The body and blood of Christ? Really?

 

At the Last Supper Jesus said, “Take and eat; this is my body”. (Matthew 26:26).

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?