TOS059 Basics of Faith VII: Real Presence of the Eucharist For audio  TOS059: Basics of Faith VII – Basics of the Real Presence | Listen Notes

Join Patti Brunner and Truth of the Spirit to explore Basics of Faith with the Basics of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. The Real Presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is beyond our understanding. It is an inexhaustible mystery. Yet the infallible teaching authority of the Catholic Church has proclaimed it for nearly 2000 years because 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. Jesus Christ is present body, soul and divinity in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine. The doctrine of the Real Presence is found in the sixth chapter of John’s gospel where Jesus, himself, teaches about the Eucharist and about faith. We are not the only ones who need faith to accept the truth about the Real Presence; even Jesus’ own disciples needed it.

Blog:
I am Patti Brunner and you are listening to Truth of the Spirit.
One of the goals of the Truth of the Spirit podcasts is to remind you of the Spirit filled facets of our Christian faith, our Catholic faith, sometimes returning to the basics to allow you better access to teachings and actions of those inspired by the Holy Spirit. Please join me now as Truth of the Spirit continues the Basics of Faith series by sharing the Basics of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I am Patti Brunner.What is the Real Presence? Jesus Christ is present body, soul and divinity in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine.The presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is beyond our understanding. It is an inexhaustible mystery, something that not even the Church can explain by reason. Yet the infallible teaching authority of the Catholic Church has proclaimed it for nearly 2000 years because 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. You see, God is a perfect teacher, and He shows us ways to learn and accept the truth of the Real Presence. Jesus said: “Take and eat; this is my body.” 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. The doctrine of the Real Presence is found in the sixth chapter of John’s gospel where Jesus, himself, teaches about the Eucharist and about faith. We are not the only ones who need faith to accept the truth about the Real Presence; even Jesus’ own disciples needed it. In fact, as we read chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, we will see how many of Jesus’ own disciples lacked the faith required to believe in the Real Presence. And these were people who had enough faith to believe that Jesus was God! Before the resurrection, the divinity of Jesus was veiled by his humanity. Yet the disciples believed. We have the benefit of the rest of the story, of the resurrection, of the eye witnesses and the fullness of the Gospel and the New Testament writings. And we believe that Jesus is true God true man. “To believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist requires even greater faith, because the Eucharist veils both his divinity and his humanity. This is why Jesus stresses the theme of faith so strongly at the same time he reveals his teaching on the Eucharist.” In the Eucharistic discourse of John 6, verses 35 to 69, Jesus clearly teaches that we must consume his flesh and blood as food. Such as verse 51: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” And verse 53: “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” and verse 55: “My flesh is real food and my blood real drink”. And you cannot decide that Jesus was speaking symbolically because everyone who heard Jesus understood him to be speaking literally of his own body and blood. The objecting Jews in verse 52 say “How can he give us his flesh to eat?” And his unbelieving disciples in verse 60 say: “This saying is hard, who can accept it!” Many of these disciples had lived, eaten, and walked with Jesus for nearly two years. They spoke the same language as Jesus. Day in and day out, they heard him use different methods to get his points across to the crowds and to those he called by name.Truly, sometimes he used parables and symbols, comparisons and metaphors, but they also heard him speak literally, meaning exactly what he said. These same disciples understood perfectly that Jesus meant precisely what he said —many of whom quit following Christ because he said it and Jesus let them leave. “Instead of explaining that his listeners were misunderstanding him, that he was only speaking figuratively, Jesus—using the strongest possible language—emphatically repeats the literalness of this teaching, six times in six verses (verses 53-58)!” Verse 53: “Amen, amen,” Truly, truly! You know when Jesus says Amen there’s no doubt that what he says is not true! And he says, “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”. Now that life within you is going to be the Holy Spirit within us, so unless we could eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, we would not have that communion with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. And then Verse 55: “My flesh is real food and my blood real drink”. This is not the language of symbolism! He didn’t say “this is like” so one of the Protestant versions says, “This is like” no you can’t add that word, “like” in that scripture, because Jesus did not say that. He said, “This IS real food and my blood real drink.It is hard to believe. It is next to impossible. But it is truth. It is the truth of the Spirit that we believe through faith and grace. Now, “Many of Jesus’ own disciples can’t accept the literalness of his teaching and leave him (verse 66). Notice that Jesus doesn’t call them back and explain that he is only speaking figuratively, as he did on previous occasions when they mistook his words literally”. “They just couldn’t accept it. Even the twelve Apostles are shaken. It seems that the same thing that happened to Jesus is happening in the Church today. According to CARA, a Catholic national telephone poll of Catholics, the percentage of Catholics who believe in the Real Presence is decreasing. That is Catholics in general. Belief in the Real Presence varies for Catholics as identified according to their attendance at mass. 91% of Catholics who attend mass weekly or more believe in the Real Presence. But the per cent of believers for those who miss Mass a couple of times a month drops to 65%. And Catholics that attend mass a few times a year or less, I call them CEO Catholics—you know Christmas-Easter-Only Catholics!—only 40% of them believe that Jesus Christ is really present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Now, this is a Catholic poll. I found non-Catholic polls show even lower numbers. I guess their pool contains people who say they are Catholic but don’t attend Mass perhaps.It is pretty obvious that the Catholics who do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus find excuses for not attending Mass every week and perhaps stop believing in other church teachings of the Catholic Church. And eventually leave altogether.

