Holy Thursday, March 28, 2013 A.D.
“The Mass is the greatest prayer of God. You will never be able to understand its greatness…”
We share with you the following, which has never before been published. It is from the real-life experience of A Friend of Medjugorje, and is taken from the Caritas Community rule, “’A Way’ in a New Time,” written by the Founder of Caritas at the directive from the Bishop of the Birmingham Diocese. It tells not of concepts and ideals, but of a real-life experience that the Eucharist preserves life. A Friend of Medjugorje gives us here his own real-life experience:
“Years before, even before I heard about Medjugorje, I was traveling past St. Paul’s Cathedral, downtown. I had picked up a truckload of sod (grass) and had a truck and trailer full to capacity. I was going downtown to the “Block” to pick up five or six extra day helpers, of which I often did when I needed more help than my regular employees. I was already late and in a big hurry. However, I always stopped in at the church, even if for only a minute, to say hello to Jesus in the Tabernacle. I would often park my truck in the lane and put flashers on, run inside to say a short prayer, and then be off on my way. On this morning, I was able to pull off into the right lane, where several parking spaces were empty, allowing me to pull my truck out of the way of traffic. I went into St. Paul’s to pray and found the church attended by the school children as I went in front of the Blessed Sacrament on the side. I was tormented because I knew Mass was about to begin. How could I walk out on Mass? I had read that St. Thomas More, while attending Mass, was notified that he was expected to appear before the King immediately, without delay. He sent the messenger back and had him say to the King, “I will come in response to my earthly King’s request after I am finished serving my Heavenly King.” He knew to do this might mean his head. However, the King relented. For me, how could I leave Holy Mass, even though I could easily justify it because of worldly reasons? I couldn’t! And so I stayed. I prayed the homily would be short. It wasn’t. I thought because it was a weekly Mass there would be no singing, but they sang. It took all my resolve not to be concerned with the sod, the need to get it laid out that day, and picking up men, etc…but I was not going to leave.
“It may not sound so difficult, but everything in me, from a business standpoint, my training and experience in what it takes to get jobs done, told me to leave and to leave now. I decided I would immediately leave after receiving communion; after all, I had gone well beyond practical worldly reason. However, I found I could not do it. My conscience told me I must stay and give appropriate thanksgiving after receiving Jesus. I felt my body wanting to run out, yet my soul was saying, “No, you will stay.” After my prayer of thanksgiving, another battle in deciding, with all my reason tempting me, to leave before the final blessing. Why stay? But I knew I had to stay and receive the final blessing. It seemed as though it was going on and on, for even the priest lingered talking to some of the kids before giving the blessing. But I was determined to stay to receive it. Finally, he gave it and I rushed out of the church. Suddenly, I felt the weight of knowing my whole week would be thrown off kilter because of the decisions I made this morning and financially, at that time, I could not afford such a set back. Nevertheless, I chose God first, even though I knew it would cost me. My resolve was I would just have to live with it because when such choices are presented, I felt God had to be first.
“Upon arrival at the Block of 14th Street, I was relieved to see 20 men or so still there. Still I knew some of the best would have already been picked up. I pulled over, got out and was immediately surrounded by those who wanted to be picked to work. Out of nowhere, came a man who grabbed me by the collar and began screaming in a rage and cursing. He seemed to be crazed. Suddenly I realized he had a knife in his hand. He reared back with his hand from behind his back and with his arm in a full swing, lunged the knife for my throat, screaming all the while as if possessed. It was so fast; I didn’t even have time to react. For some strange reason, I felt strongly not to. Just as the knife was about to plunge into my throat, he stopped, and the point of the knife did not penetrate. But he reared back a second time, again slinging his arm rapidly and with full force, only to stop a second time just at the point the knife would have pierced me. I saw men in the background, wide-eyed. Men who I had helped for several years by giving them money and food. In helping them, I had become friends with some of these black men. As this rage was going on, I could see the fear in their faces behind the crazed man, and I knew they saw it was my end. A third time, with all his might, he went to stab me, with the full force of his weight and intensity, only to stop or rather be stopped just before the point of the blade touched my throat. No more than ten seconds had passed. Everything was so quick that neither I nor anyone else had time to react. Suddenly, he screamed, let go and ran off. The other men came to me, asking if I was all right, and said they were scared to death. They were all repeating, “I thought you were dead,” or “I don’t know why that man didn’t stab you, he was crazy.” They relayed that they froze and could not move.
