WORLD YOUTH DAY 2013,Rio de Janeiro,BRAZIL. (WYDRio2013)

World Youth Day 2013, stylized WYDRio2013, will be the 14th international World Youth Day, a major international Roman Catholic event, focused on faith and youth. The host city of World Youth Day 2013 will be Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, as announced by Pope Benedict XVI at the end of the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain at Cuatro Vientos Airport. The events are scheduled to be held from 23 July to 28 July 2013.
World Youth Day 2013 will be the second edition held in South America, the second in Latin America (after Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April 1987) and the second edition held in the southern hemisphere (the first of which outside of Australia).

Theme
On Wednesday, 24 August 2011 Pope Benedict XVI announced that the theme for World Youth Day 2013. Taken from the Gospel of Matthew, the theme will be "Go and make disciples of all peoples" - Matthew 28:19.

Bakanja, Blessed Frederick Ozanam, Saint George, Saint Andrew Kim & Companions.

Logo

Christ the Redeemer represents Christ, the disciple is represented by the heart, for the disciple is one who carries Jesus in his heart, and the nations are represented by the forms that recall Rio de Janeiro, the city which at that moment will be the heart of the world for the youth and which will welcome them, in reference to the mountain and the se ~ Gustavo Huguenin, Creator of WYDRio2013 Logo

The World Youth Day 2013 logo incorporates colors and famous symbols of Rio de Janeiro, including the Christ the Redeemer statue, the Sugarloaf Mountain, and coastline and water. The logo was designed by Gustavo Huguenin, a native of Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro. The logo design was based on the official World Youth Day 2013 theme of the Great Commission from the Gospel of Matthew, and includes the use of colours found in Brazilian flag.
The unveiling of the official logo was postponed by Orani João Tempesta out of respect to the January 2011 natural disasters.^[The logo was later revealed on 7 February 2012. The official logo was presented to President Dilma Rousseff by Rio de Janeiro governor, Sérgio Cabral Filho on DVD.



 
 Website
The Official Website for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro is www.rio2013.com and offers social networking through Google+, Twitter, Facebook and RSS Feed.

Apa artinya menjadi orang Kristen yang lahir kembali

Bagian Alkitab yang sering dipakai untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini adalah Yohanes 3:1-21. Tuhan Yesus Kristus sementara berbicara dengan Nikodemus, orang Parisi yang ternama, dan anggota Sanhedrin (penguasa orang Yahudi). Nikodemus datang kepada Yesus pada malam hari. Nikodemus memiliki pertanyaan yang mau ditanyakan kepada Yesus.

Sementara Yesus berbicara dengan Nikodemus, Dia berkata, “…Aku berkata kepadamu, sesungguhnya jika seorang tidak dilahirkan kembali, ia tidak dapat melihat Kerajaan Allah." Kata Nikodemus kepada-Nya: "Bagaimanakah mungkin seorang dilahirkan, kalau ia sudah tua? Dapatkah ia masuk kembali ke dalam rahim ibunya dan dilahirkan lagi?" Jawab Yesus: "Aku berkata kepadamu, sesungguhnya jika seorang tidak dilahirkan dari air dan Roh, ia tidak dapat masuk ke dalam Kerajaan Allah. Apa yang dilahirkan dari daging, adalah daging, dan apa yang dilahirkan dari Roh, adalah roh. Janganlah engkau heran, karena Aku berkata kepadamu: Kamu harus dilahirkan kembali. (Yohanes 3:3-7).
Kata “dilahirkan kembali” secara harafiah berarti “lahir dari atas.” Nikodemus memiliki kebutuhan yang nyata. Dia memerlukan perubahan hati, suatu transformasi rohani. Lahir baru, lahir kembali, adalah tindakan Allah yang memungkinkan untuk hidup kekal diberikan kepada orang yang percaya (2 Korintus 5:17; 1 Petrus 1:3; 1 Yohanes 2:29; 3:9; 5:1-4, 18). Yohanes 1:12, 13 mengindikasikan bahwa “lahir kembali” juga berarti “menjadi anak-anak Allah” melalui percaya dalam nama Yesus Kristus. 

Secara logika muncul pertanyaan, “Mengapa seseorang perlu dilahirkan kembali?” Rasul Paulus dalam Efesus 2:1 mengatakan, “Kamu dahulu sudah mati karena pelanggaran-pelanggaran dan dosa-dosamu. Kepada orang-orang Roma, dalam Roma 3:23, sang Rasul menuliskan, “Karena semua orang telah berbuat dosa dan telah kehilangan kemuliaan Allah.” Jadi, orang perlu dilahirkan kembali supaya dosa-dosa mereka diampuni dan agar dapat berhubungan dengan Allah.