But when his disciples started leaving him, Jesus doesn’t compromise, no, not one bit. And we cannot compromise today, either. The truth is the truth. Instead, he challenges his own handpicked Apostles: Verse 67 He says, “Will you also go away?” And in faith, Peter answers: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68). Yet even one of the 12 apostles turned away and rejected this teaching of Jesus, the apostle Judas (verse 70-71), who rejected and betrayed Jesus. We have two choices: we can either doubt like the unbelieving Jews and disciples, or believe like Peter that somehow Christ will accomplish his promise. Jesus fulfills his precise promise to give his flesh and blood as food and drink at the Last Supper. During each consecration at mass we continue to hear the all-powerful words of Christ, “This is my body…This is my blood,” and the bread and the wine are completely changed into Christ’s actual flesh and blood.” “This is my body, which will be given for you” (Luke 22:19). Ok, so on that Holy Thursday at the Last Supper, He says “this will be given for you.” He is entering into the eternal moment of the crucifixion that will take place the next day on Good Friday. And so when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, when we receive we hear those words, we are entering into that eternal moment of the consecration of his body and blood. Jesus equates his body and blood given in the Eucharist with his body and blood sacrificed on the cross. “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).We identify the body and blood he gives at the Last Supper as the very same body and blood that he will sacrifice on Calvary because Jesus did. “If we accept the body and blood offered on the cross as literal (as all Christians do), then we must also accept the body and blood offered in the Eucharist as literal.” For Jesus said: “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. The USCCB, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, realizes that we might still have questions about the Real Presence and so they anticipated some of these and published the answers in a great brochure. Such as: “If the Apostles consumed Jesus’ real body and blood, wouldn’t they be committing cannibalism? Furthermore, wouldn’t this violate the biblical prohibition against drinking blood?” “Answer: No. It was precisely this misunderstanding that led the unbelieving Jews and disciples in John 6 to reject Jesus when he said they must eat his body and drink his blood. They thought Jesus was commanding them to consume him in a bloody, physical way.
However, the believing disciples were rewarded for their faith at the Last Supper. Jesus revealed that they would receive his true body and blood sacramentally (present in a hidden way).“While the Apostles truly consumed Christ’s real body and blood, it wasn’t cannibalism, because Christ wasn’t in his natural condition. They didn’t bite off pieces of Christ’s arm, for example, or swallow quantities of his blood; instead they received Christ whole and entire—body, blood, soul, and divinity—under the appearance of bread and wine.” “Christ was present at the Last Supper in two ways: (1) at the table with his disciples in a natural way; and (2) under the appearance of bread and wine in a sacramental way. Just because we can’t understand how God does something is no reason to doubt that he does it. Many Christian beliefs are beyond our comprehension. .. All Christians accept the mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, creation, and God’s omnipresence…If we can accept the overwhelming mystery of Christ’s divinity, we should have no trouble accepting his teachings, however difficult they may seem.” “Consider the witness of St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16) …The only way to participate in Jesus’ body and blood through the Eucharist is if his body and blood are really present in the Eucharist.” “The early Church Fathers are our only bridge to Christ and his Apostles. That bridge is unmistakably, undeniably Catholic. “The early Church Fathers preserved both the written and oral teachings of the Apostles.
“Virtually every distinctively Catholic doctrine is clearly found in the writings of the early Fathers of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries. This includes the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Mass as a sacrifice, apostolic succession, the primacy of Peter, intercessory prayer to the saints, devotion to Mary, purgatory, and confession to a priest…. The evidence of the early Church Fathers proves that primitive Christians were Catholics.” And “…early Fathers prove that early Christians firmly believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.” “Virtually all Christians accepted the doctrine of the Real Presence (of Jesus in the Eucharist) until the Reformation.” Martin Luther, who started the Reformation, believed in the Real Presence but not in the authority of the pope. Once the authority was gone, the protestant movement splintered into thousands of sects and the belief in this difficult truth all but disappeared except for those who have remained faithful to the teaching of Jesus through the Catholic Church. Let us look at some more of the basic questions surrounding the Real Presence.

