continued from Page 5 MESSENGERS OF JOY
‘Aquí están las pruebas’ EVIDENCE: HE IS PRESENT I n their search for truth, scientists insist on evi- dence.
this joy in this lifting up in the Lord to those around us. We have a responsibility and a mission. And we do not have to travel far. It is a mission to be a joyful, happy Christian Catholic who lives the faith, who loves the faith, and who just knows in our deepest, deepest heart how much the Lord has loved us, and how he pulls us together. As a community, we are called to share this. I am challenging all of us to do this, to be messengers of the Lord's presence in us. It is something that we should let shine around other people, and not be afraid to say, “I have a special joy because I know how much the Lord Jesus has loved me, and has loved us and how richly he offers us his grace and blessing through his sac- ramental presence in the Church.” We need to invite other people to share in that joy and in that wisdom that comes from the Lord's goodness. During our time in the Synod, the Holy Father published a beautiful letter on the Sacred Heart. I invite you to read it medita- tively. It is a gift to the Church that speaks about our interior lives and the heart that Jesus gives us. There is refuge, there is strength and there is hope if we find the time to see ourselves in the heart of Christ. The Lord Jesus has loved us so much. He gave his life for us. He gives us the Holy Eucharist, which we celebrate at Mass. He gives us chances to call on him in prayer and spend a few mo- ments in silence before the Blessed Sacrament. All are ways he lifts us up. It is like giving us the strength, the spiritual fuel we need, not just to be okay in this world, but to be messengers of some- thing better, that the world could be a much better place if there was more joy and more care. Think of Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of Jesus, who went to see her cousin Elizabeth when she heard that Elizabeth, who was more advanced in age, was expecting a child. The Scripture says Mary made haste to run to her. She ran over to where her cousin was because she wanted to help her. They will run, the Scripture says. The prophet is talking about us. They will run to share the message and to be of practical help. We can each find ways to be of practical help – simple ways in your own home, at school, and at work. Young people for example, who may find someone at school who is lonely or perhaps does not participate so much because they feel shy, can encourage them and lift them. They can make haste to do something. In the Scriptures we have the example after Jesus had been crucified and buried, and then he rose from the dead. As soon as the disciples heard the news from Mary Magdalene, “the Lord is risen and I have seen him,” they ran to the tomb in haste. They wanted to be filled with this marvelous, unexpected news that the Lord Jesus, who had been crucified, was now risen from the dead and that he brought his peace and his joy and our hope in his life to the world. They made haste, they ran. The Scriptures tell us they will run, and they will not grow weary. They will walk and they will not grow faint. That is us. I ask the Lord that he touch each one of you in a special way, that you might be filled with his strength "to run the race" as St. Paul says, with hope and joy. The more conscious we are of our common mission as Catho- lics, the more we become aware of new opportunities to work together for the sake of this mission. I hope in the future to write on the new opportunities that the recent Synod suggests for us. God bless you all. 0
Relic of the host that transformed into flesh in 1996 at St. Mary Parish in Buenos Aires.
blood. “We do not know if it is blood until we study it,” he said. With the sample from 1996, along with another from a consecrated host which had bled in 1992, he ran a series of blind tests between 1999 and 2004 with different experts. He repeated the test three times, each time with a different scientific team. The scientists found fragments of human DNA in the samples. Another test conducted in the year 2000 by Dr. Robert Lawrence, a top expert in tissues, found human skin and white blood cells. In 2001, another professor identified white blood cells and told Dr. Castañon the samples corresponded to heart tissue. On a follow-up test, Dr. Lawerence reported the sample corresponded to tissue from an inflamed heart. This indicated that the person to whom they belonged had suffered greatly. Dr. Castañon said Dr. Lawrence had not known that the sample came from a consecrated host. Another professor, Frederick Zugibe from Columbia University in New York, said he found intact white blood cells. Outside the body, white blood cells disintegrate af- ter 15 minutes, and in this case, white blood cells meant the sample was pulsating. In demonstrating how scientific studies prove the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Dr. Castañon emphasized the importance of being in a state of grace to receive Communion. He wondered aloud how anyone could approach Communion without being reverent, knowing that Christ is present. Dr. Castañon, who has studied 15 Eucharistic mir- acles and has two more open cases, said he likes to talk about the miracles because they are a message of life. “Sometimes we question – ‘Does faith exist? Is God real?’ ” he said, then declared, “God is real.” All the studies he has worked on have shown results proving the presence of human blood, he said. Indeed, the samples from each Eucharistic miracle have been consistent, showing the same human blood type, AB. “It is a dramatic experience to witness a doctor un- dertaking a blind test and then report on the sample pro- vided, describing it as being from someone who has re- cently died. Little did they know at the time, it was Christ
“Here is the evidence,” said Dr. Ricardo Castañon Gomez, a former atheist who today studies Eucharistic miracles throughout the world. “I have scientific evidence that in the Eucharist the word of God is fulfilled – ‘the bread that I will give is my flesh’ (John 6-51), – and here it is,” Dr. Castañon said as he pointed to some of his slides with images of several Eucharistic miracles. “People cannot deny the truth of these results.” Dr. Castañon, a psychologist who specializes in brain biochemistry, presented the evidence to those attending the half-day Milagro de Amor Conference Oct. 26 at Resurrection Parish in Alamo. To talk about Eucharistic miracles, he said, is to talk about something extraordinary, because it is at the center of our faith. For a Catholic, there is nothing more im- portant than the Eucharist. “When I speak, I am speaking about the living Christ,” he said. To a packed church, Dr. Castañon presented scientif- ic evidence of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and explained the process and methods used to inves- tigate such claims. He also shared his own conversion story. Eucharistic Miracles in Argentina - Scientific studies In 1999, Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio - now Pope Francis - invited Dr. Castañon to study some fragments of consecrated host with reddish spots resembling blood- stains at St. Mary Parish in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The consecrated host had fallen to the ground in 1996 during a distribution of Communion. As is customary, it was placed in a container of wa- ter and left in the tabernacle to dissolve. However, a few days later, it was discovered that the host had instead re- mained intact and developed reddish stains. Dr. Castañon explained that at the start of his investi- gations he does not refer to such markings in samples as
Host which bled at Tixtla, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Mexico in 2006. The Church officially recognized the Eucharistic miracle in 2013.
BY BRENDA NETTLES RIOJAS
Sample fragment of host which bled in 1992 in Buenos Aires.
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Photos form Eucharistic Miracles Exhibit organized by Blessed Carlo Acutis.
THE VALLEY CATHOLIC
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DIOCESE OF BROWNSVILLE
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