It IS the ACTUAL flesh and blood of Christ according to Christianity. Don't listen to EEeeek or Brumstone. They are both superstitious morons and their knowledge of the actual bible and the doctrines of Christianity is abysmal. Greg or ee is intentionally misrepresenting and misleading. Brum is just too DUMB to even comprehend the question.
Christians are EATING and DRINKING Jesus. The idea of gaining power from cannibalism goes way back through all the ages before Science showed us a better way to live.
A minority of Christians (many of the 35,000 Protestant sects) deny this part of the gospel message and invent various apologetics to explain their denial.
"I believe in my heart and openly profess that the bread and wine placed upon the altar are, by the mystery of the sacred prayer and the words of the Redeemer, substantially changed into the true and life-giving flesh and blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, and that after the consecration, there is present the true Body and Blood of Christ which was born of the Virgin and, offered up for the salvation of the world, hung on the cross and now sits at the right hand of the Father, and that there is present the true Blood of Christ which flowed from His side. They are present not only by means of a sign and of the efficacy of the sacrament, but also in the very reality and truth of their nature and substance."
en.wikipedia.org
"The Orthodox teach that what is received in Holy Communion is the actual Resurrected Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. In the West, the Words of Institution are considered to be the moment at which the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. But for the Orthodox there is no one defined moment; rather, all that Orthodox theology states is that by the end of the Epiklesis, the transformation has been completed. The Orthodox also do not use the theological term Transubstantiation to define the conversion from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, they simply use the word "change"."
"The Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and Lutherans, together with some Anglicans, believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Catholic Church uses the term "Transubstantiation" to describe the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ"
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cfpeople.org
Is The Eucharist Really Christ's Body and Blood? By Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan
May 1995 issue of The People of God
Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M.
AN ALARMING GALLUP POLL Recently, a Gallup poll was taken on Catholic attitudes toward Holy Communion. The poll showed serious confusion among Catholics about one of the most basic beliefs of the Church.
Only 30 percent of those surveyed believe they are actually receiving the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.
29 percent think they are receiving bread and wine which symbolize the spirit and teachings of Jesus and, in so doing, are expressing their attachment to His person and words.
10 percent understand their action to be receiving bread and wine in which Jesus is present.
and 23 percent hold that they are receiving what has become the Body and Blood of Christ because of their personal belief.
Any well-informed Catholic will recognize that only the first option, chosen by the 30 percent, is true Catholic teaching. The other options represent various forms of Protestant belief.
As Archbishop, I am deeply concerned about the inaccurate and distorted views of the Eucharist apparently held by many of our people. I believe it is important to clearly understand the correct doctrine; then, to live according to that doctrine.
SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION Our Catholic teaching that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus, not bread and wine, is clearly taught in the Bible and throughout the 2,000-year tradition of the Church.
The teaching of Jesus in the sixth chapter of John's Gospel is very clear: "Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him" (John 6:53-56).
John goes on to say that, even though many disciples would not accept this teaching and went away, Jesus did not attempt to bring them back by saying He was only speaking symbolically.
The early Church took this teaching seriously. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul says, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the Body and Blood of the Lord... for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself." (1 Corinthians 11:27,29) Paul's statement makes sense only if the bread and wine have become the real Body and Blood of Christ.
How does this change take place? It happens during the eucharistic prayer of the Mass.
At that time, the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, as the Church has always taught. Although they still look like bread and wine, they have, by divine power, actually changed into His Body and Blood. How can we know this? It requires faith. It is a mystery which, like love, we will never fully understand. The Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, His death and Resurrection are other mysteries which, along with the Eucharist, we will never fully comprehend in this life.
Catholic teaching on the Eucharist gives great inspiration and strength to believers. Jesus is really present and, under the appearance of food, nourishes us for our journey through life.
Our Protestant friends speak often and correctly of the need for a personal relationship with the Lord. What more personal relationship is there than to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Jesus, than receiving Him with love and devotion? And, since the Eucharist takes place in the context of a community meal, we are also united with our brothers and sisters of the faith. To make the presence of Jesus only a "symbolic" one is, therefore, to strip the eucharistic celebration of its true meaning. |
