A Conversation About Holy Communion

I can’t put off this post any longer. I've had these lingering thoughts a lot lately, and it's been on my heart to write about this for years! “Why are you still Catholic?” This question arises a lot in the South, and obviously comes up every time there’s a scandal or controversy. I could list several reasons (more to come another day), but my #1 motivation is the Eucharist –and yet it can be so hard to explain in a moment! Lately I’ve been challenged several times to defend the Tradition… and I feel like I failed. It always seems to come up when I’m not expecting it, or when I’m tired and can’t recall the Points clearly. Thus, I’ve decided to compile *some* of my own detective work from researching this 2000 year old Teaching…

I’ve heard many beloved friends, a couple family members, and several strangers (some Protestant, some Catholic) say:“I think you can believe whatever you want about receiving Communion… it’s whatever brings you closest to God.”

Everyone is so concerned these days about having “no judgment” against another, and I want to be clear that I’m NOT trying to judge anyone because that’s not my place!! I just want to present the truth about what the Catholic Church really teaches regarding Holy Communion. The Church does not teach “whatever works for you”. This is hard in general since many people insist their "personal truth" should trump God’s Sovereign Truth. When it comes to the Eucharist, the Church makes one of the boldest claims about God in all of history!

So what is it REALLY? The Eucharist is considered the True Presence of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread & wine. During the Consecration Prayer at a Catholic Mass, the bread and wine are Transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. WOW. What??? This MIRACLE is called Transubstantiation. “Trans” means “across”, “beyond”,or “through”. ‘Substantiation’ refers to the substance -a thing’s deepest being. The substance of a thing is what it really and truly is beyond all appearance.

For comparison: if a scientist took a DNA sample from Jesus, according the results He would appear fully human even though His True Substance and Essence was Divine. If a scientist tested the bread and wine of the consecrated Eucharist, it would still appear as carbohydrate even though its Essence is also Truly Divine. Just as God came under the appearance of a man, Jesus remains with His Church under the appearance of food. This was always meant to be (even the small and seemingly insignificant town Jesus was born in is a actually a big clue…”Bethlehem” in Hebrew means “House of Bread!” In fact, a manger was not a place where animals stayed. It was a trough where food was put to feed the animals. Due to the Circumstances, Mary laid Jesus in a spot where food was traditionally meant to be eaten!)

So why am I still Catholic? It’s because no Protestant community still teaches this Tradition –even though at the time of the Reformation Martin Luther wanted to preserve this belief, he stopped witnessing TRANsubstantiation and began promoting CONsubstantiation (Jesus is just “with” the bread & wine -easier to imagine since many understand Jesus is with anyone who confesses He is their personal Lord & Savior…) However the Catholic Church has always affirmed that Jesus was serious when He commanded his followers to eat His flesh and drink His blood in the “The Bread of Life Discourse”…

Six times Jesus says we must eat His flesh. It repulsed many who heard this and they became upset with Him. When Jesus heard people doubting, He didn’t try to clarify like He would when He taught in parables. Instead He re-iterated his Point and used more intense verbiage. He used the Greek word “to gnaw” that is specific for eating meat/flesh. As a result of this difficult teaching, many of his “fans” left Him at the height of his popularity (He had just built up a big following after He performed the Miracle of the Loaves- using 5 fish to feed thousands of people).

(John 6: 66-69)

"As a result of this, many his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Of note, Jesus didn’t turn to His disciples and say, “you better call those people back so I can explain myself” or “Go tell them I was just talking symbolically”! Instead He asked those who remained with Him, “You gonna leave too??” But inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to have Faith despite the difficulty with comprehension.

This scenario proposes a big question: Am I just a fan of Jesus or a real follower? Can I handle His Teaching or is it too hard to accept? Many argue that there is no way you can believe that Jesus is present in a wafer. It goes against logic and sense. However, we are called to walk by Faith and not by sight. Even many of the people who walked right alongside Jesus couldn’t recognize God. They refused. Some would not/ could not believe that God came down from Heaven to walk on Earth as a human. That’s impossible. Too far-fetched! And yet people of Faith have little issue believing that all God has to do is Speak for His Work to be done: “God said, “let there be light” and light appeared. Jesus said to the paralyzed man “rise and walk” and he got up and walked; and to the dear dead Lazarus, “Get up” and Lazarus rose from the grave. He says to many “your sins are forgiven” and by God they are!

