Moving ever closer to the One World Religion, which Francis has already announced.
Oh, how they spin things. Making it sound so comforting, inviting, logical an productive. Unity, has such a lovely ring too it. Everyone wants love, right? And certainly the sinners don’t want to hear about sin.
They love to fill your itching ears with words that bring what feels like relief and comfort. DANGER!! DANGER!!
Mark 8:35-37 [36] For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? [37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
It is VITAL at this point in time, that you fully understand what you do, why you do it and the consequences for your actions. It is VITAL that you not align yourself with anything or anyone that is not aligned with GOD and His Word.
Your eternal soul depends on it.
The Roman Catholic Church is NOT CHRISTIAN!! If you don’t know that yet, make it a point to find out. Research for yourself. There are MANY posts on this website that reveal the truth about this issue. There are many more online.
Studyto shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It is absolutely insane how the world seems blind to the obvious, egregious and blasphemous things that are coming out of the Vatican and spewing out of the Pope’s mouth. It should absolutely be obvious to anyone who is using their critical thinking to recognize that none of this glorifies God or His Son, and clearly grieves the Holy Spirit.
You may think that this is inconsequential but you could not be more wrong. They are rapidly building toward the ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND THE ONE WORLD RELIGION. If you are not aware of what the world was like under ROME.. it would behoove you to find out. The CHURCH of ROME wants NOTHING LESS the COMPLETE DOMINANCE. They do not care about healing the relationship between Protestants and Catholic… THEY WANT to get everyone into their fold. SUNDAY LAWS are just the beginning. YOU WILL BE MANDATED to Worship on Sunday, and in the Catholic Manner, you will be required to worship the Eucharist and unite with them as they SACRIFICE CHRIST OVER AND OVER AGAIN, you will be required to WORSHIP MARY, pray to the “SAINTS” and submit to the POPE and the clergy.
Dear Father: Recently a friend told me that if a Catholic is on vacation then it’s OK to miss Sunday Mass, especially because we didn’t have to go to Mass during COVID times. That’s not what I learned growing up, but things change. Has this changed in the Church like so many other things? – S.P.
Dear S.P.: Sunday Mass, but also Mass on Holy Days of Obligation, is the highest form of worship that we can give God. Thus, one of the Church’s five precepts, something that has not changed over the years, insists that we go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation and refrain from doing servile work on the Lord’s Day.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2042) explains that we are to sanctify the day “commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord as well as the principal liturgical feasts honoring the mysteries of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints; in the first place by participating in the Eucharistic celebration, in which the Christian community is gathered, and by resting from those works and activities which could impede such a sanctification of these days.”
The precepts of the Church are positive laws to help us. They guarantee, the Catechism says, that we meet the very minimum standards for the salvation of our souls through prayer, the moral life and growing in love of God and neighbor (No. 2041). As such, they are morally binding.
The moral obligation is not a matter of laying another law on the backs of Christians but to protect us from going astray. The Church’s one concern for each of us is that we attain heaven and live with God eternally. Thus, this precept to worship God on Sundays and Holy Days is like a spiritual GPS route given by the Church, our Mother, to get us to heaven the fastest and most direct way. She wants to protect us from unnecessary detours, or worse, going in the wrong direction, away from heaven and God.
To deliberately miss Mass on Sundays and Holy Days is like driving in the wrong direction, away from our intended destination. When we are going to an enjoyable leisure activity, such as a vacation, we all want to get there by the fastest and most direct route. We wouldn’t think of wasting time going in the opposite direction.
Just as it is folly to travel away from our vacation spot, it is the greatest folly to head away from the ultimate place of rest with God in heaven.
Another way to view the precepts of the Church, including the necessity to worship God at Mass on Sundays, is to see them as a protection, such as when a mother tells her children to do their homework or to spend time with the family.
These “obligations” may seem restrictive to a rebellious child, but the wise parent knows that these rules for life lead to full human flourishing. So, too, is the Church’s insistence that we worship God in a particular way so as to flourish fully.
Seen in this light, we begin to understand the morally binding nature of the precept of the Church to go to Mass. To deliberately disobey this precept is to harm oneself, and thereby dishonor God. It is tantamount to saying that one has better things to do than to love and worship God. It means that one places something or someone (including oneself) in first place, ahead of God. And that is a most serious matter.
This is why a person who has deliberately missed an obligatory Mass, that is, deliberately avoided the necessary worship of God, must confess the matter in the sacrament of penance and avoid approaching Holy Communion until having made use of confession.
When I was a child and we went on vacation, I remember vividly how my parents would search for a Catholic church and find out the Sunday Mass times. There was no internet; there were no cellphones. It required a bit of effort on the part of my parents. Sometimes we had to drive a distance to get to Mass. But Mass was the priority above all else. What an experience it was to see different groups of Catholics worshiping God!
Returning to your question, it is not OK to miss Mass on Sundays or Holy Days, even on vacation. Every Catholic who is traveling has the duty to learn where the nearest church is and what the Mass times are. One exception might be if one is traveling in a country where Mass isn’t available. One should then approach one’s parish priest to explain the situation. He will offer counsel about what to do in lieu of going to Mass.
Finally, there is a fantastic website to help you find Catholic Masses as well as confession schedules: masstimes.org. The U.S. bishops also have an online directory for finding churches. Social media is another place to look for assistance in finding churches and sacramental schedules. spacer
On this episode of Rightly Dividing, ‘The Fest’ was founded by Father Bob Stec in 2000, who at the time was the Vocations Director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, which is still a major sponsor. Initially called “Home from Rome,” Stec created the event to “Welcome the diocesan contingent home from their trip to Rome for World Youth Day,” but eventually changed its name to The Fest. The event takes place on the grounds of The Center For Pastoral Leadership, which is home to Saint Mary Seminary & Graduate School of Theology, and Borromeo Seminary, two seminaries that raise and train Roman Catholic priests. All over America in 2024, the Vatican is issuing the call for “wayward Christians” to return home to ‘Mother Rome’, and sadly, many are answering that call. In tonight’s Bible study, you will see from the Bible exactly how the Roman Catholic Church is counterfeit Christianity, and we will show you some of today’s popular preachers who are giving their flocks over to the Vatican.
early 15c., uniten, “bind in union; annex (one thing) to (another),” from Late Latin unitus, past participle of unire “to unite, make into one” (transitive), from Latin unus “one” (from PIE root *oi-no- “one, unique”). The intransitive sense of “become one, become combined” is attested by 1610s. Related: United; uniting. spacer
c. 1300, unite, “state or property of being one,” from Anglo-French unite, Old French unite “uniqueness, oneness” (c. 1200), from Latin unitatem (nominative unitas) “oneness, sameness, agreement,” from unus “one” (from PIE root *oi-no- “one, unique”).Originally in theology, in reference to the persons of the Trinity; general use is by late 14c., “indivisibility, harmonious combination of parts.” It is attested by 1580s as “a separate, single thing.” In the arts, the unities, in reference the three principles (time, place, action) to be properly maintained in literary works and drama, is by 1660s. spacer
c. 1400, “mutual understanding” (among persons), also (of things) “mutual conformity,” from Old French agrement, agreement, noun of action from agreer “to please” (see agree). Attested in English by early 15c. as “formal or documentary agreement, terms of settlement.” spacer
“an agreement between persons or parties,” early 15c., from Old French pacte “agreement, treaty, compact” (14c.) and directly from Latin pactum “agreement, contract, covenant,” noun use of neuter past participle of pacisci “to covenant, to agree, make a treaty,” from PIE root *pag- “to fasten.” Related: Paction “act of making a pact.” spacer
c. 1300, “belonging to all, owned or used jointly, general, of a public nature or character,” from Old French comun “common, general, free, open, public” (9c., Modern French commun), from Latin communis “in common, public, shared by all or many; general, not specific; familiar, not pretentious.” This is from a reconstructed PIE compound *ko-moin-i- “held in common,” compound adjective formed from *ko- “together” + *moi-n-, suffixed form of root *mei- (1) “to change, go, move,” hence literally “shared by all.”
The second element of the compound also is the source of Latin munia “duties, public duties, functions,” those related to munia “office.” Perhaps reinforced in Old French by the Germanic form of PIE *ko-moin-i- (compare German gemein, Old English gemne “common, public, general, universal;” see mean (adj.)), which came to French via Frankish.
Used disparagingly of women and criminals since c. 1300. Meaning “pertaining equally to or proceeding equally from two or more” is from c. 1400. Meaning “usual, not exceptional, of frequent occurrence” is from late 14c. Sense of “not distinguished, belonging to the general mass” is from c. 1400; of things, “ordinary, not excellent,” late 14c.
