Sacraments - What are they?
Why do Catholics believe in seven sacraments, while Protestants believe in only two? Exactly what is a sacrament, and what does it do for a person?
Catholics believe in seven sacraments because Christ instituted seven; because the Apostles and Church Fathers believed in seven; because the second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (1274) defined seven; and because the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1545 - 1563) confirmed seven. In short, the enumeration, seven, arises from the perpetual sacred divine tradition of Christian belief, which explains why that enumeration is accepted not only by Catholics, but by all of the other ancient and semi-ancient Christian communities, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian Monophysite, Syrian Jacobite, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox.
To understand what a sacrament is, and what it does for a person, one must know the correct, the traditional Christian, definition of a sacrament. Properly defined, a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace"(holiness) to the soul...that is to say, it is a divinely prescribed ceremony of the Church in which the words and action combine to form what is at the same time both a sign of divine grace and a fount of divine grace. When this special grace, distinct from ordinary, inspirational grace, is imparted to the soul, the Holy Spirit of God is imparted to the soul, imbuing the soul with divine life, uniting the soul to Christ.
As the Scriptures point out, this grace is the grace of salvation, without it man is, in a very real sense, isolated from Christ. And as the Scriptures point out, Christ gave His Church seven sacraments to serve as well-springs of this ineffable, soul-saving grace, the grace which flows from His sacrifice on Calvary. The seven sacraments come straight from scripture.
BAPTISM--the sacrament of spiritual rebirth through which we are made children of God and heirs of Heaven: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god." (John 3:5. Also see Acts 2:38, Rom. 6:2-6
CONFIRMATION--the sacrament which confers the Holy Spirit to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ: "Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them, that
they might receive the Holy Ghost....Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts 8:14-17. Also see Acts
19:6).
The EUCHARIST--the sacrament, also known as Holy Communion, which nourishes the soul with the true Flesh and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, under the appearance, or sacramental veil, of bread and wine: And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye. This is my body. And having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave it to them. And they all drank of it. And he said to them: This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many." (Mark 14:22-24. Also see Matt. 26:26-28, Luke 22:19-20, John 6:52-54, 1 Cor. 10:16).
PENANCE--the sacrament, also known as Confession, through which Christ forgives sin and restores the soul to grace: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:22-23. Also see Matt. 18:18).
EXTREME UNCTION--the sacrament, sometimes called the Last Anointing, which strengthens the sick and sanctifies the dying: "Is any many sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord...and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:14-. Also see Mark 6:12-13).
HOLY ORDERS--the sacrament of ordination which empowers priests to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, administer the sacraments, and officiate over all the other proper affairs of the Church: "For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins...Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was." (Heb. 5:1-4. Also see Acts 20:28, 1 Tim. 4:14). Also: "And taking bread, he gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me." (Luke 22:19).
MATRIMONY--the sacrament which unites a man and woman in a holy and indissoluble bond: "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." (Matt. 19:5-6. Also see Mark 10:7-9, Eph. 5:22-32).
There you have it, the Word of Christ and the example of the Apostles attesting both to the validity and the efficacy of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. In truth, every one of them is an integral part of Christ's plan for man's eternal salvation. BAPTISM
Jn 3:5, 22 - born of water & Spirit; Apostles begin baptizing
Tit 3:5 - saved us thru bath of rebirth & renewal by Holy Spirit
Act 2:37-38 - repent, be baptized, receive gift of Holy Spirit
Acts 22:16 - get selves baptized and sins washed away
1 Cor 6:11 - you were washed, sanctified, justified
Rom 6:4 - baptized into death; live in newness of life
1 Pet 3:21 - baptism ... now saves you
Heb 10:12 - heart sprinkled, bodies washed in pure water CONFIRMATION
Acts 19:5-6 -Paul imposedhands on baptized, received H. Spirit Acts 8:14-17 - laid hands upon them, they received Holy Spirit
2 Cor 1:21-22 - put seal on us & given Holy Spirit in our hearts
Eph 1:13 - you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit
Heb 6:2 - instruction about baptism & laying on of hands
CONFESSION
Why do Catholics confess their sins to priests? What makes them think that priests can absolve them of the guilt of their sins? Why don't they confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do?
Mt 9:2-8 - Son of Man has authority to forgive sins
Jn 20:23 - whose sins you forgive/retain are forgiven/retained
Jn 20:22 - breathed on them, "receive Holy Spirit" [recall Gn 2:7]
2 Cor 5:17-20 - given us the ministry of reconciliation
James 5:13-15 - prayer of presbyters forgives sin
Jam 5:16 - confess your sins to one another
Mt 18:18-whatever you bind & loose on earth, so it is in heaven
1 Jn 5:16 - there is sin that is not deadly
Catholics do confess their sins directly to God. This is required before one can even confess their sins to priests. It is clearly stated in Sacred Scripture, God in the Person of Jesus Christ authorized the priests of His Church to hear confessions and empowered them to forgive sins in His Name. To the Apostles, the first priests of His Church, Christ said: "Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you...Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:21-23). Then again: "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matt. 18:18). In other words, Catholics confess their sins to priests because priests are God's duly authorized agents in the world, representing Him is all matters pertaining to the ways and means of attaining eternal salvation. When Catholics confess their sins to a priest they ARE, in reality, confessing their sins to God, for God hears their confessions and it is He who, in the final analysis, does the forgiving. If their confessions are not sincere, their sins are not forgiven.
Furthermore, Catholics do confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do: Catholics are taught to make an act of contrition at least every night before retiring, to ask God to forgive them their sins of that day. Catholics are also taught to say this same prayer of contrition if they should have the misfortune to commit a serious sin (called a "mortal sin"by Catholics).
Granting that priests do have the power to forgive sins in the name of God, what advantage does confessing one's sins to a priest have over confessing directly to God in private prayer?
Catholics see several advantages in confessing their sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance. First, they are confessing sins the way Christ intended. There is the Church's guarantee of forgiveness, which private confessions do not provide; secondly, there is the sacramental grace which private confessions do not provide; and thirdly, there is the expert spiritual counseling which private confessions do not provide as well as learning the lesson of humility. With the Apostles, Catholics recognize that the Church is, in a mysterious way, the Body of Christ still living in the world (Col. 1:18); therefore they recognize that God will receive their pleas for mercy and forgiveness with far greater compassion if their pleas are voiced within the Church, in union with the Mystical Body of His Divine Son, than if they are voiced privately, independent of the Mystical Body of His Divine Son.
