Differences Between Catholic and Protestant Communion

[Th0t]

After letting too much of my time pass to learn things, I am coming back to learn :]

Okay, recently my girlfriend and I had a conversation about communion. This Sunday, she went to see her sister perform at a Protestant church. (Her sister has joined a Protestant church and refuses to go with us to Mass or learn about the Catholic faith, especially her mom, due to “it’s not fun”. 18 years old)

My girlfriend noticed that her sister took the Protestant communion and was sad/surprised. And she told her about it and her sister said, “So what?” and her mom began to say, “The Eucharist is the same everywhere. No matter if it’s in a Catholic Church or a Christian church.” I told her, “No, there is a difference, the intention might be the same but it’s TOTALLY different. Jesus is ACTUALLY present in Catholic Mass, and ONLY an ORDAINED priest can perform the rituals. Other than that it is invalid.” and She began to say “No, it’s the same, Jesus is there too.” And since I have manners and I have respect, I just agreed to disagree. Later on my girlfriend told me that she told her sister why she hadn’t gone to Mass, and she said “I do go, it’s the same s**t.” and then she asked her “And you haven’t confessed in a long time.” “Yeah, I confess to God.” and her mom began to say “Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be, confess to God alone.” and I told her, “Yeah, it’s good to confess to God your sins, BUT it is through the priest that God exercises His forgiveness and Mercy, which is why it is called the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” and then she said, “Well, that’s what a priest told me from Mexico, a CATHOLIC priest, straight from the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe!” (like that makes her argument more valid lol)

I want to know, how can I explain the difference between a Protestant service and a Catholic Mass?

 

[JustaServant]

Jesus said “lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” This is made real through the Eucharist as we connect with the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus instituted the new covenant. He said this is my body with the focus on the bread. He said this is my blood with the focus on the wine. So when I take communion every Sunday I realize that by the power of the Holy Spirit I am in this everlasting covenant with God through the blood of His Son.
And as I take the elements into myself, by the power of the Holy Spirit I am receiving Christ into me, mind, body, and soul, and our lives flow as one. His body strengthens me, His blood renews life in me, He is feeding me His very self. Christ feeds us spiritual food and we, in eating and drinking, have received His very Life through the sacraments.
As Jesus sat down with two on the road to Emmaus “he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And** their eyes were opened**, and they knew him” Later they told the Apostles: “what things were done in the way, and how** he was known of them in breaking of bread.”**In the Holy Eucharist we have the one sacrament whose principal purpose is to increase sanctifying grace, repeatedly and often, through personal union with the Giver of grace Himself.
That is why the Holy Eucharist is preeminently the sacrament of spiritual growth, of increase in spiritual stature and strength.
When the Eucharist is removed from a Christian’s life, they are forever trying to find something to replace it with.

 

[RedBert]

The Protestant perspective Is the emphasis on remembrance.

The PERFECT sacrifice that need never to be repeated:

Christ never will need to have his body broken or his blood poured out for our sins ever again.

That perspective should not diminish the solemnness of the event… (one of the greatest events in history, the penalty of sins for all mankind being paid for by the body and blood of Christ)

The comments of your girlfriend shows a clear misunderstanding of either the Catholic perspective or the Protestant perspective.

without knowing her heart: she seems to be just going through the motions as a routine.

 

[OraLabora]

Flippant answer: one is real, one is pretend

Real answer: it comes down to the Real Presence vs remembrance.

Catholics (and some Protestants) believe that the former is necessary to carry out the latter and that the former exists when the Eucharist is confected, the remaining Protestants, only believe the latter latter.

For Protestants who have some sort of theology of the Real Presence, there are variations about how and when He is present, and there are beliefs (among Catholics) about apostolic succession that are such that Catholics believe that most Protestants cannot validly confect the Eucharist (not sure about the Anglo-Catholics who have apostolic succession).

Catholics believe that the Eucharist of the Orthodox is valid though.

 

[RedBert]

Flippant answer: one is real, one is pretend

.

flippant come back:
Silly Protestants, doing what Jesus SAID to do in the BIBLE.

Luke 22: 19
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

 

[JustaServant]

flippant come back:
Silly Protestants, doing what Jesus SAID to do in the BIBLE.

Luke 22: 19
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Look up the word “remembrance” in Strong’s concordance.

 

[AmericanJosiah]

I want to know, how can I explain the difference between a Protestant service and a Catholic Mass?

I think you are interested not in the differences in the liturgy but in the understanding of the Eucharist. It depends on who you talk to. There are 3 basic Protestant positions:

Lutheran (Some Anglican and Methodist)

Lutherans (dogmatically) as well as many Anglicans and some Methodist affirm Real Presence. We believe - passionately - that Christ is literally and physically present in the Sacrament so that what we receive is literally Christ. As I like to say, we affirm that the meaning of is is is. This IS My Body… this IS My Blood. When my Lutheran pastor places the Host on my tongue, his words are (verbatim), “Josiah - this IS the Body of Christ.” Now, we do not teach (as dogma anyway) the unique 16th century Catholic dogma of Transubstantiation - that the elements underwent an alchemic transubstantiation leaving behind Aristotelian “accidents.” We leave all that where Scripture and the ECF’s did - alone.