Common pleas is 13c., from Anglo-French communs plets, hearing civil actions by one subject against another as opposed to pleas of the crown. Common prayer is that done in public in unity with other worshipers; contrasted with private prayer. Common stock is attested from 1888. Common speech (late 14c.) is the vernacular, as opposed to Latin. Common good (late 14c.) translates Latin bonum publicum “the common weal.” The college common room (1660s) is one to which all members have common access. spacer
late 14c., communioun, “participation in something; that which is common to all; union in religious worship, doctrine, or discipline,” from Old French comunion “community, communion” (12c.), from Latin communionem (nominative communio) “fellowship, mutual participation, a sharing,” used in Late Latin ecclesiastical language for “participation in the sacrament,” from communis “common, general” (see common (adj.)).Used by Augustine, in belief that the word was derived from com- “with, together” + unus “oneness, union.” In English, from mid-15c. as “the sacrament of the Eucharist,” from c. 1500 as “act of partaking in the sacrament of the Eucharist.” From 1610s as “intercourse between two or more.”
spacer
COMMUNION OF SAINTS
The communion of saints is a central concept in early Christian faith, and is supported by several Bible passages, including:
Romans 12 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Corinthians 12:12–27:
12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.
Ephesians 4:16:
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. spacer
early 15c., “to copulate” (of wolves, dogs), literally “to range (things) in a line,” from Old French alignier “set, lay in line” (Modern French aligner), from à “to” (see ad-) + lignier “to line,” from Latin lineare “reduce to a straight line,” from linea (see line (n.)). Transitive or reflexive sense of “fall into line” is from 1853. The international political sense is attested from 1934. The French spelling with -g- is unetymological, and aline was an early form in English. Related: Aligned; aligning. spacer
1530s, “action of coming together for a common purpose,” from Medieval Latin associationem (nominative associatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of associare “join with,” from assimilated form of ad “to” (see ad-) + sociare “unite with,” from socius “companion, ally” (from PIE *sokw-yo-, suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) “to follow”).The meaning “an organized body of persons with a common purpose” is from 1650s. The sense of “mental connection” is from 1680s; that of “quality or thing called to mind by something else” is from 1810. spacer
mid-15c., “join in company, combine intimately” (transitive), from Latin associatus past participle of associare “join with,” from assimilated form of ad “to” (see ad-) + sociare “unite with,” from socius “companion, ally” (from suffixed form of PIE root *sekw- (1) “to follow”). Related: Associated; associating.The intransitive sense of “have intercourse, be associated” is from 1640s. The earlier form of the verb was associen (late 14c.), from Old French associier “associate (with).” spacer
early 15c., “allied, connected, paired; joined in an interest, object, employment or purpose,” from Latin associatus, past participle of associare “join with,” from assimilated form of ad “to” (see ad-) + sociare “unite with,” from socius “companion, ally,” from PIE *sokw-yo-, suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) “to follow.” spacer
Guilt by association can be described as guilt ascribed to someone not because there is evidence against them but because of their association with someone who is guilty. The phrase can be used in a legal context, or it can be used casually to explain how we are like the company we keep.
spacer
1 Corinthians 11
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
27 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.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
Theologian takes a critical look at the Catholic Church’s Communion line policies
July 23rd, 2020 at 11:33 am (Europe\Rome). Updated July 23rd, 2020 at 05:55 pm (Europe\Rome)
Just to set the record straight, the simple truth is that it is not against Catholic doctrine for Protestants to receive Communion at Mass.
1. We believe that Baptism in the Protestant Churches gives exactly the same thing Baptism in the Catholic Church gives — the “state of grace”: divine life and the divine gifts of faith, hope, and love. We do not re-baptize Protestants who become Catholics.
2. Pope St. Pius X wrote in his Eucharistic decree, December 20, 1905, “No one who is in the state of grace and comes to the table of the Lord with a good attitude and devotion can be prohibited from receiving Communion.”
3. Therefore, any baptized Christian who has not rejected the grace of Baptism by doing something so evil it is called “deadly” or “mortal sin” (1John 5:16-17) is permitted by Catholic doctrine to receive Communion.
Pope John XXIII added: “We address, then, as brothers and sisters all who are separated from us, using the words of Saint Augustine: “Whether they wish it or not, they are our brothers and sisters. They cease to be our brothers and sisters only when they stop saying ‘Our Father’” (Ad Petri Cathedram, 86).
If Protestants are our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we are being inconsistent with our faith when we deny them a place together with us at our Father’s table.
It is true that Catholic policies—administrative rules that change according to time and place—sometimes add restrictions.
For example, in the Latin or Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, children are required to receive doctrinal instruction before their First Communion. In the Eastern Rites of the equally Catholic Church, babies are given Communion as soon as they are baptized.
These policies are based on practical considerations, and are not absolute. For example, no Roman Rite priest in his right mind would deny Communion to a baptized child in the hospital just for lack of the scheduled doctrinal instruction.
There are official policies that seem to deny Communion to non-Catholics. But Father Bernard Häring (1912-1998), whom some consider the greatest moral theologian of modern times, wrote about a Mass at which he presided while serving in the German army during World War II:
On the eve of the outset of the Russian war, I took it upon myself to celebrate the Eucharist and grant general absolution to soldiers of all faiths, most of whom participated.
Given the seriousness of the situation, and because all of us where one in Christ Jesus, I found it unthinkable, in fact, totally abhorrent,to uphold and maintain any distinctions between Catholics and Protestants.
Consequently, all the men, regardless of their faith persuasions, felt called to share in Communion” (Priesthood Imperiled, Triumph Books, p. 9).
Can you imagine anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with Jesus Christ refusing Communion to a young soldier about to face death, just because he wasn’t a formal member of the Catholic Church?
Many official policies—policies made in offices—appear acceptable within the isolated capsules of bureaucratic management. But they lose all connection with religion and rationality when brought down to earth in the mud and blood of the battlefield.
John Paul II gave communion in the Vatican to Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England, while he was still an Anglican. At John Paul’s funeral, Pope Benedict XVI gave Communion to Brother Roger, a Presbyterian founder of the ecumenical monastery of Taizè.
That should be enough to settle the question. But let’s develop it a little further.
Are we one in faith?
It is Catholic teaching that all who are baptized with water “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” receive exactly the same gift—the “grace” of sharing in the divine life of God—without any difference. All are equally Christians. All receive the same gifts of divine faith, hope, and love.
But after the Protestant Reformation, we began to speak and act as if there were a difference between being baptized into the “Catholic Church” or into a “Protestant” Church.
There is a difference, but it is not in Baptism itself. Nor is there any difference in the gift of faith that we receive.
By the divine gift of faith we know what only God knows, in a way no creature can possibly know it. For that we have to share in God’s own act of knowing. Jesus made that clear: “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 11:27).
To know God as he is, you have to be God. To know God as Father you have to be God the Son. So when Jesus adds, “and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” he is saying the Son lets us know the Father as he himself does in the only way possible; that is, by letting us share in his own divine act of knowing. That gift is the “mystery of faith.”
When Protestants and Catholics receive the gift of divine life and divine faith through Baptism, there is no difference between us.
But when the wordless light of faith given in Baptism is translated into human thoughts and words, there can be differences in the human expression of the same truth that is in the hearts of all, and in the way people will be taught to live out the gift of divine life each receives at Baptism.
This makes a real and practical difference on the level of “religion” (doctrines, rules and practices). But on the level of the deep mystery of the gift of faith given at, all Christians are the same.
While these differences are important — because we need to be both human and divine in the way we understand and live our religion — they should not make us forget that, down deep, consciously or not, on the level of the divine life of grace that we share, we are all the same.
Whenever and wherever we find evidence of God’s light shining in others, whether they are consciously Christians or not, we experience “communion in the Holy Spirit.”
All the Catholic bishops in the world affirmed this during the Second Vatican Council, which met in Vatican City from 1962 to 1965:
People who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church even though this communion is imperfect.
The differences that exist in varying degrees between them and the Catholic Church – whether in doctrine and sometimes in discipline, or concerning the structure of the Church – do indeed create many obstacles, sometimes serious ones, to full ecclesiastical communion.
The ecumenical movement is striving to overcome these obstacles. But even in spite of them it remains true that all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ’s body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers and sisters by the children of the Catholic Church (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3).
We could stop right here and ask if it is consistent with our belief to ban from the Father’s table those who are “accepted as brothers and sisters by the children of the Catholic Church” because they are children of the same Father.
The foundation of our essential unity is the Truth all Christians believe and mystically know by what Saint John of the Cross calls “the dark light” of faith. What we understand humanly by translating our faith into human words can be misleading.
