Evangelize the Easy Way

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Why These Icons Are So Important in Evangelization 

Pictures from the camera of God’s eye

The Great Advantages of Using T- Shirts in Evangelization 

 

Topics:

 

Closed Mindedness – Biggest Obstacle :

Starting the Conversation   -  Breaking Through Closed Mindedness

 

Annunciation Icon

First: Explaining how the Annunciation Icon is appropriate for Christmas

Second: Explain the  Spiritual  Significance of the Annunciation Icon
 

Last  Supper  Icon

First: Explaining how the Last Supper - Crucifix  Icon is appropriate for Christmas

A. The word Christmas,  

B.  Myrrh, or 

C.  Joy

1.  What is true Joy?

2.  What is the meaning of
     Christmas ? 
    Three Questions

a.      From what are we  
         being saved?

b.     For what are we being
        saved?   And

c.      How are we saved?


3.  How does this icon symbolize Joy and Love?

a.  God the Father’s love
     for mankind
b.  Jesus’ love for   
     mankind
c.  Jesus’ love for His
     Father,
     and most importantly
d.  God the Father’s love
     for God the Son.

 

Second : Choose to explain one of the several spiritual meanings of the Last Supper - Crucifixion Icon

Beauty

The Key to Healthy Relationships 

Suffering

Explaining the Mass

How much did Jesus value the Mass?

What is the biggest lie that has ever been told ? 

 

 

 

DEFENDING  THE  BRIDE

 

 

Evangelize the Easy Way -
with  Icons by Msgr. Anthony La Femina

Explaining the Mass

 

How much do you value the Mass?

How much did Jesus value the Mass?

Matthew 7:7 
“Seek ... and ... Knock”

Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, (then) I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.”  

Matthew 24:28 
“Wherever the body is, there the
eagles will be gathered together.”

The “eagles” is a reference to those who are “eagle eyed,” those who see with the eyes of faith.  They are the Christians who see that it is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ that we receive at Mass, not mere bread and wine.

Many have left the Catholic Church because they did not understand the Mass.  It is crucial that we reach out to them and explain the beautiful mysteries of God concerning the Mass.  We cannot wait for the fallen away Catholics to come back to us.  Many will not come back.  We need to go to them.  And we need to reach out to the Catholics who have not yet left the Church, but who will do so if we don’t reach out to them. 

Many people find the Mass boring.  This partly because they don't understand it and the rich symbolism that it contains.  And they don’t know how to pray the Mass.  Some have fallen into the bad habit of just parroting their responses to the priest.  It is easy to be lazy when you don't know what is going on.  

The words and symbols of the Mass refer to certain historical aspects of salvation history, but these are often unrecognized as well.  If a person doesn't put much into the Mass they will probably not recognize what there is to get out of the Mass.  The more people know about the theological background of the Mass the more they will know how to apply themselves.  They will have a greater understanding of how to lift up their lives and their struggles to God in prayer.  They will better be able to more actively participate in the Mass through prayer by expressing their faith in His love and His divine providence.  And so, they will understand the beauty in the Mass and how to pray it and so they will get much more out of it and recognize what it is and Who it is they are encountering in the Mass.

Using Msgr. Anthony La Femina’s Icon of the Last Supper is a great way to start a conversation.

What is the biggest lie that has ever been told ? 

Satan says it, and many people will repeat it when they say, “I didn't get anything out of the Mass,” as they leave right after receiving Holy Communion.  To refer to God, the Creator of all that is - visible and invisible - as “nothing” has to be the world’s biggest lie.

Second biggest lie:
God doesn’t love you 

Protestants often have a real hard time understanding the crucifix.  This is partly because they sometimes don’t know or accept the roll of suffering in the Christian life.  See  Suffering.

They will often say their cross is empty because He has risen.  And some will even claim that Catholics deny the resurrection by having the body on the cross.  We should point out that we - and they - often have a figure of baby Jesus at Christmas time.  We, and they, are not claiming that Jesus is still a baby, just that He once was a baby and it is worth meditating on that beautiful fact.  The same goes for the crucifix.   And, why honor the means of his torture while ignoring the Person who endured it for our salvation. 

This Icon points us to how Jesus conquered death and suffering.

Hebrews 2:14-15 
“Now since the children share in blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,  and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.”

So, now we should not fear suffering or dying to ourselves as long as we are united to Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Bible studies and songs of praise are great, but the highest form of worship is the offering of sacrifice to God.  This icon does a great job of leading us into a deeper understanding of this Sacrifice and what the Mass is about.  The crucifix is placed on the altar.  The sacrifice of Jesus, who is our High Priest, is being offered up to God the Father who receives this perfect, pure, and infinitely good sacrifice. 

Protestant’s will often quote

John 19:28-30
“… When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. 

Some Protestant pastors will take this verse out of context and say that “it” refers to rituals ( or obedience) and therefore we don’t need the Mass.  Others will say “it” refers to our redemption and salvation.

Scott Hahn points out that this cannot be true because Paul says in

Romans 4:25
“ [Jesus] was raised for our justification.”

And some will falsely claim “Once saved always saved.” Or, as some say, “Jesus did it all and there is nothing left that I have to do to be saved. It is Finished.”

