Spiritual battle ( Ef 6,10 )

 Henceforth get strength in the Lord and in His enormous strength

Put all the possible equipment of God on in order to be able to resist all the tricks of Satan. For, we are not supposed to fight against blood and flesh but against the Sovereigns and Power, against those who rule this dark world, against evil spirits in Heaven. Therefore use all the equipment of God to be able to resist in the day of evil and sustain when everything is overcome.

  Stick to it!!!!

Gird your waist with truth, put the armour of justice on, truss your feet for Gospel of peace!

Have always the shield of Faith with you:

with it you will be able to extinguish the blazing arrows of Evil.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God.

Say all kinds of prayers to Holy Spirit in any occasion.

Because of that keep watch with all your persistency praying for all saints and for me in order to make my mouth open and give me the word to proclaim bravely the Mistery of Gospel as its chained ambassador, to obtain courage to speak of it in a proper way.

Prayer for inner healing

Lord Jesus, You have come to heal all wounded and anxious hearts. Please, heal all the wounds that cause uneasiness in my heart. Please, heal specially the seed of sin in me.

Please, enter my life and heal me from all the trauma dating back to my childhood as well as from all the wounds causing trauma during my life.

Lord Jesus! You know all my problems. I bring them all into Your Heart – the heart of Good Shepherd. Please, heal small wounds of my heart by the strength of big Wound being open on Your Heart. Heal the wounds of my memory; don't let anything that had happened to me be the source of pain, anxiety and consternation. Lord! Please heal all those wounds which have caused the roots of sin in my life.

I would like to forgive to all those who hurt me. Lord! Look at all my inner wounds because of which I am not able to forgive. You, who came to heal broken hearts, heal my heart, please. Heal, my dear Lord, all my intimate wounds which cause my physical pains.

I surrender my heart to You. Take it, Lord, clean it and give me the feelings of Your divine Heart. Help me to be modest and gentle.

Lord, heal the pain I feel for persons dear to me who died. Help me to regain peace and joy being sure that You are Resurrection and Life.Make me authentic witness of Your Resurrection, Your victory over sin and death, Your presence being alive among us.

Amen. Alleluia.  

THE STRENGTH OF COMMUNION AND OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

   One drop of the blood of Christ is sufficient to break all the power of Satan

Written by: Rev. Dražen Radigović

Nothing in life can contribute so much to our spiritual growth and development and to protection and strength of the life of God in us as Holy Communion can. It is divine food presented to us by God for eternal life. In this article we want to observe the strength of the Blood of Christ as well as of Holy Communion. We want to learn how to apply the strength of the Blood of Christ in our life, how to get protected by it from evil and how to bind him; how to support and strengthen the life of God in us through Communion.

We pray God for his mercy to open our eyes of heart and make us understand and deeply absorb these things into our heart.

First of all let us remember PASHA. It is a Jewish holiday through which Israelites celebrate their emancipation and liberation from Egyptian slavery. Before the Israelites managed to leave Egypt, God allowed different kinds of evil to fall upon the Egyptians in order to soften Pharaon's heart and make him release his people from slavery. But the heart of Pharaon was hard. He didn't want to give up by no means. How could he give up slaves and the help he had from them? He wasn't that mad. He was aware that Israeli slaves were the cheapest workers he could ever have and very useful to him. Many evil deeds which struck Egypt couldn't make him give up. Then God allowed another, final evil to happen. That broke Pharaon's heart. That evil was: the death of any first-born child in the night of PASHA. During that night the angel exterminator was supposed to pass Egypt and kill all the first-born ones – among both people and cattle. In order to protect His people from that evil God Jahve proclaimed some orders and with the help of Moses instructed His people what to do and how to behave. That night Israelites were celebrating their first PASHA. Hebrew word Pasha ( Pesah ) means TRANSITION denoting passing of angel exterminator above Israeli houses and homes, killing only Egyptian people. It also means Israeli crossing the Red Sea. When the Egyptians tried to cross the Red Sea they drowned. Finally, in the light of New Union Pasha means the transition of Jesus from passion, through death to resurrection. So PASHA has a very deep meaning for the Christians.

