In the 8th Century, in the city of Frentanese, the pastor of St. Legontian was having doubts about the Real Presence in the Eucharist. His doubts were entirely dispelled when the Host literally transformed into live flesh and the wine literally became blood. The Host has been miraculously preserved to this day, and has undergone in-depth scientific analysis which have been proven and documented. Both the flesh and the blood were found to be real and from the human species. The flesh consists of muscular tissue from the heart, containing the mycocardium, the vagus nerve and the left ventricle. The elements chloride, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium were found in the blood. Both the flesh and the blood have the blood type AB (which is consistent with all other substantiated Eucharistic miracles).
In the mid-1200s, a woman in the city of Santarem tried to take a Host from Mass to a sorceress in order to make some sort of "potion." She hid it in her head-scarf, and while walking down the street, it began to bleed. Frightened, the woman took it home and placed it in a chest. During the night, she and her husband were awakened by a bright light coming from the chest, and they saw a vision of angels adoring the bleeding Host. They reported it to the priest, and he returned the Host back to the church, where it still remains today.
This miracle dates back to the 1300s. A priest who was going to visit the sick and administer the sacrament irreverently placed the Host between the pages of his breviary. When he opened it again, he found that it had turned to blood, and where the Host had been, there were dark red circles on the pages. Those pages can still be seen in Cascia, Italy now.
One of the most amazing Eucharistic miracles that I've ever heard about was the Bleeding Host of Betania (Venezuala) only ten years ago. Pilgrims were in the adoration chapel when the Host gave the appearance of having a heart beating in the center. The thing that makes it the most incredible, though, is the fact that there is actually video footage of the miracle. Read about it here and watch it the youtube video here.
Check out this link, where you can read many more stories of incredible miracles relating to the Real Presence.
Don't forget to take some time to meditate on Christ's sacrifice for us today on Good Friday. I hope you all have a blessed Easter season!
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
We were recently visiting with some extended family in New England. During the time we were there, we visited the Baptist church where my mom attended growing up. It had been a couple of months since I had sat through a sermon in an Evangelical church. For some reason, this sermon seemed particularly directed against the Catholic Church. It was full of not-so-subtle references to how Catholics are so supposedly deceived. At the end of the sermon, they distributed their monthly communion. The pastor was very clear in saying that the "crackers and juice" were "only symbols". He took great effort in explaining to the congregation that communion was "not a sacrament in any way", but "simply an ordinance." He mentioned that the Catholic Church actually believed that the "crackers and juice" became the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. The deacons and other people in the church grimaced and shook their heads in disgust. "That's just ridiculous," the pastor declared.
His last statement really got me thinking. At first, when I heard it, I felt insulted and offended. He was belittling my beliefs right in front of me. However, I came to realize the truth in his statement. Let me explain...
Pastor R. certainly wasn't the first person to call the Eucharist "ridiculous". In fact, we see people doing it right in the Gospel of St. John. When you read this passage from John 6:55-66, try reading it as if you've never read it before. Come at it with a fresh mind and see what you can get out of it.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
These things he said in the synogogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Jesus lost "many disciples" over the issue of the Eucharist. They thought that the teaching was so ridiculous that they simply left him. They didn't say, "Oh, we're supposed to eat a mere symbol of his body; I can handle that!" They deserted Him.
Many other people have deserted Jesus because they found His teachings to be "ridiculous". We as Christians really do believe in some pretty crazy things. We believe that God is One, and yet He is three distinct Persons. We believe that He made the world out of nothing. We believe that He loved us so much that He sent His only Son into the world as a human baby. We believe that He is 100% God and 100% man. We believe that He died a cruel criminal's death for our salvation from sin. We believe that He rose again from the grave, and that He ascended back into heaven. These are all mysteries to us. We can't claim to fully understand them. We don't know why or how God does these things. Many people would call them ridiculous.
I don't remember which saint said this, but he made this point, which I thought was very good:
Jesus says, "This is my body."
You say, "This is not His body."
Who should I believe?
If Jesus says something, we shouldn't be too quick to condemn it because it's "ridiculous". I would rather err on the side of being too literal than miss out on something so huge.
If I'm going to be so extreme as to believe that God became man, that He was tortured for my sake, and that He rose from the dead, I might as well go all the way and believe that He enters the form of bread in communion so that I can bodily receive Him. I'm not going to accept one as being reasonable and the other as crazy. They're both crazy. But, I can't think of anything more beautiful.
If I believe in it, what do I lose if it's wrong?
What do I gain if it's right?
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
The Catholic Church teaches that, in Communion, the bread and wine literally become Christ's body and blood. This docrine is called transubstantiation.
