"The Seven Secrets of the Eucharist" - This Month's FREE GIFT
by Christine, the Administrator of The Way of the Cross

I always considered myself extremely fortunate that Alex called me a friend. Still, I always felt like I was intruding on our casual friendship when I asked him personal questions about his stigmata and other spiritual experiences. In any case, there was one instance during a casual conversation in which he mentioned that sometimes he would see a blue beam of light descending towards the chalice or the host as it was being consecrated by the priest during mass. He also said there were usually angels present around the priest during the consecration of the Eucharist. This mental image gave me a heighten sense of the importance, the meaning and the mystery of this part of the mass which was sadly lacking in the many years I had casually attended mass.

Last month, my aunt sent me the most amazing and inspiring CD entitled The Seven Secrets of the Eucharist. When I heard it, it brought back my memories of Alex's visions and brought the meaning of the Eucharist to a whole new level. This CD was produced by the Mary Foundation. All the seven secrets are based on truths found in the Bible, the writings of the Saints, the Catechism and recent teachings of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Therefore you can be assured that it is based on sound Catholic theology. St. Thomas said that the amount of grace we receive from Christ in the Eucharist is directly proportional to our attitude and our desire to be joined with Him. The tragedy is that we can receive Communion every day of our lives and still not receive the graces He brings during this very personal moment with us.

As this month's message is about the Eucharist, we will be sending them out free this month. Just click here! Please share this with as many of your Catholic friends and family as possible!

The Month of July is Dedicated  to the Precious Blood of Jesus.
By Sr. Mary Sarto

Before the reform of the liturgical calendar,  July 1st was commemorated at the Feast of The Precious Blood of Jesus, and in certain rites of the Church this feast is maintained to this day.
 
The  Precious Blood of Jesus symbolizes the entire mystery of salvation, including the life, death, resurrection, ascension. The devotion recognizes the role of the entire Trinity in shedding divine graces on humanity through the Person of Jesus. Jesus is the visible Sacrament of  the invisible Godhead shedding divine life on mankind.
 
Many ancient religions and ancient mythologies thought the blood of  creatures contained their life principle or soul. In Scriptures there is evidence of this belief in the Book of Leviticus in the section describing all kinds of sacrifices:  "The life of a living body is in its blood (Lv. 17:11)."  Therefore, the Blood of Jesus contains his heart and his soul.
 
Just as blood symbolizes the life, blood that is "poured out" is considered a sign of death in ritual sacrifice  because once blood has gone out of a body, death follows.
 
At the consecration of the Mass there are separate consecrations of the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ to show the separation of the blood from the body that occurs in death.  The words over the cup proclaiming  the "blood of the New Covenant  poured out for all " repeats this proclamation of death of Jesus.
 
Devotion to the Precious Blood is a response of love and gratitude for the death of Jesus to ransom us from the clutches of the devil.   Sometimes adoration of the Blood of Jesus occurs, especially at sites where Eucharistic miracles have occurred.  Litanies about the Blood of Jesus concentrate on various images of God bestowing mercy and grace on humanity.
 
At times there is a note of triumph as we ask the blood of Jesus to be poured on us as a protection against the forces of evil.   Asking the protection of the Blood of Jesus can be a powerful protection in times of natural disasters, violence  and in times of temptation. The notion of triumph even in death is illustrated in some of the writings of the Church Fathers, such as Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory described the devil as being a huge fish that swallowed the bait.  The fish is happy to catch the worm but he gets hooked in the process.   When he swallowed up the Cross of Jesus, divine life entered the Darkness, and conquered the Darkness.
 
Drinking in the Blood of Jesus during the celebration of the Eucharist has tremendous spiritual and healing effects.  The Eucharistic Blood has transformed people as the life of Jesus enters into them. 
 
We become what we eat.  If we eat unhealthy food  we can unhealthy. If we drink poison we may end up sick or dead.  When we ingest the divine life of Jesus in the Eucharist we become filled with the life of God, the blood of Jesus does indeed course through our arteries and veins.  When we receive Holy Communion it is a very powerful time to ask for the fruits of the spiritual life.  We can do this throughout the day in spiritual communion when we cannot attend Mass or when we are not properly disposed to receive Communion at the Eucharist.
 
In our twenty first century it takes great of faith to believe in the cleansing, healing and nourishing effects of the Eucharistic Body and Blood.  Perhaps it seemed less unusual in the first centuries of the Church and even in medieval times when many believed that the blood of the mother became the blood of her newborn child.  In certain cultures, such as the Aztec and Iroquois Indians, the hearts and blood of brave warriors were eaten in order to receive the spiritual gifts of courage and strength. Looking at history and mythology we can see  that it is not an entirely new concept to drink the Blood of Jesus as nourishment or to eat the flesh of Jesus to receive spiritual gifts.
 
One of the graces we need to call down for heaven in our time is the grace of reverence. We need to grow in a respect for life. There is so much destruction of property and even human life.  We can beg for a greater reverence for all things living, for the Creator made them ... and in this sense it is the blood of God and the life of God in the creatures about us. There is a reciprocity in this grace of reverence.  If we have greater reverence for Blood of Christ we will also have greater reverence for self and greater reverence for others.  If we have greater reverence toward the people about us, we will also be more reverent when we approach God in the sacramental Bread and Wine, both at Mass and at times of adoration. So reverence for the Precious Blood takes on a special face in our century, not only for renewed reverence for the things of God but a reverence for all God has made.
 