ANOINTING THE SICK
Mk 6:12-13 - anointed with oil many sick, cured them
Jam 5:14-15 - presbyters pray over sick, anoint, sins forgiven
HOLY ORDERS
Acts 20:28 - HS appointed you overseers, to tend church
Lk 22:19 - do this in memory of me
Jn 20:22 - As Father sent me, I send you... receive HS
Acts 6:6 - the apostles prayed and laid hands on them
Acts 13:3 - they laid hands on them & sent them off
Acts 14:22 - they appointed presbyters in each church
1 Tim 4:14-gift received thru laying on of hands of Presbyterate
2 Tim 1:6 - gift of God you have thru imposition of hands
Tit 1:5 - appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you
MATRIMONY
Mt 19:5-6 - leave father & mother, join wife; 2 become 1 flesh
Mk 10:7-12 - what God joined together, no man separate
Eph 5:22-32 - union of man & wife image of Christ & Church
Heb 13:4 - let marriage be honored among all
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
Mal 2:14-16 - for I hate divorce, says the Lord
Mt 5:32-33 - to divorce or marry divorced wife is adultery
Mt 19:4-6, 9 - to divorce wife and remarry is adultery
Mk 10:11-12 - if either divorces and remarries=adultery
Lk 16:18 - to divorce & remarry or marry divorced=adultery
Rom 7:2-3 -wife consorts=adulteress if living, but not if dead
1 Cor 7:10-11 - if wife separates, stay single or reconcile
THE EUCHARIST
Jn 6:35-71 - Eucharist promised
Mt 26:26ff (Mk 14:22ff., Lk 22:17ff) - Eucharist instituted
1 Cor 10:16 - Eucharist=participation in Christ's body &blood
1 Cor 11:23-29 - receiving unworthily=guilty of his body &blood
Ex 12:8, 46 - Paschal lamb had to be eaten
Jn 1:29 - Jesus called "Lamb of God"
1 Cor 5:7 - Jesus called "paschal lamb who has been sacrificed"
Jn 4:31-34; Mt 16:5-12 - Jesus talking symbolically about food
1 Cor 2:14-3:4 - explains what "the flesh" means in *Jn 6:63Ps 14:4; Is 9:18; Is 49:26; Mic 3:3; 2 Sm 23:15-17; Rv 17:6, 16 - to symbolically eat & drink one's body & blood=assault
St. Ignatius (110 AD): "[heretics] abstain from Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ ...." Letter to Smyrnaeans 6, 2.
St. Justin Martyr (150 AD): "...not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but ... as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh in nourished, is both the Flesh and Blood of that incarnated Jesus."
First Apology 66, 20. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (195 AD): "He (Jesus) has declared the cup, a part of his 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."
Against Heresies 5, 2, 2. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (350 AD): "He himself, therefore, having declared and said of the Bread, 'This is My Body,' who will dare any longer to doubt? And when He Himself has affirmed and said, 'This is My Blood,' who can ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood?" Catechetical Lectures: Mystagogic 4, 22, 1. St. Cyril again: "Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that, for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ." ibid. 4, 22, 6.
The Eucharist - Holy Communion
Catholics believe that simple bread and wine brought to the altar are marvelously changed by God's power during the praying of the Mass, into the resurrected body and blood of Christ for distribution to believers. The word "Eucharist" means "Thanksgiving." The Holy Eucharist is the very center of Catholic worship and the heart of Catholic life. The Eucharist has foundation and teaching firmly panted in scripture.
1: The miracle and the promise that Jesus gave to the people (John 6:48-59).
The Jews asked Jesus to perform a miracle or sign for them so they could truly believe in him. Jesus said,
" I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and have died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that if anyone eat of it he will not die.”
His followers then asked Jesus to give them this bread always. So Jesus got more explicit by saying,
“ I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
After Jesus said this the Jews argued with one another, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat? After all isn’t he the son of Joseph?’ They still thought his was speaking symbolically.
So Jesus hearing that they did not understand was even more explicit and said for a third time and fourth time :”Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread that has come down from heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever"'
He warned them not to think carnally, according to what their human judgment would tell them, but according to the power of God's Spirit: "It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:53; cf. 1 Cor. 2:12-14). The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, God.
Then after all this Jesus eyed them and asked a simple question: "Does this offend you?" (John 6:61)
Every time Jesus spoke there was no attempt to soften what was said, no attempt to correct misunderstandings because they now understood that he was not speaking in symbolism and because they understood and could not except what he saying, they all turned and left him. Jesus did not call them back. He did not make any attempt to say, hey you all misunderstood me, come back. He let them go. He was even willing to let the 12 disciples go when he asked Peter “are you going to leave me too.”
This is a perhaps the most pivotal and critical point in Jesus ministry. The rest of his followers left him at this point. Remember he was willing to loose even his disciples if they did not believe. He would have been left with no one to follow him.
Jesus could have kept everyone from leaving if he told them what he meant was no more than a symbol. Jesus always clarified his parables and symbolic messages to his followers when he was teaching. He always explained the message. In this case there was nothing left to explain because he meant what he said. This is the only record of this many of Jesus followers leaving him. Up to this point they excepted what he said and every miracle he performed.
Protestants misunderstand the scripture of John 6:63: "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." They say this means that eating real flesh is a waste. But does this make sense?
Are we to understand that Christ, who had just commanded his disciples to eat his flesh, then said their doing so would be pointless? Is that what "the flesh is of no avail" means? "Eat my flesh, but you'll find it's a waste of time"--is that what he was saying? Not hardly.
In John 6:63 "flesh profits nothing" refers to mankind's inclination to think on a natural level, using only what their natural human reason would tell them rather than what God would tell them. Thus in John 8:15-16 Jesus tells his opponents: "You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me." So natural human judgment, unaided by God's grace, is unreliable; but God's judgment is always true.
“The words I have spoken to you are spirit" does not mean "What I have just said is symbolic." The word "spirit" is never used that way in the Bible. The line means that what Christ has said will be understood only through faith; only by the power of the Spirit and the drawing of the Father (cf. John 6:37, 44-45, 65).
Why can’t non Catholics receive Holy Communion? Non Catholics should not receive the body and blood of Jesus during the mass without being instructed first. They must have an understanding of the true presence of body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is based in scripture in one of the letters from Paul warning of just how serious receiving the Eucharist is. Paul also said: "Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord . . . For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27, 29). "
How could someone sin against Jesus body for drinking a little wine and eating a little bread. What Paul is saying here is that this is not merely a symbolic act and that it is truly Jesus that we receive. That is why you must have instruction before receiving communion in a Catholic Church because it is NOT a symbolic act and serious sin can be committed if one is not prepared.
In addition when one receives the Eucharist they are affirming in all the beliefs of the Catholic Church. They are accepting a oneness of faith and worship by accepting all the teachings and traditions of the Church.
