Did Judas receive the Eucharist at the Last Supper?

[tee_eff_em]

YinYangMom:

Dr. Colossus:

Here’s Mark’s account from the NAB (Courtesy of the USCCB website):

:bible1: “For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” " Mark 14:18-23
QUOTE]

You know, that one has always troubled me in Mass…because it raises that whole destiny kinda thing with me for poor Judas. Can anyone shed some insight on that for me? (Or should I start another thread?)

I think it is a statement of prophesy, not ontology. That is: Jesus knew the course that Judas would take, and it would have been better for him had he not taken it, but not that he necessarily had to take it.

 

[tee_eff_em]

vangrosh:

Then the Catechism quotes the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom which eludes that we must not take communion like Judas did. How can we be like Judas in taking communion if Judas never took communion?

While I’m not weighing two cents one way or the other, this same line of reasoning would lead us to conclude that the good thief received, wouldn’t it? And surely we don’t presume that to have been the case?

1386 Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: “Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea” (“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed.”). 219 And in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the faithful pray in the same spirit:
O Son of God, bring me into communion today with your mystical supper. I shall not tell your enemies the secret, nor kiss you with Judas’ kiss. But like the good thief I cry, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Judas went to the enemies of Jesus after he received the Eucharist. St. John Chrysostom is praying that we shall not do what Judas did.

 

[justme]

Acutally the line from CCC paragraph 1386 is from the Prayers before Communion. It says

Accept me as a partaker of your mystical supper, O Son of God; for I will not reveal your mystery to your enemies, nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas, but like the thief, I confess you:

This is only a portion of the the prayer but it does not say what you are trying to make it say, it has to do with the kiss Judas gave Jesus in the Garden to indentify him to those sent to arrest Him.

 

[Paul_W]

Many years ago I was feeling a bit under the weather but attended Mass anyway.

During the Eucharistic prayer I tried to assess my condition. I was feeling just a bit nauseous and pondered whether the receipt of Our Lord in the Eucharist might settle my stomach, or whether I would be risking a sacrilege.

Just as the priest intoned the words “this is My body which will be given up for you” my question was answered. I barely had time to reach the door before expelling the contentents of my stomach.

Might the same thing have happened to Judas, especially if he knew what he was planning to do? He might have “been there” for the institution of the Eucharist, without actually receiving it.

 

[vangrosh]

While I’m not weighing two cents one way or the other, this same line of reasoning would lead us to conclude that the good thief received, wouldn’t it? And surely we don’t presume that to have been the case?

O Son of God, bring me into communion today with your mystical supper. I shall not tell your enemies the secret, nor kiss you with Judas’ kiss. But like the good thief I cry, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

I’m not saying the above quote proves that he ate communion but that it acknowledges what Judas did after receiving the Eucharist from Jesus- he left to “tell the enemies of Jesus”. After that, Judas finishes the betrayal with a Kiss. But the final incident with Judas started exactly when Judas took the Eucharistic bread from Jesus – at that moment Satan entered him. That is the scriptural background of the above prayer. The last part about the good thief is reflecting on the attitude we should have and of course this does not teach that the good thief took communion.

However the first part is different because it is expressing two things or has two realities. The first is the unworthy disposition of unbelief and betrayal that Judas had. That contrasts with the worthy belief and faith of the good thief. The second thing is that unlike the good thief, Judas was actually there at the last supper! That is a big difference. Judas was actually there and took the Eucharist in his own hands. At that moment Satan entered him and Judas left to go to tell the enemies of Jesus. Taking the Eucharist from Jesus in his state of unbelief and I believe mortal sin was enough to incur the judgment Paul talks about – even if he did not eat it which I think is unlikely.

The point is Judas personally received the Eucharist from the hand of Jesus. That is totally explicit in John 13:26. Then he incurred the judgment by Satan entering him which later drove him to his death. That is the whole point. So whether Judas just held the Eucharist in his hands or whether he ate it, is a mute point. He still received the judgment for taking it in an unworthy manner.

I did a fair amount of research on these points over the past two days and the only thing I could find that believed that Judas did not receive the Eucharist was a very old article by an anti-Catholic reformed Protestant who was attacking what he thought was the standard and well-known “Popish and Romanish” belief that Judas received the Eucharist.

I also found a passage in the Catholic encyclopedia that stated that the weight of the evidence is that Judas took and ate the Eucharist and that it is an easy task to harmonize the four Gospel accounts in this issue.

-Ric

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I was just wondering.

Why does it matter if Judas recieved or not?