zeland
Member
When Christ, at the last supper, said, “This is My Body – This is My Blood”,was He talking only symbolically or did He really mean that the bread and wine were to be miraculous transformed into His real Flesh and Blood, while still retaining the outward appearance of bread and wine?
First of all, I think that most people would agree that Christ certainly has the power to do that, and the Catholic response to this question has always been a resounding YES! Yes, He was talking literally and NOT symbolically, and yes, this has been the constant teaching of the Church, from apostolic times till now. Ever since the words of consecration were first spoken at the Last Supper, the apostles and their successors have believed in the literal meaning of Christ's words, believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
However, despite all the scriptural evidence to the contrary, most protestants (non-Catholic Christians if you prefer) do not accept this teaching of Christ. They say our lord was just talking symbolically. For all those in this category I would like to suggest the following as a subject of serious reflection.
Ask yourself this question. "Why do I not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Is it a concept that is too difficult to understand (A "hard saying" as the Jews put it, as they walked away), or is it just because I have been told this all my life, but never seriously studied the scriptures to see if what I was taught was correct, or could it be that really deep down inside I just don’t want to believe it?
Therefore, first question - "What would be the consequences to my life if I choose to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, if I choose to accept the literal meaning of Christ's words at the Last Super"?
And then, following from the above question, we have - "What are the consequences of NOT believing in the Real Presence, of NOT accepting the literal meaning of His words"? See Mark 16:16 for the answer.
First of all, I think that most people would agree that Christ certainly has the power to do that, and the Catholic response to this question has always been a resounding YES! Yes, He was talking literally and NOT symbolically, and yes, this has been the constant teaching of the Church, from apostolic times till now. Ever since the words of consecration were first spoken at the Last Supper, the apostles and their successors have believed in the literal meaning of Christ's words, believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
However, despite all the scriptural evidence to the contrary, most protestants (non-Catholic Christians if you prefer) do not accept this teaching of Christ. They say our lord was just talking symbolically. For all those in this category I would like to suggest the following as a subject of serious reflection.
Ask yourself this question. "Why do I not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Is it a concept that is too difficult to understand (A "hard saying" as the Jews put it, as they walked away), or is it just because I have been told this all my life, but never seriously studied the scriptures to see if what I was taught was correct, or could it be that really deep down inside I just don’t want to believe it?
Therefore, first question - "What would be the consequences to my life if I choose to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, if I choose to accept the literal meaning of Christ's words at the Last Super"?
And then, following from the above question, we have - "What are the consequences of NOT believing in the Real Presence, of NOT accepting the literal meaning of His words"? See Mark 16:16 for the answer.
. The new covenant IS his blood. Son of Man/Son of God