Bagaimana hal itu dapat terjadi? Efesus 2:8,9 menjelaskan, “Sebab karena kasih karunia kamu diselamatkan oleh iman; itu bukan hasil usahamu, tetapi pemberian Allah, itu bukan hasil pekerjaanmu: jangan ada orang yang memegahkan diri.” (Efesus 2:8-9). Ketika orang “diselamatkan,” dia dilahirkan kembali, diperbaharui secara rohani, dan sekarang orang itu menjadi anak Allah karena dilahirkan kembali. Percaya kepada Yesus Kristus, Dia yang telah membayar hukuman dosa ketika Dia mati di kayu salib, adalah arti dari “lahir kembali” secara rohani. “Jadi siapa yang ada di dalam Kristus, ia adalah ciptaan baru …” (2 Korintus 5:17a)

Jikalau Anda belum pernah percaya kepada Tuhan Yesus Kristus sebagai Juruselamat Anda, maukah Anda menerima gerakan Roh Kudus yang berbicara dalam hati Anda? Anda perlu dilahirkan kembali. Maukah Anda mengucapkan doa penyesalan dan menjadi ciptaan baru di dalam Kristus hari ini? “Tetapi semua orang yang menerima-Nya diberi-Nya kuasa supaya menjadi anak-anak Allah, yaitu mereka yang percaya dalam nama-Nya; orang-orang yang diperanakkan bukan dari darah atau dari daging, bukan pula secara jasmani oleh keinginan seorang laki-laki, melainkan dari Allah” (Yohanes 1:12-13).

Jikalau Anda bersedia menerima Yesus Kristus sebagai Juruselamat Anda dan dilahirkan kembali, di sini ada sebuah contoh doa. Ingat, sekedar mengucapkan doa ini atau doa-doa lainnya tidak akan menyelamatkan Anda. Hanya dengan percaya kepada Kristus yang dapat menyelamatkan Anda dari dosa-dosa Anda. Doa ini hanyalah sebuah cara untuk mengungkapkan iman Anda kepada Tuhan dan untuk berterima kasih kepadaNya untuk keselamatan yang Dia telah sediakan untuk Anda. “Tuhan, saya tahu saya telah berdosa terhadap Engkau dan saya pantas dihukum. Namun Yesus Kristus telah menanggung hukuman yang sepantasnya saya tanggung sehingga dengan beriman kepadaNya saya dapat diampuni. Saya bertobat dari dosa-dosa saya dan percaya kepadaMu untuk menerima keselamatan. Terima kasih untuk anugerah dan pengampunanMu yang ajaib, karunia hidup kekal! Amin!

Christ is God: Proofs from Scripture

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was nothing that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men" (John 1-4) Again in verse 14, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." These words indicate that Christ was God to us, but not all are convinced. We know that the Apostles made the Resurrection of Christ the center of their teaching but it was but the most spectacular of His many recorded miracles. Even if these do not in themselves prove that Christ was God, they at a minimum prove that God was working through Him and therefore the message He preached is true. Since, therefore, Christ claimed to be God, we can place our trust in His testimony. This is as shocking today to those unfamiliar with the Bible, the writings and testimony of the Early Church Fathers and the history of the Early Church in its first three hundred years of history (which centered around fighting heresies which misunderstood who Christ was from the Arians to the Docetists) as it was to in Jesus’ day to the pharisees, scribes, zealots, sadducees, and his other enemies or even to his disciples until the end of his life. But it is the most important question for mankind and for your life!

  

The Incarnation is the central fact of history. "It is the hinge of history. It changes everything." If Christ is God than His coming opened up the gates of Heaven for mankind for the first time since Adam and Eve and is the single most important event of human history bar none. If Christ is God He is all powerful and all knowing and can transform your life right now if you come to know Him and follow Him. All of history is Christocentric because all history leads up to the coming of Christ and after that coming, all history reflects that coming and longs for the Second Coming that He promised. Let’s explore the Christ of the Gospels to see if His claims are true.

Our Lord’s Reticence about Himself needs to be acknowledged. He clearly avoided making frank pronouncements of who He was, even with His own apostles after three years, it is clear that He has not told them who He is. For we see in Matthew 16: 15-17, "Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven."

 He refrained from a clear statement because the Jews thought of the Messiah as a political and military ruler to physically defeat their enemies [not a Savior who would die from their sins for love of them] and from revealing His divinity because of the poverty of their imagination about God, the fact that the sinner would have been overwhelmed to realize His presence and their reticence to even mention His true name let alone be in His presence, which would certainly mean to them they could no longer live! Jesus closed the mouths of the possessed man when he called Jesus "the Holy One of God" (Mk 1:24) and of his apostles when he raised a child from the dead (Mk 8:30) and after His Transfiguration (Mk 9:8). He does not manifest His Divine Sonship before Satan (Mt 4: 3, 6) or before the Jews who are deriding Him (Mt 27: 40).

But His claim to be God emerged nonetheless. Yet Christ time and again did and said things that were totally inexplicable if he were only a man. He amazed those who heard Him that he spoke not like the scribes but as one with authority (Mt. 7:28). There is no text in Messianic literature that shows the Messiah pardoning sins, yet Christ does so in His own name. His claims thus become explicit. Here are some examples:

"And entering into a boat, he passed over the water and came into his own city. And behold they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth." (Mt. 9: 1-3).

In John 8:58, when quizzed about how he has special knowledge of Abraham, Jesus replies, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM"--invoking and applying to himself the personal name of God--"I AM" or "Yahweh." His audience understood exactly what he was claiming about himself. "So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple" (John 8:59).

Another example, when the Jews therefore came round about him, and said to him: How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them: I speak to you, and you believe not: the works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father hath given me, is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one. [one divine nature, two distinct persons] The Jews than took up stones to throw at him" (John 10: 24-30).

Jesus revealed His true identity in this statement and again when Philip said they would be satisfied if He only showed them the Father. Jesus responded, ". . . he that seeth me seeth the Father also."