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. 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.”
So, our humanity needs to be united to his humanity to be able to seat at the Father’s right hand within Him, in his divinity. “Our mortal and corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of life.”

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. Through his death and resurrection, he conquered sin and death and reconciled us to God. 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. 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. The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The sacrifice of Christ becomes the sacrifice of the members of his Body who united to Christ form one sacrificial offering (this is covered in Catechism paragraph #1368]). As Christ’s sacrifice is made sacramentally present, united with Christ, we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to the Father.

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 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. The physical attributes – that is, what can be seen, touched, tasted, or measured still appears to be bread and wine. Change is at the deepest level of reality. By the consecration of the bread and wine a conversion takes place of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood. This conversion is called transubstantiation by the Catholic Church. 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 appearances 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/appearances both change. For example, when a person eats an apple, the apple is incorporated 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.
The only time we see the characteristics of a human body in Holy Communion is those Eucharistic Miracles where the bread is visible as flesh and wine is visible as blood, visually and scientifically proven.

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. 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. How can that happen? It is a mystery that is accomplished by the Lord. “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 (duh!) those things which already exist can be changed into something else (De Sacramentis, IV, 5-16).”Christ gives himself to us in a sacramental form that is appropriate for human eating and drinking. the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ cannot be detected or discerned by any way other than faith. (Or through the Eucharistic Miracles)As we saw in the survey, there are people who do not believe in the Real Presence but believe that the consecrated bread and wine are merely symbols—and some Catholics believe that, what a shame! They need to listen to the Truth of the Spirit, don’t they! You need to share this information with them so they can receive and repent their disbelief and come and receive the fullness of Holy Communion with the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in Mass. And those of you who are listening who are not Catholic you can come and join the Catholic Church so that you too can receive the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ! You are so welcome to come and join us!

Another question, once and for all:
6. Are the consecrated bread and wine “merely symbols”? No, no, no! A symbol is something that points beyond itself to something else. The bread and wine are not a foreshadowing of the body and blood but are truly the Body and Blood of Christ. “This issue separates Catholics from virtually all Protestants. If Christ is only symbolically present in the Eucharist, then Catholics are guilty of idolatry.” And some Protestants accuse us of that! But we’re not. We do not worship mere bread and wine as God himself. “But if Christ is really present in the Eucharist, then most non-Catholics are guilty of not recognizing—in fact, denying and rejecting—their Lord and Savior in the Eucharist. Both sides cannot be right.” When non-Catholics celebrate communion services they do not have the consecrated real presence but only a symbolic look-alike that matches their beliefs.” (Perhaps a spiritual communion is how we might describe that.) “Since we are believers, it is inappropriate for us to partake in their symbolic communion.” And so, one of the teachings of the Church is that we should not participate in non-Catholic communion services. And sometimes when a family member participates because they are not Catholic we feel that distance from them; we want to share Jesus with them. But that pain we feel should help us to work even harder to bring all Christians into unity through the Catholic teaching of the Real Presence of Jesus.