We can find a beautiful prayer image for blood in the secular writings of Pliny the Elder. Pliny describes how the blood of goats was used to soften a diamonds in order to be able to cut diamonds, which are the hardest rocks.  What a beautiful image for us to take to heart and ask the blood of Jesus, the Divine Scapegoat, to soften our hearts of stone.
 
With all our hearts, we call the Blood of Jesus down upon us.  We ask the Blood of Jesus to nourish our hearts with love and every kind of grace.  We ask the Blood of Jesus to wash away our sin, to cleanse our hearts, minds and flesh of inclinations to sin, to strengthen us  in our bouts with the enemy, whether our inner demons or outer demons.  We ask the blood of Jesus to course through our nation and renew a spirit of life.  We call the blood of Jesus down on places of war and conflict.
 
Blood of Jesus, flow over soldiers at war everywhere and protect them.  Blood of Jesus, anoint the minds of our Church and government officials.  Blood of Jesus flow as a river through the Universal Church, break down barriers of communication, break down the strongholds of false teaching, break down places of sin and temptation.  Blood of Jesus, flow over us and the ones we love.  Flow over the people we find it hard to love.  Holy Blood of Jesus. fill us with the divine fire of love.  May the love in You flow through us.  May Your holiness enter every fiber of our  Being.  Live in us. Move in us. Pray in us so that we may be a ground swell of thanksgiving and praise. 
 
May our praise lift up to the heavens... proclaiming  your Glory.  May the Blood of Jesus coursing through the Church and every land on earth lift us up to the heavens... may it bring us into the loving embrace of our merciful loving God.  Glory be the Holy Blood of Jesus, thanksgiving and praise, now and forever.
 
Blood of Jesus, lifting us up into the heart of the Trinity, cleanse nourish and protect us in this life. May we "be"  in the Blood of Jesus and may the Blood of Jesus be in us. May the glory of this transforming grace fills our hearts with gratitude that You look on our littleness and give us a drink of the Blood of Life and Love. The food of God enters into us and changes us forever. Oh what a God, we have! What a marvelous God.  Amen. Amen. Amen.

THIS MONTH'S PRIVATE REVELATIONS:
There are two kinds of revelations: (1) universal revelations, which are contained in the Bible and form the core of our faith. These ended with the preaching of the Apostles and must be believed by all; (2) private revelations which are constantly occurring among Christians even to this day. You are under no obligation to believe the latter. When the Church approves private revelations, she declares only that there is nothing in them contrary to the faith or good morals. Private revelations contained here are approved by the Church's appointed Spiritual Advisors.

June 25, 2007 - MEDJUGORJE MESSAGE

"Dear children,
Also today, with great joy in my heart, I call you to conversion. Little children, do not forget that you are all important in this great plan, which God leads through Medjugorje. God desires to convert the entire world and to call it to salvation and to the way towards Himself, who is the beginning and the end of every being. In a special way, little children, from the depth of my heart, I call you all to open yourselves to this great grace that God gives you through my presence here. I desire to thank you for the sacrifices and prayers. I am with you and I bless you all. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
*****

July 1, 2007 - "ANNE" - DIRECTION FOR OUR TIMES

Jesus
I am with you. How often I repeat this. I, Jesus, am with you. I, Jesus, will never leave you. I see everything that occurs in your life. I understand exactly where your pain originates. Like nobody else, I understand you. Much of the suffering my little ones experience is from loneliness. Even if you are surrounded by others, you can feel lonely. You see, dear apostles, each person feels alone until he rests with Me. It is only after becoming united to Me that you can love each other as you were intended to love each other. There are many who do not allow unity with Me. I cannot force Myself upon them, because they are free to reject Me. But because they reject Me, they cannot love others as they were intended to love others. Others, sadly, remain unloved. Others become wounded. Others strike out in their pain, causing more distress. Humanity was created to live on earth connected to God. My apostles, even though you struggle, you remain connected to Me. I am able to heal you and send love through you. The signs of My presence are all around you, even though you struggle. Believe this. If you look at a person who has rejected Me, you will see signs of that rejection. If you look at a world that has rejected Me, you will also see signs. My beloved ones, when you see signs that God has been rejected, you must remain peaceful. I, Jesus, have told you that change is necessary. I, Jesus, have told you that I desire change. I do not abandon you and I do not abandon the world. I have many friends in this world and you are among them. You trust Me, I know. I will honour the trust you have placed in Me. I will bring all things to the good, both in your life and in the world. I, the Blameless One, have never betrayed another and I will not betray you. Think often on the promises I have made to you. I have said I will never leave you. I have said I will protect My interests in your soul. I have said I will pursue conversion of your loved ones. During this time, I want each apostle to consider these promises. Serve Me in steadiness, of course, but also, serve Me in peace. Dear apostles, you are connected to Me. You accept My love. You know that just as I cherish you, I cherish all others. My dear friends, please live these truths because others are looking to you for example. Please. Give an example of joyful trust. I need this from you so that I can draw hurting souls back to Me. I am with you. I will help you to do this.