M
mlchance
Guest
Are the Old Testament prophets still relevant today? Of course, they are!
"A son honors his father, and a servant fears his master; If then I am a father, where is honor due to me? And if I am a master, where is the reverence due to me?" So says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise his name.
But you ask, "How have we despised your name?"
"By offering polluted food on my altar!"
Then you ask, "How have we polluted it?"
"By saying the table of the Lord may be slighted! When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is this not evil? When you offer the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Present it to your governor; see if he will accept it, or welcome you," says the Lord of hosts.
"So now if you implore God for mercy on us, when you have done the like, will he welcome any of you?" says the Lord of hosts.
"Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you," says the Lord of hosts, "neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands."
All Catholics are baptized into the priestly ministry of Christ Jesus. At Mass, we present ourselves as sacrifices to God in solidarity with Christ Jesus, who is the one perfect sacrifice. Do I participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass unworthily? Do I genuinely examine my conscience in the light of Scripture and Tradition, or do I claim my conscience superior to their light? Do I take the Eucharist even if I am blinded, lame, and sick due to mortal sin?
Venial sins are forgiven by participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, but mortal sins require the sacrament of reconciliation. They require confession, penance, and absolution. Before I present myself at God’s altar to receive the grace available through the Eucharist, I must examine my conscience. If I am conscious of mortal sin, I must not receive the Eucharist, but instead must present myself to a priest for the sacrament of reconciliation.
If I do not do these things, I neither honor nor revere God. Rather, I eat and drink my own judgment (1 Corinthians 11:23-29), and God will not accept my sacrifice.
– Mark L. Chance.
"A son honors his father, and a servant fears his master; If then I am a father, where is honor due to me? And if I am a master, where is the reverence due to me?" So says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise his name.
But you ask, "How have we despised your name?"
"By offering polluted food on my altar!"
Then you ask, "How have we polluted it?"
"By saying the table of the Lord may be slighted! When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is this not evil? When you offer the lame or the sick, is it not evil? Present it to your governor; see if he will accept it, or welcome you," says the Lord of hosts.
"So now if you implore God for mercy on us, when you have done the like, will he welcome any of you?" says the Lord of hosts.
"Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you," says the Lord of hosts, "neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands."
All Catholics are baptized into the priestly ministry of Christ Jesus. At Mass, we present ourselves as sacrifices to God in solidarity with Christ Jesus, who is the one perfect sacrifice. Do I participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass unworthily? Do I genuinely examine my conscience in the light of Scripture and Tradition, or do I claim my conscience superior to their light? Do I take the Eucharist even if I am blinded, lame, and sick due to mortal sin?
Venial sins are forgiven by participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, but mortal sins require the sacrament of reconciliation. They require confession, penance, and absolution. Before I present myself at God’s altar to receive the grace available through the Eucharist, I must examine my conscience. If I am conscious of mortal sin, I must not receive the Eucharist, but instead must present myself to a priest for the sacrament of reconciliation.
If I do not do these things, I neither honor nor revere God. Rather, I eat and drink my own judgment (1 Corinthians 11:23-29), and God will not accept my sacrifice.
– Mark L. Chance.