Daily Archives: March 30, 2017

First Holy Communion Questions 

 First Holy Communion Questions 

 
1.) What is a sacrament?
A sacrament is an outward sign made by Christ to give grace.
 
2.) Name the seven sacraments.
Baptism, Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, Anointing of the sick.
3.) What sacrament do you want to receive? First Holy Eucharist
 
4.) What is the Eucharist?
The Eucharist is the sacrament of the real Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
5.) When did Jesus give us the Eucharist? Jesus gave us the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper
 
6.) At the Last Supper, what did Jesus do with the bread and wine?
At the Last Supper, Jesus changed the bread and wine into His Body and Blood
 
. 7.) Why can priests today change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus?
Jesus gave this power to His Apostles and they gave it to the bishops and priests who came after them.
 
8.) How can a priest change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?
When a man becomes a priest, he receives the power from Jesus to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Jesus first gave the power to His disciples when He said, at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of Me”
 
9. When do the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus? The bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus when the priest says the words of Jesus: “This is My Body and “This is the cup of My Blood” over the bread and wine during the prayer of Consecration.
 
10.) What words must a priest say at Mass for the bread to become the Body of Christ? “This is My Body”
 
11.) What words must a priest say at Mass for the wine to become the Blood of Christ? “This is the cup of My Blood.”
 
12.) After the prayer consecrating the Eucharist, is it still bread and wine? After the prayer of consecration, it is no longer bread and wine. It is Jesus really and truly present in the Eucharist.
 
13.) What is it called when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus? Transubstantiation.
 
14.) What is necessary to receive Holy Communion? To receive Holy Communion you must; 1. be in the grace of God 2. believe it is Jesus you’re going to receive 3. fast for 1 hour
 
15.) Why is Holy Communion a special gift from God? Holy Communion is a special gift from God because, in Communion, Jesus Himself comes to live in us.
 
16.) What is Mass? The Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, and the gift of Himself in the Eucharist.
 
17.) What happens during Mass? During the Mass, Jesus comes to earth in the Eucharist. We remember the Last Supper, His sacrifice, and His death on the Cross.
 
18.) Why is the Mass offered to God? The Mass is offered to God to worship Him, to thank Him, to make up for our sins, and to ask for His help.
 
19.) What does Eucharist mean? Eucharist is a Greek word which means Thanksgiving.
 
20.) Why has Christ given Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist? Christ has given Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist to be the life and food of our souls.
 
21.) How can we participate in the Mass? During Mass, we sing hymns, listen to the Word of God in the readings and in the priest’s homily, we offer ourselves in union with Jesus to the Father, and receive our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
 
22.) What is the Liturgy of the Word? The Liturgy of the Word is the first main part of the Mass when we listen to God’s Word from the readings in the Bible.
 
23.) What is the Gospel? The Good News of Jesus Christ read from the Bible by the priest at Mass.
 
24.) Tell a Gospel story from the Bible, that talks about the Eucharist. Example: The Last Supper (Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-20) or Bread of Life (John 6:22-59)
 
25.) Who is the Bread of Life? Jesus
 
26.) What did Jesus promise to those who eat the Bread of Life? That they will live forever.
 
27.) What is the second main part of the Mass called? The second main part of Mass is called the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is when the Priest prays the Eucharistic Prayer. The priest does and says what Jesus did and said at the Last Supper.
 
28.) What is the Eucharistic Prayer? The great prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist.
 
29.) Who is the Lamb of God? Jesus is the Lamb of God.
 
30.) What does the Lamb of God do? He takes away the sins of the world. Responses to Mass prayers:
 
31.) Penitential Rite Is when we ask forgiveness from God and one another for the times we have sinned. We Say: I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do: (We strike our breast 3 times during the next two lines) through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary, ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and to you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

 

Holy thursday

Daily Reading & Meditation

 Holy Thursday (April 13): Jesus’ supreme humility
Gospel Reading: John 13:1-15

1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. 5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.

6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “You are not all clean.”

12 When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 12:1-8,11-14

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; 4 and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats; 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening.

7 Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste.  It is the LORD’s passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for ever.

Meditation: Does your love waver when you encounter bitter disappointments and injury from others? As Jesus’ hour of humiliation draws near he reveals to his disciples the supreme humility which shaped the love he had for them. He stoops to perform a menial task reserved for servants – the washing of smelly, dirty feet. In stooping to serve his disciples Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of them and that the rest would abandon him through disloyalty. Such knowledge could have easily led to bitterness or hatred. Jesus met the injury of betrayal and disloyalty with the greatest humility and supreme love.

Jesus loved his disciples to the very end, even when they failed him and forsook him. The Lord loves each of us unconditionally. His love has power to set us free to serve others with Christ-like compassion and humility. Does the love of Christ rule in your heart, thoughts, intentions and actions?

Saint Augustine of Hippo in his sermon for this day, wrote:

“He had the power of laying down his life; we by contrast cannot choose the length of our lives, and we die even if it is against our will. He, by dying, destroyed death in himself; we are freed from death only in his death. His body did not see corruption; our body will see corruption and only then be clothed through him in incorruption at the end of the world. He needed no help from us in saving us; without him we can do nothing. He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot have life.Finally, even if brothers die for brothers, yet no martyr by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us, not an example to imitate but a reason for rejoicing. Inasmuch, then, as they shed their blood for their brothers, the martyrs provided “the same kind of meal” as they had received at the Lord’s table. Let us then love one another as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us.”

“Lord Jesus, your love conquers all and never fails. Help me to love others freely, with heart-felt compassion , kindness and goodness. Where there is injury, may I sow peace rather than strife.”

Psalm 116:12-13, 16-18

12 What shall I render to the LORD for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
16 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your handmaid.  You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

A Daily Quote for Lent: Christ chose to be a servant who offered himself for us, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

“Even though the man Christ Jesus, in the form of God together with the Father with whom He is one God, accepts our sacrifice, nonetheless He has chosen in the form of a servant to be the sacrifice rather than accept it. Therefore, He is the priest Himself Who presents the offering, and He Himself is what is offered.” (excerpt from City of God, 10,20)