“I myself was puzzled, for his rage was certainly of an uncontrollable nature. But I soon remembered from where I had just come. My choice of Jesus over my worldly security had placed me in physical security through what I had only a few minutes before received. The man wanted to stab me. Three times he tried. The other men who witnessed the scene could not believe I had not been hurt, as this man’s rage indicated that he really was intent on doing. Everything in him tried and wanted to, but he couldn’t. Having received Jesus just a few moments before saved me. Literally, the Eucharist saved my life. The angels blocked the man’s hand. I realized it was because of putting Jesus first in my life. Even though it went against my worldly well-being and took all my might to stay in Mass, the outcome was, that despite all this man’s might, he was stopped. Today I would not likely be here had it not been for just having received Jesus. To me it was clear and simple. The Eucharist not only saves, but also preserves. It was a lesson of choosing God first and the fruit of doing so. Needless to say, this and so many other lessons have fortified myself, and later the community to the importance of Mass.”
“A Way” in a New Time # 24
A Friend of Medjugorje
In the Caritas Community, A Friend of Medjugorje has always led us, in that our participation at Mass not be an ‘attendance record,’ whereby we ‘tally-up’ the numbers of Masses and not change our life. Instead the Holy Mass should humble us, so that we can “live the Mass” in our daily lives, every moment of our life. Our Lady of Medjugorje said on April 3, 1986:
“Dear children, I wish to call you to a living of the Holy Mass. There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass, but there are also those who come unwillingly. I have chosen you, dear children, but Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Therefore, consciously live the Holy Mass and let your coming to it be a joyful one. Come to it with love and make the Mass your own. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Make the Mass your own, contemplate what much of the world has neglected: that by placing God first in our lives He can then protect us. As A Friend of Medjugorje says, “Our protection is not our 401k’s, healthcare, guns, or stock investments, and not even in our food chain. Our protection is the same way God was protected: wrapped in Our Lady’s mantle.” She is teaching us so much in this time. Let us listen to Her. This is the live desire of Our Lady for each of us, it is the desire of A Friend of Medjugorje and the Caritas Community, not only for ourselves, but for each of you. The Community of Caritas would like to express to everyone their prayers for these days, asking in-turn for your prayers, sacrifices, and Masses for everything that Our Lady wants to accomplish through this Mission and Community.
50 thoughts on “Can the Eucharist Save Your Life?”
My dear brothers and sisters, I have to say that I have been put in trials in my workplace, my family, and even in my church. I just want to say that sometimes it takes us time to see the truth, but like our brother in this article, we hear the calling to holiness in God. My prayer is for us to pray to our priests and appreciate them so that they may obtain the works of the Holy Spirit through them, and by that encourage us and guide us to the Lord.
Inspiring and moving — I have forwarded this link to family members. Thank you.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters I was not so Amazed as I was pleased to hear that my Brother chose God first. I to have a story to tell. I was in Vietnam during the tet offensive and I was afraid was going to die, I told GOD if he would save my life I would go to Mass every day for one year in thanksgiving for saving my life. God saved my life and I went to Mass every day for one year. This was in 1969, I went to Mass from 1969 to 1970 every day. When my year was up, I could not stop going to Mass. I had developed such a LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD I can never stop going to MASS daily.I can not exist without going to receive the Eucharist. My Love for GOD is overpowering I Love Him so much He is what I live for every day. In the Eucharist God drawers you to Himself through His LOVE for you a LOVE so great you can not exist without HIM. I am so happy I live to receive the Eucharist every day. The Materialistic of this world are insignificant GOD must come first.
