I like this one:
Not Bad
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
St. Peter’s 1st Letter Chapter 1:3-9 .
Our Salvation is the goal and achieving that goal is worth the effort.
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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
“…Just as truly as God became Man at the Incarnation in Mary’s womb, so the same Incarnate Jesus becomes present on the Altar at the moment of consecration in the Mass…. ” http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Eucharist/Eucharist_042.htm
The Catholic Church has not wavered in this Teaching for 2023 years. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve told this to or been asked. The realization of just how incredulous IT is and response is always the same:
“You actually b e l i e v e that?!!” “That the Jesus Christ is Present in a piece of bread?!”
Muslim engineers I have worked with are usually the ones most stupefied, because they know I’m smart, a good engineer and so it’s an emphatic: “You .. You … actually believe that!!!!?”
It’s ironic that Muslims realize what THIS actually means more than the majority of persons that call themselves Catholic. It’s our collective example of failure to believe that is the cause of their failure to convert not their lack of Understanding.
The Real Presence is such an Incredulous Thing, and yet IT is the basis of Faith, for Faith and IT’s proof. What Atheist spends time in Adoration to see if IT’s True? Who that studies great books or science will take some time to sit before the One Through Whom All Things Were Made?
As David WS points out indeed we do actually believe that, i.e. the real presence of Christ our Lord in the Eucharist. Much to the amazement of the world. But in truth it’s not at all improbable, even from a worldly perspective, if one accepts the resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday as a true occurrence. The same Lord who arose from the dead and walked out of the tomb, also gave us the eucharist.
Belloc’s famous quote actually buttresses one’s faith.
It is like one of Aquinas’ 5 proofs from reason of the necessity of God’s’s existence.