Modern day Protestant Churches teach that this is only a symbolic act and therefore Catholics who go to a friend's church, which is fine, should not participate in the Protestant ritual of the Last Supper because in doing so you would be participating in what they believe is only symbolic. Only a Catholic priest can consecrate the bread and wine into Jesus Christ. Because Protestants live in the shadow of those who did not believe and left the church to start there own like Martian Luther, John Smyth, Charles Wesley and so on, they have been completely cheated and have lost the true meaning of Faith and truth that Christ intended for everyone. Jesus loves us so much and wants to be part of us that he gave us the ultimate miracle and mystery of the Eucharist.
Catholics believe that when they receive communion that Jesus is really truly present in the form of bread and wine. The bread and wine is transubstantiated and after the words of consecration that no bread and wine remain on the alter, only the Resurrected Jesus, body soul and divinity, in the appearance of bread and wine for all who believe to receive.
So are Catholics cannibals? They say they are eating Jesus. Well Catholic receive the Resurrected Jesus in the Eucharist. Cannibalism is eating another person or a piece of human flesh. The Risen Jesus is not a mere human being. He is God and there are no limitations to Christ's power, as God, which he exercises through his humanity in the Eucharist.
Its interesting that the Protestants of today’s world say the same thing that the Jewish Disciples said to Jesus just before they left him, “how can this man give us his flesh to eat, that is disgusting and really hard to believe” Things have not changed much in 2000 years have they.
The only limitation in our belief is our own weakness of faith and our own human limitations. The mistake that we make is trying to place these limitation on Jesus.
We on earth cannot see or touch him with our senses. But that is not a limitation in him; it is a limitation in us.
II: The Institution of the miracle that Jesus promised.
At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Throughout scripture the gospel writers all agreed that Jesus said “This is my body” and “This is my blood”. No where will you find any of them saying that this was a representation or was symbolic act.
"And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessing it, he broke and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' And taking a cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it; and he said to them, 'This is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many"' (Mark 14:22-24).
"And having taken bread, he gave thanks and broke, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you"' (Luke 22:19-20).
"For I myself have received from the Lord (what I also delivered to you), that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks broke, and said, 'This is my body which shall be given up for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In like manner also the cup, after he had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.'
(I Corinthians 11:23-27.)
"And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke. and gave it to his disciples, and said, of the new covenant, which is being shed for many unto the forgiveness of sins"' (Matthew 26:26-28).
The Catholic Church has taught the miracle of the Eucharist doctrine for almost 2000 years. Nowhere in the early writings from the Church Fathers are there any records of Christians doubting or disputing this interpolation of scripture or saying it was only symbolic. On the contrary there is a mountain of historical writings that support this teaching.
Evidence of the Eucharist being practiced in the early Church. Historical Church writers
These are just some of the early Christian writers in the first 500 years of the Church. These Church Fathers were respected in the Christian communities. These men were reaffirming the Churches teachings. There is to much proof here to doubt the authenticity of these respected men and to the effect that the Eucharist was celebrated in the early Church as it is today.
THE DOCTRINE of the Real Presence (that Jesus is literally and wholly present--body and blood, soul and divinity--under the appearances of bread and wine) is frequently attacked by Evangelicals and Fundamentalists as "unbiblical," but the Bible is forthright in declaring it (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; and, most forcefully, John 6:32-71).
The early Church Fathers certainly took the Bible at face value when reading these passages. In summarizing the teachings of the early Fathers on Christ's Real Presence, renowned Protestant and early Church historian J.N.D. Kelly writes: "Eucharistic teaching, it should be understood at the outset, was in general unquestioningly realist, i.e., the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior's body and blood" (Early Christian Doctrines, 440).
This was the case right from the beginning, when we encounter the first references in the Church Fathers to Christ's relationship to the Eucharist. Kelly writes: "Ignatius roundly declares that . . . [t]he bread is the flesh of Jesus, the cup his blood. Clearly he intends this realism to be taken strictly, for he makes it the basis of his argument against the Docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's body. . . . Irenaeus teaches that the bread and wine are really the Lord's body and blood. His witness is, indeed, all the more impressive because he produces it quite incidentally while refuting the Gnostic and Docetic rejection of the Lord's real humanity" (ibid., 197-8).
"Hippolytus speaks of 'the body and the blood' through which the Church is saved, and Tertullian regularly describes the bread as 'the Lord's body.' The converted pagan, he remarks, 'feeds on the richness of the Lord's body, that is, on the Eucharist.' The realism of his theology comes to light in the argument, based on the intimate relation of body and soul, that just as in baptism the body is washed with water so that the soul may be cleansed, so in the Eucharist 'the flesh feeds upon Christ's body and blood so that the soul may be filled with God.' Clearly his assumption is that the Savior's body and blood are as real as the baptismal water. Cyprian's attitude is similar. Lapsed Christians who claim communion without doing penance, he declares, 'do violence to his body and blood, a sin more heinous against the Lord with their hands and mouths than when they denied him.' Later he expatiates on the terrifying consequences of profaning the sacrament, and the stories he tells confirm that he took the Real Presence literally" (ibid., 211-2).
Ignatius of Antioch
"I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).
Ignatius of Antioch
"Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2-7:1 [A.D. 110]).
Justin Martyr
"We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).
Irenaeus of Lyons
"If the Lord were from other than the Father [and thus capable of performing miracles], how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?" (Against Heresies 4:33-32 [A.D. 189]).
Irenaeus of Lyons
"He 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 unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life - flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?" (ibid., 5:2).
Clement of Alexandria
"'Eat my flesh,' [Jesus] says, 'and drink my blood.' The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, He delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children" (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).
Tertullian
"[T]here is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe whilst it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed [in baptism], in order that the soul may be cleansed . . . the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands [in confirmation], that the soul also maybe illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds [in the Eucharist] on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God" (The Resurrection of the Dead 8 [A.D. 210]).
Hippolytus
"'And she [Wisdom] has furnished her table' [Prov. 9:1] . . . refers to His [Christ's] honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper [i.e., the Last Supper]" (Fragment from Commentary on Proverbs [A.D. 217]).
Origin
"Formerly there was baptism in an obscure way . . . now, however, in full view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: 'My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink' [John 6:56]" (Homilies on Numbers 7:2 [A.D. 248]).
Cyprian of Carthage
"He [Paul] threatens, moreover, the stubborn and forward, and denounces them, saying, 'Whosoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord' [1 Cor. 11:27]. All these warnings being scorned and contemned--[lapsed Christians will often take communion] before their sin is expiated, before confession has been made of their crime, before their conscience has been purged by sacrifice and by the hand of the priest, before the offense of an angry and threatening Lord has been appeased, [and so] violence is done to His body and blood; and they sin now against their Lord more with their hand and mouth than when they denied their Lord" (The Lapsed 15-16 [A.D. 251]).
Council of Nicaea I
"It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters [i.e., priests], whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer [the Eucharistic sacrifice] should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer [it]. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them" (canon 18 [A.D. 325]).