**Zwinglism/Calvinism **

There’s actually a range of beliefs here (especially in practice), but this view affirms that Christ is “truly” PRESENT in some special, spiritual sense - but not literally. While Lutherans and Orthodox Christians affirm Real Presence (but not Transubstantiation), we distance ourselves from any charges of “cannibalism” which is often the accusation here. In any case, while the metaphysics here is looser than in Lutheranism and Orthodoxy, there is an emphasis on a SPIRITUAL presence rather than a literal PHYSICAL presence - although this view also stresses that Christ is PRESENT.

Symbolic

This view, often found in “evangelical” circles, stresses the “remember me” aspect of the Institution, rather than the “My Body… My Blood” part. It is a hermeneutical issue, however, because they accept the literal words of the text, but they argue that the meaning of is is not is (noting - correctly - that symbolic speech is not uncommon in the NT), thus they view this as SYMBOLIC of Christ. “This reminds me of His presence and sacrifice.”

The Issue of Validity:

As a former Catholic, MY impression is that in Catholicism, the Protestant Mass is rejected NOT because of the doctrine of the Eucharist but because such is not officiated by one IT regards as being “valid” or “authoritative.” It’s a power/authority issue. (Actually, the Lutheran and Orthodox doctrines are closer to each other than the Catholic and Orthodox doctrine - but the authority of Orthodox priests is acknowledged whereas the authority of Lutheran pastors is not - it’s a power/authority issue for The Catholic Church).

All Protestants disagree. For Lutherans, we see the Sacrament as GOD’S action, not the priests. As polity, we think the Celebrant/Officiant must be a regularly called and ordained pastor (normally), but the Sacrament is not a result of who he is but is a result of God’s grace and promise. GOD performs the Eucharistic Miracle, not the priest. It is a result of GOD’S grace and promise, not the priest’s ordination. So, whereas Lutheran pastors can “trace” their line of ordination back to the Apostles the same as any Catholic priest (HISTORICALLY, there is no difference whatsoever), this is moot from the Lutheran perspective vis-a-vis the Real Presence of Jesus in His Eucharist.

I hope that helps.

Pax

• Josiah

.

 

[Ave_Maria_1]

Truly, truly I say to you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood has eternal life…for My flesh is REAL food and My Blood is REAL drink…He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him…he who eats me will live because of Me.(Jn.6:53-57

…and He took bread…saying THIS IS MY BODY…the cup…the new covenant in MY BLOOD (Lk. 22:19-20)

Whoever therefore eats the Bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guity of profaning the BODY AND BLOOD of the Lord. (1 Cor.11:23-30)

The ‘reformers’ of the middle ages threw out the sacramental life to begin churches of their own making. They seemed to think they knew a better way than the way established by Christ and how Christians worshiped for 1500 years. That is still going on with tens of thousands of protestant churches making up a ‘Christ’ to their own image. But one cannot separate Christ from His Church, the Catholic Church, to whom He gave His authority such that those who hear the Holy Father and the magisterium, hear the will of Our Lord. Many nowadays who call themselves ‘Christian’ have little resemblance to what Christ intended. Merely believing in Jesus is not enough for Scripture tells us that the demons believe. The Gospel of today (1/12) has Our Lord casting out demons who recognized Him as ‘the Holy One of God’. It is we humans who have trouble figuring it out. Many so called Christians accept lifestyles and behaviors totally contrary to the natural law and to God’s law. And if you don’t like what your current church teaches, rent a storefront and set up your own version…

Our Lord has made His Real Presence known to millions in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Not a ‘spiritual’ or wishful thing but a Real physical Presence. Read the Saints. You Catholics, read your own heart as you adore Him in adoration or when you receive Our Lord in Holy Communion…but, you need to be in a state of grace for only the pure in heart can truly see God.
We all need regular confession. Yes, it is a humbling thing. But Our Lord Himself told us to follow Him, who is meek and humble of heart.

The Holy Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Catholic faith. If one does not believe, then they will not accept many other of the tenets of the faith. And then they can leave, they are free to leave and pick a place that ‘resonates’ with their emotions or whatever. Our Lord let those go who did not believe Him about the Holy Eucharist. The early Christians were even accused of being cannibals for testifying that they ate the Body of Christ and drank His Blood; that certainly was their understanding and , if needed, they would give their lives for the privilege.

The Holy Eucharist IS Jesus Christ! That is a truth worth dying for and millions upon millions have done so. We may , some of us, be given the opportunity in our own lifetimes. The attack on the Church, and the Holy Eucharist, must come. Right now the attacks are small but growing. Oh, ‘hate’ crimes if you speak the truth about certain perversions, etc. Who will speak the truth? Who will have the courage? We need supernatural strength that comes from the sacramental life to be willing to lay down our lives for the Truth. That was what the early Christian Catholic martyrs did with Holy Mass daily or as often as they could go. And when the demonic attacks against the Church really rev up–the hatred is palpable. The hanging, drawing and quartering of Catholic priests in Elizabethan England for example. Or the extermination of all priests found in the civil war of Spain in 1936 such that in some dioceses all clergy were murdered. And murder the cloistered nuns too for their prayer power is so strong and must be eliminated. You will not find this sort of demonic hatred against the ‘New Way Covenant’ church at the shopping center; they do not pose much danger to the demonic and secular atheistic agendas. The attack will target the priesthood, the Holy Mass, and the Eucharist. Now it is against the family and marriage and there is the liberal penetration into places of authority in the Church that has done much damage, but we will see the fine tuning of all this.

