"I looked all around for the tabernacle in the dim light," the Congregation of Jesus nun admitted to UCA News, "but all I could see was a small ceiling fan, a tube light and a gigantic mirror on a wall." The sari-clad nun, 32, began wondering why the room did not even have a crucifix, but then her eye caught a black, wooden sign above the two-square-meter mirror. Written on it were the English words "God within" and a phrase in Sanskrit, "Aham brahmasmi (I am God)."
Here's the full article.
I hope I am not the only one seeing a problem with this! It's a slap in the face to what we believe - the Most Holy Eucharist, Jesus holy sacrifice for us. If 'I am God' why would I need Jesus? This reeks of New Age and Future Church!
In John 6:53 Jesus said: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you will not have life in you." The Most Holy Eucharist, this divine presence, deserves our worship. Someone who believes in it should be much inclined to come before the tabernacle often. Benediction, Perpetual Adoration, and 40-Hours Devotion should be promoted everywhere!
The Catholic Church has defined the dogma of the Real Presence by stating that Jesus Christ is present, whole and entire, under the appearances of bread and wine following the words of Consecration at the Eucharist. Exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is not only a very old devotion in the Church, but it also highlights the fundamental mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist that our Lord is truly present, body and blood, soul and divinity, in the Blessed Sacrament. It is the same in every Tabernacle of every Catholic Church within the world. We have a unique privelege to be able to visit and be with Jesus, his physical presence, at any time! How awesome is that?
From: The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ
by Fr. William G. Most
Speaking of full membership in the Church, Pius XII, in his Encyclical on the Mystical Body, said it is the society of those who have been baptized, and who profess the faith of Christ, and who are governed by their bishops under the visible head, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
The Church came into being when Christ died on the Cross, but it was formally inaugurated on Pentecost, when He sent the Holy Spirit as He had promised. St. Paul speaks of all Christians as members of Christ, so that with Him, they form one Mystical Body (Cf. 1 Cor 12:12-31; Col 1:18; 2:18-20; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:19; 4:13). St. Paul did not use the word Mystical. It was developed more recently to bring out the fact that this union is unique, there is no parallel to it. It is not the same as the union of a physical body, nor that of a business corporation.
The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. The Church suffering means the souls in Purgatory. The Church triumphant is the Church in heaven. The unity and cooperation of the members of the Church on earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven is also called the Communion of Saints. When St. Paul uses the word "Saints" in opening an Epistle, he does not mean they are morally perfect. He has in mind Hebrew qadosh, which means set aside for God, or coming under the covenant. Being such means of course they are called to moral perfection. But of course, not all have reached it in this world.
The word "Saint" in the modern sense means someone who has been canonized by the Church in recent times, or was accepted as such by the Church in earlier times. If a person is shown to have practiced heroic virtue--beyond what people in general do - in all virtues, the title "Venerable" is given; with two miracles by that one's intercession, the title is "Blessed"; two more miracles can lead to canonization and the title of Saint.
Taken from The Basic Catholic CatechismPART FIVE: The Apostles' Creed IX-XIINinth Article: "The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints"
By William G. Most. (c) Copyright 1990 by William G. Most
The Catholic Church is called the Mystical Body of Christ because we are all united by mystical bonds with one another and with Christ, our Head. This does not mean that we are God. We are all adopted sons and daughters of God...but we are NOT God. God lives in us because of our faith, through the Most Holy Eucharist. We invite Him into our hearts and souls. Jesus knocks at the door to our hearts, but we have to first open the door to let Him enter.
We are constantly striving to be holy because God asks us to be holy, like He is holy. This does not mean that we ARE holy - far from it!
"Never forget this truth: the Eternal Father is pleased with us only in so far as we imitate His Son and inasmuch as He sees in us the likeness of His Son, for it is in His image that He has predestined us from all eternity. For us there is no other form of sanctity than that which Christ has shown us. The degree of our perfection is measured by the degree of our imitation of Jesus and of our union with Him." ~Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.Abbot of Maredsous
This union is with Jesus on the Cross and in the Tabernacle - not in a mirror.
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