Aphraahat the Persian Sage
"After having spoken thus [at the Last Supper], the Lord rose up from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his Body as food and his Blood as drink, and he went with his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested. But he ate of his own Body and drank of his own Blood, while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own Body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his Blood as drink" (Treatises 12:6 [A.D. 340]).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ" (Catechetical Lectures 19:7 [A.D. 350]).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the body and blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the body and blood of Christ. . . . [Since you are] fully convinced that the apparent bread is not bread, even though it is sensible to the taste, but the body of Christ, and that the apparent wine is not wine, even though the taste would have it so, ... partake of that bread as something spiritual, and put a cheerful face on your soul" (ibid., 22:6, 9).
Ambrose of Milan
"Perhaps you may be saying, 'I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the body of Christ?' It but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might use! . . . Christ is in that sacrament, because it is the body of Christ" (The Mysteries 9:50, 58 [A.D. 390]).
Theodore of Mopsuestia
"When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, 'This is the symbol of my body,' but, 'This is my body.' In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, 'This is the symbol of my blood,' but, 'This is my blood'; for he wanted us to look upon the [Eucharistic elements] after their reception of grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit not according to their nature, but receive them as they are, the body and blood of our Lord. We ought . . . not regard [the elements] merely as bread and cup, but as the body and blood of the Lord, into which they were transformed by the descent of the Holy Spirit" (Catechetical Homilies 5:1 [A.D. 405]).
Augustine
"Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own Body, he said, 'This is my Body' [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands" (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).
Augustine
"I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord's Table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know that you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ" (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]).
Augustine
"What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice is the Blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction" (ibid., 272).
Council of Ephesus
"We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the Only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody Sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his Holy Flesh and the Precious Blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid: nor as of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of worth, or as having a divine indwelling, but as truly the Life-giving and very flesh of the Word himself. For he is the Life according to his nature as God, and when he became united to his Flesh, he made it also to be Life-giving" (session 1, Letter of Cyril to Nestorius [A.D. 431]).
Why do Catholics believe that Christ is sacrificed in each and every Mass, when Scripture plainly states that He was sacrificed on Calvary once and for all?
Most non-Catholics do not realize it, but Christ Himself offered the first Mass at the Last Supper. At the Last Supper He offered (sacrificed) Himself to His Father in an unbloody manner, that is, under the form of bread and wine, in anticipation of His bloody sacrifice on the cross to be offered on the following day, Good Friday. In the Mass, not now by offering of Himself to His Father, by the hands of the priest. "And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke; and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins." (Matt. 26:26-28). Christ ordered His Church to perpetuate that sacrificial rite for the continued sanctification of His followers, saying, "Do this for a commemoration of me" (Luke 22:19), so the Catholic Church complies with His order in the Mass. In other words, every Mass is a re-enactment of Our Lord's one sacrifice of Calvary. The Mass derives all its value from the Sacrifice of the Cross; the Mass is that same sacrifice, not another. It is not essentially a sacrifice offered by men (although men also join in ), but rather it is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Christ's bloody sacrifice on Calvary was accomplished "once" (Heb. 10:10), just as Scripture says. The Catholic Church likewise teaches that the sacrifice of the Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice--offered "once". But the Apostle Paul, the same Apostle who wrote this text in the book of Hebrews, also bears witness that the sacrificial rite which Christ instituted at the Last Supper is to be perpetuated, and that it is not only important for man's final redemption. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, St. Paul tells how, at the Last Supper, Our Lord said: "This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come." Thus at every Mass the Christian has a new opportunity to worship God with this one perfect sacrifice and to "absorb" more of Christ's saving and sanctifying grace of Calvary. This grace is infinite, and the Christian should continuously grow in this grace until his death. The reason the Mass is offered again and again is not from any imperfection in Christ, but from our imperfect capacity to receive.
Finally, the holy sacrifice of the Mass fulfills the Old Testament prophecy: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place their is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." (Mal. 1:11). The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, that is, Christ Himself; thus the Mass is the perfect fulfilment of this prophecy.
Why do Catholics believe their Holy Communion is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ? Why don't they believe as Protestants do that Christ is only present symbolically, or spiritually, in the consecrated bread and wine?
Catholics believe that their Holy Communion, the Blessed Eucharist, is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, because that is what Christ said it was: "This is my body...This is my blood" (Matt. 26:26-28; see also Luke 22:19-20 and Mark 14:22-24); because that is what Christ said they must receive in order to have eternal life: "...Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you..."(John 6:48-52; 54-56); and because that is what the Apostles believed: "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" (1 Cor. 10:16). "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the
chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:27-29). Also, Catholics believe that Holy Communion is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ because that is what ALL Christians believed until the advent of Protestantism in the 16th century.
Wrote Justin Martyr, illustrious Church Father of the second century: "This food is known among us as the Eucharist...We do not receive these things as common bread and common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, being made flesh by the Word of God." Wrote St. Cyril of Jerusalem, venerable Church Father of the fourth century: "Since then Christ has declared and said of the bread, "This is my Body, who after that will venture to doubt? And seeing that He has affirmed and said, "This is my Blood," who will raise a question and say it is not His Blood?" In addition to the witness of Sacred Scripture and Christian tradition, Catholics have the witness of the Holy Eucharist itself: On numerous occasions great and awesome miracles have attended its display, and seldom has its reception by the Catholic faithful failed to produce in them a feeling of joyful union with their Lord and Savior. In the face of all this evidence, Catholics could hardly be expected to adopt the Protestant position.
So are Catholics cannibals? They say they are eating Jesus. That’s nonsense, Catholics receive the Resurrected Jesus in the Eucharist. Cannibalism is eating another person. To be a cannibal you have to eat an actual peach of flesh. The Risen Jesus is not a mere human being He is God himself and he gives himself to us as real food as he said. Isn’t it interesting that Protestant today say the same thing that the ones who left Jesus 2000 years ago. “How can he give us his flesh to eat”.
There are no limitations to Christ's power, as God, which he exercises through his humanity in the Eucharist. The only limitation is our own weakness of faith and our own human limitations. The mistake that we make is trying to place this limitation on Jesus. We on earth cannot see or touch him with our senses. But that is not a limitation in him; it is a limitation in us.
Catholics believe in seven sacraments because Christ instituted seven; because the Apostles and Church Fathers believed in seven; because the second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (1274) defined seven; and because the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1545 - 1563) confirmed seven. In short, the enumeration, seven, arises from the perpetual sacred divine tradition of Christian belief, which explains why that enumeration is accepted not only by Catholics, but by all of the other ancient and semi-ancient Christian communities, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian Monophysite, Syrian Jacobite, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox.
