The Real Presence in the Eucharist

There is much concern about the lack of understanding among the faithful about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. A Pew Research survey found:

“…half of Catholics in the United States don’t know the Catholic Church teaches the Eucharist is the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Most of the other half thought the Church taught the Eucharist was just a symbol of Christ’s body, although 4 percent said they were unsure what the Church taught.”[1]

[1] Charles Collins, “New survey: Only one-third of Catholics believe in Real Presence” Crux. Online: 7/17/2021 https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2019/08/new-survey-only-one-third-of-c...

Please see the following for this five-week series on the Real Presence in the Eucharist:

Week 1:

Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist - says who?

Jesus. Jesus said so directly in Chapter 6 of St John the Evangelist’s Gospel. All the Gospels for these five weeks from the end of July through August are from this important chapter.  Direct quotes by Jesus regarding the Eucharist can be found in the Gospels:

 

Indirect references can be found throughout the Old and New Testaments.


Week 2:

Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist - says who?

Jesus (see previous week’s article [ (see previous week above).

Who else? The early Church Fathers. St. Irenaeus (130-202 AD) was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of St. John the Evangelist the apostle who was a disciple of – you guessed it. In his book Against Heresies, he describes the Eucharist this way,

“[Christ] has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own Blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own Body, from which he gives increase to our bodies."

Find out more: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/father/a5.html


Week 3:

Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist - says who?

Jesus and the early Church Fathers (see previous weeks’ articles above).

Who else?

The author of the oldest know extrabiblical text regarding the Mass, The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Most scholars have estimated it was written around 100 AD, but some more recent scholarship puts it at 50 AD. As a reference, Sts. Peter and Paul are known to have been martyred between 67-68 AD.

Find out more: http://www.thedidache.com/


Week 4:

Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist - says who?

Jesus, the early Church Fathers, the oldest known text regarding the Mass (see previous weeks’ articles above).

Who else? The Doctors of the Church. The first Doctor of the Church (he was St. Augustine’s teacher), St. Ambrose from his treatise On the Mysteries,

“If the word of Elijah had power even to bring down fire from heaven, will not eh words of Christ have power to change the natures of the elements [the bread and wine ].You have read that in the creation of the whole world he spoke and they came to be; he commanded and they were created. If Christ could by speaking create out of nothing what did not yet exist, can we say that his words are unable to change exiting things into something they previously were not? It is no lesser feat to create new natures for things than to change their existing natures…This is indeed the true flesh of Christ, which was crucified and buried. This in then in truth the sacrament of his flesh.”

Find out more: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3405.htm


Week 5:

Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist - says who?

Jesus, the early Church Fathers, the oldest known text regarding the Mass The Doctors of the Church (see previous weeks’ articles above).

Who else? St. Jerome - best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate) and his commentaries on the whole Bible,

"After the type had been fulfilled by the Passover celebration and He had eaten the flesh of the lamb with His Apostles, He takes bread which strengthens the heart of man, and goes on to the true Sacrament of the Passover, so that just as Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, in prefiguring Him, made bread and wine an offering, He too makes Himself manifest in the reality of His own Body and Blood."

Find out more: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/father/a5.html

Designed & Powered by On Fire Media |