This story has really touched my heart! It is as if its the answer to the debates that used go on in my head. Because I have recently moved to an area where attending mass is not a major problem, so I told myself that I would attend mass everyday, but somehow I found an excuse to only go 3 days out of 5 as mass is not early in the morning and I don’t have to wake up early on those days! BUT this story, really has told me not to be lazy, and I KNOW NOW that God is calling me and I’m going to go to mass everyday, with no excuse! When possible. Thank You for such a beautiful message. May God be Praised!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I was healed from cancer by attending daily Mass and a good friend praying over me. Mother Mary was a big part of it since I was having Marian Movement of Priests Cenacles in my home every week at the time. Praise God.
Oh my Jesus You are indeed risen. I got goose bumps as I read this article. Mother Mary thank You for Your love and guidance. The Medjugorje messages have changed my life completely I cannot express all here. By God’s grace I came across the Caritas community on the net. If I recall well nobody referred me to it. It was a direct call. I have tried to share the messages with friends and to live Mother’s messages. My prayer to Our Lady is to obtain for me from Our Lord a way to come to Mediogorje this year with a group of 20 people if that be Gods will. I pray for God’s constant hand in your work and may you continue to testify that He alone is The Good Shepherd.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience. Truly Jesus is our Strength and Mother Mary our Protector. They are the immovable treasures we possess on this earth. Love You Jesus! Love You Mother!
AMAZING !!! There is nothing more important in faith and devotion to our Lord .Jesus has worked miracles for many times and I knew immediately that it was the blessing from the Lord coming to me. I love and have faith that when I call on Him He will be there.
Yes in my experience the most important gift in life is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to wash away all our sins, the strength gotten through Mass is complete and cannot be compared to anything else. We do have the opportunity to confess direct to Jesus and attending Mass is a positive step to getting close to Jesus. We do need to tell others about the power of Jesus in the Mass most of all today after the Resurrection to have a positive attitude knowing He is the Doctor and Healer more than medicines.
I liked the article very much. It shows us the importance of giving God the place it deserves in our life: THE FIRST. I have done that and I have also experienced GOD’s loyalty and protection in my life. And thanks you for providing us the opportunity to read about daily Eucharistic miracles. Thanks so much!
Yes. I believe in this story. I too have experienced similar situations. The Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord is to be Honored, Glorified, Praised and blessed now and forever in the Host and Wine offered at the Holy Mass. It is Jesus living amongst us. Glory to Almighty God.
It is amasing how the Lord does a lot of beautiful things for us in our lives.Some we notice , others we simply take for granted.This is why i believe we should thank God more often than we ask for this and that. Praise be to God
Our Lord works in mysterious ways, three times the man lunged, three times he stopped. I was told I had three tumors (malignant) on my liver. I accepted, then went to a Benedictine Monastery for three days (I was an oblate of this Monastery when I lived in the USA) and was given a very special blessing by a very holy Priest. If I recall correctly, believe the Saint was a Benedictine, St. Marius (sic). The holy priest blessed me with a Cross that held a relic of the true Cross of Christ. My tumors were not visible during the CT scan. The words I prayed just prior to the scan, were; THY WILL BE DONE. The holy Priest (who is now in Heaven) asked me, ‘Sandi, what would you say to your doctor, your friends, your family if they ask you to explain this? My answer … “it is what it is,” and Only God Knows. PAX
This is a moving story of one man’s experience with the Holy Hand of Jesus protecting him. It is one I will always remember especially when I want to hurry in church for a visit. Thanks for sharing it with us. I just love it & enjoyed reading it.
I love it, just love it!
What a wonderfull testimony to the Mass and Eucherist.. I believe it is in knowing this and sharing, that it is given for this time of Grace. Jesus could have taken him directly to Heaven but chose to bless us all with his sharing.
Praise God for his awesome mercy and love and for all the miracles he performs daily through the Eucharist. As you all receive Jesus daily in the Eucharist, please mention my brother [John] to Jesus asking God to divinely heal him and bless him and his wife with children and those blessings which God alone can give. May God heal us all as we receive and adore Him in Holy Communion.