To understand what a sacrament is, and what it does for a person, one must know the correct, the traditional Christian, definition of a sacrament. Properly defined, a sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace"(holiness) to the soul...that is to say, it is a divinely prescribed ceremony of the Church in which the words and action combine to form what is at the same time both a sign of divine grace and a fount of divine grace. When this special grace, distinct from ordinary, inspirational grace, is imparted to the soul, the Holy Spirit of God is imparted to the soul, imbuing the soul with divine life, uniting the soul to Christ.
As the Scriptures point out, this grace is the grace of salvation, without it man is, in a very real sense, isolated from Christ. And as the Scriptures point out, Christ gave His Church seven sacraments to serve as well-springs of this ineffable, soul-saving grace, the grace which flows from His sacrifice on Calvary. The seven sacraments come straight from scripture.
BAPTISM--the sacrament of spiritual rebirth through which we are made children of God and heirs of Heaven: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god." (John 3:5. Also see Acts 2:38, Rom. 6:2-6
CONFIRMATION--the sacrament which confers the Holy Spirit to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ: "Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them, that
they might receive the Holy Ghost....Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts 8:14-17. Also see Acts
19:6).
The EUCHARIST--the sacrament, also known as Holy Communion, which nourishes the soul with the true Flesh and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, under the appearance, or sacramental veil, of bread and wine: And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye. This is my body. And having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave it to them. And they all drank of it. And he said to them: This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many." (Mark 14:22-24. Also see Matt. 26:26-28, Luke 22:19-20, John 6:52-54, 1 Cor. 10:16).
PENANCE--the sacrament, also known as Confession, through which Christ forgives sin and restores the soul to grace: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:22-23. Also see Matt. 18:18).
EXTREME UNCTION--the sacrament, sometimes called the Last Anointing, which strengthens the sick and sanctifies the dying: "Is any many sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord...and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:14-. Also see Mark 6:12-13).
HOLY ORDERS--the sacrament of ordination which empowers priests to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, administer the sacraments, and officiate over all the other proper affairs of the Church: "For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins...Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was." (Heb. 5:1-4. Also see Acts 20:28, 1 Tim. 4:14). Also: "And taking bread, he gave thanks, and broke; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me." (Luke 22:19).
MATRIMONY--the sacrament which unites a man and woman in a holy and indissoluble bond: "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." (Matt. 19:5-6. Also see Mark 10:7-9, Eph. 5:22-32).
There you have it, the Word of Christ and the example of the Apostles attesting both to the validity and the efficacy of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. In truth, every one of them is an integral part of Christ's plan for man's eternal salvation. BAPTISM
Jn 3:5, 22 - born of water & Spirit; Apostles begin baptizing
Tit 3:5 - saved us thru bath of rebirth & renewal by Holy Spirit
Act 2:37-38 - repent, be baptized, receive gift of Holy Spirit
Acts 22:16 - get selves baptized and sins washed away
1 Cor 6:11 - you were washed, sanctified, justified
Rom 6:4 - baptized into death; live in newness of life
1 Pet 3:21 - baptism ... now saves you
Heb 10:12 - heart sprinkled, bodies washed in pure water CONFIRMATION
Acts 19:5-6 -Paul imposedhands on baptized, received H. Spirit Acts 8:14-17 - laid hands upon them, they received Holy Spirit
2 Cor 1:21-22 - put seal on us & given Holy Spirit in our hearts
Eph 1:13 - you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit
Heb 6:2 - instruction about baptism & laying on of hands
CONFESSION
Why do Catholics confess their sins to priests? What makes them think that priests can absolve them of the guilt of their sins? Why don't they confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do?
Mt 9:2-8 - Son of Man has authority to forgive sins
Jn 20:23 - whose sins you forgive/retain are forgiven/retained
Jn 20:22 - breathed on them, "receive Holy Spirit" [recall Gn 2:7]
2 Cor 5:17-20 - given us the ministry of reconciliation
James 5:13-15 - prayer of presbyters forgives sin
Jam 5:16 - confess your sins to one another
Mt 18:18-whatever you bind & loose on earth, so it is in heaven
1 Jn 5:16 - there is sin that is not deadly
Catholics do confess their sins directly to God. This is required before one can even confess their sins to priests. It is clearly stated in Sacred Scripture, God in the Person of Jesus Christ authorized the priests of His Church to hear confessions and empowered them to forgive sins in His Name. To the Apostles, the first priests of His Church, Christ said: "Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you...Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:21-23). Then again: "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matt. 18:18). In other words, Catholics confess their sins to priests because priests are God's duly authorized agents in the world, representing Him is all matters pertaining to the ways and means of attaining eternal salvation. When Catholics confess their sins to a priest they ARE, in reality, confessing their sins to God, for God hears their confessions and it is He who, in the final analysis, does the forgiving. If their confessions are not sincere, their sins are not forgiven.
Furthermore, Catholics do confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do: Catholics are taught to make an act of contrition at least every night before retiring, to ask God to forgive them their sins of that day. Catholics are also taught to say this same prayer of contrition if they should have the misfortune to commit a serious sin (called a "mortal sin"by Catholics).
Granting that priests do have the power to forgive sins in the name of God, what advantage does confessing one's sins to a priest have over confessing directly to God in private prayer?
Catholics see several advantages in confessing their sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance. First, they are confessing sins the way Christ intended. There is the Church's guarantee of forgiveness, which private confessions do not provide; secondly, there is the sacramental grace which private confessions do not provide; and thirdly, there is the expert spiritual counseling which private confessions do not provide as well as learning the lesson of humility. With the Apostles, Catholics recognize that the Church is, in a mysterious way, the Body of Christ still living in the world (Col. 1:18); therefore they recognize that God will receive their pleas for mercy and forgiveness with far greater compassion if their pleas are voiced within the Church, in union with the Mystical Body of His Divine Son, than if they are voiced privately, independent of the Mystical Body of His Divine Son.
