The Real Presence [Church Fathers on the Holy Eucharist, cont'd ]

“He took from among creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying, ‘This is my body.’ The cup likewise, which is from among the creation to which we belong, he confessed to be his blood. He taught the new sacrifice of the new covenant, of which Malachi, one of the twelve [minor] prophets, had signified beforehand: ‘You do not do my will, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept a sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is my name among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty’ [Mal. 1:10–11]. By these words he makes it plain that the former people will cease to make offerings to God; but that in every place sacrifice will be offered to him, and indeed, a pure one, for his name is glorified among the Gentiles” (Against Heresies 4:17:5 [A.D. 189]).

“I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).

“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]).

“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus” (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).

“If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?” (Against Heresies 4:33–32 [A.D. 189]).

“He has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own body, from which he gives increase unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life—flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?” (ibid., 5:2).

“’Eat my flesh,’ [Jesus] says, ‘and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children” (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).

“[T]here is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe whilst it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed [in baptism], in order that the soul may be cleansed . . . the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands [in confirmation], that the soul also may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds [in the Eucharist] on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God” (The Resurrection of the Dead 8 [A.D. 210]).

“‘And she [Wisdom] has furnished her table’ [Prov. 9:2] . . . refers to his [Christ’s] honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper [i.e., the Last Supper]” (Fragment from Commentary on Proverbs [A.D. 217]).

“Formerly there was baptism in an obscure way . . . now, however, in full view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: ‘My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink’ [John 6:55]” (Homilies on Numbers 7:2 [A.D. 248]).

“He [Paul] threatens, moreover, the stubborn and forward, and denounces them, saying, ‘Whosoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]. All these warnings being scorned and contemned—[lapsed Christians will often take Communion] before their sin is expiated, before confession has been made of their crime, before their conscience has been purged by sacrifice and by the hand of the priest, before the offense of an angry and threatening Lord has been appeased, [and so] violence is done to his body and blood; and they sin now against their Lord more with their hand and mouth than when they denied their Lord” (The Lapsed 15–16 [A.D. 251]).

“It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters [i.e., priests], whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer [the Eucharistic sacrifice] should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer [it]” (Canon 18 [A.D. 325]).

“After having spoken thus [at the Last Supper], the Lord rose up from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his body as food and his blood as drink, and he went with his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested. But he ate of his own body and drank of his own blood, while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his blood as drink” (Treatises 12:6 [A.D. 340]).

“The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ” (Catechetical Lectures 19:7 [A.D. 350]).

“Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master’s declaration, the body and blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the body and blood of Christ. . . . [Since you are] fully convinced that the apparent bread is not bread, even though it is sensible to the taste, but the body of Christ, and that the apparent wine is not wine, even though the taste would have it so, . . . partake of that bread as something spiritual, and put a cheerful face on your soul” (ibid., 22:6, 9).

“Perhaps you may be saying, ‘I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the body of Christ?’ It but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might use! . . . Christ is in that sacrament, because it is the body of Christ” (The Mysteries 9:50, 58 [A.D. 390]).

“When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, ‘This is the symbol of my body,’ but, ‘This is my body.’ In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, ‘This is the symbol of my blood,’ but, ‘This is my blood’; for he wanted us to look upon the [Eucharistic elements] after their reception of grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit not according to their nature, but receive them as they are, the body and blood of our Lord. We ought . . . not regard [the elements] merely as bread and cup, but as the body and blood of the Lord, into which they were transformed by the descent of the Holy Spirit” (Catechetical Homilies 5:1 [A.D. 405]).

“Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own body, he said, ‘This is my body’ [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands” (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).

“I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table. . . . That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ” (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]).

“What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction” (ibid., 272).

“We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his holy flesh and the precious blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid: nor as of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of worth, or as having a divine indwelling, but as truly the life-giving and very flesh of the Word himself. For he is the life according to his nature as God, and when he became united to his flesh, he made it also to be life-giving” (Session 1, Letter of Cyril to Nestorius [A.D. 431]).

This is the one that seals any remaining doubt to the Mass . I also sense the Holy Spirit confirm it. Of course I speak for myself.

Irenaeus

I never seen a writing from a early Father on this verse before Irenaeus. The sacrifice was only in one place in Jerusalem. Then this reads every place. Only the sacrifice of the Mass explains this old testament verse. No other explanation can make any sense of this verse. IMHO.

Also notice this is God's point of view from eternity. He is outside of time and space which comes from his creation( The cosmos). He sees the future like in the present thus this verse spoken to the prophet:

"and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is my name among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty’ [Mal. 1:10–11]

When he spoke the prophet was in creation but God spoke outside of this creation which is eternity. The prophet probably did not know what God meant but took it on faith never the less. Just like we do when say the Mystery of the Faith on certain matters.

