: to keep a blind belief called faith.

[Jim1905]

That last part reminds me when Michael Faraday (famous 19th century physicist) was asked on his death bed "Have you ever pondered by yourself what will be your occupation in the next world?". He simply replied "I shall be with Christ, and that is enough".

[irishgal2002697]

I just realized something. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means "house of bread"." isn't it remarkable that he was then laid in a manger, the food trough of the Hoyse of Bread?

[bheadh]

I would like to submit a reflection I've had the grace to hear. Consider Passover. The Israelites were commanded by Moses to get a spotless lamb (Symbolizing the sacrifice of Jesus) sacrifice the lamb and sprinkle it's blood on the doorposts (our hearts) to make sure that the angel of death (the devil-everlasting death) "passed over". The final commandment was "to eat the Lamb". The Holy Spirit doesn't make mistakes. Jesus comes to us and knocks (on the "doorposts".) On his side thers no doorknb

[thoughtadventure]

What I like most about Thomas Aquinas is that, though he had a towering intellect, his love for God was even greater.

[Dr4g0nSlayer]

What are the Latin words at the end?

[motomambo]

@Dr4g0nSlayer

Nil nisi te