ANOINTING THE SICK
Mk 6:12-13 - anointed with oil many sick, cured them
Jam 5:14-15 - presbyters pray over sick, anoint, sins forgiven
HOLY ORDERS
Acts 20:28 - HS appointed you overseers, to tend church
Lk 22:19 - do this in memory of me
Jn 20:22 - As Father sent me, I send you... receive HS
Acts 6:6 - the apostles prayed and laid hands on them
Acts 13:3 - they laid hands on them & sent them off
Acts 14:22 - they appointed presbyters in each church
1 Tim 4:14-gift received thru laying on of hands of Presbyterate
2 Tim 1:6 - gift of God you have thru imposition of hands
Tit 1:5 - appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you
MATRIMONY
Mt 19:5-6 - leave father & mother, join wife; 2 become 1 flesh
Mk 10:7-12 - what God joined together, no man separate
Eph 5:22-32 - union of man & wife image of Christ & Church
Heb 13:4 - let marriage be honored among all
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE
Mal 2:14-16 - for I hate divorce, says the Lord
Mt 5:32-33 - to divorce or marry divorced wife is adultery
Mt 19:4-6, 9 - to divorce wife and remarry is adultery
Mk 10:11-12 - if either divorces and remarries=adultery
Lk 16:18 - to divorce & remarry or marry divorced=adultery
Rom 7:2-3 -wife consorts=adulteress if living, but not if dead
1 Cor 7:10-11 - if wife separates, stay single or reconcile
THE EUCHARIST
Jn 6:35-71 - Eucharist promised
Mt 26:26ff (Mk 14:22ff., Lk 22:17ff) - Eucharist instituted
1 Cor 10:16 - Eucharist=participation in Christ's body &blood
1 Cor 11:23-29 - receiving unworthily=guilty of his body &blood
Ex 12:8, 46 - Paschal lamb had to be eaten
Jn 1:29 - Jesus called "Lamb of God"
1 Cor 5:7 - Jesus called "paschal lamb who has been sacrificed"
Jn 4:31-34; Mt 16:5-12 - Jesus talking symbolically about food
1 Cor 2:14-3:4 - explains what "the flesh" means in *Jn 6:63Ps 14:4; Is 9:18; Is 49:26; Mic 3:3; 2 Sm 23:15-17; Rv 17:6, 16 - to symbolically eat & drink one's body & blood=assault
St. Ignatius (110 AD): "[heretics] abstain from Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ ...." Letter to Smyrnaeans 6, 2.
St. Justin Martyr (150 AD): "...not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but ... as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh in nourished, is both the Flesh and Blood of that incarnated Jesus."
First Apology 66, 20. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (195 AD): "He (Jesus) has declared the cup, a part of his 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."
Against Heresies 5, 2, 2. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (350 AD): "He himself, therefore, having declared and said of the Bread, 'This is My Body,' who will dare any longer to doubt? And when He Himself has affirmed and said, 'This is My Blood,' who can ever hesitate and say it is not His Blood?" Catechetical Lectures: Mystagogic 4, 22, 1. St. Cyril again: "Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that, for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ." ibid. 4, 22, 6.
The Eucharist - Holy Communion
Catholics believe that simple bread and wine brought to the altar are marvelously changed by God's power during the praying of the Mass, into the resurrected body and blood of Christ for distribution to believers. The word "Eucharist" means "Thanksgiving." The Holy Eucharist is the very center of Catholic worship and the heart of Catholic life. The Eucharist has foundation and teaching firmly panted in scripture.
1: The miracle and the promise that Jesus gave to the people (John 6:48-59).
The Jews asked Jesus to perform a miracle or sign for them so they could truly believe in him. Jesus said,
" I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and have died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that if anyone eat of it he will not die.”
His followers then asked Jesus to give them this bread always. So Jesus got more explicit by saying,
“ I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
After Jesus said this the Jews argued with one another, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat? After all isn’t he the son of Joseph?’ They still thought his was speaking symbolically.
So Jesus hearing that they did not understand was even more explicit and said for a third time and fourth time :”Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, abides in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he also shall live because of me. This is the bread that has come down from heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever"'
He warned them not to think carnally, according to what their human judgment would tell them, but according to the power of God's Spirit: "It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:53; cf. 1 Cor. 2:12-14). The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, God.
Then after all this Jesus eyed them and asked a simple question: "Does this offend you?" (John 6:61)
Every time Jesus spoke there was no attempt to soften what was said, no attempt to correct misunderstandings because they now understood that he was not speaking in symbolism and because they understood and could not except what he saying, they all turned and left him. Jesus did not call them back. He did not make any attempt to say, hey you all misunderstood me, come back. He let them go. He was even willing to let the 12 disciples go when he asked Peter “are you going to leave me too.”
This is a perhaps the most pivotal and critical point in Jesus ministry. The rest of his followers left him at this point. Remember he was willing to loose even his disciples if they did not believe. He would have been left with no one to follow him.
Jesus could have kept everyone from leaving if he told them what he meant was no more than a symbol. Jesus always clarified his parables and symbolic messages to his followers when he was teaching. He always explained the message. In this case there was nothing left to explain because he meant what he said. This is the only record of this many of Jesus followers leaving him. Up to this point they excepted what he said and every miracle he performed.
Protestants misunderstand the scripture of John 6:63: "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." They say this means that eating real flesh is a waste. But does this make sense?
Are we to understand that Christ, who had just commanded his disciples to eat his flesh, then said their doing so would be pointless? Is that what "the flesh is of no avail" means? "Eat my flesh, but you'll find it's a waste of time"--is that what he was saying? Not hardly.
In John 6:63 "flesh profits nothing" refers to mankind's inclination to think on a natural level, using only what their natural human reason would tell them rather than what God would tell them. Thus in John 8:15-16 Jesus tells his opponents: "You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me." So natural human judgment, unaided by God's grace, is unreliable; but God's judgment is always true.
“The words I have spoken to you are spirit" does not mean "What I have just said is symbolic." The word "spirit" is never used that way in the Bible. The line means that what Christ has said will be understood only through faith; only by the power of the Spirit and the drawing of the Father (cf. John 6:37, 44-45, 65).
Why can’t non Catholics receive Holy Communion? Non Catholics should not receive the body and blood of Jesus during the mass without being instructed first. They must have an understanding of the true presence of body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is based in scripture in one of the letters from Paul warning of just how serious receiving the Eucharist is. Paul also said: "Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord . . . For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27, 29). "
How could someone sin against Jesus body for drinking a little wine and eating a little bread. What Paul is saying here is that this is not merely a symbolic act and that it is truly Jesus that we receive. That is why you must have instruction before receiving communion in a Catholic Church because it is NOT a symbolic act and serious sin can be committed if one is not prepared.
In addition when one receives the Eucharist they are affirming in all the beliefs of the Catholic Church. They are accepting a oneness of faith and worship by accepting all the teachings and traditions of the Church.
Modern day Protestant Churches teach that this is only a symbolic act and therefore Catholics who go to a friend's church, which is fine, should not participate in the Protestant ritual of the Last Supper because in doing so you would be participating in what they believe is only symbolic. Only a Catholic priest can consecrate the bread and wine into Jesus Christ. Because Protestants live in the shadow of those who did not believe and left the church to start there own like Martian Luther, John Smyth, Charles Wesley and so on, they have been completely cheated and have lost the true meaning of Faith and truth that Christ intended for everyone. Jesus loves us so much and wants to be part of us that he gave us the ultimate miracle and mystery of the Eucharist.
Catholics believe that when they receive communion that Jesus is really truly present in the form of bread and wine. The bread and wine is transubstantiated and after the words of consecration that no bread and wine remain on the alter, only the Resurrected Jesus, body soul and divinity, in the appearance of bread and wine for all who believe to receive.
