By Kodjo Adams
Accra, June 22, GNA – Reverend Father Raguel Quansah, former Assistant Priest, St Kizito Catholic Church, Nima, has urged Catholics to take the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist seriously for spiritual strength and nourishment.
He said when Catholics received the Holy Eucharist, Christ abides and empowers them to do the right things.
Rev Quansah, who is pursuing further studies in the United States of America, said this on Sunday during a sermon to celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ(Corpus Christi) in Accra.
The celebration is a profound, prophetic and powerful solemnity in the liturgical year of the Catholic Church across the world.
It underscores the importance of the Lord nourishing Catholics in the Eucharist, giving them food for their faith journey.
Rev Quansah said the body of Jesus Christ had the power to forgive Christians their sins, urging Catholic faithful to acknowledge the relevance of the sacrament in their lives.
“The Holy Eucharist is the body, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ,” he explained.
In the Catholic Church, there are mortal and venial sins. Mortal sins force the Holy Spirit to depart from one’s heart, destroy faith and require confession to the Catholic Priest.
Venial sins are sins of weakness that are daily forgiven to the believer, like greed and gossip, among others.
The Clergyman said when Catholics received the Holy Eucharist with a state of grace in mind, Christ abided in them to receive spiritual empowerment to undertake charity works and other services to humanity.
“Some Catholics have received the Holy Eucharist, but because they were not in the state of grace, there is no action or empowerment in their lives.
“If you eat the Holy Eucharist with the state of grace, it spiritually works wonders in your life, irrespective of your challenges,” he said.
He said 1 Corinthians 11: 27-29, explained the repercussions of receiving the Holy Eucharist with sin: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”
Rev Quansah stressed that “You cannot receive eternal life if you do not receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”
He said by eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, Catholics become united to the person of Christ through his humanity.
John 6:53 said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.
He said Catholics had a priceless gift from Jesus Christ because Jesus in the scripture fed the 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.
The gesture recounted Jesus’s miraculous works and was a testament to His divine power and compassion.
The blessed sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is usually exposed to Catholic faithful during the solemnity for blessings.
GNA
Christian Akorlie