Refuting Mike Gendron's attacks on Eucharistic Adoration

News from Evangelist Mike Gendron July 2011

Adoration of A False Christ Increases
The Congress on Eucharistic Adoration met in Rome for the purpose of encouraging people to spend more time adoring the Eucharistic Christ. Pope Benedict XVI expressed the importance of worshipping the Eucharist when he encouraged everyone to: "Fix our gaze on the holy Host: and thus on God. This is the beauty of true Christianity: The Creator and Lord of all things was made a grain of wheat in order to be sown on our earth. He was made bread to be broken, shared, eaten; he was made our food to give us his own divine life." He also declared, "The transformation of the world is in the fragile, white, consecrated host - the real presence of Jesus. The only true medicine of immortality and the certainty of being loved by God is the Eucharist."

The worship of the Eucharist has become a non-negotiable requirement for ecumenical unity. In 1965, the second Vatican Council stated, "All Christians will be gathered in a common celebration in the Eucharist, into the unity of the one and only Church. This unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose." In 2008, Pope Benedict affirmed that requirement when he said, "The road of ecumenism ultimately points towards a common celebration of the Eucharist which would only strengthen our resolve to love and serve one another in imitation of our Lord."

The church must be warned that worshipping the Eucharist is perhaps the worst kind of idolatry. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "If anyone says to you,'Behold, here is the Christ, do not believe him, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect'" (Matthew 24:23-24). According to Catholic priest John O'Brien in his book, The Faith of Millions, the priest "reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command." The priest is said to perform great signs and wonders by changing the Eucharist into "the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ such that the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1374). "As the RCC pursues being the head of an ecumenical church, that this kind of idolatry, with its accompanying symbols - in this case the monstrance/Eucharist, will play a prominent role. This abstract "thing" called the Eucharist, in which "the faithful" around the world, will be able to apply whatever definition of "god" that they believe in. They have found a neutral symbol to worship. Demonically ingenious!" Jose Oller, PTG Board Member

Truly the Eucharist is a false Christ because the Bible gives precise details about the return of Christ so that no one will be deceived. We are told when, where, how and why Jesus will return. He does not return daily as a "victim for the sins of man" but "a second time, without reference to sin" (Heb. 9:28). He will return immediately after the tribulation with power and great glory and everyone will see Him (Matthew 24:27-30). The Lord will return in a physical body to the Mount of Olives, the same way He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:11).

Evangelicals, who continue to sign unity accords with the Catholic religion, are in essence, giving their stamp of approval for the false Christ of Catholicism. They are also helping the Vatican reverse the Reformation by embracing Catholicism as a valid expression of Christianity. The end result is mass confusion. Christians don't know whether to evangelize Catholics or to unite with them to evangelize the world together. Clearly the truth must be told and people must be warned of the eternal consequences awaiting those who embrace and worship a false Christ. The following video clip exposes the deception.

Congress on Eucharistic Adoration meets in Rome

quote The church must be warned that worshipping the Eucharist is perhaps the worst kind of idolatry.
Of course he's way out of whack here. We know that The Eucharist IS Scriptural and he really needs to get out his time machine and go back and explain that to the Early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch who plainly told the church at Smyrna...

They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer,(7) because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death(11) in the midst of their disputes. But it were better for them to treat it with respect,(13) that they also might rise again. It is fitting, therefore, that ye should keep aloof from such persons, and not to speak of(15) them either in private or in public, but to give heed to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion[of Christ] has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proved.(16)
quote The Lord Jesus Christ said, "If anyone says to you,'Behold, here is the Christ, do not believe him, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect'" (Matthew 24:23-24).
Nicely snatched right out of context, since this speaks of to an entirely different context. Again though, we have St. Paul saying the following about the Eucharist. 1 st Corinthians 11:23-30 [23] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." [25] In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. [27] Whoever, therefore, 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. [28] Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. [30] That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
quote According to Catholic priest John O'Brien in his book, The Faith of Millions, the priest "reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man. The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command."
Let me know when Fr, O'Brien is declared an infallible source, okay? In 1938 this may have been the way he explained this. I don't know because I don't have this book and can't find the context of this quote online. However, the way it is explained is actually. The Institution of the Mass
quote The priest is said to perform great signs and wonders by changing the Eucharist into "the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ such that the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1374).
Here Gendron pulls a reference in the CCC out of context (along with the passage from Fr. O'Brien above) and uses it to misrepresent authentic Catholic teaching. Look here at paragraph 1375 of the Catechism.
1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.204 And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.205
(Emphasis mine)

So here again Mike Gendron blatantly misrepresents Catholic teaching to try to make his case.

quote "As the RCC pursues being the head of an ecumenical church, that this kind of idolatry, with its accompanying symbols - in this case the monstrance/Eucharist, will play a prominent role.

Would he have preferred that the Church be deceptive about it, as he is? Obviously, as my linked blog article above shows, neither the New Testament nor the early church considered the Eucharist idolatry, so then who are we going to believe?
quote This abstract "thing" called the Eucharist, in which "the faithful" around the world, will be able to apply whatever definition of "god" that they believe in. They have found a neutral symbol to worship. Demonically ingenious!" Jose Oller, PTG Board Member
This doesn't help his case at all, since it's just vitriolic polemics from another member of his own organizations staff.
quote Truly the Eucharist is a false Christ because the Bible gives precise details about the return of Christ so that no one will be deceived. We are told when, where, how and why Jesus will return.
Again, not according to the Word of God, or even authentic and authoritative Catholic teaching, since nowhere in Eucharistic teaching does it refer to Christ's 2nd coming, except in in 2 passages of the New Testament. The first from Our Lord Himself and the 2nd from St. Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians as follows. (Emphasis mine)
John 6:53-55.
[53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;
[54] he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
[55] For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

1st Corinthians 11:[26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

So in this case Gendron "goes beyond what is written" and far overreaches in his effort to make his specious case against the Catholic faith.
quote He does not return daily as a "victim for the sins of man" but "a second time, without reference to sin" (Heb. 9:28). He will return immediately after the tribulation with power and great glory and everyone will see Him (Matthew 24:27-30). The Lord will return in a physical body to the Mount of Olives, the same way He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:11).
This is nothing but a specious straw man argument that tries to draw a connection to events that Catholic teaching does not even espouse as I have shown above.
quote Evangelicals, who continue to sign unity accords with the Catholic religion, are in essence, giving their stamp of approval for the false Christ of Catholicism.
Misrepresentation and specious straw man, since any such accords are quite specific, They speak of unity of beliefs which are there...not those which are not.
quote They are also helping the Vatican reverse the Reformation by embracing Catholicism as a valid expression of Christianity.
When and where have we ever said that the "Reformation" was an especially good thing that did not need to be reversed? Did we miss a memo somewhere?
quote The end result is mass confusion
I'm not confused guys...Are any of you? The only real serious confusion seems to be the result of Gendron's specious anti-Catholic messages, which feed gross misrepresentations to his readers.
quote Christians don't know whether to evangelize Catholics or to unite with them to evangelize the world together.
Well, Mike maybe if you'd stick to facts and not misrepresent Catholic beliefs and teachings like this that would be less of a problem.
quote Clearly the truth must be told and people must be warned of the eternal consequences awaiting those who embrace and worship a false Christ.
Catholics would agree with that, which is why guys like me refute your propaganda, so that all Christians...Catholic and non-Catholic are not misled and deceived.