It is really touching ….I am touched by God’s miracles and blessings He gave to me….tq
Thank you very much for the story you shared with us. The Lord is good all the time and that is His nature. He surely protects us when we do not expect, He provides when with have run out of ideas. He is surely good. Happy Easter to all.
We were celebrating the sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus our Savior by Holy Mass. The sacrifice of Calvary. As Christians we don’t have important event other than Holy Mass. We offer our devotion to you my Lord by attending for every Mass. My Lord was there for us in the Holy Eucharist till the end. So we have to live in Holy Mass! Thank You Mother for your intersession! May God Bless You All!
I believe in angels this story only proves that is true. The story will help me think about alot of things in every day living. God Bless you all Thank you all for all you are doing. Charlotte Rettenmaier
I just returned from Holy Thursday Mass, and your healing words touched me. Despite numerous losses the past several years, I feel grateful for so many things. The Blessed Mother brings me the peace of Jesus.
Amazing!
AMAZING ABOUT SAVING FROM KNIFE TO THROAT – MIRACLE MASS AND HOLY COMMUNION IS SO STRONG AND KEEP YOU FAITH AND BELIEVE IN GOD ALWAYS. GOD LOVES US . I AM DEAF
I really believe that this is true, you can feel it when you go to Holy Communion. There is definitely a difference in the way that you feel when you go to Confession and Holy Communion. It is the greatest gift of all.
This is a truly wonderful story to share with us on this great feast day. May we draw inspiration and courage from it, and know we are truly protected by angels when we sacrifice our time and put God first. Happy Easter to all the community
I thank Our Lady of Medjugorje for revealing to us how grace-filled is each assistance at Holy Mass! And thank you, Caritas, for witnessing to us this truth! Let us give thanks to the LORD for all His goodness! Today, we will see at the Mass of the Last Supper how everything began!
God is Good! Thank you to the man in this situation for sharing his wonderful story. It is no surprise that he was saved. God protects and heals all the time. Many times our prayer group have prayed for cure of terminal diseases,difficult pregnancies, and seemingly impossible life circumstances and God has graciously answered. Doctors will rarely say it is a miracle but we know and thank God. Why are people surprised when our loving God answers our prayers? The Eucharist is God’s great gift to us after His Son returned to Him. God feeds, protects,renews and cures us when we come to Him. The Mass is our participation in Heaven’s adoration of God and we are privileged to have free access! It is a gift to have a church that can be open for anyone to drop by and spend a moment with God in His house. It is always a fresh opportunity for grace and blessings. Glory and thanks to God. Never give up. Pray for others. See Jesus in others and do not judge. Lead the best life you can
The Holy Spirit was truly with him. He represented Jesus on the cross. Jesus did not try to defend himself. He did not argue or fight back. And God brought him back to us, this man.
What a great testimony for those of us, the remnant of God during this Easter season and time of God’s great Divine Mercy for us who Believe! How in just a moment in time, Jesus, our Savior comes to us leaving the reminder of His and God’s Love and Mercy for us. Because He gave us His life in reparation for our sin we are renewed in the Holy Eucharist when we receive His Body and Blood. For this I BELIEVE!
This is so uplifting! I have been in the process of doubting the good received from the Mass. I try to attend each day but soon that will be limited as we (our parish) are being put into a mega parish engulfing our whole county and I am sure that daily Mass will not be available to me every day. I am so discouraged by the lack of attendance by our parishioners and the attendance at our daily rosary. Your story gives me hope that we do not see all the good things that come from the Mass and to trust in God. Thanks for your testimony. Sincerely, Carolyn P.S. Please pray for my daughter who has a recurrence of cancer. Thank You! Carolyn
If you trust in God, He will always be there for you.
This is truly a witness of the protection we receive when we put God first in our life. It is sadly true that we often get carried away by our worldly affairs instead of trusting God and giving Him our time, prayers, praise, and glory due Him. Oh, that we would always seek to live in His Divine Will! FIAT!
What a beautiful story. It is a true testament of GOD’s love for us when we put Him first or even if we are still hesitant to submit to His will. I pray for all lost souls in my family community, and world, that His light will shine through us so that we might make a difference in someone’s life towards God the Father, God the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, with then intercessions of our Blessed Mother.