Before the Sanhedrin and the Chief priests, we read, "But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said to him: I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us if thou be the Christ the Son of God. Jesus saith to him: Thou hast said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priests rent his garments, saying: He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy." Mt 19: 63-65).

 Christ reinforced his words with actions, showing the Godhead in action:

 1) Christ taught with authority and expanded the moral law as in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Since God created moral law, He alone can add to it

 2) Christ exerted power over physical nature with His miracles, but God alone has power over physical nature and every true miracle is worked by God and in His name. Christ worked miracles in His own name and cast out devils.

 3) As we have noted, Christ forgave sins, but only God can forgive sins (Mk 2:10). Moreover, these great powers He gave to His disciples to exercise in His name (Jn 20: 22-23); Mk 16:17; Mt. 28: 19-20).

 Let’s examine Christ’s place in relationship to Judaism, to mankind and to His eternal Father. First with regard to Judaism, He certainly claimed to be the Messiah (John 4:26). He fulfilled the Messianic descriptions of the Old Testament, the prophets, and was called "King of Israel" (e.g., Luke 19: 38), "Son of David (e.g., Mt 9:27), "Son of man" (passim) and "he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (e.g., Mt 11: 9). Jesus claimed to be greater than Abraham (Jn 8: 53, 56); than Moses (Mt 9: 8-9); than Solomon and Jonas (Mt 11: 41-42); than the Temple itself (Mt 12: 6). He also said that He was "the Lord of the Sabbath" (Mt 12:8). Israel had been God’s Church, God’s Kingdom, but Christ identifies Himself with God in his past dealings with it as when He told the scribes and pharisees: "Therefore behold I send to you prophets and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city . . . Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings . . ." (Mt 23: 34, 37).

 
As a King, Christ speaks of His spiritual Kingdom, the spiritual Israel that is to be when He tells Peter, ". . . upon this rock I will build my church and gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And whatever thou shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatever thou shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16: 18-19). In the parable of the vineyards, the prophets are servants and He is the Son and heir (Mk 12: 1-12).

In His relation to mankind, we see Christ describing Himself in parables as the householder. He can read the thoughts of the pharisees, of the disciples, of Zaccheus, etc. He foretells the future destruction of Jerusalem (which occurred just as He said it would in 70 A.D.), the betrayal of Judas, His own death on the Cross and His return in glory to judge the world (Mt 16: 27). He claims each man’s complete allegiance and the power to fulfill their deepest needs in a way that would be blasphemous if He were less than man’s owner. For example:

 "Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls" (Mt. 11: 28-29).

 He warns the pharisees that "He that is not with me, is against me . . ." (Mt 12:30) and told His disciples ". . . and He that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?" (Mt 16: 25-26). Or again, when He says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." (Mt 10: 37-38). Then we see in the parable that our debt to God is a debt to Him and that love of Him wins forgiveness (Lk 7: 41-49). He says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world . . ." (Jn 6: 51-52).

Finally, we can see it in His relationship to His eternal Father.  Even before Jesus was born the Angel Gabriel declared that the Child to be born will be "the Son of the Most High" and the "Son of God" (Lk 1:32, 35). Moreover Scripture assures us that Jesus is not merely an adopted child because the Angel informs St. Joseph that "That which is conceived in her [Mary], is of the Holy Ghost" (Mt 1: 20). This implies natural not adoptive sonship. Jesus himself tells us that He pre-existed with the Father "before Abraham" and saw Satan falling as lightning from Heaven" and when asked who He was responded, "The beginning, who also speaks to you" (Jn 8: 25). This was a word used only of Almighty God. He speaks of Himself as the only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world (Jn 3: 16-18). The Jews sought to kill Him because He said God was His Father, making Himself equal to God (Jn 5: 18). He said "He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 10: 38) and claimed equality with the Father (Jn 10: 36). He taught the disciples to pray the "Our Father" but never did so Himself. From the beginning of His ministry he allows Nathaniel to call Him "Son of God" (Jn 1: 49); the Apostles (Mt 14: 33) and Martha (Jn 11: 27) give Him the same title. Twice He approves of Peter who calls Him "the Christ, the Son of God" (Jn 6: 70), "Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16: 16). Four distinct times does He proclaim Himself the Son of God; to the man born blind (Jn 10: 30, 36); before the two assemblies of the Jewish Sanhedrin on the night before His death (Mt 26: 63-64; Mk 14: 61-62; Lk 17: 70). Finally He knows God’s mind and God alone knows His (Mt 11: 27; Lk 10:22).

 Much time could be written upon how Christ perfectly fulfilled the prophecies about the coming Messiah. Christians are especially found of the prophecies of Isaiah, which so beautifully portray the Savior to come. The most famous example is Isaiah’s Suffering Servant found in
Isaiah 53: 3-12:

 "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and
we esteemed him not.  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him
was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for
the transgression of my people?  And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there
was no deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise him;
he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin, he shall
see his offspring, he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper
in his hand; he shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be
accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will
divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with
the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for
the transgressors."