Recognizing this, the bishops urged theologians “to seek continually for more suitable ways of communicating doctrine to the people of their times. For the ‘deposit of faith,’ or revealed truths, are one thing; the manner in which they are formulated… is another” (Gaudium et spes, 62).
A special problem
People often make this objection: “But many Protestants don’t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.”
As Catholics, however, conscious of the mystery of faith and grace in them, we would say, without arrogance, that they really do believe in the real presence. They just don’t know they do.
The Eastern Rites of the united Catholic Church give Communion to babies as soon as they are baptized. Do these babies have an explicit and conscious faith in the doctrine of transubstantiation?
Could they say, even if old enough to speak, “This is the real Body of Jesus”? No, but they do have faith, because it was given to them as a gift at Baptism.
That gift is the light of God in their hearts empowering them to believe everything God has revealed.
By that gift we must say the babies already believe truths they have not yet learned and are not mature enough either to understand or express. One of them is the real presence of Jesus in Eucharist.
Protestant babies, who receive the same gifts of divine faith, hope and love at Baptism that Catholic babies do, already, in a way deeper than human consciousness, share in Christ’s own act of knowing.
Like all whom grace has made “children of God,” they know the Father as their Father, as only God the Son can know him (see Matthew 11: 27). And in the same preconscious way, they share in Christ’s knowledge that the Eucharist is his real Body and Blood.
But for this knowledge to translate itself into explicit human thoughts and words, further maturity and education are necessary.
In Catholic families that give proper instruction, children are taught the words that are the correct expression of the mystical knowledge in their hearts.
In Protestant families they may be taught other words that translate inadequately or even falsely this mystical knowledge that is theirs through the divine gift of faith. This may trigger some warning “ping” of conflict deep within them, but it is not certain they will notice it.
So in words they may translate their faith into expressions that are false; for example, denying that the bread and wine on the altar are anything more than a sign of fellowship.
So they are not “in full communion” with us in the Catholic Church.
But neither are they in full, conscious communion with themselves: with the gift and light of faith that is, in fact, shining in their hearts.
That is why Catholics say Protestants really do believe in the real presence of Jesus in Eucharist. They just don’t know they do.
That is why many who “convert” to Catholicism say they don’t feel they have changed so much as entered into conscious realization of what they already knew.
I asked a Baptist minister once, “Do you believe everything in the Bible?”
“Yes.”
“Suppose there is something in the Bible that is obscure, or might have a different meaning than the one you recognize. Do you believe what the Bible really means to say, even if it is different from your understanding?”
“Of course.” he said, “Whatever God is saying in the Bible, that is what I believe, whether I understand it correctly or not.”
“Fine,” I told him. “Then we Catholics know that, in reality, you believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, because we know that is what the Bible actually says. You just don’t know it yet.”
And I added, “As far as your faith is concerned, no informed Catholic would have any problem in giving you Communion.”
This is not to say that conscious and orthodox understanding and interpretation of the Bible is not important. It is just to say that education is not on the same level of importance as the mystery of grace, and that what we can articulate in words is not identical with what the Holy Spirit is crying out in our hearts.
The gift of sharing in God’s own act of knowing comes without a vocabulary. If we are primarily, sincerely and unconditionally committed to the truth of God’s divine light within us, the cultural filter through which that light passes into words—even when, without our fault, the words distort and deny it—cannot extinguish the light itself or make us guilty of rejecting it.
As the Council bishops declared: “The children who are born into these [separated] Communities and who grow up believing in Christ cannot be accused of the sin involved in the separation —for which, often enough, people on both sides were to blame — and the Catholic Church embraces them as brothers and sisters.”
A misinterpretation of Scripture
Some people base their objection to sharing Communion on an obsolete interpretation of 1Corinthians 11, 27 where Paul says: “All who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner… without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.”
They think this means not recognizing the real presence of Jesus in Eucharist. But the Jerome Biblical Commentary says that in this text Paul “has in mind the lack of loving concern for one another displayed by the Corinthians” who separated the rich from the poor when celebrating the Eucharistic meal.
The phrase “discerning the body” refers to recognizing Christ in others, especially in the poor.
That recognition is “the criterion by which believers must judge themselves. They must evaluate the authenticity of their relationships to other members of the body of Christ” before they can judge whether their reception of his Eucharistic body is authentic.
Is it farfetched to say that we are failing to “discern the body” whenever we exclude from the table of the Lord other baptized children of the Father, as the Corinthians did when they discriminated against the poor?
Is it a lesser discrimination to assign people second-class status at Mass because, instead of their bodies, their faith, though real, is clothed in a less sophisticated human expression with holes in it?
Or to say that, even though in their hearts they love God in a way only grace can explain, they are less “acceptable” than we are because they are not legally “in good standing” with the Church? Do we, for that reason, let them go hungry while we feast on the Body and Blood of the Lord?
I sometimes think that if Jesus were to join the Communion line, he would bow his head and cross his hands over his heart for a blessing, as we invite the “unworthy” to do, just to show his solidarity with all those he died for.
To be consistent with Catholic teaching, if we are aware of what we really believe about the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”—that it is “the favor of sharing in the divine life and divine knowledge of God”—we will not be so quick to say Protestants deny the real presence of Jesus in Eucharist, even if they claim they do!
A matter of perspective
Even though the Catholic Church embraces Protestants as brothers and sisters, whom logically we should invite to sit down at the family table, nevertheless, by current policy, many pastors do not give Communion to Protestants.
We should be aware that when we observe this policy, we are focusing on the divisive historical event of the Protestant Reformation and on the sociologically observable differences in doctrine and discipline that make our communion with each other imperfect.
But by that very fact we are not focusing on the real communion we actually do have by affirming together what we do have in common; that is, almost all of the elements basic to our common Christian tradition.
The Vatican II bishops underlined our unity:
The Church recognizes that in many ways she is linked with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter.
For there are many who honor Sacred Scripture, taking it as a norm of belief and a pattern of life, and who show a sincere zeal.
They lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in Christ, the Son of God and Savior. They are consecrated by Baptism, in which they are united with Christ….
Likewise we can say that in some real way they are joined with us in the Holy Spirit, for to them too He gives His gifts and graces whereby He is operative among them with His sanctifying power.
Some indeed He has strengthened to the extent of the shedding of their blood.
In all of Christ’s disciples the Spirit arouses the desire to be peacefully united, in the manner determined by Christ, as one flock under one shepherd, and He prompts them to pursue this end.
Mother Church never ceases to pray, hope and work that this may come about. She exhorts her children to purification and renewal so that the sign of Christ may shine more brightly over the face of the earth (Lumen gentium, 15).
If we receive Communion together, that seems to deny the lack of perfect communion between us.
If we do not receive Communion together, that seems to deny the greater communion that does exist between us. We are faced with the choice of focusing on the cup half empty or the cup half full.
We must recognize that to focus on the cup half empty takes our eyes off of the glory and mystery we are celebrating at Mass. That is the divine mystery of what we all are and all have become through Baptism and the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
At Communion time, we can choose to focus on that mystery, in which we are all one, or we can focus on the human, “sociological” differences in doctrinal expression and disciplinary practice that divide us.
Which of these two perspectives would make us more aware of the mystery of the Mass: going up to Communion with others who are not Catholic, but who have become the body of Christ by receiving the divine life of God through the mystery of Baptism; or going up segregated and leaving our doctrinally confused brothers and sisters behind as if their Baptism had never happened and God’s life is not in them?
Pope Francis said during a 2014 meeting with the L’Arche Community: “We are sinning against Christ’s will because we continue to focus on our differences,” but “our shared Baptism is more important than our differences.”
And he said to the Fraternity of Charismatic Communities that same year:
“We must not forget that today the blood of Jesus, shed by his many Christian martyrs in various parts of the world, challenges and drives us to unity.
“For the persecutors we are not divided: we are not Lutherans, Orthodox, Evangelicals, Catholics. No! We are one! For the persecutors we are Christians! Nothing else matters. What we are living today is the ecumenism of blood.”
Christ’s blood is the blood of the New Covenant, the “new and eternal covenant” that makes us one.
David M. Knight is a senior priest of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis (USA) and the leader of Immersed in Christ, a movement for spiritual growth based on the five mysteries of Baptism. A former Jesuit, he has a doctorate in theology, 50 years of ministerial experience in 19 countries, and 40 books in print. He speaks four languages.
The truth is finally coming out. The ultimate goal of ecumenism is for Protestants to accept the highest expression of the Catholic faith—and that is to receive the so-called Holy Eucharist in the presence of a Catholic priest. If you go down the path of ecumenism, it will change your allegiance, lead you to give up your own religious identity, cause you to accept Rome’s teachings, and force you to put aside your differences with her.