So, another question:
7. Do the consecrated bread and wine cease to be the Body and Blood of Christ when the Mass is over?
No. They cannot turn back into bread and wine, for they are no longer bread and wine, not at all. 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). “When a consecrated host is digested or dissolved and no longer has the appearance of bread, it is no longer Jesus.” (Usually in a human body that takes about 15 minutes.)“Christ’s presence in the Eucharist begins at the moment of consecration… You cannot “add” unconsecrated hosts that have not been on the altar if you see that you are running short

Question number 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?
(We have to qualify this answer:) 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 the answer is no. (We do not receive Holy Communion; we are not in communion with the Body and Blood of Christ fi we have no belief. Consume it? Yes. Communion with Jesus? 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.

11. If a believer who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin eats and drinks the consecrated (even though he believes it is the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ, does he or she then still receive? Does he have communion with the Body and Blood of Christ?
“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.” So, the person with mortal sin would not receive Holy Communion but would consume the Body and Blood.

Another question:
12. Does one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under a single form?
Perhaps you only partake of the Cup or only of the Host. “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. So why do it? Why receive both the Body and Blood of Christ?
“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. Let me distinguish three different ways Jesus can be present:
1. Jesus is present everywhere as God, through his knowledge, power and essence.
2. Jesus is present spiritually in those who are in the state of grace. Jesus is spiritually present in his Word; in the person of the priest; in the assembled people; and likewise present in other sacraments such as Baptism.
And especially:
3. Jesus is present in his flesh and blood in the Eucharist.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. The entire Christ is present, God and man, body and blood, soul and divinity. “This presence is called ‘real’ not to exclude the idea that the others are ‘real’ too, but rather
to indicate his presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes “present” whole and entire, God and man” (Mysterium Fidei, no. 39).In his glorified human body, Jesus is present only in two places: at the right hand of the Father in heaven, and in the Holy Eucharist on earth.

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).
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. (Jesus says this!) 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 6:53-57)

You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit; I’m Patti Brunner. And remember, there’s more! With the Holy Spirit there is always more. Be sure and check out some of our past episodes of this series Basics of Faith. You can check out my website, PatriarchMinistries.com for details of each episode. Subscribe to have the next episode handy which will include more Truth of the Spirit.
[Please see on PatriarchMinistries.com]References and some sources of historical Church teachings on the Real Presence:
Gospel recorded by St. John, 1st century. John chapter 6
Miracle of the loaves and fishes 6:1-14
Living Bread from heaven 6:41-51
Eat my flesh, drink my blood 6:53-56
Does this shock you? 6:61
Gospel accounts of institution of sacrament
Matthew 26:26-28; cf. Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:17-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
Letter to Smyrnaeans 6, 2; Letter to the Romans 7, 3; St. Ignatius 110AD
First Apology 66, 20; St. Justin Martyr 150AD
Against Heresies 5, 2, 2; St. Irenaeus 195 AD
Catechetical Lectures: 22 (Mystagogic 4),1; St. Cyril of Jerusalem 350 AD
Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.
Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5, St. Thomas Aquinas 1265-1274 AD
Council of Trent, 1551. Pope Julius III 1550-1555. Chapter 4, #877, Session XIII (Oct. II, 1551) Canon 2.
Mysterium Fidei, Paul VI, 1965.
Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 32. Vatican II, 1967.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1353, #1368, #1373+ #1377-1381. published 1994.
“The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist”, NCCB/ USCC “, 2001.
Read at www.nccbuscc.org/dpp/realpresence.htm

Other reference:
Beginning Apologetics 3, How to Explain and Defend the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Father Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham. 1999

 Discussion Questions:

1. What is your greatest difficulty concerning the Real Presence of the Eucharist?

2. Do you know anyone who doesn’t believe in the Real Presence? How would you dialog with them?

3. Have you ever visited or studied Eucharistic miracles? Share. What impact did you find?

4. What is the effect of low attendance at weekly Mass? What do you think causes it? What are we to do about it?

5. Discuss tonight’s teaching. What was your favorite point?