 The arguments presented above are primarily Biblical but many others could be offered to prove that Christ is the Son of the living God, as Peter so aptly put it. If this was a lie concocted by the Apostles, as is pointed out by Professor Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, in Handbook on Christian Apologetics, then all they got for it was martyrdom, hardly motive enough for men to surrender their lives. Yet surrender of life is what made the Church grow, as Tertullian so aptly put it, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Was it mere delusion that sent Christians to the martyr’s death in the arena and into the mouths of wild beasts singing hymns or the numerous stories of miracles that accompany all of Christian history. Sanctity is a powerful weapon but it cannot effectively be faked for long. Actions to often belie false sanctity. Holiness is as real as evil in this world, if somewhat more rare! St. Thomas Aquinas argued that if the Incarnation did not occur (God becoming man) than an even more unlikely thing did. Namely, the conversion of much of the world by "the biggest lie in history" which was accompanied by the moral transformation of countless men and women into courageous and selfless persons, detached from the world and in pursuit of holiness, which many attained. Christianity survived 300 years of underground life with periodic spasms of persecution until its liberation day in 313 AD., when Constantine, the Roman Emperor, issued an Edict of Toleration. It is alive and vibrant today despite the prevalence of materialism and sin in this world. It is the hope of mankind. Jesus Christ is the hope of mankind. He is God, our Savior and Lord. Believe it. Count on it!

---

Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist

The Lord Jesus, on the night before he suffered on the cross, shared one last meal with his disciples. During this meal our Savior instituted the sacrament of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages and to entrust to the Church his Spouse a memorial of his death and resurrection. As the Gospel of Matthew tells us:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins." (Mt 26:26-28; cf. Mk 14:22-24, Lk 22:17-20, 1 Cor 11:23-25)
Recalling these words of Jesus, the Catholic Church professes that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. . . . For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (Jn 6:51-55). The whole Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine—the glorified Christ who rose from the dead after dying for our sins. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence of Christ in the Eucharist is called "real" not to exclude other types of his presence as if they could not be understood as real (cf. Catechism, no. 1374). The risen Christ is present to his Church in many ways, but most especially through the sacrament of his Body and Blood.
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine? How does this happen? The presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is an inexhaustible mystery that the Church can never fully explain in words. We must remember that the triune God is the creator of all that exists and has the power to do more than we can possibly imagine. As St. Ambrose said: "If the word of the Lord Jesus is so powerful as to bring into existence things which were not, then a fortiori those things which already exist can be changed into something else" (De Sacramentis, IV, 5-16). God created the world in order to share his life with persons who are not God. This great plan of salvation reveals a wisdom that surpasses our understanding. But we are not left in ignorance: for out of his love for us, God reveals his truth to us in ways that we can understand through the gift of faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are thus enabled to understand at least in some measure what would otherwise remain unknown to us, though we can never completely comprehend the mystery of God.
As successors of the Apostles and teachers of the Church, the bishops have the duty to hand on what God has revealed to us and to encourage all members of the Church to deepen their understanding of the mystery and gift of the Eucharist. In order to foster such a deepening of faith, we have prepared this text to respond to fifteen questions that commonly arise with regard to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We offer this text to pastors and religious educators to assist them in their teaching responsibilities. We recognize that some of these questions involve rather complex theological ideas. It is our hope, however, that study and discussion of the text will aid many of the Catholic faithful in our country to enrich their understanding of this mystery of the faith.

Why does Jesus give himself to us as food and drink?
Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual nourishment because he loves us. God's whole plan for our salvation is directed to our participation in the life of the Trinity, the communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our sharing in this life begins with our Baptism, when by the power of the Holy Spirit we are joined to Christ, thus becoming adopted sons and daughters of the Father. It is strengthened and increased in Confirmation. It is nourished and deepened through our participation in the Eucharist. By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity. "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (Jn 6:56). In being united to the humanity of Christ we are at the same time united to his divinity. Our mortal and corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of life. "Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me" (Jn 6:57).
By being united to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are drawn up into the eternal relationship of love among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As Jesus is the eternal Son of God by nature, so we become sons and daughters of God by adoption through the sacrament of Baptism. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation (Chrismation), we are temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, and by his indwelling we are made holy by the gift of sanctifying grace. The ultimate promise of the Gospel is that we will share in the life of the Holy Trinity. The Fathers of the Church called this participation in the divine life "divinization" (theosis). In this we see that God does not merely send us good things from on high; instead, we are brought up into the inner life of God, the communion among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the celebration of the Eucharist (which means "thanksgiving") we give praise and glory to God for this sublime gift.