Meg Giordano is a Protestant professor who teaches at the Le Moyne College, a Jesuit institution in Syracuse, New York. In an article published by the Jesuit Magazine, America, Meg Giordano promoted the idea of Catholics and Protestants celebrating together in a shared communion as a step towards Christian unity. According to Jesuit professor Giordano, the Eucharist is the essence of all Christian identity and transcends denominational differences, so both Catholics and Protestants can partake in it without violating their traditions. Professor Giordano says that the Eucharist should be a meeting point between the two faiths rather than emphasizing their individual, distinctive religious identities, which she claims only serves to further divide people.
The Jesuit Magazine, America, published the following article titled “A Call for Catholics and Protestants to Receive Communion—Side by Side” on November 7, 2024:
• “I teach philosophy at a Jesuit liberal arts college. I am an ecumenical chaplain at that same Jesuit school, where I have also been a mentor in the Manresa program, an undergraduate community inspired by Ignatian spirituality for examining one’s place in the world. My research work is in medieval theology, with a particular focus on Thomas Aquinas. My most meaningful peer-group interactions are with Catholic theologians. However, here’s the thing: I am Protestant.” [1]
• “Pope Francis, in an address to an ecumenical youth initiative in New York in 2022, ‘Community at the Crossing,’ stated: ‘Love is stronger than all the disagreements and divisions … Jesus Christ is a bond that is stronger and deeper than our cultures, our political opinions, and even than our doctrines.” [1]
• “Catholics and Protestants serve together, worship together, study and wrestle with belief together and grow in Christlike spirituality together. It has been beautiful.” [1]
• “With one exception. There is one particular area of Christian experience that distresses me insofar as Catholics and Protestants are kept distinct and separate from each other by it. This is the experience of the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper.” [1]
• “What I have in mind is the idea of Catholics and Protestants sharing the experience of partaking in the Eucharist each according to their tradition—that is, side by side in a shared space with a Catholic priest serving the consecrated Eucharist to Catholic believers alongside a Protestant minister serving the Communion elements to Protestant believers.” [1]
• “As Pope Francis said, ‘Jesus Christ is a bond that is stronger and deeper even than our doctrines.’ We might understand this bond not only as the power and love of Christ overcoming differences, but also, and perhaps most important of all, as the desire of Christ. Our unity is what he wanted, what he asked the Father for. I grieve, and even worry, that this particular thing Christ asked for we are neglecting, even though we do so in the name of honoring him. [1]
• “For love of Christ, and love of his church, I will continue to hope for this experience, and continue to ask for it … Maybe next time, maybe next year, we’ll all eat the meal together.” [1]
This is Jesuit Ignatian philosophy being taught by a so-called Protestant professor in a Jesuit university. In a Jesuit magazine, Meg Giordano is promoting Jesuit ecumenism to Protestants. We are told that doctrine is irrelevant and that the main focus should be on Jesus, the central figure in the Catholic Eucharist. By the standards of the 16th-century Reformation, Meg Giordano is not a Protestant. She is a professor with Jesuit training who is well-versed in Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual philosophy, which, if accepted, will bring our Protestant heritage to an end and cause us to kneel before Rome.
The Jesuit philosophy of ignoring doctrine and focusing on Jesus is one of the most popular messages circulating in the Christian world. Tragically, it is the same Ignatian thinking that has been making its way into Adventism thanks to Ganoune Diop.
In the video above, General Conference Public Affairs and Religious Liberty leader Ganoune Diop promotes the same theories as Jesuit professor Meg Giordano, who cited Jesuit Pope Francis and the idea that Jesus is more important than doctrine.
Here is the problem with Diop’s stated position that he will preach only Jesus and not the messages of the Three Angels. It is the same problem with Ignatian philosophy, the ecumenical movement and the message of Pope Francis. Christ cannot be separated from His teachings and warnings. When you try to separate Christ from the doctrines he taught, you strip him of who he is, what he stands for, and what he is against. Without the teaching of Christ in both the gospel and the book of Revelation, which is a “revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1), the image of Jesus is reduced to everyone’s own personal preferences rather than by the biblical record.
“The present truth, the special message given to our world, even the third angel’s message, comprehends a vast field, containing heavenly treasures. No one can be excusable who says, I will no longer have anything to do with these special messages; I will preach Christ. No one can preach Christ, and present the truth as it is in Jesus, unless he presents the truths that are to come before the people at the present time, when such important developments are taking place” (Voice in Speech and Song, p. 325).
The Three Angels’ Messages, found in Revelation 14:6–12, are absolutely foundational to Seventh-day Adventist theology and identity. These messages—emphasizing the call to worship God as Creator, the warning against spiritual Babylon, and the command to resist the “mark of the beast”—are seen as a divine mandate to prepare the world for Jesus’ imminent return. Seventh-day Adventists believe that these messages, together with the “everlasting gospel,” are the church’s unique, God-given mission to proclaim to the world.
Because these messages are so integral to the Adventist faith, neglecting to preach them in their full biblical context would be seen as abandoning the essence of Adventism. For Adventists, these messages are not optional teachings but are essential to their prophetic identity; without embracing and sharing them, one cannot truly uphold the mission and beliefs that define the Adventist movement.
Rome knows this, and that is why the Jesuits are pushing the ecumenical movement’s final endgame, which is to silence the witness and erase the messages of Revelation 14:6-12 and our history in order to bring us into Eucharistic worship at the feet of a Catholic priest. The world is coming together with the “man of sin, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The division that once existed between Protestants and Catholics is coming to an end, even as the Pope still claims universal supremacy over all people.
Today, we are seeing an explosion in ecumenical activity and interfaith worship. Basically, the religious world is responding to Rome’s call for the reunification of all the churches issued during Vatican II. The problem is that this movement is telling us to forget the past and to ignore doctrine. Your beliefs are irrelevant because we are all a part of the same large, worldwide family.
Seventh-day Adventists around the world need to stand up to the global ecumenical movement and its advances within Adventism. We must categorically reject Rome’s universal fraternity that is still infiltrating our movement. It is time for God’s people to remain steadfast in their faith until the end.
I am going to do what I do as I have been doing freely, but if you feel convicted to help me out you can donate below. Just know that I am going to preach about what I am convicted by God to preach and not according to what donators what me to preach. so, Only donate if you want to support what I am already preaching. Thank you. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PH447Z4FEF9UW You want to prepare for the tribulation? Stop storing up food and water and start getting ready to get your head lopped off with a smile. No joke. The mark of the beast shows you that the dispensations have changed. You cannot be saved by grace through faith when the mark of the beast is being mandated to the whole world. Whoever takes the mark of the beast is damned with no hope of salvation. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can take the mark of the beast with faith in Jesus and be saved. The time to be saved by grace through faith alone is right now; by the time the mark of the beast is mandated you will have to choose to suffer and die instead of taking it to save your soul. Do you want to get saved and go to heaven when you die, or when the rapture happens? You need to realize you do not deserve heaven. We need to be perfect to go to heaven. We all deserve hell and we need to humble ourselves to accept this fact. Jesus, being the only begotten Son of God, loved you enough to trade lives with you. He took your onto Himself with all your sins and shed His blood to take away the punishment for you and take that blood to cleanse you of your sins. He raised from the dead three days later to justifiy you and give you His life in exchange. His perfect, sinless, righteous life. You just need to believe this in your heart. Believe that God loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. Drop down to your knees and pray to Jesus now to save your retched soul and accept Him as your savior and thank Him for His love and forgiveness. (John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.) Incase I get shutdown check me out on Bitchute, Rumble and MeWe with the following links. https://www.bitchute.com/channel/b4Zpfm2sHj2A/https://rumble.com/user/SomeGuyJdhttps://mewe.com/i/jdmorin Also check out my TikTok.UserName: JesusGivesYouCojones https://rumble.com/vhdl3l-you-have-been-warned-2nd-edition.html #Jesus #Bible Prophecy #GetSaved #EndOfTheWorld #Rapture #Christian #666 #Dispensationalism
I am going to do what I do as I have been doing freely, but if you feel convicted to help me out you can donate below. Just know that I am going to preach about what I am convicted by God to preach and not according to what donators what me to preach. so, Only donate if you want to support what I am already preaching. Thank you. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PH447Z4FEF9UW (Joh 6:28) Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? (Joh 6:29) Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (Joh 6:39) And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (Joh 6:40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (Joh 5:24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Incase I get shutdown, or suspended again, check me out on Bitchute, Rumble and so on with the following links. (Also youtube user: JesusGivesYouBalls) https://www.bitchute.com/channel/b4Zpfm2sHj2A/https://rumble.com/user/SomeGuyJdhttps://mewe.com/i/jdmorin Also check out my TikTok.UserName: TheDogDeuce Here is my Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/thedogdeuce/https://rumble.com/vhdl3l-you-have-been-warned-2nd-edition.html #Jesus #Bible Prophecy #GetSaved #EndOfTheWorld #Rapture #Christian #666 #Dispensationalism
Finally someone preaching the truth of Jesus’s crucifixion. Jesus destroyed sin and death with the Spiritual sacrifice transformation from the Earthly sacrifice of the Old Testament. The Veil of the Temple was rent in twain. Matthew 27:51.
