Posted on 04/27/2008 3:36:18 AM PDT by markomalley
The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the communion wafer and the altar wine are transformed and really become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Have you ever met anyone who has found this Catholic doctrine to be a bit hard to take?
If so, you shouldn't be surprised. When Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his blood in John 6, his words met with less than an enthusiastic reception. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? (V 52). "This is a hard saying who can listen to it?" (V60). In fact so many of his disciples abandoned him over this that Jesus had to ask the twelve if they also planned to quit. It is interesting that Jesus did not run after his disciples saying, "Don't go — I was just speaking metaphorically!" How did the early Church interpret these challenging words of Jesus? Interesting fact. One charge the pagan Romans lodged against the Christians was cannibalism. Why? You guessed it. They heard that this sect regularly met to eat human flesh and drink human blood. Did the early Christians say: "wait a minute, it's only a symbol!"? Not at all. When trying to explain the Eucharist to the Roman Emperor around 155AD, St. Justin did not mince his words: "For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from him . . . is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus."
Not many Christians questioned the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist till the Middle Ages. In trying to explain how bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ, several theologians went astray and needed to be corrected by Church authority. Then St. Thomas Aquinas came along and offered an explanation that became classic. In all change that we observe in this life, he teaches, appearances change, but deep down, the essence of a thing stays the same. Example: if, in a fit of mid-life crisis, I traded my mini-van for a Ferrari, abandoned my wife and 5 kids to be beach bum, got tanned, bleached my hair blonde, spiked it, buffed up at the gym, and took a trip to the plastic surgeon, I'd look a lot different on the surface. But for all my trouble, deep down I'd still substantially be the same ole guy as when I started.
St. Thomas said the Eucharist is the one instance of change we encounter in this world that is exactly the opposite. The appearances of bread and wine stay the same, but the very essence or substance of these realities, which can't be viewed by a microscope, is totally transformed. What was once bread and wine are now Christ's body and blood. A handy word was coined to describe this unique change. Transformation of the "sub-stance", what "stands-under" the surface, came to be called "transubstantiation."
What makes this happen? The power of God's Spirit and Word. After praying for the Spirit to come (epiklesis), the priest, who stands in the place of Christ, repeats the words of the God-man: "This is my Body, This is my Blood." Sounds to me like Genesis 1: the mighty wind (read "Spirit") whips over the surface of the water and God's Word resounds. "Let there be light" and there was light. It is no harder to believe in the Eucharist than to believe in Creation. But why did Jesus arrange for this transformation of bread and wine? Because he intended another kind of transformation. The bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ which are, in turn, meant to transform us. Ever hear the phrase: "you are what you eat?" The Lord desires us to be transformed from a motley crew of imperfect individuals into the Body of Christ, come to full stature.
Our evangelical brethren speak often of an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus. But I ask you, how much more personal and intimate can you get? We receive the Lord's body into our physical body that we may become Him whom we receive! Such an awesome gift deserves its own feast. And that's why, back in the days of Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi, the Pope decided to institute the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church
881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.
The Church (Eph 5). Who do you say that She is?
Christ grants that authority in Matthew 18:18; no presumption necessary.
Meanwhile, Jean Cauvin claims God creates countless souls predestined for damnation.
Sick.
Anyone who reads my posts will see the slander of yours. Good day.
Not according to the RCC...(thanks to the-conscience for the excerpt)
[It] must be believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the Roman Pontiff hold a world-wide primacy... Wherefore we teach and declare that, by divine ordinance, the Roman Church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other Church... Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power ...we likewise teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful... And so they stray from the genuine path of truth who maintain that it is lawful to appeal from the judgments of the Roman pontiffs...So, then, if anyone says that the Roman Pontiff has...not the full and supreme power...let him be anathema.From Vatican I:
Talk about a "tradition of a man."
Gads . . . what nonsense that paragraph was.
Ought to have a gag alert at the top of it.
Meant to ping you, too. Too many distractions today.
The word "catholic" means "universal". In the age of denominationalism, a name was assigned.
Think you hacked up that quotation quite enough?
It looks like there was an explosion down at the ellipsis factory.
881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.
Um... your point?
Not if you understand the significance of the keys given to Peter... Again, I reference Isaiah 22:22 for what this represents in the Davidic Kingdom.
It is amazing what power man can have over other men if he succeeds in convincing them that he has the power to damn them to hell or eternal torment.
All Authority was given to Jesus
Not according to the RCC...(thanks to the-conscience for the excerpt)
From Vatican I:
[It] must be believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the Roman Pontiff hold a world-wide primacy... Wherefore we teach and declare that, by divine ordinance, the Roman Church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other Church... Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power ...we likewise teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful... And so they stray from the genuine path of truth who maintain that it is lawful to appeal from the judgments of the Roman pontiffs...So, then, if anyone says that the Roman Pontiff has...not the full and supreme power...let him be anathema.
Talk about a “tradition of a man.”
= = ==
INDEED.
HORRIFIC.
More RUBBER HISTORY, RUBBER LOGIC, RUBBER DICTIONARY, RUBBER BIBLE stuff, obviously.
—On display yet again . . . the RC edifice and magicsterical’s compulsion to Stretch things so out of proportion a contortionist wouldn’t recognize the truth if it bit him.
It is not a "non-human" organization.
Who makes up the Magisterium? Would you say it is limited to the Pope and Bishops?
“Side note: I don’t know why people have to interject the words (Catholic)into Jesus Church. It is His Church alone and needs no other description. It’s not Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Protestant, etc... It’s our Lord Jesus’ church. “
Amen and amen.
Thanks, I never knew that. So when you say I'm a part of the catholic Church you mean universal Church as in Christ Universal Church. Makes better sense.
"It's not what you don't know that disturbs me, it's what you know that isn't true!" --Ronald Reagan
You have sold your will and intellect to the "Magisterium". I have chosen to think for myself. We have nothing further to discuss.
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