Heaven on
Earth.
"When you see the Lord immolated and lying upon the altar,
and the priest bent over that sacrifice praying, and all the people empurpled by
that precious blood, can you think that you are still among men and on earth? Or
are you not lifted up to heaven?"
St. John Chrysostom, The Priesthood,
3,4,177, 386 A.D..
CCC-1354 (Catechism of the Catholic Church)
"In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the
morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the
surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing
it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?", for they did not know
what it was. But Moses told them, "This is the bread which the Lord has
given you to eat."
Exodus 16:15
A gift from heaven had come to earth for
the people of GOD.
The manna from heaven was the bread of the Word of
GOD...
"He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with
manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by
bread alone does man live, but by every WORD THAT COMES FORTH FROM THE MOUTH OF
THE LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:3
The Israelites wandered in the desert for
forty years (Joshua 5:6), and then the manna ceased the day after a Passover
(Joshua 5:12).
Have you ever given any thought to the logistics of this
miraculous abundance from heaven? The Israelites set out from Egypt with 600,000
men, not counting women and children (Exodus 12:37). The total number of mouths
to feed must have been well over 1,000,000 and was probably closer to 1,800,000.
It would have taken the equivalent of train loads of manna, every single day for
forty years to feed them all. If each person ate an average of only one pound
per day, that would be 1,800,000 pounds per day or 900 tons. That works out to
328,500 tons per year or about 13,140,000 tons over the 40 year period.
An
abundance of heavenly gifts fell to earth during that 40 year period.
Jesus then said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, Moses did not give you the
bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the
bread of GOD is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the
world."
John 6:32-33
They said therefore to Him, "Lord, give us ALWAYS
this bread."
John 6:34
The fulfillment of John 6:34 was prophesied in
the Old Testament...
"For from the rising of the sun even to the going down,
My Name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and
there is offered to My Name a clean oblation, for My Name is great among the
Gentiles, said the Lord of Hosts."
Malachi 1:11
"I am the bread of
life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and have died. This is the bread
that comes down from heaven, so that if anyone eat of it he will not die. I am
the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he
shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of
the world."
John 6:48-52
So, the Priest, acting "In Personna Christi says, "This IS My Body"
(Matthew 26:26), and in so doing, calls down "The Word" with his word, and the
Holy Spirit transubstantiates the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of
Our Lord Jesus Christ (CCC 1353, 1357).
Jesus Christ has now come down from
heaven to earth, and has humbled Himself, so that He may be seen, and touched,
and consumed, under the appearance of simple bread and wine. We consume Him, and
He assimilates us. We become uno, union, in communion with Him.
Heaven
and earth have been joined.
GOD has sent an abundance of gifts of
Himself from heaven for us on earth for almost 2000 years.
"To the offering of Christ are united not only the members still here on earth,
but also those already in the glory of heaven..." CCC-1370
©
Written by Bob Stanley, June 22,
2000
Updated April 27, 2003, Divine Mercy Sunday
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