Radical Catholicism | Back to the Basics

Really Present 2

All of the Apostles and early Church Fathers never questioned the dogma of the Real Presence of Jesus’ body and blood in the Eucharist.  St. Paul emphatically warned “that those who discern not the body of the Lord are guilty of a grave crime, the minds of the faithful the necessity of detaching, as most much as possible, their mind and understanding from the dominion of the senses; for if they believe that this Sacrament contains only what the senses disclose, they will of necessity fall into enormous impiety.”

Second and third century Church fathers, such as St. Justin Martyr, St. Cyprian, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus, and many other church leaders all confirmed and vigorously taught that the consecrated bread and wine was actually the body and blood of Jesus.

St. Ambrose (339-397) declares that the true body of Christ is received in this Sacrament, just as the true body of Christ was derived from the Virgin, and that this truth is to be believed with the firm certainty of faith. In another place he teaches that before consecration there is only bread, but after consecration there is the flesh of Christ.

In Sermon 227 to the neophytes on Easter, St. Augustine says that the visible bread and wine on the altar, “sanctified by the word of God,” is His Body and Blood. Through devoutly receiving that Body and that Blood that was shed for us, we become that Body, which means that we are joined in the close union of the Mystical Body.

St. Hillary noted, “When our Lord himself declares, as our faith teaches us, that His flesh is food indeed, what room can remain for doubt concerning the real presence of His body and blood?”

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) unequivocally restated the dogma reaffirming that upon consecration the bread and wine became the body and blood of Jesus. “ All the accidents of bread and wine we can see, but they inhere in no substance, and exist independently of any; for the substance of the bread and wine is so changed into the body and blood of our Lord that they altogether cease to be the substance of bread and wine.”

As St. Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Church’s preeminent philosopher/ theologian, neared death he commented on the Eucharist, “If in this world there be any knowledge of this sacrament stronger than that of faith, I wish now to use it in affirming that I firmly believe and know as certain that Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, is in this Sacrament . . . I receive Thee, the price of my redemption, for Whose love I have watched, studied, and laboured. Thee have I preached; Thee have I taught. Never have I said anything against Thee: if anything was not well said, that is to be attributed to my ignorance.”

Pope John Paul II in his encyclical on the Eucharist again reiterated the long held and frequently repeated the dogma that the body and blood of Jesus to truly present in the consecrated Eucharist.

Thus, it is abundantly clear that throughout the long history of the Catholic Church its official teaching regarding the Eucharist containing the real presence of the body and blood has never changed. The consecrated bread and water is indeed the body and blood of Jesus Christ!!

Really Present

As the priest, known for his dynamic and inspiring sermons, proceeded towards the pulpit to begin his homily during Mass, the congregation began to stir in anticipation. While staring intently at his audience, the priest began by asking two questions. “Do you believe in a loving, caring, and truthful God”? Being at a Catholic Mass, of course all the participants nodded yes in agreement. When the priest asked for a show of hands, all raised their hands in additional agreement. Then he asked the second question, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God; meaning Jesus is truly God completely and totally.”? Again, all in the church nodded in agreement and raised their hands. Challenging them, he asked, “Then why do many of you doubt that Jesus is truly present, body and blood, in the Eucharist.”?

“Let me remind you what Jesus claimed as quoted in John’s Gospel, “My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”  Jesus declared this truth shortly after turning bread and fish into a feast for over 5,000 people. They had witnessed an inspiring miracle!

Many of His disciples began to murmur against Jesus because of this doctrine of eating His flesh and drinking his blood. If Jesus meant this proclamation to be a metaphor, He could have told the crowd that He did not intend this statement to be taken literally, but He did not. Later He forcefully reemphasized this proclamation when he said, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.”

The priest continued, ”All of you are familiar with Jesus’ declarations at the Last Supper regarding bread and wine becoming His flesh and blood, commanding His apostles to “do this in memory of me.”.”

“Recall that a few minutes ago we all confirmed that God is all truthful, Loving, and caring. Jesus is God, Trust in Jesus! Do Not doubt but believe and act on His direction to eat His flesh and drink His blood, in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is not just a meal or a symbol; it is truly the body and blood of Jesus!”