Jesus didn’t die and didn’t resurrect from the dead, Death and sin died. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians-Chapter-15/
(Joh 6:28) Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? (Joh 6:29) Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (Joh 6:39) And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (Joh 6:40) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (Joh 5:24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Incase I get shutdown, or suspended again, check me out on Bitchute, Rumble and so on with the following links. (Also youtube user: JesusGivesYouBalls) https://www.bitchute.com/channel/b4Zpfm2sHj2A/https://rumble.com/user/SomeGuyJdhttps://mewe.com/i/jdmorin Also check out my TikTok.UserName: JesusGivesYouCojones https://rumble.com/vhdl3l-you-have-been-warned-2nd-edition.html #Jesus #Bible Prophecy #GetSaved #EndOfTheWorld #Rapture #Christian #666 #Dispensationalism
Unity with Rome will be accomplished through the Eucharist. Already, many Protestants, Baptists, Evangelical and Emergent churches are comfortable with the idea of the Eucharist. They think it’s the same as the Lord’s Supper. Unity with Rome will be accomplished through the Eucharist. Already, many Protestants, Baptists, Evangelical and Emergent churches are comfortable with the idea of the Eucharist. They think it’s the same as the Lord’s Supper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK_7Mb3iEvw
📖 Follow along with the official Catechism in a Year Reading Plan (https://AscensionPress.com/CIY) We continue our examination of the sacrament of the Eucharist, specifically how we worship the Eucharist. Fr. Mike examines how we, as Catholics, worship Christ’s true and real presence in the Eucharist. He emphasizes how incredibly important the worship of Christ in the Eucharist is, specifically in Adoration. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1378-1383. Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children – parental discretion is advised. Ascension is committed to creating media that helps Catholics grow in their faith. Catechism in a Year promises to do just that — that’s why, no matter what, we’re making it. This podcast is free and always will be. But, we have limited resources. With funding from generous supporters like you, we can do even more than simply create the podcast. Would you consider supporting Ascension’s free media? https://tinyurl.com/2s4bh77b. No amount is too small! Although not tax-deductible, the financial support we receive goes towards the creation of podcasts and videos that help Catholics grow in their faith. If you’d like to learn more about what we do with gifting, go to https://AscensionPress.com/pages/Supp…. Thank you and God bless you! — MORE FROM ASCENSION — 🔸Shop Ascension: (https://tinyurl.com/mrxbzx53) 🔸Ascension Free Media: (https://Media.AscensionPress.com) 🔸The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Ascension Edition: (https://tinyurl.com/y4e7as84) — SOCIAL MEDIA — 🔸Facebook: (https://Facebook.com/AscensionPress) 🔸Twitter: (https://Twitter.com/AscensionPress) 🔸LinkedIn: (https://LinkedIn.com/company/Ascensio…) 🔸Instagram: (https://Instagram.com/CatholicFaithFo…) If you’d like to contribute to Fr. Mike’s campus ministry in Duluth, MN, visit https://BullDogCatholic.org/donate/
The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic Questions and Answers Produced by the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and approved by the full body of bishops at their June 2001 General Meeting.
The text is authorized for publication by the undersigned. Monsignor William P. Fay General Secretary, USCCB
Introduction
The Lord Jesus, on the night before he suffered on the cross, shared one last meal with his disciples. During this meal our Savior instituted the sacrament of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages and to entrust to the Church his Spouse a memorial of his death and resurrection. As the Gospel of Matthew tells us:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:26-28; cf. Mk 14:22-24, Lk 22:17-20, 1 Cor 11:23-25)
Recalling these words of Jesus, the Catholic Church professes that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. . . . For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:51-55). The whole Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine—the glorified Christ who rose from the dead after dying for our sins. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence of Christ in the Eucharist is called “real” not to exclude other types of his presence as if they could not be understood as real (cf. Catechism, no. 1374). The risen Christ is present to his Church in many ways, but most especially through the sacrament of his Body and Blood.
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine? How does this happen? The presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is an inexhaustible mystery that the Church can never fully explain in words. We must remember that the triune God is the creator of all that exists and has the power to do more than we can possibly imagine. As St. Ambrose said: “If the word of the Lord Jesus is so powerful as to bring into existence things which were not, then a fortiori those things which already exist can be changed into something else” ( De Sacramentis, IV, 5-16). God created the world in order to share his life with persons who are not God. This great plan of salvation reveals a wisdom that surpasses our understanding. But we are not left in ignorance: for out of his love for us, God reveals his truth to us in ways that we can understand through the gift of faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are thus enabled to understand at least in some measure what would otherwise remain unknown to us, though we can never completely comprehend the mystery of God.
As successors of the Apostles and teachers of the Church, the bishops have the duty to hand on what God has revealed to us and to encourage all members of the Church to deepen their understanding of the mystery and gift of the Eucharist. In order to foster such a deepening of faith, we have prepared this text to respond to fifteen questions that commonly arise with regard to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We offer this text to pastors and religious educators to assist them in their teaching responsibilities. We recognize that some of these questions involve rather complex theological ideas. It is our hope, however, that study and discussion of the text will aid many of the Catholic faithful in our country to enrich their understanding of this mystery of the faith.
1.Why does Jesus give himself to us as food and drink?Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual nourishment because he loves us. God’s whole plan for our salvation is directed to our participation in the life of the Trinity, the communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our sharing in this life begins with our Baptism, when by the power of the Holy Spirit we are joined to Christ, thus becoming adopted sons and daughters of the Father. It is strengthened and increased in Confirmation. It is nourished and deepened through our participation in the Eucharist. By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). In being united to the humanity of Christ we are at the same time united to his divinity. Our mortal and corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of life. “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57). By being united to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are drawn up into the eternal relationship of love among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As Jesus is the eternal Son of God by nature, so we become sons and daughters of God by adoption through the sacrament of Baptism. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation (Chrismation), we are temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, and by his indwelling we are made holy by the gift of sanctifying grace. The ultimate promise of the Gospel is that we will share in the life of the Holy Trinity. The Fathers of the Church called this participation in the divine life “divinization” ( theosis). In this we see that God does not2. merely send us good things from on high; instead, we are brought up into the inner life of God, the communion among the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the celebration of the Eucharist (which means “thanksgiving”) we give praise and glory to God for this sublime gift.
2.Why is the Eucharist not only a meal but also a sacrifice?While our sins would have made it impossible for us to share in the life of God, Jesus Christ was sent to remove this obstacle. His death was a sacrifice for our sins. Christ is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). Through his death and resurrection, he conquered sin and death and reconciled us to God. The Eucharist is the memorial of this sacrifice. The Church gathers to remember and to re-present the sacrifice of Christ in which we share through the action of the priest and the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the celebration of the Eucharist, we are joined to Christ’s sacrifice and receive its inexhaustible benefits. As the Letter to the Hebrews explains, Jesus is the one eternal high priest who always lives to make intercession for the people before the Father. In this way, he surpasses the many high priests who over centuries used to offer sacrifices for sin in the Jerusalem temple. The eternal high priest Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice which is his very self, not something else. “He entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12). Jesus’ act belongs to human history, for he is truly human and has entered into history. At the same time, however, Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; he is the eternal Son, who is not confined within time or history. His actions transcend time, which is part of creation. “Passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation” (Heb 9:11), Jesus the eternal Son of God made his act of sacrifice in the presence of his Father, who lives in eternity. Jesus’ one perfect sacrifice is thus eternally present before the Father, who eternally accepts it. This means that in the Eucharist, Jesus does not sacrifice himself again and again. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit his one eternal sacrifice is made present once again, re-presented, so that we may share in it. Christ does not have to leave where he is in heaven to be with us. Rather, we partake of the heavenly liturgy where Christ eternally intercedes for us and presents his sacrifice to the Father and where the angels and saints constantly glorify God and give thanks for all his gifts: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever” (Rev 5:13). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “By the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all” (no. 1326). The Sanctus proclamation, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord . . . ,” is the song of the angels who are in the presence of God (Is 6:3). When in the Eucharist we proclaim the Sanctus we echo on earth the song of angels as they worship God in heaven. In the eucharistic celebration we do not simply remember an event in history. Rather, through the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit in the eucharistic celebration the Lord’s Paschal Mystery is made present and contemporaneous to his Spouse the Church. Furthermore, in the eucharistic re-presentation of Christ’s eternal sacrifice before the Father, we are not simply spectators. The priest and the worshiping community are in different ways active in the eucharistic sacrifice. The ordained priest standing at the altar represents Christ as head of the Church. All the baptized, as members of Christ’s Body, share in his priesthood, as both priest and victim. The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church, which is the Body and Bride of Christ, participates in the sacrificial offering of her Head and Spouse. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ becomes the sacrifice of the members of his Body who united to Christ form one sacrificial offering (cf. Catechism, no. 1368). As Christ’s sacrifice is made sacramentally present, united with Christ, we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to the Father. “The whole Church exercises the role of priest and victim along with Christ, offering the Sacrifice of the Mass and itself completely offered in it” ( Mysterium Fidei, no. 31; cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 11).