Why is the Eucharist not only a meal but also a sacrifice?
While our sins would have made it impossible for us to share in the life of God, Jesus Christ was sent to remove this obstacle. His death was a sacrifice for our sins. Christ is "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). Through his death and resurrection, he conquered sin and death and reconciled us to God. The Eucharist is the memorial of this sacrifice. The Church gathers to remember and to re-present the sacrifice of Christ in which we share through the action of the priest and the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the celebration of the Eucharist, we are joined to Christ's sacrifice and receive its inexhaustible benefits.
As the Letter to the Hebrews explains, Jesus is the one eternal high priest who always lives to make intercession for the people before the Father. In this way, he surpasses the many high priests who over centuries used to offer sacrifices for sin in the Jerusalem temple. The eternal high priest Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice which is his very self, not something else. "He entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12).
Jesus' act belongs to human history, for he is truly human and has entered into history. At the same time, however, Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; he is the eternal Son, who is not confined within time or history. His actions transcend time, which is part of creation. "Passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation" (Heb 9:11), Jesus the eternal Son of God made his act of sacrifice in the presence of his Father, who lives in eternity. Jesus' one perfect sacrifice is thus eternally present before the Father, who eternally accepts it. This means that in the Eucharist, Jesus does not sacrifice himself again and again. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit his one eternal sacrifice is made present once again, re-presented, so that we may share in it.
Christ does not have to leave where he is in heaven to be with us. Rather, we partake of the heavenly liturgy where Christ eternally intercedes for us and presents his sacrifice to the Father and where the angels and saints constantly glorify God and give thanks for all his gifts: "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever" (Rev 5:13). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "By the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all" (no. 1326). The Sanctus proclamation, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord . . . ," is the song of the angels who are in the presence of God (Is 6:3). When in the Eucharist we proclaim the Sanctus we echo on earth the song of angels as they worship God in heaven. In the eucharistic celebration we do not simply remember an event in history. Rather, through the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit in the eucharistic celebration the Lord's Paschal Mystery is made present and contemporaneous to his Spouse the Church.
Furthermore, in the eucharistic re-presentation of Christ's eternal sacrifice before the Father, we are not simply spectators. The priest and the worshiping community are in different ways active in the eucharistic sacrifice. The ordained priest standing at the altar represents Christ as head of the Church. All the baptized, as members of Christ's Body, share in his priesthood, as both priest and victim. The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ, participates in the sacrificial offering of her Head and Spouse. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ becomes the sacrifice of the members of his Body who united to Christ form one sacrificial offering (cf. Catechism, no. 1368).As Christ's sacrifice is made sacramentally present, united with Christ, we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to the Father. "The whole Church exercises the role of priest and victim along with Christ, offering the Sacrifice of the Mass and itself completely offered in it" (Mysterium Fidei, no. 31; cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 11).

When the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, why do they still look and taste like bread and wine?
In the celebration of the Eucharist, the glorified Christ becomes present under the appearances of bread and wine in a way that is unique, a way that is uniquely suited to the Eucharist. In the Church's traditional theological language, in the act of consecration during the Eucharist the "substance" of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the "substance" of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the "accidents" or appearances of bread and wine remain. "Substance" and "accident" are here used as philosophical terms that have been adapted by great medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in their efforts to understand and explain the faith. Such terms are used to convey the fact that what appears to be bread and wine in every way (at the level of "accidents" or physical attributes - that is, what can be seen, touched, tasted, or measured) in fact is now the Body and Blood of Christ (at the level of "substance" or deepest reality). This change at the level of substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is called "transubstantiation." According to Catholic faith, we can speak of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because this transubstantiation has occurred (cf. Catechism, no. 1376).
This is a great mystery of our faith—we can only know it from Christ's teaching given us in the Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church. Every other change that occurs in the world involves a change in accidents or characteristics. Sometimes the accidents change while the substance remains the same. For example, when a child reaches adulthood, the characteristics of the human person change in many ways, but the adult remains the same person—the same substance. At other times, the substance and the accidents both change. For example, when a person eats an apple, the apple is incorporated into the body of that person—is changed into the body of that person. When this change of substance occurs, however, the accidents or characteristics of the apple do not remain. As the apple is changed into the body of the person, it takes on the accidents or characteristics of the body of that person. Christ's presence in the Eucharist is unique in that, even though the consecrated bread and wine truly are in substance the Body and Blood of Christ, they have none of the accidents or characteristics of a human body, but only those of bread and wine.

Does the bread cease to be bread and the wine cease to be wine?
Yes. In order for the whole Christ to be present—body, blood, soul, and divinity—the bread and wine cannot remain, but must give way so that his glorified Body and Blood may be present. Thus in the Eucharist the bread ceases to be bread in substance, and becomes the Body of Christ, while the wine ceases to be wine in substance, and becomes the Blood of Christ. As St. Thomas Aquinas observed, Christ is not quoted as saying, "This bread is my body," but "This is my body" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5).

Is it fitting that Christ's Body and Blood become present in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine?
Yes, for this way of being present corresponds perfectly to the sacramental celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ gives himself to us in a form that employs the symbolism inherent in eating bread and drinking wine. Furthermore, being present under the appearances of bread and wine, Christ gives himself to us in a form that is appropriate for human eating and drinking. Also, this kind of presence corresponds to the virtue of faith, for the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ cannot be detected or discerned by any way other than faith. That is why St. Bonaventure affirmed: "There is no difficulty over Christ's being present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so believing this is especially meritorious" (In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I). On the authority of God who reveals himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot be grasped by our human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).

