The following is the continuation of Tuesday's post:
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Now, if what happens at the Mass is real, it is the most amazing event on Earth. If it is not real, then it is all one big lie, and the biggest scam on Earth. But, "this is my body" means "this is my body"; the Mass is real. It blows away any movie or TV show because of its content and meaning for all of us.
At Mass, we are all witnesses to the Salvation of the world: Jesus' death and resurrection. Christ's sacrifice on the Cross is made present on the altar through the words of his priest: "this is my body"..."this is my blood". It is the same flesh and blood that was present on the Cross.
How do we know that the same flesh and blood that was on Mount Calvary is on the altar at every Mass? Jesus tells us: "the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (Jn 6:51). If we put that into equation, it would be: bread=flesh.
So, does Jesus die at every Mass? No. Scripture says that Jesus died once and for all (Rom 6:10, Heb 7:28, e.g.). What has occurred since the Crucifixion? The Resurrection. Thus, the only difference between Jesus' flesh on the Cross and his flesh on the atlar (other than it is under the signs of bread and wine) is that it is Jesus' Risen flesh and blood. Holy Communion is not an act of cannibalism; we feed on the Bread of Life, the Bread that has come down from heaven that will bring us to everlasting life: "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (Jn 6:54).
After I present some of the incredible beauty and reality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the youth realize that the Mass isn't what they thought. It is real and incredible. If someone still thinks the Mass is boring after hearing that it is a re-presentation of Mount Calvary, then that's like saying they would have found the Crucifixion boring. No way. The Mass is the most incredible event in the world because the Son offers Himself to the Father through the Spirit on behalf of all humanity; anyone who participates in this Sacrifice participates in the Salvation of the world (even those in the back pews!).
10 comments:
I am so glad that you addressed the cannibalism question, because that thought had occurred to me, as we have all been taught that the Eucharist is literally the Body of Christ. In college, I remember a Dominican priest in a religion class who referred to the latin translation that was used to describe Jesus' words during The Last Supper; the latin description, as presented by this particular priest, was very graphic, suggesting that we were to imagine chewing on Jesus' bones and flesh, and that we were to eat it literally for salvation.
I am sure that I am not recalling this exactly, but I remember vividly my reaction when I was told to imagine that I was eating Jesus' bones and flesh during Holy Communion.
Can you clarify this for me? Is it wrong for me to question this?
Thank you.
Oh! my Gosh! What are priests teaching now a days? The cannibalism idea is very horrible. I was very scared after I read what the Dominican priest taught you, anonymous. It makes me wonder whether it is true that the Bible is not just a book of stories after all.
I'm not sure what some priest's teachings have to do with the authority and authenticity of the Bible...but, that's just me!
In the course on the Eucharist I took just this past Spring in the seminary, we learned that it is the spiritual presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. It is a real presence, but not natural. We eat his flesh spiritually, not literally.
If you look at the Church Fathers, they write about this spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They believed firmly in the Real Presence, but also had to fight this heresy (I forget the name of it) that it's a literal presence. So, I guess they would be arguing against this Dominican priest.
One last thing...if you look at the words that the Council of Trent (16th cent.) uses to describe the Eucharist, they are: Christ is truly, really, and substantially present. They don't use the word 'literally'. That says something, if you need a more official word!
Btw, Trent was the council that responded to the Protest-ants, especially on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Much of what the Church teache stoday about the Eucharist comes from that council.
Yes, Jesus is speaking literally, and it is really is his flesh and blood.
That last line was to be in the middle somewhere originally...I didn't mean to leave it at the end. Sorry for the confusion.
Greg
Now I am really embarrassed for having written this. The reference to cannibalism in the original posting triggered a memory of mine--but perhaps it was my own erroneous interpretation of what the Dominican Father was trying to convey, as this discussion took place in a religion class years ago.
Either way, I am sincerely sorry if I have misled anyone into thinking that this was the teaching of the Catholic Church--clearly, the literal interpretation was the result of my own ignorance regarding the Bible and the Church's teachings about the Eucharist.
Please accept my apologies.
and, Greg, thank you very much for clarifying this for me. Your response was indeed very helpful, but, when you have some time, can you clarify the last line of your response to the posts in the context of The Council of Trent?
Thank you.
No apologies necessary. I am struggling with believing the authenticity of the Bible. So, anonymous, no apologies needed, thank you for sharing your story.
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