R
Richard320
Guest
For any Sacrament to be Valid, it has to satisfy three things:
Form
Matter
Intention.
Form: The Eucharist can only be confected during a Mass. And the proper words have to be said. That’s why there is a Tabernacle with the reserve hosts in it - in case of urgent need, like Viaticum for the dying. There may not be time to have a priest say a whole Mass. The priest cannot just hold it up and say “The Body of Christ” and have it change.
Matter: Wheat and water. Nothing else for the host. The wine must be plain grape, and fermented. Not doritos, not a tortilla, not a loaf of french bread, not a bag of Thanksgiving stuffing croutons. Nor Hawaiian Punch, grape juice, or apple juice instead of wine. (Although tomato juice would do a lot to improve the visual aspect of it
)
Intention: Only the wine and bread the priest intends to Consecrate are Consecrated. The ziplock bag of hosts in the drawer back in the Sacristy are not Consecrated. Nor is the case of unopened bottles of altar wine. And someone can’t sneak their own wine and wafers in to have them Consecrated by proximity.
If this weren’t true, you’d end up with a situation like King Midas, except instead of Gold, everything solid would become the Body of Christ, and everything liquid would be the Blood of Christ. And then the question becomes, “How far does the Consecration extend? Line of sight? Within hearing? 100 meters? Parish border?”
Form
Matter
Intention.
Form: The Eucharist can only be confected during a Mass. And the proper words have to be said. That’s why there is a Tabernacle with the reserve hosts in it - in case of urgent need, like Viaticum for the dying. There may not be time to have a priest say a whole Mass. The priest cannot just hold it up and say “The Body of Christ” and have it change.
Matter: Wheat and water. Nothing else for the host. The wine must be plain grape, and fermented. Not doritos, not a tortilla, not a loaf of french bread, not a bag of Thanksgiving stuffing croutons. Nor Hawaiian Punch, grape juice, or apple juice instead of wine. (Although tomato juice would do a lot to improve the visual aspect of it
Intention: Only the wine and bread the priest intends to Consecrate are Consecrated. The ziplock bag of hosts in the drawer back in the Sacristy are not Consecrated. Nor is the case of unopened bottles of altar wine. And someone can’t sneak their own wine and wafers in to have them Consecrated by proximity.
If this weren’t true, you’d end up with a situation like King Midas, except instead of Gold, everything solid would become the Body of Christ, and everything liquid would be the Blood of Christ. And then the question becomes, “How far does the Consecration extend? Line of sight? Within hearing? 100 meters? Parish border?”