3.When the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, why do they still look and taste like bread and wine?In the celebration of the Eucharist, the glorified Christ becomes present under the appearances of bread and wine in a way that is unique, a way that is uniquely suited to the Eucharist. In the Church’s traditional theological language, in the act of consecration during the Eucharist the “substance” of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the “substance” of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the “accidents” or appearances of bread and wine remain. “Substance” and “accident” are here used as philosophical terms that have been adapted by great medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in their efforts to understand and explain the faith. Such terms are used to convey the fact that what appears to be bread and wine in every way (at the level of “accidents” or physical attributes – that is, what can be seen, touched, tasted, or measured) in fact is now the Body and Blood of Christ (at the level of “substance” or deepest reality). This change at the level of substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is called “transubstantiation.” According to Catholic faith, we can speak of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because this transubstantiation has occurred (cf. Catechism, no. 1376). This is a great mystery of our faith—we can only know it from Christ’s teaching given us in the Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church. Every other change that occurs in the world involves a change in accidents or characteristics. Sometimes the accidents change while the substance remains the same. For example, when a child reaches adulthood, the characteristics of the human person change in many ways, but the adult remains the same person—the same substance. At other times, the substance and the accidents both change. For example, when a person eats an apple, the apple is incorporated into the body of that person—is changed into the body of that person. When this change of substance occurs, however, the accidents or characteristics of the apple do not remain. As the apple is changed into the body of the person, it takes on the accidents or characteristics of the body of that person. Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is unique in that, even though the consecrated bread and wine truly are in substance the Body and Blood of Christ, they have none of the accidents or characteristics of a human body, but only those of bread and wine.
4. Does the bread cease to be bread and the wine cease to be wine?Yes. In order for the whole Christ to be present—body, blood, soul, and divinity—the bread and wine cannot remain, but must give way so that his glorified Body and Blood may be present. Thus in the Eucharist the bread ceases to be bread in substance, and becomes the Body of Christ, while the wine ceases to be wine in substance, and becomes the Blood of Christ. As St. Thomas Aquinas observed, Christ is not quoted as saying, ” This bread is my body,” but ” This is my body” ( Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5).
5. Is it fitting that Christ’s Body and Blood become present in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine?Yes, for this way of being present corresponds perfectly to the sacramental celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ gives himself to us in a form that employs the symbolism inherent in eating bread and drinking wine. Furthermore, being present under the appearances ofbread and wine, Christ gives himself to us in a form that is appropriate for human eating and drinking. Also, this kind of presence corresponds to the virtue of faith, for the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ cannot be detected or discerned by any way other than faith. That is why St. Bonaventure affirmed: “There is no difficulty over Christ’s being present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so believing this is especially meritorious” ( In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I). On the authority of God who reveals himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot be grasped by our human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).
6. Are the consecrated bread and wine “merely symbols”?In everyday language, we call a “symbol” something that points beyond itself to something else, often to several other realities at once. The transformed bread and wine that are the Body and Blood of Christ are not merely symbols because they truly are the Body and Blood of Christ. As St. John Damascene wrote: “The bread and wine are not a foreshadowing of the body and blood of Christ—By no means!—but the actual deified body of the Lord, because the Lord Himself said: ‘This is my body’; not ‘a foreshadowing of my body’ but ‘my body,’ and not ‘a foreshadowing of my blood’ but ‘my blood'” ( The Orthodox Faith, IV [PG 94, 1148-49]). At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that the Body and Blood of Christ come to us in the Eucharist in a sacramental form. In other words, Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine, not in his own proper form. We cannot presume to know all the reasons behind God’s actions. God uses, however, the symbolism inherent in the eating of bread and the drinking of wine at the natural level to illuminate the meaning of what is being accomplished in the Eucharist through Jesus Christ. There are various ways in which the symbolism of eating bread and drinking wine discloses the meaning of the Eucharist. For example, just as natural food gives nourishment to the body, so the eucharistic food gives spiritual nourishment. Furthermore, the sharing of an ordinary meal establishes a certain communion among the people who share it; in the Eucharist, the People of God share a meal that brings them into communion not only with each other but with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similarly, as St. Paul tells us, the single loaf that is shared among many during the eucharistic meal is an indication of the unity of those who have been called together by the Holy Spirit as one body, the Body of Christ (1 Cor 10:17). To take another example, the individual grains of wheat and individual grapes have to be harvested and to undergo a process of grinding or crushing before they are unified as bread and as wine. Because of this, bread and wine point to both the union of the many that takes place in the Body of Christ and the suffering undergone by Christ, a suffering that must also be embraced by his disciples. Much more could be said about the many ways in which the eating of bread and drinking of wine symbolize what God does for us through Christ, since symbols carry multiple meanings and connotations.
7. Do the consecrated bread and wine cease to be the Body and Blood of Christ when the Mass is over? No. During the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and this they remain. They cannot turn back into bread and wine, for they are no longer bread and wine at all. There is thus no reason for them to change back to their “normal” state after the special circumstances of the Mass are past. Once the substance has really changed, the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ “endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist” ( Catechism, no. 1377). Against those who maintained that the bread that is consecrated during the Eucharist has no sanctifying power if it is left over until the next day, St. Cyril of Alexandria replied, “Christ is not altered, nor is his holy body changed, but the power of the consecration and his life-giving grace is perpetual in it” ( Letter 83, to Calosyrius, Bishop of Arsinoe [ PG 76, 1076]). The Church teaches that Christ remains present under the appearances of bread and wine as long as the appearances of bread and wine remain (cf. Catechism, no. 1377).
8. Why are some of the consecrated hosts reserved after the Mass?While it would be possible to eat all of the bread that is consecrated during the Mass, some is usually kept in the tabernacle. The Body of Christ under the appearance of bread that is kept or “reserved” after the Mass is commonly referred to as the “Blessed Sacrament.” There are several pastoral reasons for reserving the Blessed Sacrament. First of all, it is used for distribution to the dying ( Viaticum), the sick, and those who legitimately cannot be present for the celebration of the Eucharist. Secondly, the Body of Christ in the form of bread is to be adored when it is exposed, as in the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, when it is carried in eucharistic processions, or when it is simply placed in the tabernacle, before which people pray privately. These devotions are based on the fact that Christ himself is present under the appearance of bread. Many holy people well known to American Catholics, such as St. John Neumann, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Katharine Drexel, and Blessed Damien of Molokai, practiced great personal devotion to Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, devotion to the reserved Blessed Sacrament is practiced most directly at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, offered on weekdays of Lent.
9. What are appropriate signs of reverence with respect to the Body and Blood of Christ? The Body and Blood of Christ present under the appearances of bread and wine are treated with the greatest reverence both during and after the celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Mysterium Fidei, nos. 56-61). For example, the tabernacle in which the consecrated bread is reserved is placed “in some part of the church or oratory which is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer” ( Code of Canon Law, Can. 938, §2). According to the tradition of the Latin Church, one should genuflect in the presence of the tabernacle containing the reserved sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the traditional practice is to make the sign of the cross and to bow profoundly. The liturgical gestures from both traditions reflect reverence, respect, and adoration. It is appropriate for the members of the assembly to greet each other in the gathering space of the church (that is, the vestibule or narthex), but it is not appropriate to speak in loud or boisterous tones in the body of the church (that is, the nave) because of the presence of Christ in the tabernacle. Also, the Church requires everyone to fast before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ as a sign of reverence and recollection (unless illness prevents one from doing so). In the Latin Church, one must generally fast for at least one hour; members of Eastern Catholic Churches must follow the practice established by their own Church.
