Posted on 05/26/2008 4:50:16 AM PDT by NYer
The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the wafer and the wine really become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Have you ever met anyone who finds this 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, the response was less than enthusiastic. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52). “This is a hard saying who can listen to it?” (v.60). In fact so many of His disciples abandoned Him that Jesus asked the twelve if they also planned to quit. Note that Jesus did not run after the deserters saying, “Come back! I was just speaking metaphorically!”
It’s intriguing that one charge the pagan Romans lodged against Christians was that of cannibalism. Why? They heard that this sect met weekly to eat flesh and drink human blood. Did the early Christians say: “Wait a minute, it’s only a symbol!”? Not at all. When explaining the Eucharist to the Emperor around 155 AD, 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 Sav-ior 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 till the Middle Ages did theologians really try to explain how Christ’s body and blood became present in the Eucharist. After a few theologians got it wrong, St. Thomas Aquinas came along and offered an explanation that became classic. In all change that we normally observe, 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 kids to be a tanned beach bum, bleached and spiked my hair, buffed up at the gym, and made a trip to the plastic surgeon, I’d look a lot different. But for all my trouble, deep down I’d still substantially be the same confused, middle-aged dude as when I started.
St. Thomas said the Eucharist is the one change we encounter that is exactly the opposite. The appearances of bread and wine stay the same, but the very essence of these realities, which can’t be viewed by a microscope, is totally transformed. What starts as bread and wine becomes 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 Spirit and the Word. After praying for the Holy 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 like Genesis 1 to me: 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 than the Eucharist 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.
From John chapter 6: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?”
They too had your same reaction:
“As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
Those who have a hard time with Christ’s teaching reject it, quit following Him and move on to their man-made traditions (eg. sola scriptura).
Are we to believe that this priest in the 8th century didn't just create this himself to bring notoriety to his little parish? What real objective testing by outside scientists has been done on it except by the Church? I don't buy this, not for one minute.
Didn’t Saint Mark go to Alexandria and teached the gospel? The Christians in Egypt are Coptic, and they believe the host is the real body and blood of Christ.
Paul went to Cyprus and those people believe the same. One of the apostles went to Syria and those Christians believe it too. So what’s the problem accepting the fact that this is what Christ taught?
Nothing funny about it. The Bible is the basis of most Protestant/Bible churches. The Bible is the writings of Christian not the creation of Catholics.
Specifics, please? Otherwise, you'll understand if I relegate it to the same bin as the urban legend about the folks who dug a really deep hole, sent down a microphone, and heard the agonies of souls in hell.
The Old Testament was written by Jew, while the New Testament was written by Catholics; all being the Inspired Word of God. The Bible (all 73 books) was assembled and defined as The Bible by Catholics.
Protestants took The Bible with them when they left, and still use part of it, usually badly mistranslated or even embellished.
And just how do you know that???
Scientific proof of what?
You said: The Bible is the writings of Christian...
I bet the Jews would surprised to learn that the OT writings were penned by Christians.
You said: usually badly mistranslated or even embellished.
Or even, in some cases, changed to suit their needs.
What? Puh-lease.
Hoss
I suspect I “know that” in the same way I “know that” Christ rose from the dead on the third day.
Funny, I doubt Paul considered himself 'Catholic' and certainly did not sign up to all of the Catholic doctrine. But he did consider himself a believer. Calling him "Catholic" is typical of Catholic thinking.
Well now you can repeat the same trash they're mouthing...After all, all non Catholic history writers are dishonest, imbeciles, crooks, murderers, red headed step children and even worse, Protestant...
The Afikomen and the wine of YHvH's Passover.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach AdonaiUsed by Yah'shua at His Last Pesach Seder.
NAsbU Luke 22:19 And when He had taken some bread
and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
NAsbU Luke 22:20 And in the same way He took the cup
after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured
out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
Obviously I was referring to the NT. Of course you knew that.
That is too funny coming from a Catholic. Too funny.
All the Catholic doctrine understood and defined at the time, he certainly did.
What if you don't eat it??? Can you carry it around like you wold a rabbit's foot??? It would then be a relic, wouldn't it??? And it would last a lot longer...
That is a deeply bigoted collection of slurs. Just amazing.
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