The institution of the Holy Eucharist in first -century Judea Passover. Manna. Temple Bread. The Cross. According to Brant Pitre, these aren’t separate biblical stories, they are all part of the same Eucharistic mystery. I. Most all discussions about the Eucharist on social media begin with competing opinions and isolated proof texts. In the subsequent thread my intention is to offer the reader a different type of analysis. Over the next several posts, I’ll be examining the arguments of biblical scholar Brant Pitre, whose work in “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” draws from Scripture, Second Temple Judaism, Jewish liturgy, typology, and early Christian history to explain how first-century Jews would have understood Jesus’ words about His Body and Blood. Whether you ultimately agree with his conclusions or not, understanding his argument provides a deeper framework for interpreting John 6, the Last Supper, and the Eucharist. The thesis put forth is simply this: The meaning of the Eucharist cannot be fully understood apart from the Jewish world in which Jesus lived and taught. – at Las Vegas, NV

Something ancient is returning. Neo-Gnosticism. Secretly leading unsuspecting persons to atheism, the Neo-Gnostic fools the uninformed into believing that Christ’s flesh was tainted by sin thus destroying belief in His divine nature on a subconscious level. Clever strategy by the enemy.

Divine Motherhood (Theotokos) Defends Christ’s divinity and humanity in one Person. Perpetual Virginity Defends Christ’s divine origin and supernatural Sonship. Immaculate Conception Ensures Christ’s flesh was completely untouched by sin. The Assumption Proves Christ’s physical victory over death and decay and bodily resurrection awaits His followers.

Jesus: “Eat My flesh… drink My blood.” Paul: “The bread we break—is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?”

The Early Church Believed the Eucharist Was Christ's Flesh. This is fact.

The ferocity of opposition usually testifies to the truth it resists; the more vile the resistance, the surer our confidence we are on the right course.

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  (Ephesians 6:12, RSVCE)

For the Seekers Part V The Crucifixion “Most merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son Jesus.” This is the petition recited following each set of seven Hail Marys in the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. Since beginning my experiment more than six weeks ago, these words have taken on an unexpected significance. What was once a plea now seems, in some strange sense, to have become a fulfillment I had not anticipated. I find myself increasingly preoccupied with the blurry image of a Roman execution that took place nearly two thousand years ago at a site called Calvary. My mind has become consumed by the desire to reconstruct the scene. I want to know what happened there, not merely in the theological sense, nor simply as the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, but as a historical event experienced by actual human beings. What did the condemned man look like after the scourging? What did the soldiers see as they carried out their orders? What would His mother have witnessed? The Gospel accounts are read and reread. Scholarly works are pursued with an urgency I find difficult to explain. Renaissance paintings are examined. Historical reconstructions, archaeological evidence, Roman execution practices, and anything else that might bring me closer to that afternoon are devoured at a frenzied pace. I am trying to recover a scene separated from me by two millennia. The difficulty is that the Gospels give me enough to know what happened, but not enough to satisfy my desire to see it. I know the Cross. I know the words spoken from it. I know the theological significance of the sacrifice. But my imagination continues to return to the physical reality of the event. Soldiers carrying out an execution. Somewhere within that terrible convergence of human cruelty and divine providence, the central event of my faith. The defining moment of all human existence. I began this experiment by asking whether the soul becomes what it seeks. I did not anticipate that the repeated devotion of the Seven Sorrows would leave me wanting to reconstruct, as faithfully as possible, the suffering at the center of them all. I am beginning to understand how little I understood what I was asking.

The real reason Fr. Ripperger was silenced was for informing people of the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. If you know of the intensifying battle between good and evil then you would understand the panic evil must feel at the prospect of millions of devotees to Our Lady uniting their sufferings with Christ’s Passion. Can anyone deny the the rapidly deteriorating state of societies and possibly their own lives? The enemy must lash out with increasing fervor towards the end, like a trapped wild beast knowing its time has come. For those that practice the devotion to Our Lady daily this is not surprising news.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta María, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatóribus nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

Anyone calling themselves a “Christian” that cannot understand the sheer horror that the Virgin Mary witnessed doesn’t know the reality of the Crucifixion.

Did this ancient book predict Jesus?

Right you are Mark - Christ certainly didn’t approve things such as altars, temples, sacrifices 🤡 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.  (Matthew 23:18–22, ESV)