Do Roman Catholics not believe that He is already with us?
Do they not believe that where two or more are gathered....He is already there?
We have the Holy Spirit continually dwelling in us for those who believe in Christ.
....” Why do we attribute a special presence to Christ in the Eucharist or the tabernacles of our churches?”......
Well I see Christ Jesus as ‘indwelling’ the believer at the moment of Salvation just as He said. It’s impossible to get any closer than this....certainly nothing tangible can contain that ‘finished’ work already ‘completed’.....
“You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” ...........In Christ you have been brought to ‘fullness’.....So you also are ‘complete’ through your union with Christ......
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me...........
(John 14:16-17)...(Colossians 2:10)....(Galations 2:20)
I don't think you quite grasped Fr. Pope's point.
Of course we believe He is already with us. Charles Pope just says that in every paragraph he wrote.
But Christ has special ways of dwelling in special places.
Otherwise, even "where two or three are gathered" or "within the hearts of we who believe in Christ" or "on Sinai's height, enveloped in a cloud glory" wouldn't be any more special than anywhere else.
It's like this: you are with your spouse when you are asleep on the sofa, and your spouse is sitting in an armchair right beside: the two of you are present. You're even "more present" if you're both on the sofa. And even "more present" if you're both on the sofa and awake. And "more present" yet if you're on the sofa, awake and entwined.
All present: but different intensities of presence.
As members of the Catholic Church that Jesus Christ founded, we receive the physical Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist along with the graces that are necessary for our eternal life.
It is sad that some do not have Faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist that is necessary for their salvation.