From:www.biblebelievers.net

In Hebrews 10:8-14 is a very clear pronouncement from God that when Christ died on the cross, that did away with all other sacrifices. It reads:

"Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the whichwill we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. "

This Scripture explicitly says certain things. It says (a) "Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law." (b) He expressly says that He did away with the old sacrifices to establish a second. (c) And then He expressly says that the offering of Jesus Christ "once for all" settles the whole matter of sin. Again, He says, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God." When Jesus had paid for all sins and offered the last sacrifice which settled things forever, then He sat down because His sacrificial work was done. (d) There is no need for further sacrifice, "for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified," that is, them that are set apart for God by the blood of Christ.

Then in the following verses the Lord reminds us of the promise in the Old Testament that He would make a new covenant with men, that He would put the law in their hearts and minds, and He says: "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin" (Heb. 10:17, 18).

Now notice the one grand summing-up statement: "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." When one has trusted Christ and had his sins forgiven, then "there is no more offering for sin," no more animal sacrifices, no more of any other kind of sacrifices.

So to make the mass a sacrifice, to claim that in the mass Jesus is sacrificed again and again, that the bread becomes His body, that the wine becomes His blood, and that there is saving virtue in this sacrifice-that is a blasphemous rejection of the Bible in favor of traditions of men. That is a false religion, not the Christian religion. Thus Roman Catholic friends, however good their intentions, have made in vain the commandments of God by their traditions.

There is not a single hint anywhere in the entire New Testament that New Testament Christians had any kind of sacrifices. The Lord's Supper was a memorial supper, a simple object lesson, a spiritual reminder that Christ had died for us and we are saved by His blood, and a simple and sweet reminder to all Christians that we belong to God and ought to love Him and serve Him and enter into His death. There is not a single hint in the entire Bible that there was any saving virtue in the communion. There is no hint that anybody ever was invited to take the communion or the Lord's Supper in Bible times except as he had already found peace with God and was already forgiven and saved.

The Roman Catholic Church has perverted the Bible and substituted tradition in making priests out of preachers or elders.

Since the Bible clearly teaches that now there is to be no more sacrifice for sins, and since the Old Testament priesthood has been succeeded by one priest, Jesus Christ, who has offered one sacrifice forever, then there is no teaching of a priesthood to offer sacrifices in the New Testament. There are elders, preachers. Some of these elders had official positions as pastors or supervisors of local congregations. It is true that in the spiritual sense, all Christians are to be "kings and priests unto God" (I Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10). But there was no official priestly work done by anyone as an officer of a church, as an elder or bishop in Bible times. It was not even specified that an elder or bishop should even be present when people took the Lord's Supper. It had no official significance. It was a simple little object lesson, a ceremony of remembrance. And there is not a single hint anywhere that the Lord's Supper had any saving power. It was not a sacrifice. It was never called that in the Bible. That is a false doctrine, manufactured by the Church of Rome, which contradicts the Bible, adds to the Bible, and so brings the plagues of the Bible upon the Roman Church.

I do not accept that, obviously.

Jesus said seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.

Does God ignore the sincere desire to know Him and Love Him?

It is one thing to know and reject. It is another to honestly follow what one believes is the truth.

Jesus told us he would send the Spirit of truth to guide us. The Church of the Magisterium tells it's followers that Scripture is to hard for individuals to understand and they must depend on what the Church Fathers have decided it means.

As I stated before, we have free will. God can only suggest how we find truth. We have to decide who we listen to.

I don’t believe that God would allow so many of the latter to be lost to Him. I am sure He grieves at every lost soul. He can only keep trying to show us the right way desiring all will use their free will to chose salvation, not through a Church, but through His Son. BVB

“There is not a single hint in the entire Bible that there was any saving virtue in the communion. There is no hint that anybody ever was invited to take the communion or the Lord’s Supper in Bible times except as he had already found peace with God and was already forgiven and saved.”

Respectfully, are you sure? I do not say this to be smarmy or sarcastic. I take My Lord at His word.
(http://www.drbo.org/chapter/50006.htm)

[48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. [50] This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die.

[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven. [52] If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. [53] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? [54] Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. [55] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.

[56] For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. [57] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. [58] As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. [59] This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

The old Covenant fulfilled, in the New. I really do not want to threadjack here, and I believe that you have stated your personal beliefs. All I have humbly done is to expound a bit on those of the Church. But I will add this: it was, as we believe and are taught, a propitionary sacrifice. If the phrase is unfamiliar, please, look it up. If then, you choose to believe otherwise, that is, of course, up to you. But again, this is not just yours truly’s humble belief, it is what the Church teaches. I hope that this helps, whether or not you and I agree.

