In the Gospel of John we read a long passage which says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live." This started an angry argument among them. "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" they asked. Jesus said to them, "I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. The living Father sent me, and because of Him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever." (John 6:51 onwards).
As a result of what He said, a number of Christ's followers could not take this teaching and got up and left. Jesus did not call them back. He did not say it was all a metaphor, a figure of speech. He stuck to what He said and let them go. He then asked His disciples, "How about you? Do you want to go as well?"
As ever, Peter was first to answer, "To whom shall we go?" he asked.
"We're in this for the duration, all the way, to the end". Or words to
that effect, signifying the he trusted Jesus without question.
The Catholic Church, (and others), teaches that during Mass at the moment of transubstantiation, when the bread is changed into Christ's body, not only His body is present, but Christ as a whole is present ("the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity"). The corporeal presence of Christ is in the Eucharist.
In Paul's letter to the Corinthians we read, "For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you ... ... ... This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. It follows that if one of you eats the Lord's bread or drinks from His
cup in a way that dishonours Him, you are guilty of sin against the
Lord's body and blood. (1 Corinthians 11:23 onwards).
Today, the Catholic Church invites its members to believe that at Communion they are receiving the body and blood of Christ. But many do not believe this, including some priests. Many believe this is only symbolism despite it being Church doctrine.
Now this leaves me a bit puzzled. There seems to be an inconsistency here.
As Christians we believe that through the power of the Holy Spirit a virgin can conceive the Son of God. Yet we have difficulty believing that through the power of the same Holy Spirit a tiny wafer becomes truly the sacred body and blood, soul and divinity of this very same Jesus Christ the Son of God.
But then, what do I know?
...what do any of us know?
ReplyDeleteFaith is to believe without knowing.
DeleteGod bless, Tom.
Quite a bit, actually. Perhaps more to the point, to what extent are any of us willing to ***think*** about what we know. And both apply standards we use when thinking about other serious matters, and accepting that the "I" who is thinking may not be the smartest person who ever lived. What Victor S E M said matters, too - - - for me, it's 'without knowing everything'.
DeleteWhoops. I'm "Anonymous" of 31 January 2025 at 13:20. - - and still getting the hang of this 'make a comment' process.
DeleteHi Brian,
DeleteThanx for seeing you visiting here again. Much appreciated.
Indeed, faith is believing without really knowing anything or everything. It is putting one's trust in Someone we know, we feel, we believe is there without necessarily seeing Him physically as Christ was seen when on earth.
God bless.
It is lovely Victor that as I am reading this post I have just taken communion over the phone with my friend in Wales, which I do every Sunday. God bless.
ReplyDeleteAmen Brenda. God bless you and yours.
DeleteI no longer try to fathom this quote ... but instead choose to lean not on my own understanding.
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly well said Mevely. There's a lot of what Christ said that we do not understand. We should just believe and trust Him.
DeleteGod bless you always.
Some mysteries are meant to remain mysteries, Victor. Who are we to question our Lord? Let's just take Him at His word. Speaking of words, your latest book just arrived and I'll be reading it as soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading. Blessing always!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Martha, we should take Him at His word. We'd look pretty stupid if we don't believe and when we meet Him face to face we'd look as if we knew better!
DeleteThank you for buying my book; please let me know what you think of the plot and the ending. God bless you and your family.
Add that to the mystery list.
ReplyDeleteOur Faith is full of mysteries, isn't it?
DeleteGod bless, Bill.
Isn't it, though?! :D
DeleteI’m echoing Mevely317’s comment to choose to lean not on my own understanding. And then also agreeing with your words to her that there’s a lot of what our Lord said that we don’t understand. We should believe and trust Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
ReplyDeleteInteresting discussion.
Thank you for your good point well made, Barbara. We cannot expect to understand everything. There's a lot in Christianity which we have to take on faith alone. Things that Christ did or said that we do not understand but have to believe because He taught us so.
DeleteI fact-check as best I can my articles here and I welcome suggestions from readers on any matter they'd like discussed.
God bless you always, Barbara.
Thinking on these things without dogmatism matures us somehow. Aloha
ReplyDeleteIt certainly tests our faith and beliefs.
DeleteGod bless, Cloudia.
Love and kindness always. ❤️
ReplyDeleteGod bless, CM.
DeleteQuerido amigo, hermoso texto, la fe mueve montañas, tengo fe.
ReplyDeleteTe dejo todo mi cariño y besos, que Dios te bendiga.
♥️¸.•*¨)¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´♥️♥️.¸.•´♥️
TRANSLATION: Dear friend, beautiful text, faith moves mountains, I have faith.
DeleteI send you all my love and kisses, may God bless you.
Thank you Poemas del Alma for your visit here. Please visit again and invite your friends here. God bless you always.
It was very interesting to read the comments, as only a handful of denominations believe in transubstantiation.
ReplyDeleteDifferent denominations have a different interpretation of this event. God bless, Kathy.
DeleteNot being Roman Catholic, all I can say is those who are might want to rethink their commitment if they do not believe the doctrine of the church.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Mimi. God bless you.
DeleteQuite interesting. I guess some of the people 2000 years ago thought it was cannibalism.
ReplyDeleteNow I suppose God can make anything happen.
But I am not sure that it matters to me - I kind of take it as a representation. If you are not Catholic, you can't take communion I don't believe.
I agree, 2000 years ago they did not understand what Jesus meant by what He said. We still don't understand today.
DeleteYou're right, the Catholic Church does not allow non-Catholics to receive Communion.
It's a personal matter on what we believe regarding this bit of Scripture.
God bless you, Chatty Crone.
For me, the idea that Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist was a curb to get over - but not the biggest one on my way to becoming a Catholic. - - - I'm a huge fan of science, and by training an historian. That, and an insistence that whatever I believe must make sense, made the question pretty straightforward. Also, my having decided that being a Christian made sense, long before I admitted to being a Catholic. Here goes - * Do I think Jesus was telling the truth, generally? Yes. * Do I think he was telling his inner circle "I am the living bread that came down from heaven...." without explaining that it was a parable? Yes. * Did those who finally got over their shock, after Jesus stopped being dead, insist that Jesus was who and what he is: even if it meant being killed? Yes. * Is that 'this is my body' thing one of the biggest problems in marketing (I've been in marketing, too) that we've had for two millennia? Yes! * Finally - - - - with all those 'yesses': do I think Jesus was telling the truth about being physically present in the Eucharist? Yes. Yes, I do. Not being able to fully understand something that the Almighty does, and how God does it: doesn't bother me nearly as much as it might.
ReplyDeleteGood point Brian. At the end of the day, either Jesus was telling the truth or He wasn't. Our beliefs rest on which side of the argument we are on. We can't choose to believe some things like He was/is the Son of God and not believe other things we find too difficult to understand.
DeleteGod bless you. Thank you for your visit.