“Since no one actually consumed the living, human flesh and blood of Christ we can say Christ was using a metaphor, despite efforts to philosophically find Christ in morsels, flakes and atoms of bread.”
~ ~ ~
I like the openness to discuss.
Jesus says it, think spiritually, supernaturally, not in a
human way of thinking. God can come to us the way He wishes.
It’s not cannibalism but Our Lord says it is Him totally?
How are you going take that? Only one way. By faith!!!!!!
Seeee...He wants you to believe He is there without seeing
a change in the consecrated bread. You have to accept totally on faith He means what He says...”This IS My Body.”
If I read the first Christians, some who were taught by
the Apostles believed in the Eucharist. I would change.
I would not care what family or friends thought....ever.
blessings to you CYC,
stpio
If you think Jesus is speaking symbolically here when He says that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood, then you must also conclude that Jesus’ death on the cross was symbolic...it wasn’t really Jesus hanging up there...it was symbolic flesh and symbolic blood.
“That’s hardly so. We mix idioms, metaphors, symbolic and actual in our speech, often in the same sentence. Example:
I could say, ‘It’s winter and the wolf is at the door.’, but no one would expect to see an animal on the door step.”
~ ~ ~
Explain why Jesus didn’t say “This IS a SYMBOL of My body?”
Why did He not run after the disbelieving followers and correct them? Stating “no you are wrong, don’t go away, I was speaking symbolically, I was using a metaphor.”
Christians believed until the objection in the 16th century.
People who left the faith could not confect the Eucharist so they now called the Real Presence a “symbol” and/or a “remembrance” of Christ’s death on the Cross.
Faith is not credulity. It has at it's core reality.
To me one the great charms of the Gospel was the simplicity of it. No Talmudic scholars arguing over how many men could take hold on the skirt of a Jew or Greek philosophers debating the meaning of “nature” and “principles” or whether logos was a divine organizing force, on and on on.
“If I read the first Christians, some who were taught by
the Apostles believed in the Eucharist. I would change.
I would not care what family or friends thought....ever.”
If you say so but the apostles never speak/teach of priests serving in the Christian congregation yet have you changed your belief on who really are priests?