It seems that each of us may have one or two verses or stories from the Bible that “seals the deal” for us.

I so appreciate your post as that is a verse that thought I may have read or heard it before had not struck a chord with me so that I remembered it or made the connection you made.

For me, searching and praying after so many years away from the church and being afraid to return to her, there are two things from the NT that did it for me. And when I say “did it”, I mean brought a peace to me that has never left.

One is when Jesus says, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” A verse that has no inundated our vernacular that most probably don’t even think of it as words Jesus spoke but just another catchy phrase to use. But, I remember reading the beginning of John’s Gospel and thinking, “Aha, the Word is Jesus” and I began to see that passage very differently.

The second is the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Another “AHA” moment for me. That story is also the basis for one of my favorite hymns, “In the Breaking of the Bread” by Michael Ward.

Lyrics: “In the Breaking of the Bread” by Michael Ward

1. In the walking on the road, we saw him.
In the telling of our hopes, we saw him.
In the burning of our hearts, we saw the Lord.
At the meal he took the bread and then he blessed it, broke it, offered it.
In the breaking of the bread, we saw him!
Suddenly our eyes were opened, and we knew he was alive!

2. We set out to find his friends to tell them.
We went to Jerusalem to tell them;
and with joy we told them, “We have seen the Lord!”
And as we were speaking there, he stood among us, blessed us, said to us,
“Now my peace I leave with you.” We saw him!
Suddenly our eyes were opened, and we knew he was alive!

3. But then we became afraid without him.
In the darkened room we stayed without him,
waiting for the One he said that he would send.
Then the Spirit of the Lord came down upon us,
filling us, changing us, giving us the strength to say:
We saw him! Suddenly our eyes were opened, and we knew he was alive!

4. We ran out into the street to tell them,
everyone that we could meet, to tell them,
“God has raised him up and we have seen the Lord!”
We took bread as he had done and then we blessed it, broke it, offered it.
In the breaking of the bread, we saw him!
Suddenly our eyes were opened.

There within our midst was Jesus, and we knew he was alive.
In the breaking of the bread, he is here with us again,
and we know he is alive. Alleluia!

This link has a beautiful rendition if you don’t know it.

http://saintandrewscotia.org/learn-grow/vialucis/6thstat/

Bob, I have to say, few of these posts upset me as your few have done. After getting off the computer, I couldn’t stop thinking about the things you said. I honestly mulled it over for hours wondering “Could it be true that God would allow so many to perish?”

I agree with you that we have free will. I agree that God does allow Satan to work in this world. So far, so good, right?

Now, you may be thinking that I was worried that maybe I have chosen the wrong path. Maybe, your post made me think that the Catholic Church is under the spell of Satan and not the under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Maybe, the peace I feel is really the work of the one who wishes me harm and not the One who wants me to be with Him forever.

No, it bothered me because, I truly believe that God meant what He said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life.”

You say that God is grieves for the souls lost and I agree.

But, when Jesus spoke the words regarding the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood, He does not rush to stop those who left, or to reassure those who remained. No, He acknowledges that the words are hard to hear, He asks them if they too will leave because of that. No, Peter instead says quite confidently, “To whom would we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”

Remember, this is before Jesus goes on to speak of the spirit and the flesh.

When Peter makes that statement he accepts what Jesus says, because he TRUSTS Jesus and believes that Jesus is the Messiah.

So, why was I bothered?

Because, of the ones who REJECTED Jesus after hearing His words. And, I realized that you are right. God did allow them to hear the truth and reject it. And that makes me sad.

“He can only keep trying to show us the right way desiring all will use their free will to chose salvation, not through a Church, but through His Son.”

“God can do nothing to stop what we do, right or wrong. He also cannot stop what Satan does.”

What a poor pathetic god you worship Bob!

This is my God, the God of the Bible.

Job 23:13 - “He is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desire, that he does.”

Job 42:1 - “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Isaiah 14:27 - “For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”

Isaiah 37:26 - “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass.”

Isaiah 43:13 “Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?”

Isaiah 45:7 - “I create light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

Isaiah 46:9-10 - “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

The quotes of God omnipotence go on and on.

Bobsvainbabblings - that is a great screen name for you. You might try reading what God has to say about himself and stop the babbling.

Well, the theme that the Church believes that Scripture is just too hard for us to understand is one that has certainly gained a strong foothold in Protestant sects.

Even more embraced is the meme that the Church has sinister motives in hiding Scripture out of fear that Catholics will bolt upon learning the “truth”.