10. If someone without faith eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ? If “to receive” means “to consume,” the answer is yes, for what the person consumes is the Body and Blood of Christ. If “to receive” means “to accept the Body and Blood of Christ knowingly and willingly as what they are, so as to obtain the spiritual benefit,” then theanswer is no. A lack of faith on the part of the person eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ cannot change what these are, but it does prevent the person from obtaining the spiritual benefit, which is communion with Christ. Such reception of Christ’s Body and Blood would be in vain and, if done knowingly, would be sacrilegious (1 Cor 11:29). Reception of the Blessed Sacrament is not an automatic remedy. If we do not desire communion with Christ, God does not force this upon us. Rather, we must by faith accept God’s offer of communion in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with God’s grace in order to have our hearts and minds transformed and our faith and love of God increased. 11. 12. 13. 14.
11. If a believer who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ? Yes. The attitude or disposition of the recipient cannot change what the consecrated bread and wine are. The question here is thus not primarily about the nature of the Real Presence, but about how sin affects the relationship between an individual and the Lord. Before one steps forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, one needs to be in a right relationship with the Lord and his Mystical Body, the Church – that is, in a state of grace, free of all mortal sin. While sin damages, and can even destroy, that relationship, the sacrament of Penance can restore it. St. Paul tells us that “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup” (1 Cor 11:27-28). Anyone who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin should be reconciled through the sacrament of Penance before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, unless a grave reason exists for doing so and there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, that is, an act of sorrow for sins that “arises from a love by which God is loved above all else” ( Catechism, no. 1452). The act of perfect contrition must be accompanied by the firm intention of making a sacramental confession as soon as possible.
12. Does one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under a single form? Yes. Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is wholly present under the appearance either of bread or of wine in the Eucharist. Furthermore, Christ is wholly present in any fragment of the consecrated Host or in any drop of the Precious Blood. Nevertheless, it is especially fitting to receive Christ in both forms during the celebration of the Eucharist. This allows the Eucharist to appear more perfectly as a banquet, a banquet that is a foretaste of the banquet that will be celebrated with Christ at the end of time when the Kingdom of God is established in its fullness (cf. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 32).
13. Is Christ present during the celebration of the Eucharist in other ways in addition to his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament?Yes. Christ is present during the Eucharist in various ways. He is present in the person of the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass. According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Christ is present in his Word “since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church.” He is also present in the assembled people as they pray and sing, “for he has promised ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt 18:20)” ( Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7). Furthermore, he is likewise present in other sacraments; for example, “when anybody baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes” (ibid.). We speak of the presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine as “real” in order to emphasize the special nature of that presence. What appears to be bread and wine is in its very substance the Body and Blood of Christ. The entire Christ is present, God and man, body and blood, soul and divinity. While the other ways in which Christ is present in the celebration of the Eucharist are certainly not unreal, this way surpasses the others. “This presence is called ‘real’ not to exclude the idea that the others are ‘real’ too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man” ( Mysterium Fidei, no. 39).
14. Why do we speak of the “Body of Christ” in more than one sense? First, the Body of Christ refers to the human body of Jesus Christ, who is the divine Word become man. During the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. As human, Jesus Christ has a human body, a resurrected and glorified body that in the Eucharist is offered to us in the form of bread and wine. Secondly, as St. Paul taught us in his letters, using the analogy of the human body, the Church is the Body of Christ, in which many members are united with Christ their head (1 Cor 10:16-17, 12:12-31; Rom 12:48). This reality is frequently referred to as the Mystical Body of Christ. All those united to Christ, the living and the dead, are joined together as one Body in Christ. This union is not one that can be seen by human eyes, for it is a mystical union brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Mystical Body of Christ and the eucharistic Body of Christ are inseparably linked. By Baptism we enter the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, and by receiving the eucharistic Body of Christ we are strengthened and built up into the Mystical Body of Christ. The central act of the Church is the celebration of the Eucharist; the individual believers are sustained as members of the Church, members of the Mystical Body of Christ, through their reception of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Playing on the two meanings of “Body of Christ,” St. Augustine tells those who are to receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist: “Be what you see, and receive what you are” (Sermon 272). In another sermon he says, “If you receive worthily, you are what you have received” (Sermon 227). The work of the Holy Spirit in the celebration of the Eucharist is twofold in a way that corresponds to the twofold meaning of “Body of Christ.” On the one hand, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the risen Christ and his act of sacrifice become present. In the eucharistic prayer, the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the gifts of bread and wine to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ (a prayer known as the epiclesis or “invocation upon”). On the other hand, at the same time the priest also asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the whole assembly so that “those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit” ( Catechism, no. 1353). It is through the Holy Spirit that the gift of the eucharistic Body of Christ comes to us and through the Holy Spirit that we are joined to Christ and each other as the Mystical Body of Christ. By this we can see that the celebration of the Eucharist does not just unite us to God as individuals who are isolated from one another. Rather, we are united to Christ together with all the other members of the Mystical Body. The celebration of the Eucharist should thus increase our love for one another and remind us of our responsibilities toward one another. Furthermore, as members of the Mystical Body, we have a duty to represent Christ and to bring Christ to the world. We have a responsibility to share the Good News of Christ not only by our words but also by how we live our lives. We also have a responsibility to work against all the forces in our world that oppose the Gospel, including all forms of injustice.15. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: “The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren” (no. 1397).
15. Why do we call the presence of Christ in the Eucharist a “mystery”?The word “mystery” is commonly used to refer to something that escapes the full comprehension of the human mind. In the Bible, however, the word has a deeper and more specific meaning, for it refers to aspects of God’s plan of salvation for humanity, which has already begun but will be completed only with the end of time. In ancient Israel, through the Holy Spirit God revealed to the prophets some of the secrets of what he was going to accomplish for the salvation of his people (cf. Am 3:7; Is 21:28; Dan 2:27-45). Likewise, through the preaching and teaching of Jesus, the mystery of “the Kingdom of God” was being revealed to his disciples (Mk 4:11-12). St. Paul explained that the mysteries of God may challenge our human understanding or may even seem to be foolishness, but their meaning is revealed to the People of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 1:18-25, 2:6-10; Rom 16:25-27; Rev 10:7). The Eucharist is a mystery because it participates in the mystery of Jesus Christ and God’s plan to save humanity through Christ. We should not be surprised if there are aspects of the Eucharist that are not easy to understand, for God’s plan for the world has repeatedly surpassed human expectations and human understanding (cf. Jn 6:60-66). For example, even the disciples did not at first understand that it was necessary for the Messiah to be put to death and then to rise from the dead (cf. Mk 8:31-33, 9:31-32, 10:32-34; Mt 16: 21-23, 17:22-23, 20:17-19; Lk 9:22, 9:43-45, 18:31-34). Furthermore, any time that we are speaking of God we need to keep in mind that our human concepts never entirely grasp God. We must not try to limit God to our understanding, but allow our understanding to be stretched beyond its normal limitations by God’s revelation.
Conclusion
By his Real Presence in the Eucharist Christ fulfils his promise to be with us “always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “It is the law of friendship that friends should live together. . . . Christ has not left us without his bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but he joins us to himself in this sacrament in the reality of his body and blood” ( Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1). With this gift of Christ’s presence in our midst, the Church is truly blessed. As Jesus told his disciples, referring to his presence among them, “Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt 13:17). In the Eucharist the Church both receives the gift of Jesus Christ and gives grateful thanks to God for such a blessing. This thanksgiving is the only proper response, for through this gift of himself in the celebration of the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine Christ gives us the gift of eternal life.
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. . . . Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. (Jn 6:5357)
Communion in a ritual sacrifice is a bond between the worshipper and the sacred power that can be created through a sacramental meal. In a communion sacrifice, the worshipper and the deity share the sacrificial oblation, or the worshipper consumes something that has become divine.
Here are some examples of communion sacrifices in different religions:
Greek thysia
The worshipper and the deity share the oblation, with part burned on the altar and the rest eaten by the worshippers.
Jewish zevaḥ
The worshipper and the deity share the oblation, with part burned on the altar and the rest eaten by the worshippers.
African Yoruba
The worshipper offers a special meal to the deity, and if the deity accepts it, the worshipper eats the remainder as a sacred communion.
Hindu soma
The worshipper consumes something that has become divine.
Aztec
The worshipper eats dough images of the sun god Huitzilopochtli that have been consecrated to the god and transubstantiated into his flesh.
In the Catholic tradition, the Eucharist is a communion sacrifice that represents Jesus’s submission to his Father’s will. The Eucharist is celebrated in every Mass, and participants join in Jesus’s supreme offering to God
Invocation of the Ascending Solar God or Elevation of the Host?
