Why is eternal life important to catholics

Preserved by the swift hand of God both the child and the woman survived the attack by the predator who was then cast down by the mighty St.

Michael and a legion of angels. Mary is a saint for hope. Just as she endured certain trials of her life, we also experience events that often seem unexplainable and difficult to endure. Do I have hope in eternal life? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the holy one of God. Only the 12 Apostles remained, seeped in hope, belief and trust.

Matthew, St. David G. Bonagura Jr. Copyright The Catholic Thing. All Rights Reserved. Site designed by Hyperdo Media. Developed by Fiat Insight. Toggle navigation. Books Received View List. Eternal Life, Here and Now. Sunday, May 27, The first lesson of the Baltimore Catechism begins with a brief exchange between two children and Christ.

Alphonsus Liguori is one of many spiritual writers who have echoed this perspective: Each one shall go, in another life, into that house which he himself has chosen. Faith teaches us that, in the next life, there are two habitations.

Choose, my soul, to which of the two thou wilt go. If thou desirest heaven, thou must walk in the way which leads to heaven; if though shouldst walk in the way which leads to hell, thou wilt one day unhappily find thyself there. Man has found life when he adheres to him who is himself Life. In this case, Jesus himself points out that this miracle is like what happened in the desert way back when the Jewish people were fleeing from Egypt and they were beginning to find themselves in a desperate place without food, without water, and God provided for them.

You remember, Jesus compared what he did in the desert with that event in the Old Testament, only he says, "As God gave your ancestors manna in the desert and then they died, I am the living bread. The miracle I have performed is a sign of who I am and I am the living bread. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.

But if you do, you have eternal life. That's one of the things that I think is important to notice about this Scripture. Jesus is telling us that for all of us who share in this banquet, this Eucharist, the feast of the body and blood of Jesus, we begin to live eternal life now. Most of us, I believe, probably think eternal life is something we gain after we die.

It will be that new life as we transition into the full presence of God. But, "No," Jesus says, "It starts right now. The second thing, I think, to notice about the reflection today that John offers us is that this bread that we receive, the gift of the body and blood of Jesus is nurturing.

It nourishes us because through receiving the Eucharist, the full humanity of Jesus together with his divinity -- Son of God and Son of Mary is joined with our humanity, with who I am as a human person. So as I receive that bread and drink from the cup I begin to be transformed into Jesus. If I allow myself to fully appreciate what is happening, reflect on it, try to respond to it, then I begin to change; I become more and more like Jesus.

So this is truly an astounding gift that Jesus gives to us—the Holy Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus under the form of bread and wine so we can eat and drink it. It's a gift that brings to us even now, God's life in Jesus. Now at the time that Jesus said those words, if you go just a bit further in John's gospel today, you'll discover that some of them had a very difficult time accepting this truth as perhaps we do too.

John says, "After hearing this, many of the followers of Jesus said, 'This language is hard. Who can accept it?

It does demand a gift of faith to accept. Jesus was aware that his disciples were murmuring so he said to them, "Does this offend you? It is the Spirit that gives life, not the flesh.