What really happened in the night of PASHA? How did God protect his people? He ordered Israelites to slaughter a lamb up to a year of age – a healthy one. While doing it they were not allowed to break any single bone of the lamb. They should collect lamb's blood into one bowl, dip a stick into the blood and smear it over the door frames: over both door-posts and lintel. When the angel of death passes Egypt and sees these signs on the houses, he will simply pass by and the people living in these houses will be protected. No evil will fall down upon them. So the blood of that lamb protected Israelites from sure death. There are a few things to be understood here. In what case could that blood protect them? In the moment when they marked the area of their life by it, their territory. If that blood had been left only in the bowl, it wouldn't have helped them. By means of God's word the blood had strength to save them but they had to do something with it. They had to take it from the table and mark the doors of their houses with it. In what case that blood wouldn't have helped Israelites? Only in case that somebody went out of the house and left the territory protected by blood.

How could that blood of the lamb have strength to protect Israelites and rescue them from sure death?

St. Ivan Zlatousti says the following about the strength of the blood of Christ: Would you like to know where the strength of the blood of Christ comes from? Let's get back to its picture, let's remember the previous sign and let's tell the Old Writ. Moses gave the order: "Slaughter a lamb a year of age and smear the door with its blood."

What do you mean, Moses – that the blood of the lamb can make a reasonable man free? Of course it can, but not because it is the blood but because this blood is the symbol of Lord's blood. And – if the enemy sees the blood of this symbol not only on the door but the mouth of people shining with real blood of Christ

which makes the door-posts of the tempel of Christ blesssed, of course he will retreat.

We are in the similar situation. When we hear mass we praise Christ's sacrifice of New and Eternal Union. Christ's blood at the altar has the strength of eternal life. It has the strength to protect us from the powers of darkness and from Evil. It has the strength to bind and break all the power of hell. The saints used to say that a single drop of Christ's blood is enough to break all Satan's power. But when we come to Holy mass we have to do something with the blood of Christ. Do what?! We have to bring it in our life and mark the areas of our life with it. We have to mark everything we want to protect with Christ's blood – as Israelites once did. If the blood of Christ remains there, at the altar, there will be no use of it. It will not help. If Israelites did not use the blood of the lamb, if they did not mark with it the areas they wanted to protect, it would not be able to rescue them. It is the same with us. We should bring the blood of Christ into our lives and mark with it whatever we want to protect.

Here comes tha basic question: HOW CAN WE DO IT? HOW CAN I MARK MY LIFE WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AND PUT IT UNDER GOD'S PROTECTION?

It can be done in two ways: 

• through Holy Communion

• proclaiming

• We can now understand how important Holy Communion is. During Last Supper, when Jesus was taking the leave from his followers, he left us a special will: he took bread and blessed it. He gave it to his followers telling them: take it and eat it – it is my Body. Later on he did the same with wine: take it and drink from it all of you. It is the chalice of my Blood – the Blood of New and Eternal Union which has been shed for you and for all people for sins to be forgiven. After that he said something very important: do it in memory of Me! It was his testamentary wish.Jesus couldn't have left us nothing bigger nor more important than that. Take , e.g., that your father ( or your husband or wife ) is dying and he asks you, for the sake of his love, always to remember him, to remember his example and his words. But memories fade with time. To prevent it happen, your father ( husband / wife ) tells you that his last will is to put his photo on your table. Whenever you look at it, remember the examples of his life and his words and bless it all. Acting that way you will remain bound up with your father longer and tighter. Jesus also wanted to leave to his followers something special so that they could remember him – something through which they would be bound up with him even after his death. The only thing Jesus did not give them was the photo of his. No – he didn't give that- he gave them much more. In fact, he gave them the most he could give – he gave them his Body to eat and his Blood to drink. He gave them Himself. That's the only thing he wants his followers to do – to dine his Body and drink his Blood. Once he says: Ť My Body is real! And my Blood is a real drink. ( So you see – it is not a symbol as protestants think. It is real Body and real Blood of Jesus. The one who eats my Body and drinks my Blood has my life inside him. So eating the Body of Christ means to make Jesus' testamentary will come true. It is the strongest expression of being bound with Jesus. When you eat Jesus' Body, you have his life inside you. In fact, Jesus himself lives in you. You become the tabernacle of God. That is why Satan can do no harm to you. Through Communion you have marked the area of your soul and of your whole life. After the Holy Communion your spirit and the life of God become stronger in you. After the Holy Communion you mark the area of your life and so you get protected.