This Easter, my family and I attended a Christian mass. We went to the same service we attended last year. I have a longing every so often for the high ritual and amazing music that can be found in these services. My practice is to skip the Creed and zone out during the sermon, and then I can enjoy the rest. While it’s a Christian service, I can read between the lines sometimes to see the Dying God of Neo-Paganism. But I still long for language more explicitly Pagan. Recently, at the Feminism & Religion blog, Carol Christ wonder “What Happened to Female Imagery for God in Christian Worship?”: Is there anywhere we might go and hear the names of God Herself spoken in a Christian context?
I found myself wondering this again during the Easter mass today. I was reminded then of a book, “The Crafted Cup: Ritual Mysteries of the Goddess & the Grail” by Shadwynn , which presents a Christo-Pagan liturgy of the Ordo Arcanorum Gradalis. (It looks like the OAG holds services in Flint, Michigan.) I will share a somewhat altered version of it below. It’s got some nice alliteration and it is just the kind of thing I was longing for today. I know anything smacking of Christianity turns some Pagans off. But I was raised in a “low church” with a very stripped down liturgy, so high mass doesn’t really trigger me the way it may some Pagans. I would just love to experience this live.
[The liturgy of the host is performed by the priest and the liturgy of the chalice is performed by the priestess, or these roles may be reversed.]
Introductory Dialogue
The grace of the Goddess be with you! The grace of the God be with you! Let us lift up our spirits to the Lady and Lord of life!
The Preface
Invocation of the Goddess
In the union with all the faithful from ages past, seekers of the way, companions on the quest, we give honor unto thee, O high and holy Lady, for thou art the triune glory of heaven, earth, and underworld: virgin Maiden, Mother of the God, Crone of ageless wisdom, who hast revealed thyself as Dana to the Celts, Isis to the Egyptians, and Hecate to the Greeks.
Thou art the divine shekinah, who shineth forth from above the seat of mercy. Thou art Hagia Sophia, the unfathomable wisdom of the Cosmic Christ. Thou art the queen of heaven, wheo gives hope to all who call upon my name. Therefore, with gods and celestials, spirits and elementals, we invoke thee to be here within the sacred precincts, as we hail thee in joyous salutation:
IVO EVOHE DANA! IVO EVOHE ISIS! IVO EVOHE HECATE!
May our prayers be made one with the petitions of those who have gone before us, as we prepare a pathway to thy presence with the sacrifice of the God.
Invocation of the Ascending Solar God
Let us give praise to the glory of the God celestial, stretched forth upon the cosmic cross, soon to rise above the circle of the equinox. Son of righteousness! Sol invictus! Solar savior! We hail thy triumph over the season of shadow!
From thy majesty proceeds the very light of nations, the shining brilliance of illuminated truth, in the manifest splendor of the sacred. Hallowed blaze of heaven, thou art the living light, source of inspiration to sage and saint, priestess and prophet. Therefore, we add to the adoration of the ancients as we ascribe to thee praise and honor, O ascendent king of planetary gods!
God of light, god of life, dying daily, thou descendest into darkness, rising early, thy radiance renews the day!
by Florence Harrison
The Epiclesis
[Extend hands over the chalice and paten.]
Gracious Goddess and glorious God, be pleased to accept these offerings from the staples of life, that by thy magical touch, they may become for us the true bread and true wine, the body and blood of thy divinity, granting sustenance to the soul and strength to the spirit. As we will, so mote it be.
[Make sign of cross over paten and sign of pentacle over chalice.]
The Liturgy of the Host
The Anamnesis
Holy Mother, we make manifest here the memorial mystery of thy beloved son and lover, known from of old by innumerable names: Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, Tammuz, Osiris, Orpheus, and Jesus.
We offer this mystery in memory of their dying: Adonis, the beautiful god slain in the blossom of his youth; Attis, with the stains of scarlet transformed to violets beneath the sacred pine; Dionysus, torn to shreds by the Titans; Tammuz, for whom the women of Jerusalem wept; Osiris, his body scattered over the earth; Orpheus, who descended to hell; and Jesus, the suffering servant suspended in agony between heaven and earth;
But our grief has given way to joy, for in death the gods are not deserted! To them has been restored the renewal of life, and we rejoice in their resurrection!
The Consecration
Behold! The crucified God has risen in strength from the tomb triumphant, harrowing hell and death’s domain, ascending in radiance of the solar glory.
Behold! Osiris has been raised up by Isis, he who was torn to pieces has been regathered as one, restored by her mighty words of power, even as the scattered grains have been gathered into one loaf, that it may now become for us the body of the God, prepared as sacrifice, that he may rise anew, transformed in us, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, spirit of our spirit.
The Fraction
With this eucharist, we celebrate the sacred feast of shepherds, sons, and saviors. In their dying, we are broken. [Break the host.] In their rising, we are healed by hope. [Elevate the host.] In their glorification, we are filled with light as living luminaries, shining forth into ages to come.
The Elevation
Behold the bread of life, the golden Lord of harvest, the sprouted seeds of Ceres! [Ring bell three times.] Blessed be the firstborn God of the living grain, laid low by the scythe of sacrifice, ground fine for flour, that we might live! Behold the first fruits of a greater harvest! Behold him whose love is unto death, that life may rise anew!
“Sophia” by Hrana Janto
The Liturgy of the Chalice
The Anamnesis
Gracious Goddess, enchant us anew with forgotten dreams from the other side of consciousness, hidden beneath subterranean layers of defending dragons, beyond the gates of guarding gargoyles, into the holy mystery of the uncharted darkness within ourselves, for we are bold the seek the treasures of Taliesin, the cauldron of Ceridwen, the wise blood of blessing.
Harken to us, that we may be satisfied by the blood-red mead of bounteous joy overflowing from thy magical cauldron of inexhaustibility. Hearken to us, that we might be enlightened by the precious drops of inspiration which from age to age spill over from thy cauldron of omniscience. Hearken to us, that we might be regenerated through hope that gives new life in our deepest despair, even as our lives are sacrificed in thy cauldron of transformation.
The Consecration
Holy queen of the glorious grail, we offer to thee here this humble crafted cup, that it may become for us a manifestation of the mystery of the womb of the wine of wisdom, the holy and venerable vessel of the vine. [Raise the chalice and lower it.] Descend, we pray, upon this cup which we offer, that it may become for us the channel of thy grace, the dispenser of thy favor, the tabernacle of a precious presence.
The Elevation
Behold in symbol, the vision of Galahad, the hope of Glastonbury, the shrine of Avalon! [Ring bell three times.]
Drink now from the grail the elixir distilled from the knowledge of good and the discernment of evil, the very condensation of the gnosis. Taste now the forbidden fruit of Eden, a gift from the Goddess for the fullness of life and the experience of immortality.
The Communion
“Blessed be the Bread of Life”
“Blessed be the Grail of the Goddess”
Eucharistic Benediction
We have tasted from the plate of fullness. We have sipped soothing drops from the cauldron’s cup, that our spiritual sight might be enlightened.
Holy Lady of the sacred chalice, from thy grail ever flows the nectar which alone can quench questing spirits. Goddess of earth, clothed in beauteous array, we thank thee for the hopeful exuberance of life’s renewal at this joyous season, as we look with eager expectation for the splendor of spring’s fulfillment.
Radiant Lord of the living light, thou hast risen above the dangers of the dark, that the brightness of thy beams might grace us with thy glory and inspire us with hope for the fullness of the coming season. We thank thee for the confidence which thy continuing ascendance evokes within us, for thou art the living symbol of the light which cannot be quenched, and we rejoice before thee at this, the beginning of they season of strength!
Do you want to get saved and go to heaven when you die, or when the rapture happens? You need to realize you do not deserve heaven. We need to be perfect to go to heaven. We all deserve hell and we need to humble ourselves to accept this fact. Jesus, being the only begotten Son of God, loved you enough to trade lives with you. He took your onto Himself with all your sins and shed His blood to take away the punishment for you and take that blood to cleanse you of your sins. He raised from the dead three days later to justifiy you and give you His life in exchange. His perfect, sinless, righteous life. You just need to believe this in your heart. Believe that God loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. Drop down to your knees and pray to Jesus now to save your retched soul and accept Him as your savior and thank Him for His love and forgiveness. (John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.)
Finally someone preaching the truth of Jesus’s crucifixion. Jesus destroyed sin and death with the Spiritual sacrifice transformation from the Earthly sacrifice of the Old Testament. The Veil of the Temple was rent in twain. Matthew 27:51.
Jesus didn’t die and didn’t resurrect from the dead, Death and sin died. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians-Chapter-15/