Bread of Life

BREAD OF LIFE
 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. (john 6: 50)
The miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ celebrated the first Mass with His disciples at the Last Supper, the night before He died. He commanded His disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). The celebration of the Mass then became the main form of worship in the early Church, as a reenactment of the Last Supper, as Christ had commanded. Each and every Mass since commemorates Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross through the Holy Eucharist. Because the Mass “re-presents” (makes present) the sacrifice on Calvary, Catholics all around the world join together to be made present in Christ’s timeless sacrifice for our sins. There is something fascinating about continuing to celebrate the same Mass—instituted by Christ and practiced by the early Church—with the whole community of Catholics around the world…and in heaven.

THE REAL PRESENCE

Why does the Catholic Church believe Christ is really present in the Eucharist?
The Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence is the belief that Jesus Christ is literally, not symbolically, present in the Holy Eucharist—body, blood, soul and divinity. Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because Jesus tells us this is true in the Bible:

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” - John 6:48-56
Furthermore, the early Church Fathers either imply or directly state that the bread and wine offered in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is really the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrine of the Real Presence that Catholics believe today was believed by the earliest Christians 2,000 years ago!

This miracle of God’s physical presence to us at every Mass is the truest testament to Christ’s love for us and His desire for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

EAT HIS FLESH, DRINK HIS BLOOD



The Holy Eucharist (also known as Holy Communion) was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Our Lord made it clear at the Last Supper that this was not to be an optional nor occasional observance. By using these words "DO THIS", He sets forth a command, not a request. This command is to be obeyed by all Christians until His coming again.

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2 comments:

Tortoise said...

“Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father give you the true bread from heaven” (6:32).

Jesus is the bread that is much better than manna or any physical food which can only sustain physical life for a short time. He gives eternal life. “He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst...Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (6:35, 47).

Jesus reminded them that those who ate manna eventually died; He promised that those who eat of the living bread of heaven would live forever. It is in this sense Jesus’ flesh is real food and His blood real drink.

He is real food because He gives eternal life.
“This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will life forever”
(6:58).

Anonymous said...

Rebutting Catholic Arguments - with a little help from Augustine

Was Jesus speaking figuratively?

a. Catholic apologists assert that Jesus was speaking literally when He spoke of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. This is evidently not so. Jesus was using figurative language as He usually did. In John’s Gospel, Jesus referred to His body as the temple (2:19); He called Himself the Light of the world (8:12), and we are called to follow Him; He is “the door” (10:9) through whom we enter for salvation; He is the “good shepherd” (10:11) and “the true vine” (15:1) and the disciples are compared to sheep and branches. That Jesus is the bread of life and that we should feed on Him is but a similar figurative expression illustrating the great spiritual truth that Jesus is the Divine Messiah who gives eternal life to all who believe.

b. Catholic apologist presents this argument: “The Greek word he used for ‘eats’ (tragon) is very blunt and has the sense of ‘chewing’ and ‘gnawing.’ This is not the language of metaphor.” Well, why not? Metaphors are intended to be graphic and impressive. Trogo stresses the slow process of eating. In the New Testament it is also used for ordinary eating (see Matthew 24:38; John 13:18; etc). Moreover, Jesus also uses the ordinary word for eating (phago) in the same passage (verses 50,51,53 etc). Since the two terms are used to make the same point – e.g. compare verse 53 (phago) and verse 54 (trogo) – they are practically equivalent.

c. In his discussion on the interpretation of figurative expressions, Augustine uses “eating flesh and drinking blood” as a typical example of a metaphor! He explains: “If the sentence is one of command, either forbidding a crime or vice, or enjoining an act of prudence or benevolence, it is not figurative. If, however, it seems to enjoin a crime or vice, or to forbid an act of prudence or benevolence, it is figurative. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man," says Christ, "and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." This seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure, enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us” (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, III).