Are the consecrated bread and wine "merely symbols"?
In everyday language, we call a "symbol" something that points beyond itself to something else, often to several other realities at once. The transformed bread and wine that are the Body and Blood of Christ are not merely symbols because they truly are the Body and Blood of Christ. As St. John Damascene wrote: "The bread and wine are not a foreshadowing of the body and blood of Christ—By no means!—but the actual deified body of the Lord, because the Lord Himself said: ‘This is my body'; not ‘a foreshadowing of my body' but ‘my body,' and not ‘a foreshadowing of my blood' but ‘my blood'" (The Orthodox Faith, IV [PG 94, 1148-49]).
At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that the Body and Blood of Christ come to us in the Eucharist in a sacramental form. In other words, Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine, not in his own proper form. We cannot presume to know all the reasons behind God's actions. God uses, however, the symbolism inherent in the eating of bread and the drinking of wine at the natural level to illuminate the meaning of what is being accomplished in the Eucharist through Jesus Christ.
There are various ways in which the symbolism of eating bread and drinking wine discloses the meaning of the Eucharist. For example, just as natural food gives nourishment to the body, so the eucharistic food gives spiritual nourishment. Furthermore, the sharing of an ordinary meal establishes a certain communion among the people who share it; in the Eucharist, the People of God share a meal that brings them into communion not only with each other but with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similarly, as St. Paul tells us, the single loaf that is shared among many during the eucharistic meal is an indication of the unity of those who have been called together by the Holy Spirit as one body, the Body of Christ (1 Cor 10:17). To take another example, the individual grains of wheat and individual grapes have to be harvested and to undergo a process of grinding or crushing before they are unified as bread and as wine. Because of this, bread and wine point to both the union of the many that takes place in the Body of Christ and the suffering undergone by Christ, a suffering that must also be embraced by his disciples. Much more could be said about the many ways in which the eating of bread and drinking of wine symbolize what God does for us through Christ, since symbols carry multiple meanings and connotations.

Do the consecrated bread and wine cease to be the Body and Blood of Christ when the Mass is over?
No. During the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and this they remain. They cannot turn back into bread and wine, for they are no longer bread and wine at all. There is thus no reason for them to change back to their "normal" state after the special circumstances of the Mass are past. Once the substance has really changed, the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ "endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist" (Catechism, no. 1377). Against those who maintained that the bread that is consecrated during the Eucharist has no sanctifying power if it is left over until the next day, St. Cyril of Alexandria replied, "Christ is not altered, nor is his holy body changed, but the power of the consecration and his life-giving grace is perpetual in it" (Letter 83, to Calosyrius, Bishop of Arsinoe [PG 76, 1076]). The Church teaches that Christ remains present under the appearances of bread and wine as long as the appearances of bread and wine remain (cf. Catechism, no. 1377).

Why are some of the consecrated hosts reserved after the Mass?
While it would be possible to eat all of the bread that is consecrated during the Mass, some is usually kept in the tabernacle. The Body of Christ under the appearance of bread that is kept or "reserved" after the Mass is commonly referred to as the "Blessed Sacrament." There are several pastoral reasons for reserving the Blessed Sacrament. First of all, it is used for distribution to the dying (Viaticum), the sick, and those who legitimately cannot be present for the celebration of the Eucharist. Secondly, the Body of Christ in the form of bread is to be adored when it is exposed, as in the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, when it is carried in eucharistic processions, or when it is simply placed in the tabernacle, before which people pray privately. These devotions are based on the fact that Christ himself is present under the appearance of bread. Many holy people well known to American Catholics, such as St. John Neumann, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Katharine Drexel, and Blessed Damien of Molokai, practiced great personal devotion to Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, devotion to the reserved Blessed Sacrament is practiced most directly at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, offered on weekdays of Lent.

What are appropriate signs of reverence with respect to the Body and Blood of Christ?
The Body and Blood of Christ present under the appearances of bread and wine are treated with the greatest reverence both during and after the celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Mysterium Fidei, nos. 56-61). For example, the tabernacle in which the consecrated bread is reserved is placed "in some part of the church or oratory which is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer" (Code of Canon Law, Can. 938, §2). According to the tradition of the Latin Church, one should genuflect in the presence of the tabernacle containing the reserved sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the traditional practice is to make the sign of the cross and to bow profoundly. The liturgical gestures from both traditions reflect reverence, respect, and adoration. It is appropriate for the members of the assembly to greet each other in the gathering space of the church (that is, the vestibule or narthex), but it is not appropriate to speak in loud or boisterous tones in the body of the church (that is, the nave) because of the presence of Christ in the tabernacle. Also, the Church requires everyone to fast before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ as a sign of reverence and recollection (unless illness prevents one from doing so). In the Latin Church, one must generally fast for at least one hour; members of Eastern Catholic Churches must follow the practice established by their own Church.

If someone without faith eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ?
If "to receive" means "to consume," the answer is yes, for what the person consumes is the Body and Blood of Christ. If "to receive" means "to accept the Body and Blood of Christ knowingly and willingly as what they are, so as to obtain the spiritual benefit," then the answer is no. A lack of faith on the part of the person eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ cannot change what these are, but it does prevent the person from obtaining the spiritual benefit, which is communion with Christ. Such reception of Christ's Body and Blood would be in vain and, if done knowingly, would be sacrilegious (1 Cor 11:29). Reception of the Blessed Sacrament is not an automatic remedy. If we do not desire communion with Christ, God does not force this upon us. Rather, we must by faith accept God's offer of communion in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with God's grace in order to have our hearts and minds transformed and our faith and love of God increased.

If a believer who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ?
Yes. The attitude or disposition of the recipient cannot change what the consecrated bread and wine are. The question here is thus not primarily about the nature of the Real Presence, but about how sin affects the relationship between an individual and the Lord. Before one steps forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, one needs to be in a right relationship with the Lord and his Mystical Body, the Church - that is, in a state of grace, free of all mortal sin. While sin damages, and can even destroy, that relationship, the sacrament of Penance can restore it. St. Paul tells us that "whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup" (1 Cor 11:27-28). Anyone who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin should be reconciled through the sacrament of Penance before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, unless a grave reason exists for doing so and there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, that is, an act of sorrow for sins that "arises from a love by which God is loved above all else" (Catechism, no. 1452). The act of perfect contrition must be accompanied by the firm intention of making a sacramental confession as soon as possible.