I imagine both offer reassurance to the Protestant. After all, they have the freedom to read the Word and believe on it whatever they want. They have no binding doctrine, no rituals, no legalese under which to be oppressed.

Why then do they gather and listen to a preacher speak about the Bible? What need have they to listen to what anyone says about the Bible? Aren’t they already guided by the Holy Spirit? They call this worship, yet they are listening to a man give his interpretation. They are not letting the Holy Spirit lead them, but are trusting the sermon of a man, trusting that the Holy Spirit is guiding him. And, if they are doing that, aren’t they then admitting that their own reading and interpreting is not enough?

And should that man say something with which they disagree, they just move on to a different man, a different interpretation, a different congregation; one that sits well with what they already know.

They may remain, but they will reject what the man said regarding that particular teaching. The music is so good, the fellowship so profound and gee, the programs for the kids are so lively and fun.

So, who do they trust? The preacher? Themselves? How do they know when they have heard a wrong interpretation? And, if they have heard the preacher say something wrong once, how do they continue to listen to him without constant vigilance when listening? How is that worship of God if one must be ever on guard while at the service?

The Catholic Church asks us to read the Bible with a Catholic heart and mind. That is not the same as hiding it or restricting it. The Bible is a Catholic book, it is God’s gift to us given through the Catholic Church, just as the Sacraments are gifts of grace given to us through His church.

Growing up I learned all about how to be a Catholic. But, I was drawn away by others who tickled my ears with their own interpretations of the Bible. I was unprepared for the falsehoods I heard and rather than turn to the Church out of trust, I turned away out of fear.

Eventually I trusted no church, no one in regards to faith and completely rejected all of them. Over the years I have watched unfold within the Christian community more and more deviation from the Word. Abortion, gay marriage both supported, not because the Word of God supports them, but because the people in the pews, who give their money supported them. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit had to have totally contradicted what is written and there was the problem.

The Bible is inerrant, isn’t it? And it says what it says pretty clearly, right? Then how can such deviation be justified?

I have gone at length here to explain my own approach and how I came to trust the Church and how I came to read Scripture with a heart and mind that doesn’t have to be ever vigilant, afraid of being misled. And when I go to Mass, my heart and mind are fully focused on worshiping God and preparing to meet Him in the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Peace be with you, my peace I give you.”

How sweet it is:)

LOL, I know I have been quite the busy bee this morning, but as I said, your post really sparked a lot of thought for me and I cannot help myself. I have to address what I find wrong with your analysis.

You say that we have free will and that God only suggests how we find truth.

Wow, I totally reject that.

We have free will to choose God in Jesus or reject Him.

We have free will to choose to live as a Christian believer or to sin with impunity.

But, to say that God, once we have made the choice for Him, allows us to then be led to the slaughter is basically saying we cannot trust Him.

New International Version (©1984)
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

New Living Translation (©2007)
For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

English Standard Version (©2001)
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

International Standard Version (©2008)
This is my Father’s will: That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day.”

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
My Father wants all those who see the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day.”

King James Bible
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

American King James Version
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

American Standard Version
For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Bible in Basic English
This, I say, is my Father’s pleasure, that everyone who sees the Son and has faith in him may have eternal life: and I will take him up on the last day.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day.

Darby Bible Translation
For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son, and believes on him, should have life eternal; and I will raise him up at the last day.

English Revised Version
For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Webster’s Bible Translation
And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Weymouth New Testament
For this is my Father’s will, that every one who fixes his gaze on the Son of God and believes in Him should have the Life of the Ages, and I will raise him to life on the last day.”

World English Bible
This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Young’s Literal Translation
and this is the will of Him who sent me, that every one who is beholding the Son, and is believing in him, may have life age-during, and I will raise him up in the last day.’

Thank you for a very thoughtful answer. Your posting of John 3:16 is what I base what I believe God is telling us.

We must believe we are a sinner and realize the only way we can have salvation is to believe His Son died in our place. They are the only things we need to confess and ask forgiveness to receive God's free gift.

Most of what the Catholic Church teaches takes away from that simple truth. Whether Jesus is present in the Eucharist is one of those things. It has no bearing on our salvation or how we live our life so why make it such a big deal?

I remember and thank Jesus for what He did for me each time I eat/break bread and drink. It was never supposed to be something you had to have another give you.

The Spirit of Christ comes to us when we are baptized by the Spirit. There is no need or use for water baptism. Jesus' Blood is the only thing God allowed to wash away our sins. Jesus did it once for all.

That same baptism allows us to be born again into God's Family where the same Spirit will help us learn His will and purpose for our life. BVB

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