• The other way how to get protected by means of the blood of Jesus is PROCLAIMING. We mention in prayer the effect of the Blood of Christ on us. By saying these words we have marked with this same Blood the spheres of our life and our family which we want to bring under God's protection. In ps 51 David says: ŤLord, sprinkle me with hyssop in order to cleanse me.ť He definitely had lamb's blood in mind. During proclamation you can pray in the following way: JESUS, PROTECT ME ( MY HUSBAND/WIFE/CHILDREN/FAMILY/FRIEND) WITH YOUR HOLY BLOOD. Or like this: I PROTECT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY WITH HOLY BLOOD OF JESUS. BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS I BIND THE POWER OF SATAN AND HIS INFLUENCE UPON OUR LIFE. Thank You, Jesus. Or you can simply pray:
• Jesus, Your Blood cleanses me of my sins. Your Blood protects me from the influence of Evil. Your Blood gifts me your life. It makes me stronger and blessed. Through Your Blood I receive Your health and protection. Thank You for Your precious Blood. By saying this simple prayer you in fact protect yourself and those who you pray for. You mark your area with Christ's Blood and Satan will not be able to cross that border. Alleluia!!
• There is also a wonderful prayer ŤThe Soul of Christť.Learn it and pray it every day. But pray it slowly and understanding it.

3 In the past Israelites had to travel through the desert in order to reach the 

•    Promised land. In order to survive they needed food. God gave them magic bread: manna from Heaven. He also gave them water from the cave and in some other ways. We will speak about it in some other topics. But this time I would like to mention the following: if anyone refused to take this God's bread ( manna ) or water, he would lose strength needed so much on their way to Promised land and he would die. If they did not eat the food given to them by God, nobody would be able to get to Kanaan. The same thing happens to us: we are also on our way to Promised land. We are also on the way to our Kanaan. Which land is it? It's Heaven, the kingdom of God, of course. Many kinds of danger, ambush, misfortunes and problems watch for us on our way. We become exhausted. And as God then gave Israelites manna to keep them strong, He does the same with us every day – He gives us THE BREAD – MANNA FROM HEAVEN. It is not the food to strengthen our body, it is the food to feed our soul. And this food is the BODY and the BLOOD of JESUS.If we don't eat this Food, we will never reach our Promised land – HEAVEN. We will die. That's why Communion is very important. It is very sad when people take part in mass but they don't take Communion. Why don't they take it? They are either ignorant or they don't want to give up sin – they want to continue living in it. Acting that way they not only did not keep the testimony wish of Jesus and refused to put God's protection upon them, but they, in fact,refused to dress themselves into Jesus, to receive and strengthen God's life in them. In fact they missed to take spiritual food which is important to enable them to sustain on the way to Heaven. As manna was the food to Israelites for their body which enabled them to survive and sustain the way to Promised land, so is Communion the food not to our body but to our soul. It is important and necessary to help our soul ( spirit ), our inner self to live and sustain on the way to Heaven. That is why it is important to understand the importance of Communion nowadays.
• Eucharist is, then, spiritual food. When I think of physical ( material ) food I am aware of one thing; it has not been creted only to be looked at or to be admired. It has been given to us to feed on it, to gain needed calories and energy. If anyone, e.g., entered the kitchen and found the table full of food which he would only watch and admire, he would remain hungry. Food is aimed to be eaten, not watched. It's the same with SPIRITUAL FOOD – EUCHARIST – it is not only for WATCHING, for ADMIRING. It has been given to us TO BE EATEN, TO BE DINED. I would like to repeat what Jesus said: Ť They who eat my Body, have my life in them. Those who don't eat my Body, they don't have my life in them.ť Those who eat have life, those who don't eat don't have life. What about you? Do you have the life of Jesus in you or not? Do you take Communion regularly or temporarily? Really, if you want to make any spiritual progress and growth, you can't achieve it without regular Communion. If you want to experience God's strength and protection in your life, it is impossible without regular Communion. If you want to see Satan defeated and bound in your life, you will not see it without Holy Communion. It would be good for a normal Christian to take Holy Communion at least twice per week: on Sunday because it is the order of both God and Church and at least once during the week. Real Christians should try to do a little bit more than minimum, to do at least a tiny bit more than being ordered for Christ's sake. It would be amazing if they made a decision that they would try to take part in mass as often as possible during the week and not only on Sundays. That way they would express great friendship with Christ. That would also be a big source of strength for their life and happiness.
• Oh, that wonderful strength of Holy Communion!! We will never be able to explain its full meaning. Just remember Virgin Mary who carried Jesus under her heart when she visited Elizabeth. She was really the tabernacle of God. And when she pronounced only a word, Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit and her baby danced inside her womb. The same thing happens to us. After taking Communion we become the tabernacle of God. We carry His light, his presence and salvation to everybody we meet. It is extremely important to be aware of it. 
• There are two reasons that make us deprived of God's strength, healing and protection through Holy Communion:
• we either don't take Communion or we take it rarely and not regularly;
• if we take Communion without dignity ( or in deadly sin, or if we are not concentrated, if we take it mechanically without being aware that we take the Body of Christ ).
• I want to end this article quoting St. Augustine :
• What I dare say about Communion is that, although being Almighty, God could not have given us more than He did; although being too wise He did not know to give us more; although being too good He had to give nothing more. He gave us Himself, He gave us His Body to eat. That is why we should appreciate taking the Body of Christ.
• God will heal us and make us stronger through Holy Communion ( Remember the woman who was bleeding for twelve years – as soos as she only touched Jesus, she was healed. We should be of the same opinion and of the same attitude when taking the HolyCommunion. ).
• Jesus said: Those who dine my Body, have my life in them.
• The strong ones should dine it not to get weaker as well as the weak ones to get stronger.
• The ill ones to recover health, the healthy ones not to get ill.
• Spiritually blind ones to see again, those who can see not to get blind.
• Those in light not to be overwhelmed by darkness.
• Those in darkness to be lit by light.
• Those who lost their way to find it again.
• Those who know the right way not to lose it.
• What I want for you is the light and mercy of Holy Spirit to help you to find your strength and protection in Holy Communion and in the strength of the Blood of Christ. Amen.