CCC #1376 ~ The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood.
This belief may seem ridiculous, but its concept is actually Biblical. One of the biggest passages that supports the Real Presence is in John chapter 6:
v. 32 ~ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
v. 33 ~ For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
v. 34 ~ Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
v. 35 ~ And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
v. 41 ~ The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
v. 42 ~ And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
v. 48 ~ I am that bread of life.
v. 49 ~ Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
v. 50 ~ This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
The Jews were already confused that Jesus was calling himself the "bread of life". But, then, he took it a step further and said that they had to eat the bread of life, just like the Israelites ate the manna in the wilderness.
v. 51 ~ I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
v. 52 ~ The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
v. 53 ~ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
When the Jews questioned Jesus about eating his flesh, he didn't correct their thinking by saying, "You don't have to literally eat my flesh -- it's just a symbol". He reinforced what he had been saying all along -- "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you."
v. 54 ~ Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
v. 55 ~ For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
v. 56 ~ He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
v. 57 ~ As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
v. 58 ~ This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.
Some people try to refute this teaching by saying that Jesus was only speaking symbolically. He makes reference to himself as a door, a cornerstone, a vine, and many other things. Why should bread be any different? Let me keep typing some more verses from John chapter 6:
v. 60 ~ Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
v. 61 ~ When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
v. 66 ~ From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
If Jesus were speaking symbolically, why did the Jews call it a "hard saying"? Perhaps they misunderstood Jesus, but then, why did he not correct them? Why would he let "many of his disciples" leave him over something that wasn't even true? He knew that what he said would offend many of them. If you go back up and count how many times Jesus specifically called himself "the bread of life", you'll find that he says it four times. He also refers to eating the bread of life six times. Just a symbol? I don't think so.
v. 55 ~ For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
John 6 isn't the only passage in the Bible that supports the Real Presence. Paul also writes about it in his first letter to the Corinthians:
1 Cor 27-29 ~ Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinket ****ation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
If the bread and wine were only symbolic, why would someone who unworthily consumed it be ****ed? That's pretty serious! Also, notice that Paul doesn't say at the end of verse 29, "not discerning the symbol of the Lord's body". He says, "discerning the Lord's body." The Lord's body!
Matthew 26:26-28 ~ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus didn't say, "Take, eat; this is a representation my body", he said, "Take, eat; this is my body." Neither did he say, "This is a representation of my blood", he said, "This is my blood."
Jesus is our paschal lamb. He paid the final sacrifice for our sins on the cross. In the Old Testament, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice when the Israelites were required to slaughter lambs without blemish in order to reconcile to God. But, there was another catch. They not only had to sacrifice the lambs, they also had to eat them.
Exodus 12:8 ~ And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
This idea of transubstantiation is nothing new. It wasn't made up by the Catholic Church centuries after the life of Christ. The early Christians believed and practiced it as well:
"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, out of his goodness, raised up again." ~ Ignatius of Antioch from his Letter to Smyrnaeans (6:2-7:1) 110 AD
"If the Lord were from other than the Father, 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?" ~ Irenaeus from his Against Heresies (4:33-32) 189 AD
Pax Christi,
~the Catholic apologist
John 20:21-23 ~ Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He sent out His apostles to spread the Gospel. They were supposed to represent Christ to the world. When a priest absolves someone of their sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it’s not by his own power that he does it. Jesus imparts His power and His authority through the priest. He is Christ’s representative to us on earth.
When we confess our sins to the priest, we are really confessing our sins to God through the priest. In the same way, when the priest forgives our sins, it’s really God forgiving our sins through the priest.
Some people wonder why we should confess our sins to the priest instead of going directly to God. The reason is because we are human beings. We need things to be tangible, that’s just the way God made us. In fact, He even commanded us to confess our sins to others (through his servant James).
James 5:16 ~ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
When we confess our sins out loud to another human being, it has a healing effect on our soul. We can’t keep things bottled inside. If we try to do that, the negative effect of our sin will only grow.
Here is what the Catechism says about confession:
CCC #1441 ~ Only God forgives sin. [Mk 2:7] Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven.” [Mk 2:5, 10; Lk 7:48] Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. [Jn 20:21-23]
CCC #1449 ~ The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of His Son and the gift of His Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
“God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent His Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
During confession, the penitent also says an Act of Contrition:
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and in failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend with your help to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, in His Name, my God, have mercy.
If you would like to read more you can visit some of these web pages: Reconciliation and Penance (by Pope John Paul II), Forgiveness of Sins, Confession (includes quotes from the Early Church Fathers), and The Sacrament of Penance
