LAST SUPPER OF THE LORD CELEBRATES HIS PRIESTLY CHURCH

 

 

DO THIS IN MEMORY OF MI.  JESUS “ORDERS,” HIS APOSTLES TO CELEBRATE THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD UNTIL HE COMES AGAIN! 

1)-AT HIS LAST SUPPER,  JESUS CELEBRATES HIS HOLY PRIESTHOOD.

Jesus  offers to each one of us  to participate into his priesthood so to work our salvation. 

Jesus  reveals himself to us the high priest of God the Father.

May we read the Letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16:

 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

2)-AT HIS LAST SUPPER ON EARTH,  JESUS ORDAINED  HIS APOSTLES INTO HIS PRIESTLY POWERS.

 At the Last Supper, Jesus had a definite goal.  He wanted his apostles to celebrate his Body and Blood until the end of the world. Jesus made it a condition for us to be saved, we were to eat his body and drink his blood. The apostles and their successors, therefore were to celebrate the breaking of the bread for our salvation until he comes.

When Jesus “ordered” his apostles to “do this in memory of mi,” he gave  them his divine power  to consecrate the bread into his body and the wine into his most precious blood. 

3)-THE PRIESTLY POWERS OF CHRIST IN THE CONSACRATION OF THE BREAD.

The divine priestly powers of Jesus to consecrate the bread into the body of Christ are a real power.  The divine priestly powers to consecrate the bread into the body of Christ are not a prayer of intercession.

To change the bread into the body of Christ, someone must be endowed with the priestly powers of Christ to do it.

4)-JESUS ORDAINED HIS APOSTLES INTO HIS PRIESTLY POWERS EXACTLY TO DO WHAT HE HAD JUST DONE.

Saint Luke gives us an account of Jesus’  last supper.

May we read saint Luke in his own words in Luke 22:19:

“Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

When Jesus said “do this in memory of me”  the apostles were consecrated (they were ordered) into the priestly powers of Jesus.

5)-JESUS CLEARLY PROCLAIMS THE APOSLES ATE HIS BODY. 

First of all,  the apostles eat his body.  Jesus tells them his body is given for them.  The apostles are not eating bread; they are eating his body. 

Some argue the apostles ate bread.  if the apostles ate bread, then Jesus lied to them.  However, Jesus cannot lie, he is God.

6)-THE APOSLES BELIEVE THEY EAT THE BODY OF CHRIST.  . 

Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians reveals the faith of the early Christians they ate  the body and blood of Christ in the holy communion.  

May we read saint Paul in his own words in 1 Cor 11:23-29:

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”   In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”    For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.   Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.”

7)-THE APOSTLES UNDERSTAND THE “ORDER” FROM JESUS TO “DO THIS IN MEMORY OF MI.”

The apostles understood  Jesus  ordained them into his priestly powers  to consecrate the bread into his body and the wine into his blood in their own homes.  They celebrated in their own words “the breaking of the bread.”  The breaking of the bread today is known as celebrating the holy mass.

May we read saint Luke in his own words in the Acts of the Apostles, 2:42-47:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  …  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes …  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

8)-THE APOSTLES ARE FULLY AWARE OF THEIR PRIESTLY POWERS TO CELEBRATE “THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD”.

The breaking of the bread is their meeting place with their victim who paid off their debt with God the Father.

May we read saint Paul in his own words in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ  lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

9)-JESUS REVEALS TO US IN THE GOSPEL OF SAINT JOHN THE ESSENTIAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

Jesus keeps repeating we must eat his body and drink his blood to go to heaven.

May we read in John 6:52-56:

“Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”

10)-TO EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD IS A CONDITION FOR OUR RESURRECTION.

Jesus  reveals  in  very clear terms each one of us must eat his body and drink his blood.  Jesus makes it the condition for our resurrection from the dead. 

May we read Jesus in his own words in John:

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

We must all make it our personal conviction to find out the meeting place with a duly ordained priest.   The priest has been ordained in the  priestly powers of Christ by a successor of the Apostles,  to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Cross to feed us with the body of Christ. 

11)-ONLY OUR FREEDOM TO REFUSE SETS THE LIMIT TO SALVATION.

Jesus offers us his priestly powers the means we need to work our salvation.

However, our freedom to refuse sets the limit to salvation.

We use our freedom to refuse when we impose our own will against the will of God.  We tell God we choose our own way to go to heaven.  We refuse therefore to accept God’s priestly means to work our  salvation.  Our freedom to refuse sets the limit to salvation.

May we ask Jesus our High Priest to bless us on this Holy Thursday with accepting Him our High Priest who left us  his priesthood in our consecrated bishops and priests to feed us with his body and  blood for our salvation.   The professor.