Does one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under a single form?
Yes. Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is wholly present under the appearance either of bread or of wine in the Eucharist. Furthermore, Christ is wholly present in any fragment of the consecrated Host or in any drop of the Precious Blood. Nevertheless, it is especially fitting to receive Christ in both forms during the celebration of the Eucharist. This allows the Eucharist to appear more perfectly as a banquet, a banquet that is a foretaste of the banquet that will be celebrated with Christ at the end of time when the Kingdom of God is established in its fullness (cf. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 32).

Is Christ present during the celebration of the Eucharist in other ways in addition to his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament?
Yes. Christ is present during the Eucharist in various ways. He is present in the person of the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass. According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Christ is present in his Word "since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church." He is also present in the assembled people as they pray and sing, "for he has promised ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them' (Mt 18:20)" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7). Furthermore, he is likewise present in other sacraments; for example, "when anybody baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes" (ibid.).
We speak of the presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine as "real" in order to emphasize the special nature of that presence. What appears to be bread and wine is in its very substance the Body and Blood of Christ. The entire Christ is present, God and man, body and blood, soul and divinity. While the other ways in which Christ is present in the celebration of the Eucharist are certainly not unreal, this way surpasses the others. "This presence is called ‘real' not to exclude the idea that the others are ‘real' too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man" (Mysterium Fidei, no. 39).

Why do we speak of the "Body of Christ" in more than one sense?
First, the Body of Christ refers to the human body of Jesus Christ, who is the divine Word become man. During the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. As human, Jesus Christ has a human body, a resurrected and glorified body that in the Eucharist is offered to us in the form of bread and wine.
Secondly, as St. Paul taught us in his letters, using the analogy of the human body, the Church is the Body of Christ, in which many members are united with Christ their head (1 Cor 10:16-17, 12:12-31; Rom 12:4-8). This reality is frequently referred to as the Mystical Body of Christ. All those united to Christ, the living and the dead, are joined together as one Body in Christ. This union is not one that can be seen by human eyes, for it is a mystical union brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Mystical Body of Christ and the eucharistic Body of Christ are inseparably linked. By Baptism we enter the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, and by receiving the eucharistic Body of Christ we are strengthened and built up into the Mystical Body of Christ. The central act of the Church is the celebration of the Eucharist; the individual believers are sustained as members of the Church, members of the Mystical Body of Christ, through their reception of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Playing on the two meanings of "Body of Christ," St. Augustine tells those who are to receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist: "Be what you see, and receive what you are" (Sermon 272). In another sermon he says, "If you receive worthily, you are what you have received" (Sermon 227).
The work of the Holy Spirit in the celebration of the Eucharist is twofold in a way that corresponds to the twofold meaning of "Body of Christ." On the one hand, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the risen Christ and his act of sacrifice become present. In the eucharistic prayer, the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the gifts of bread and wine to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ (a prayer known as the epiclesis or "invocation upon"). On the other hand, at the same time the priest also asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the whole assembly so that "those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit" (Catechism, no. 1353). It is through the Holy Spirit that the gift of the eucharistic Body of Christ comes to us and through the Holy Spirit that we are joined to Christ and each other as the Mystical Body of Christ.
By this we can see that the celebration of the Eucharist does not just unite us to God as individuals who are isolated from one another. Rather, we are united to Christ together with all the other members of the Mystical Body. The celebration of the Eucharist should thus increase our love for one another and remind us of our responsibilities toward one another. Furthermore, as members of the Mystical Body, we have a duty to represent Christ and to bring Christ to the world. We have a responsibility to share the Good News of Christ not only by our words but also by how we live our lives. We also have a responsibility to work against all the forces in our world that oppose the Gospel, including all forms of injustice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: "The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren" (no. 1397).

Why do we call the presence of Christ in the Eucharist a "mystery"?
The word "mystery" is commonly used to refer to something that escapes the full comprehension of the human mind. In the Bible, however, the word has a deeper and more specific meaning, for it refers to aspects of God's plan of salvation for humanity, which has already begun but will be completed only with the end of time. In ancient Israel, through the Holy Spirit God revealed to the prophets some of the secrets of what he was going to accomplish for the salvation of his people (cf. Am 3:7; Is 21:28; Dan 2:27-45). Likewise, through the preaching and teaching of Jesus, the mystery of "the Kingdom of God" was being revealed to his disciples (Mk 4:11-12). St. Paul explained that the mysteries of God may challenge our human understanding or may even seem to be foolishness, but their meaning is revealed to the People of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25, 2:6-10; Rom 16:25-27; Rev 10:7).
The Eucharist is a mystery because it participates in the mystery of Jesus Christ and God's plan to save humanity through Christ. We should not be surprised if there are aspects of the Eucharist that are not easy to understand, for God's plan for the world has repeatedly surpassed human expectations and human understanding (cf. Jn 6:60-66). For example, even the disciples did not at first understand that it was necessary for the Messiah to be put to death and then to rise from the dead (cf. Mk 8:31-33, 9:31-32, 10:32-34; Mt 16: 21-23, 17:22-23, 20:17-19; Lk 9:22, 9:43-45, 18:31-34). Furthermore, any time that we are speaking of God we need to keep in mind that our human concepts never entirely grasp God. We must not try to limit God to our understanding, but allow our understanding to be stretched beyond its normal limitations by God's revelation.