Yes, I do believe ”THE HOLY EUCHARIST” can save your life, by receiving ”JESUS” at Mass that gentleman’s life was saved, as ”THE BLESSED MOTHER” also said by receiving ”THE HOLY EUCHARIST” as often as possible you will receive great graces,I consecerate my life and that of my loved ones daily to the ”SACRED HEART OF JESUS” AND TO ”THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY” joined together beating as one.
“Can the Eucharist Save Your Life?” ?? In late June, I had just come out of Church and within 20 minutes after I had received the Eucharist, I was on my way home, I had totaled my car and came out of the accident with just a head concussion and some bruises and scratches. The Car was unrepairable, but on my way to the Trauma Center, I prayed to the Lord and the Most Blessed Mother for thanking them for sparing my life. I know that the Holy Eucharist was still within me when this happened and I believed that they saved me.
How very encouraging and uplifting to hear this story, Especially at this holy time of Easter. If we truly knew WHO we were receiving and could see how powerful Jesus works through this means, we would act so very differently. I think we will weep tears of sorrow when we see how flippantly we often treated Him without realizing it. Lord forgive us.
Praise Our Lord! Everything we owe; He is our Shepherd, Our Savior, He is love and this wonderful shared experience reminds us of the debt Jesus paid for us. Adoring, praising and receiving Him is first. He will work out what is second in our lives. Again,thank you for sharing this account. Love of and for the Two Hearts!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful experience. I feel touched about the Mass, henceforth I will make sure I attend mass daily, except I have a tangible reason not to. The Lord is good all the time, and all the time the Lord is very, very good, and that is His nature.
Wow!! Thank you for that powerful witness on the Eucharist and Mass!! I can relate to a time –The struggle is real !! This needs to be shared !! God Bless!
Thank God for His Presence in all that we do. I miss not going to Mass and receiving the Eucharest. Take care and God Bless all of you.
This is a personal message for me. I did not attend mass on Easter Sunday because of my own fault. I feel so guilty and ashamed of my actions. This article is an eye opener and it will make me realize how important it is to forget worldly things and make time for our Lord.
This story really makes me think. Sometimes I don’t go to Mass like I should, but I always feel bad when I don’t. I will try harder now to fight my materialistic side, and go to Mass like I was raised to do.
Nothing is impossible from Our “DAD” in heaven. He never abundance us. Thank you for your miracles story.
Very inspiring. God bless you. Fr.Joe A.
Wow! THAT WAS AMAZING! To experience Christ’s divine presence in the HOLY EUCHARIST is incredible!And it is absolutely impossible to the core to get saved in such a fatal situation! Glory to Jesus who,so humbly present in the Eucharist, beautifully saved A Friend of Medjugorje! YAESUVAE AANDAVAR!MARIAE VAZHGA! 🙂 (JESUS IS LORD!HAIL MARY! in Tamil)
Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful witness of God’s love for each of us and how He sends His angels when we are in trouble. If you put God first, you can’t lose. Thank you for spreading God’s Word and love. Love, Shirley
This message touched me. It also rebuked me. Last Sunday I went to Palm Sunday Mass and left early after receiving Communion because the church was packed and I used the excuse I was visiting friends.
With The Almighty God all things are possible…Give God first place in your life…. find time to worship and glorify Him everyday. To be one chosen to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass – The banquet of the Lord is only from God – how blessed is the one who participates in the Holy Sacrifice of the MASS… the Masses we attend while we are living is the greatest blessing…I pray that the Almighty Lord always invite me to His Banquet while I am on this earth and to be obedient to His Mighty will. The Masses we attend and the Rosaries we recite will be our consolation and joy in our last moments. Glory to God our Living and Mighty One and to our Mother who intercedes for us. Amen
Thank you Jesus for the Mass. It is in the Mass that we can talk to Him one to one. We can ask Him to heal, or just to listen to our problems. Thank you Father for every thing you have given given to me. Thank you.