"Some men accordingly, not paying heed to
these things, have contended that Christ's body and blood are not in this Sacrament except
as in a sign, a thing to be rejected as heretical, since it is contrary to Christ's words.
Hence Berengarius, who had been the first deviser of this heresy, was afterwards forced to
withdraw his error, and to acknowledge the truth of the Faith." - St. Thomas
Aquinas ("Summa Theologica" 13th century A.D.)
"And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying,
This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the
cup after supper, saying, This cup [is] the new testament in my blood, which is shed for
you." -Luke 22:19-20
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread,
he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this
man give us [his] flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up
at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth
my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." - John 6:51-56
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we
[being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one
bread." - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
"For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the
Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given
thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this
do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped,
saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup
of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man
examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning
the Lord's body." - 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says on
the "Eucharist:"
1106. "Together with the anamnesis, the epiclesis is at the heart of each
sacramental celebration, most especially of the Eucharist: You ask how the bread
becomes the Body of Christ, and the wine . . . the Blood of Christ I shall tell you: the
Holy Spirit comes upon them and accomplishes what surpasses every word and thought . . .
Let it be enough for you to understand that it is by the Holy Spirit, just as it was of
the Holy Virgin and by the Holy Spirit that the Lord, through and in himself, took flesh.
[St. John Damascene, De fide orth 4, 13: PG 94, 1145A.]"
1324. "The Eucharist is 'the source and summit of the Christian life.' [LG 11.]
'The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the
apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed
Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our
Pasch.' [PO 5.]"
1327. "In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: 'Our way of
thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of
thinking.' [St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 18, 5: PG 7/l, 1028.]"
1329. "The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the
Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the
wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem. [Cf. 1 Cor 11:20; Rev 19:9.]
The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master
of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, [Gal 3:27 .] above all at the Last
Supper. [Cf. Mt 26:26 ; 1 Cor 11:24 .] It is by this action that his disciples will
recognize him after his Resurrection, [Cf. Lk 24:13-35.] and it is this expression that
the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; [Cf. Acts 2:42,
46 ; Acts 20:7, 11.] by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread,
Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him. [Cf. 1 Cor
10:16-17.] The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated
amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church. [Cf. 1 Cor
11:17-34 .]"
1336. "The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the
announcement of the Passion scandalized them: 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to
it?' [Jn 6:60 .] The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery
and it never ceases to be an occasion of division. 'Will you also go away?': [Jn
6:67 .] the Lord's question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover
that only he has 'the words of eternal life' [In 6:68.] and that to receive in faith the
gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself."
1340. "By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the
Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over
to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the
Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates
the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the kingdom."
1355. "In the communion, preceded by the Lord's prayer and the breaking of the
bread, the faithful receive 'the bread of heaven' and 'the cup of salvation,' the body and
blood of Christ who offered himself 'for the life of the world': [Jn 6:51.] Because
this bread and wine have been made Eucharist ('eucharisted,' according to an ancient
expression), 'we call this food Eucharist, and no one may take part in it unless he
believes that what we teach is true, has received baptism for the forgiveness of sins and
new birth, and lives in keeping with what Christ taught.' [St. Justin, Apol. 1, 66,1-2: PG
6, 428.]"
1356. "If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a
form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity of times and liturgies,
it is because we know ourselves to be bound by the command the Lord gave on the eve of his
Passion: 'Do this in remembrance of me.' [1 Cor 11:24-25 .]"
1359. "The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished by Christ on
the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the
Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father
through the death and the Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can
offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful,
and just in creation and in humanity."
1360. "The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by
which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has
accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of
all 'thanksgiving.'"
1365. "Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a
sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of
institution: 'This is my body which is given for you' and 'This cup which is poured out
for you is the New Covenant in my blood.' [Lk 22:19-20.] In the Eucharist Christ gives us
the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he 'poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.' [Mt 26:28 .]"
1367. "The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single
sacrifice: 'The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of
priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.'
'In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered
himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in
an unbloody manner.' [Council of Trent (1562): DS 1743; cf. Heb 9:14, 27.]"