Conclusion By his Real Presence in the Eucharist Christ fulfils his promise to be with us "always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20). As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "It is the law of friendship that friends should live together. . . . Christ has not left us without his bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but he joins us to himself in this sacrament in the reality of his body and blood" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1). With this gift of Christ's presence in our midst, the Church is truly blessed. As Jesus told his disciples, referring to his presence among them, "Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it" (Mt 13:17). In the Eucharist the Church both receives the gift of Jesus Christ and gives grateful thanks to God for such a blessing. This thanksgiving is the only proper response, for through this gift of himself in the celebration of the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine Christ gives us the gift of eternal life.

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. . . . Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. (Jn 6:53-57)

For Further ReadingCongregation for the Eastern Churches, Instruction on Liturgy (January 1996).
Congregation of Rites, Eucharisticum Mysterium, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharist (May 25, 1967).
Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae, Letter to the Bishops of the Church on the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist (February 24, 1980).
Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, Encyclical on the Holy Eucharist (September 3, 1965).
Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei, Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy (November 20, 1947).
Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (December 4, 1963).
Subcommittee on the Third Millennium, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Book of Readings on the Eucharist: A Eucharistic Jubilee (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 2000).
Theological-Historical Commission for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, The Eucharist, Gift of Divine Life (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999).

Devote yourselves to prayer

"Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart." - Col. 4:2 NLT

I am convinced that God is calling many of us to once again to devote ourselves to prayer, so that we can stay focused on the advancement of His kingdom and enjoy His presence. Jesus calls his children sheep because we tend to be led astray easily and sometimes forget the importance of prayer. We need to pray often to be able to survive the onslaught from hell that comes aganist us. Jesus is raising up a counter-cultural Church, disciples of Christ that refuse to allow our materialistic western culture dictate to us how we should live our lives. Prayer, meditation, and radical obedience are characteristic of a people seeking God's presence. Our hearts can only be transformed as we live in communion with God and his word - our joy comes from his presence. This is one of my favorite quotes on communion with God - George Muller

"I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord . . . not how much I might serve the Lord, . . . but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers . . . and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. Before this time my practice had been . . . to give myself to prayer after having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord." - George Muller

READY OR NOT..JESUS COMING

SCRIPTURES EXPLAINING THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE EARTH!

New Testament scriptures only..

Matthew 16:27   For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 23:39    For I tell you, you wil not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'

Matthew 24:27   For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  

Matthew 24:30  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 

Matthew 24: 36-39  No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.   As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.   For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;  and they knew nothng about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:42  "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

Mathew 26:64  "Yes it is as you say,"  Jesus replied.  "But I say to all of you:  In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Mark 8:36-38    What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with holy angels.

Mark 13:26-27   At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Mark 13:35-37   Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back - whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.  If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'

Mark 14:61-62    Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Might One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Luke 9:26-27   If anyone I fanyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."

Luke 17:28-30    "It was the same in the days of Lot.  People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.  But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

Luke 18:8    I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

Luke 21:25-28  "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.   At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, becasue your redemption is drawing near."

John 14:1-4       "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God ; trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going."

Acts 1:11  "Men of Galilee," they said. "why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Acts 3:19-21    Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you - even Jesus.   He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

1 Corinthians 1:7    Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

1 Corinthians 4:5    Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.   He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.  At that time each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 11:26    For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

1 Corinthians  15:23-24  But each in his own turn:  Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.  Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

Philippians 1:10   so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 3:20    But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Colossians 3:4    When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

1 Thessalonians  1:9   for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.  They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven,   whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 Thessalonians 2:19   For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?  Is it not you?  Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

1 Thessalonians 3:13   May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:4    According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of god, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage each other with these words.  Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should suprise you like a thief.

1 Thessalonians 5:23   May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:7    and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.  This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.

2 Thessalonians  2:1    Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.

2 Thessalonians 2:8    And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destory by the splendor of his coming.

1 Timothy 6:13-16    I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time - God the blessed and only Ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.  To him be honor and might forever.  Amen

2 Timothy 4:1-2     In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:  Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.

2 Timothy 4:8    Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Titus 2:12    It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Hebrews 9:28    so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:25    Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Hebrews 3:7    For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay.

James 5:7-9    Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.  Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged.  The Judge is standing at the door!

1 Peter 1:3-5     Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and ito an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvataion that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:13    Therefore, prepare your minds for action;  be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 2:12    Live such good lives among the pagans that though they acuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1 Peter 4:13     But rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 5:4     And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

2 Peter 1:16  We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2 Peter 3:3    First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, "Where is the 'coming' he promised?

2 Peter 3:8-10     But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:  With the Lord a day is ike a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,  as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to peris, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.   The heavens will disappear with a roar;  The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

1 John 2:28    And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

1 John 3:2    Dear friends, now we are like children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.   Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Jude 1:14    Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Jude 1:21  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Revelation 1:4    To the seven churches in the province of Asia:  Grace and peace to you from who is, and who was, and who is to come,

Revelation 1:7     Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.  So shall it be! Amen.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, " says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 3:11    I am coming soon.   Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it. 

Revelation 16:15    "Behold, I come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

Revelation 22:12  Behold, I am coming soon!  My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Revelation 22:20-21  He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."  Amen, Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.  Amen.