To this we can respond, “If that were so, then we would not even have to have faith. It is finished.”

Therefore, we can see that the Protestant interpretation of what “it” refers to must be incorrect.

I think you will enjoy listening to Scott Hahn as he explains the real meaning of John 19 and to what the “it” refers.

The Fourth Cup - CD or The Lamb’s Supper,   Text

 

Protestant’s will often quote

 Hebrews 9:25-28
“Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many…”

They will claim that the sacrifice of Calvary is over and done with.  They will falsely charge the Catholic Church of trying to repeat this sacrifice.   And, they will say that there is no more sacrifice to offer, so that the whole concept of the Mass is wrong. 

To this we can respond, The Mass is One Sacrifice Eternally Offered

Christ does not suffer again in the Mass.

1 Peter 3:18
“For Christ also died for sins once for all …

That same One Sacrifice is made present to us in the Mass.

The Sacrifice of Calvary is offered once for all time.  The Sacrifice is not repeated because He is the Lamb, standing, but as though slain, being offered perpetually for all time.

Jesus is our Eternal High Priest.

Hebrews 5:6
“ … You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

And the definition of a priest is to offer sacrifice.

Hebrews 5:1
“Every high priest is … to offer (to God)  gifts and sacrifices for sins.”

Hebrews 7:22-25
“ … Jesus (also) become the guarantee of an (even) better covenant.
Those priests were many because they were prevented by death from remaining in office, but he, because he remains forever, has a priesthood that does not pass away.  Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.”

And so Jesus lives forever to continually make intercession for us.

Notice that Hebrews 8 is talking about Jesus, our High Priest in Heaven.

Hebrews 8:4
“If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest ...”

And the preceding verses tell us how Jesus fulfills his Priestly ministry.

Hebrews 8:2-3
“Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer.

Notice that this passage says that Christ must “have (present tense)  something to offer.” If Jesus’ offering was only a past event then it would have been in the past tense.   However, it is present tense because Jesus’ sacrifice is once for all, that is, once for all time, eternally offered in heaven. Now, looking at it in fuller context ...

Hebrews 8:1-3 
“ ... we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,  a minister of the sanctuary  and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.  Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer.”

This denotes the continuation of Christ’s Priesthood and the perpetual offering of Himself that He makes to the Father in Heaven.  His offering is not over and done with, rather it is offered once for all time.   It is not repeated because it is never ending.  It is eternal.   And we see this in Revelations chapter 5 as well.

The vision of heavenly worship that John sees in Revelation chapter 4 goes on to say in the next chapter …

Revelation 5:5-6
“One of the elders said to me,  ‘Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.’   Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders, a Lamb that seemed to have been slain.”

Jesus appears as One who “seemed to have been slain” because He is eternally offered to God the Father on our behalf.

There is a prophecy in Malachi that tells about a pure offering that lasts continually.

Malachi 1:11
“For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting,
my name is great among the nations;
And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name,
and a pure offering”

The only “pure offering” mentioned above can be God the Son’s offering of Himself to the Father, the Perfect Sacrifice. This must be a reference to the Mass which is offered  “from the rising of the sun, even to its setting”  that is, continually throughout the world without end.  It is the One Sacrifice of Jesus Christ perpetually offered for all time.  1 Peter tells us how we are to be united in the holy priesthood, the holy sacrifice.

1 Peter 2:5
“ … let yourselves be built  into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians tells about a very important feast

1 Corinthians 5:7-8
“Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us celebrate the feast …”

If we did not have a sacrifice to offer than we would have no altar which is for the purpose of offering sacrifice.  However, Corinthians tells us that we do have an altar.

1 Corinthians 9:13
“ Do you not know that those who perform the temple services eat (what) belongs to the temple, and those who minister at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings ?”

Hebrews 13:10
“We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”

The Jews who had not accepted their Jewish Messiah, those who served the tent, had no right to eat, that is partake in Holy Communion.  But notice what this verse says we do have. 

Hebrews 13:10 
“We have an altar ... to eat.”

We have an altar because we have the eternal sacrifice of Jesus being offered up to the Father.

And Paul makes it clear what it is that we are to eat …

1 Corinthians 10:16
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”

1 Corinthians 11:25-29
“This cup is the new covenant in my (Jesus’)  blood. …
Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. … For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

 

Hebrews 10:25-26
We should not stay away from our assembly (the Mass), as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.
 If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice  for sins ...”  NAB

(The sacrifice mentioned here is the perpetual offering of the Sacrifice of Jesus’s Life Death and Resurrection which we offer at Mass.  We need to participate in the Mass so that we might avail ourselves of God’s grace.  This is the only understanding of the word "sacrifice" that fits the context.  It is the only "sacrifice for sins" which brings redemption and forgiveness.  And if we reject, or ignore it there is no other sacrifice that will take its place. It is the Holy Spirit who changes the bread and wine into the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ. )

 

You - Tube Links


CATHOLICISM - BREAD OF HEAVEN
An exclusive clip is from Episode 7  -
The Mystery of the Church's Sacrament and Worship.

 

 

See more notes on How to explain the Mass

 

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