So are Catholics cannibals? They say they are eating Jesus. Well Catholic receive the Resurrected Jesus in the Eucharist. Cannibalism is eating another person or a piece of human flesh. The Risen Jesus is not a mere human being. He is God and there are no limitations to Christ's power, as God, which he exercises through his humanity in the Eucharist.
Its interesting that the Protestants of today’s world say the same thing that the Jewish Disciples said to Jesus just before they left him, “how can this man give us his flesh to eat, that is disgusting and really hard to believe” Things have not changed much in 2000 years have they.
The only limitation in our belief is our own weakness of faith and our own human limitations. The mistake that we make is trying to place these limitation on Jesus.
We on earth cannot see or touch him with our senses. But that is not a limitation in him; it is a limitation in us.
II: The Institution of the miracle that Jesus promised.
At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Throughout scripture the gospel writers all agreed that Jesus said “This is my body” and “This is my blood”. No where will you find any of them saying that this was a representation or was symbolic act.
"And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessing it, he broke and gave it to them, and said, 'Take; this is my body.' And taking a cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it; and he said to them, 'This is my blood of the new covenant, which is being shed for many"' (Mark 14:22-24).
"And having taken bread, he gave thanks and broke, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you"' (Luke 22:19-20).
"For I myself have received from the Lord (what I also delivered to you), that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks broke, and said, 'This is my body which shall be given up for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In like manner also the cup, after he had supped, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.'
(I Corinthians 11:23-27.)
"And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke. and gave it to his disciples, and said, of the new covenant, which is being shed for many unto the forgiveness of sins"' (Matthew 26:26-28).
The Catholic Church has taught the miracle of the Eucharist doctrine for almost 2000 years. Nowhere in the early writings from the Church Fathers are there any records of Christians doubting or disputing this interpolation of scripture or saying it was only symbolic. On the contrary there is a mountain of historical writings that support this teaching.
Evidence of the Eucharist being practiced in the early Church. Historical Church writers
These are just some of the early Christian writers in the first 500 years of the Church. These Church Fathers were respected in the Christian communities. These men were reaffirming the Churches teachings. There is to much proof here to doubt the authenticity of these respected men and to the effect that the Eucharist was celebrated in the early Church as it is today.
THE DOCTRINE of the Real Presence (that Jesus is literally and wholly present--body and blood, soul and divinity--under the appearances of bread and wine) is frequently attacked by Evangelicals and Fundamentalists as "unbiblical," but the Bible is forthright in declaring it (cf. 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; and, most forcefully, John 6:32-71).
The early Church Fathers certainly took the Bible at face value when reading these passages. In summarizing the teachings of the early Fathers on Christ's Real Presence, renowned Protestant and early Church historian J.N.D. Kelly writes: "Eucharistic teaching, it should be understood at the outset, was in general unquestioningly realist, i.e., the consecrated bread and wine were taken to be, and were treated and designated as, the Savior's body and blood" (Early Christian Doctrines, 440).
This was the case right from the beginning, when we encounter the first references in the Church Fathers to Christ's relationship to the Eucharist. Kelly writes: "Ignatius roundly declares that . . . [t]he bread is the flesh of Jesus, the cup his blood. Clearly he intends this realism to be taken strictly, for he makes it the basis of his argument against the Docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's body. . . . Irenaeus teaches that the bread and wine are really the Lord's body and blood. His witness is, indeed, all the more impressive because he produces it quite incidentally while refuting the Gnostic and Docetic rejection of the Lord's real humanity" (ibid., 197-8).
"Hippolytus speaks of 'the body and the blood' through which the Church is saved, and Tertullian regularly describes the bread as 'the Lord's body.' The converted pagan, he remarks, 'feeds on the richness of the Lord's body, that is, on the Eucharist.' The realism of his theology comes to light in the argument, based on the intimate relation of body and soul, that just as in baptism the body is washed with water so that the soul may be cleansed, so in the Eucharist 'the flesh feeds upon Christ's body and blood so that the soul may be filled with God.' Clearly his assumption is that the Savior's body and blood are as real as the baptismal water. Cyprian's attitude is similar. Lapsed Christians who claim communion without doing penance, he declares, 'do violence to his body and blood, a sin more heinous against the Lord with their hands and mouths than when they denied him.' Later he expatiates on the terrifying consequences of profaning the sacrament, and the stories he tells confirm that he took the Real Presence literally" (ibid., 211-2).
Ignatius of Antioch
"I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).
Ignatius of Antioch
"Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2-7:1 [A.D. 110]).
Justin Martyr
"We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).
Irenaeus of Lyons
"If the Lord were from other than the Father [and thus capable of performing miracles], how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?" (Against Heresies 4:33-32 [A.D. 189]).
Irenaeus of Lyons
"He 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 unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life - flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?" (ibid., 5:2).
Clement of Alexandria
"'Eat my flesh,' [Jesus] says, 'and drink my blood.' The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, He delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children" (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).
Tertullian
"[T]here is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe whilst it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed [in baptism], in order that the soul may be cleansed . . . the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands [in confirmation], that the soul also maybe illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds [in the Eucharist] on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God" (The Resurrection of the Dead 8 [A.D. 210]).
Hippolytus
"'And she [Wisdom] has furnished her table' [Prov. 9:1] . . . refers to His [Christ's] honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper [i.e., the Last Supper]" (Fragment from Commentary on Proverbs [A.D. 217]).
Origin
"Formerly there was baptism in an obscure way . . . now, however, in full view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the flesh of the Word of God, as he himself says: 'My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink' [John 6:56]" (Homilies on Numbers 7:2 [A.D. 248]).
Cyprian of Carthage
"He [Paul] threatens, moreover, the stubborn and forward, and denounces them, saying, 'Whosoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord' [1 Cor. 11:27]. All these warnings being scorned and contemned--[lapsed Christians will often take communion] before their sin is expiated, before confession has been made of their crime, before their conscience has been purged by sacrifice and by the hand of the priest, before the offense of an angry and threatening Lord has been appeased, [and so] violence is done to His body and blood; and they sin now against their Lord more with their hand and mouth than when they denied their Lord" (The Lapsed 15-16 [A.D. 251]).
Council of Nicaea I
"It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters [i.e., priests], whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer [the Eucharistic sacrifice] should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer [it]. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them" (canon 18 [A.D. 325]).