Why can’t we believe that when Jesus prayed over the bread and wine at the Last Supper that He meant what He said… “This is my body… This is my blood”. If Jesus could turn water into wine, why not wine into His own Blood? What is natural to God is supernatural to us.

During the Last Supper discourse, Jesus commanded that his Apostles also “Do this in remembrance of me”. They understood that the task to Re-present Jesus was to make His Presence Real again. However, he did not intend for the bread and wine to be a symbolic representation. Instead He wanted to be Presented Again -physically. And Again. And Again. (Puts another perspective on how Jesus taught us to pray when we say “Give us this day our Daily Bread”…)

FUN FACT: In ONE day, 350,000 Masses are celebrated throughout the world. That means there are 4 priests celebrating the Eucharist every single second of every single day! He never leaves!

(Matthew 28:20)

Jesus said: “I am with you always, even to the end of time.”

-Some people say this happens because He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us, but the Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity, not Jesus whom the Church claims to keep present through the continual celebration of the Eucharist.

Now to address a big concern I always hear:

Why can’t everyone share in the Eucharist during a Catholic Mass?? Has this always been the case?

Let’s first see what The Bible says:

(1 Cor 11:27-30)

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord without discerning the body and blood will be guilty and eat and drink condemnation upon himself… that is why many of you are ill and some have died.”

In addition, here are a couple excepts from the circulating letters of the first leaders of the Church:

“The heretics confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ which suffered for our sins. And, which the Father in his goodness raised up again. Take heed then to have but one Eucharist for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (St Ignatius –a disciple of John the Apostle and Bishop of Antioch. He died 107AD.)

“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it except the one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the remission of sins (Baptism). Since Jesus Christ, our Savior, was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood so too we have been taught the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer (Mass) and set down by him and by the change of which our blood and flesh in nourished, is both the flesh & the blood of the incarnate Jesus.”

(Justin Martyr -2nd Century)

As a result, Catechumens (then and now) are not supposed to receive the Eucharist until they have proven to be sincere to these teachings of the Church. Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen! (From lax Catholics who don’t demonstrate proper Reverence because they take it for granted or never appreciated the true Presence…to Protestants who profess all are welcome to partake symbolic communion where they worship so it should be the same for Catholics... to Satanists who will steal or pay $$$$$ for a Consecrated Host in order to perform a Black Mass! Don’t believe it? The devil doesn’t want us to.)

For the first 1500 years of Christianity, there was no dispute about the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Many Christians were even martyred for this Teaching since persecutors accused them of cannibalism! So why am I afraid to speak? I know it will sound really ridiculous and crazy to so many people. I may lose some friends (just like Jesus did).. but I really hope not! I truly desire all of God’s children to be my united Siblings in Christ. I'm in no way attempting to attack anyone who doesn't choose to agree with these claims, and in the end I can only control what I decide to believe. If I choose to trust this teaching about the Eucharist, and it turns out that Jesus wasn’t really serious, then whoops. No harm, no foul. I still love Him and strive to serve like He did. HOWEVER, if I choose NOT to believe, and it turns out the Teaching of the Eucharist is TRUE, then I’m honestly concerned about that consequence. Ultimately God is God. We shouldn’t limit what God can do based on our own understanding.

Final Food for Thought (and for the Soul):

“What brings you closest to God?” I recommend prayerful reflection and careful consideration on His Call to Holy Communion. ❤️🙏🏻✌🏼

For some more inspiring “Evidence” of Eucharistic Miracles: check out these scenarios!

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/engl_mir.htm

https://churchpop.com/2015/06/28/5-extraordinary-eucharistic-miracles-with-pictures/

https://dowym.com/voices/5-incredible-eucharistic-miracles-from-the-last-25-years/?fbclid=IwAR0c7KmxQCK9AyALiZFLTNvqHanzuIz4zu9MDTKJKK-51VY6DxHIdOTBpk8

References: