Guest Post: 7 Things I learned as a Neophyte

A friend of my posted the following text on her Facebook wall today. I thought it was so good I asked her if I could publish it here on the blog. One year since what she calls “the best day of my life”, here is her reflection on the seven things she learned as a Neophyte…

Neophite Group

To put it in simple terms, a Neophyte is a new convert to a religion. New Advent describes Neophyte as originating from the word neophytoi meaning the newly planted and incorporated with the mystic Body of Christ. I converted to the Catholic Church from Protestantism last Easter, and have decided to do a bit of reflection on my last year. It has been filled with revelation after revelation but here are the top seven that have had the most impact on me.

1. Hungering for the Eucharist

To put it simply, hungering for the Eucharist is a real thing. To some that may sound crazy or impossible and to others, you may know exactly what I mean. For those reading this who aren’t Catholic, the Eucharist is what we call the transformation of the communion bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Early Church Father, St. Justin Martyr, writes in A.D. 151:

“For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and has both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food that has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.” [First Apology 66]

For further reference, read John 6 and watch “The Hour That Will Change Your Life.”

After partaking in my First Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil and the weeks following, I was somewhat stunned to find that I hungered for more of the Eucharist. I yearned for His Body and Blood, the peace that it brought, my human weaknesses obliterated by His strength, His divine life inside of me. This surreal and transcendent feeling is one I could never fully describe but pray all will come to experience.

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Restless Heart: 5 – “Intercommunion”

Communion

Unfortunately, this episode I’m flying solo! Nessa wasn’t able to make it so I thought it best to record on my own, rather than let another week pass without a new episode. In today’s episode I tackle the delicate subject of “Intercommunion” and explain why, under normal circumstances, the Eucharist is not given to non-Catholic Christians.

Episode 5: Intercommunion (Download)

 

— Notes —

* This episode was based on a two-part series I wrote a few years ago.

* I quote from two Early Church Fathers in this episode. The first is St. Justin Martyr:

“This food we call [the Eucharist], and no one is allowed to partake but he who believes that our doctrines are true, who has been washed with the washing for the remission of sins and rebirth, and who is living as Christ has enjoined… “

“…We do not receive these as common bread and drink. For Jesus Christ our Saviour, made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation. Likewise, we have been taught that the food blessed by the prayer of his word…is the flesh and blood of Jesus who was made flesh.”

– Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 66 (~ AD 150)

* The second Father I quote is St. Ignatius of Antioch:

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, in His loving-kindness, raised from the dead”

– Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 7 (~AD 97)

* I also quote from a portion of one of St. Paul’s letters:

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died”

– 1 Corinthians 11:29–30

* The Spiritual Communion prayer I quote is as follows:

“My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen”

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Quick Apology: Making present again?

I’m going to take a break from my “Quick Apology” series concerning Mary and Saintly Intercession. Today’s “Quick Apology” will be a very brief and concern the Eucharistic liturgy…

Objection

The Catholic Church teaches that, in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Calvary is made present again. In response to this, some Protestants object in this way:

“How can you say the sacrifice of calvary is made present again? The Epistle to the Hebrews says that His sacrifice was once for all. He’s no longer bleeding…”

Obviously, there is a lot that could be said in response to this, but how might we respond briefly?

Response

In reply to this objection, sometimes I challenge Evangelicals over the very language they use in talking about salvation. Don’t they often talk about “being washed in the blood”, upon accepting Christ as their personal Lord and saviour? However, given the objection they raised above, isn’t there a problem? Hasn’t Jesus stopped bleeding? Wasn’t His sacrifice 2,000 years ago?

When Evangelicals talk about “being washed in the blood”, they’re talking about the the grace of the cross being applied to their souls in time in a real, substantial way. Given this, is the idea of the Eucharist being a participation in Calvary really that alien?

The Passion

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