1368. "The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church which is the
Body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered
whole and entire. She unites herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In
the Eucharist the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his
Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united
with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ's
sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be
united with his offering. In the catacombs the Church is often represented as a
woman in prayer, arms outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who stretched out
his arms on the cross, through him, with him, and in him, she offers herself and
intercedes for all men."
1369. "The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of
Christ. Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated
with every celebration of the Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and servant of
the unity of the universal Church. The bishop of the place is always responsible for the
Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the bishop's name is mentioned to signify his
presidency over the particular Church, in the midst of his presbyterium and with the
assistance of deacons. The community intercedes also for all ministers who, for it and
with it, offer the Eucharistic sacrifice: Let only that Eucharist be regarded as
legitimate, which is celebrated under (the presidency of) the bishop or him to whom he has
entrusted it. [St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8:1; SCh 10, 138.] Through the
ministry of priests the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is completed in union with the
sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator, which in the Eucharist is offered through the
priests' hands in the name of the whole Church in an unbloody and sacramental manner until
the Lord Himself comes. [PO 2 # 4.]"
1374. "The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is
unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as 'the perfection of the
spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend.' [St. Thomas Aquinas, STh
III, 73, 3c.] In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist 'the body and blood, together
with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is
truly, really, and substantially contained.' [Council of Trent (1551): DS 1651.] 'This
presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of
presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest
sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes
himself wholly and entirely present.' [Paul VI, MF 39.]"
1378. "Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith
in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways,
genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. 'The Catholic Church has
always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration,
not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the
utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in
procession.'[Paul VI, MF 56.]"
1384. "The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the
sacrament of the Eucharist: '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.' [Jn 6:53 .]"
1396. "The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church.
Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ
unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews,
strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism.
In Baptism we have been called to form but one body. [Cf. 1 Cor 12:13 .] The Eucharist
fulfills this call: 'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of
Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of
the one bread:' [1 Cor 10:16-17.] If you are the body and members of Christ, then it
is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you
receive. To that which you are you respond 'Amen' ('yes, it is true!') and by responding
to it you assent to it. For you hear the words, 'the Body of Christ' and respond
'Amen.' Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true. [St.
Augustine, Sermon 272: PL 38, 1247.]"
"Unless we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most
Blessed Sacrament, we shall accomplish nothing." - St. Peter Julian Eymard
("Let Us Love The Most Blessed Sacrament" 19th century A.D.)
"Wherefore, he that eateth not this bread, nor drinketh
this blood, hath not this life; for men can have temporal life without that, but they can
in no way have eternal life. He then that eateth not His flesh, nor drinketh His blood,
hath no life in him; and he that eateth His flesh, and drinketh His blood, hath life. This
epithet, 'eternal,' which He used, answers to both. It is not so in the case of that food
which we take for the purpose of sustaining this temporal life. For he who will not take
it shall not live, nor yet shall he who will take it live. For very many, even who have
taken it, die; it may be by old age, or by disease, or by some other casualty. But in this
food and drink, that is, in the Body and Blood of the Lord, it is not so. For both he that
doth not take it hath no life, and he that doth take it hath life, and that indeed eternal
life. This it is, therefore, for a man to eat that meat and to drink that drink, to dwell
in Christ, and to have Christ dwelling in him. Consequently, he that dwelleth not in
Christ, and in whom Christ dwelleth not, doubtless neither eateth His flesh nor drinketh
His blood." - St. Augustine of Hippo ("Tractate 26 on the Gospel of St.
John" 4th century A.D.)
COMMENTS
Jesus
lost many disciples when He stated that they would have to eat His Body and drink His
Blood (John 6:60, 66 ). Yet He did not "call back" these disciples
stating "I was just speaking figuratively." He let them leave. Why? If
He had been speaking figuratively, wouldn't He have called them back
and "explained" the doctrine?
Here is an example where the Catholic Church rightly takes these passages literally while
many non-Catholic Christian denominations take it figuratively because it would be too
hard of a doctrine to accept otherwise just as it was for the disciples who left Christ.
Luke 22:19-20 