THE DANGER OF NEW AGE – Yoga, Bioenergy & Reiki

The presentation was held by Fr Josip Blažević

Summary:

Fr Blažević explained the term New Age first. He used the explanation from Vatican document ŤJesus Christ – bearer of the water of lifeť.

 New Age, like in gnosticism of the 2^nd and the 3^rd century, presents the core of attitudes which are, according to Church, heretical. The Pope John Paul II warned of reappearance of old gnostic ideas in the form of so called New Age. It does not mean the renewal of religion. It is only a new way of practicing spiritual point of view which turns the word of God upside down and replaces it by the one of man.

Then Pope explains gnosis – cognition. There is a real one and a false one. The former gets deeper into the truth based on Revelation of God and common sense while the latter is based on pagan religious and phylosophical systems ( mostly oriental ones ).

Following Christian Revelation we can't but remind ourselves of premival temptation of man – to know what God knows, to be able to do what God can do, to be like God. That is the wish which indulges temptation of Satan.  The problem begins when man, looking for his happiness, answers these questions and lives the life without God. The man does not need God, God's Revelation stops to be the most important value. Man follows himself, leaving God behind. Being weak, the man of previous age, as well as the man of modern time ( New Age means new time ) procedes what he Ťknowsť. He says that God is not personal, everything is a Ťvibratingť energy, there are different

Ťvibration levelsť, man should not follow sense but Ťintuitionť, Ť the language of heartť, or Ťthe language of symbolsť, Ťpast civilizationsť, etc.

Individual ways of selfrealisation ( and selfsalvation ) become in, as well as Ťbreaking relationshipsť with family, state, Church, and with every form of institutions or belonging because they bind a person ( while New Age proclaims that every restriction obstructs Ťselfrealisationť ). The man of New Age looks for hidden knowledge raising his limited potential to the place belonging to God's unlimited potential. 

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