Aphraahat the Persian Sage
"After having spoken thus [at the Last Supper], the Lord rose up from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his Body as food and his Blood as drink, and he went with his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested. But he ate of his own Body and drank of his own Blood, while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own Body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his Blood as drink" (Treatises 12:6 [A.D. 340]).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"The bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ" (Catechetical Lectures 19:7 [A.D. 350]).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"Do not, therefore, regard the bread and wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the body and blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the body and blood of Christ. . . . [Since you are] fully convinced that the apparent bread is not bread, even though it is sensible to the taste, but the body of Christ, and that the apparent wine is not wine, even though the taste would have it so, ... partake of that bread as something spiritual, and put a cheerful face on your soul" (ibid., 22:6, 9).
Ambrose of Milan
"Perhaps you may be saying, 'I see something else; how can you assure me that I am receiving the body of Christ?' It but remains for us to prove it. And how many are the examples we might use! . . . Christ is in that sacrament, because it is the body of Christ" (The Mysteries 9:50, 58 [A.D. 390]).
Theodore of Mopsuestia
"When [Christ] gave the bread he did not say, 'This is the symbol of my body,' but, 'This is my body.' In the same way, when he gave the cup of his blood he did not say, 'This is the symbol of my blood,' but, 'This is my blood'; for he wanted us to look upon the [Eucharistic elements] after their reception of grace and the coming of the Holy Spirit not according to their nature, but receive them as they are, the body and blood of our Lord. We ought . . . not regard [the elements] merely as bread and cup, but as the body and blood of the Lord, into which they were transformed by the descent of the Holy Spirit" (Catechetical Homilies 5:1 [A.D. 405]).
Augustine
"Christ was carried in his own hands when, referring to his own Body, he said, 'This is my Body' [Matt. 26:26]. For he carried that body in his hands" (Explanations of the Psalms 33:1:10 [A.D. 405]).
Augustine
"I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord's Table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know that you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ" (Sermons 227 [A.D. 411]).
Augustine
"What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice is the Blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith; yet faith does not desire instruction" (ibid., 272).
Council of Ephesus
"We will necessarily add this also. Proclaiming the death, according to the flesh, of the Only-begotten Son of God, that is Jesus Christ, confessing his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven, we offer the unbloody Sacrifice in the churches, and so go on to the mystical thanksgivings, and are sanctified, having received his Holy Flesh and the Precious Blood of Christ the Savior of us all. And not as common flesh do we receive it; God forbid: nor as of a man sanctified and associated with the Word according to the unity of worth, or as having a divine indwelling, but as truly the Life-giving and very flesh of the Word himself. For he is the Life according to his nature as God, and when he became united to his Flesh, he made it also to be Life-giving" (session 1, Letter of Cyril to Nestorius [A.D. 431]).
Why do Catholics believe that Christ is sacrificed in each and every Mass, when Scripture plainly states that He was sacrificed on Calvary once and for all?
Most non-Catholics do not realize it, but Christ Himself offered the first Mass at the Last Supper. At the Last Supper He offered (sacrificed) Himself to His Father in an unbloody manner, that is, under the form of bread and wine, in anticipation of His bloody sacrifice on the cross to be offered on the following day, Good Friday. In the Mass, not now by offering of Himself to His Father, by the hands of the priest. "And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke; and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins." (Matt. 26:26-28). Christ ordered His Church to perpetuate that sacrificial rite for the continued sanctification of His followers, saying, "Do this for a commemoration of me" (Luke 22:19), so the Catholic Church complies with His order in the Mass. In other words, every Mass is a re-enactment of Our Lord's one sacrifice of Calvary. The Mass derives all its value from the Sacrifice of the Cross; the Mass is that same sacrifice, not another. It is not essentially a sacrifice offered by men (although men also join in ), but rather it is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Christ's bloody sacrifice on Calvary was accomplished "once" (Heb. 10:10), just as Scripture says. The Catholic Church likewise teaches that the sacrifice of the Cross was a complete and perfect sacrifice--offered "once". But the Apostle Paul, the same Apostle who wrote this text in the book of Hebrews, also bears witness that the sacrificial rite which Christ instituted at the Last Supper is to be perpetuated, and that it is not only important for man's final redemption. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, St. Paul tells how, at the Last Supper, Our Lord said: "This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come." Thus at every Mass the Christian has a new opportunity to worship God with this one perfect sacrifice and to "absorb" more of Christ's saving and sanctifying grace of Calvary. This grace is infinite, and the Christian should continuously grow in this grace until his death. The reason the Mass is offered again and again is not from any imperfection in Christ, but from our imperfect capacity to receive.
Finally, the holy sacrifice of the Mass fulfills the Old Testament prophecy: "For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place their is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts." (Mal. 1:11). The Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, that is, Christ Himself; thus the Mass is the perfect fulfilment of this prophecy.
Why do Catholics believe their Holy Communion is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ? Why don't they believe as Protestants do that Christ is only present symbolically, or spiritually, in the consecrated bread and wine?
Catholics believe that their Holy Communion, the Blessed Eucharist, is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, because that is what Christ said it was: "This is my body...This is my blood" (Matt. 26:26-28; see also Luke 22:19-20 and Mark 14:22-24); because that is what Christ said they must receive in order to have eternal life: "...Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you..."(John 6:48-52; 54-56); and because that is what the Apostles believed: "The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" (1 Cor. 10:16). "Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the
chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:27-29). Also, Catholics believe that Holy Communion is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ because that is what ALL Christians believed until the advent of Protestantism in the 16th century.
Wrote Justin Martyr, illustrious Church Father of the second century: "This food is known among us as the Eucharist...We do not receive these things as common bread and common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, being made flesh by the Word of God." Wrote St. Cyril of Jerusalem, venerable Church Father of the fourth century: "Since then Christ has declared and said of the bread, "This is my Body, who after that will venture to doubt? And seeing that He has affirmed and said, "This is my Blood," who will raise a question and say it is not His Blood?" In addition to the witness of Sacred Scripture and Christian tradition, Catholics have the witness of the Holy Eucharist itself: On numerous occasions great and awesome miracles have attended its display, and seldom has its reception by the Catholic faithful failed to produce in them a feeling of joyful union with their Lord and Savior. In the face of all this evidence, Catholics could hardly be expected to adopt the Protestant position.
So are Catholics cannibals? They say they are eating Jesus. That’s nonsense, Catholics receive the Resurrected Jesus in the Eucharist. Cannibalism is eating another person. To be a cannibal you have to eat an actual peach of flesh. The Risen Jesus is not a mere human being He is God himself and he gives himself to us as real food as he said. Isn’t it interesting that Protestant today say the same thing that the ones who left Jesus 2000 years ago. “How can he give us his flesh to eat”.
There are no limitations to Christ's power, as God, which he exercises through his humanity in the Eucharist. The only limitation is our own weakness of faith and our own human limitations. The mistake that we make is trying to place this limitation on Jesus. We on earth cannot see or touch him with our senses. But that is not a limitation in him; it is a limitation in us.