A ‘remembrance’ is a nice thing in our current understanding. Yet the ‘remembrance’ as the Jewish people understood it and as we Catholics understand it is to ‘make present again’ in a sense of entering into that one moment, that time again. In a mystical sense at each Holy Mass there is again the mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. We enter into that once for all event! And this event will continue on until the end of time.

We are speaking here of the fullness of the faith, not bits and pieces here and there. When we come to Holy Communion and the priest says ‘Body of Christ’ and we say ‘Amen’, we are saying amen to the belief in the Real Presence and we are also saying amen to all that the Church teaches and that we are in communion with those teachings. That is why it is such a scandal when very public figures say they are Catholic and go to communion and then live their lives contrary to Church teachings; it makes every Communion a lie.

We are, as Catholics, called to be signs of contradiction in the world. We must love, and we must also speak the truth. To stand up and be counted takes great strength. We draw that from Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine: all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.

 

[Ave_Maria_1]

ps–
It is interesting that just as in Scripture we see that the demons recognized Our Lord, so also in our present world, the satanist also recognize the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. They do not go to a Lutheran service or any other protestant service to gain access to the bread, cracker, or wafer used there. No, they come to the Catholic Church and seek a consecrated Host to use in their black blasphemy ‘masses’. The demons still acknowledge HIM.

It was Our Lord Himself who instituted the priesthood–or do ‘better minds’ think the apostles and their successors had it all wrong. And no, there is no tracing back of protestant ordinations to the apostles for they broke with the necessary intent years ago.

How many broke their vows-vows!- to begin or join another form of religion that suits them better?

 

[AmericanJosiah]

Truly, truly I say to you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood has eternal life…for My flesh is REAL food and My Blood is REAL drink…He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him…he who eats me will live because of Me.(Jn.6:53-57

…and He took bread…saying THIS IS MY BODY…the cup…the new covenant in MY BLOOD (Lk. 22:19-20)

Whoever therefore eats the Bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guity of profaning the BODY AND BLOOD of the Lord. (1 Cor.11:23-30)

The ‘reformers’ of the middle ages threw out the sacramental life to begin churches of their own making.

How did Luther “throw out” the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist?

Lutherans (as well as many Anglicans and some Methodist) fully and passionately embrace Real Presence (dogmatically in the case of Lutherans) - fully and literally agreeing with the texts you quote.

You do know that Luther was excommunicated by The Catholic Church from The Catholic Church. It’s hardly the same thing as “to begin his own denomination.”

They seemed to think they knew a better way than the way established by Christ and how Christians worshiped for 1500 years.

Actually, Luther’s passionate embrace of Real Presence IS the view of Christians for 1500 years. In 1551, The Catholic Church uniquely made a new dogma - that of Transubstantiation.

Our Lord has made His Real Presence known to millions in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Not a ‘spiritual’ or wishful thing but a Real physical Presence.

As a Protestant, I could not more passionately agree with you. So, how does that indicate that I don’t?



.

 

[Mark77]

**Even Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, never doubted the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
**
“Martin Luther himself confirms that the early Church unanimously taught the Real Presence: (Luther wrote) 'of all fathers, as many as you can name, not one has ever spoken about the sacrament as these fanatics do. None of them uses such an expression as ‘it is simply bread and wine’ or ‘Christ’s body and blood are not present.’…Certainly among so many fathers and so many writings a negative argument should have turned up at least once, as happens in other articles; but actually they all stand uniformly and consistently on the affirmative side” Luther’s Works (St Louis Mo: Concordia Publishing 1961), vol 37, 54.(Fr Frank Chacon & Jim Burnam, in their Beginning Apologetics 1, p. 9)

Catholic Communion, or Eucharist is Truly valid, passed down from Jesus through His Apostles to us today. Unfortunately, the Protestant Communion is invalid & a ‘nice thought’ without the “Real Presence” even the mere man who “founded” the religion of Protestantism, Martin Luther, believed in, & that is so critical to our journey through life.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[JonNC]

mark

This is the Catholic teaching, and you do well, Mark, as a Catholic to express it. Of course, you can imagine that Lutherans would disagree with Rome’s assessment. And, it doesn’t keep Lutherans from recognizing Catholic clergy and sacraments as valid.

All that said, there are some interesting documents coming out of the ongoing dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics, such as:

prounione.urbe.it/dia-int/l-rc/doc/e_l-rc_eucharist.html

and

usccb.org/seia/koinonia.shtml

And in this document, you will find the following quote from Cr. Ratzinger:

I count among the most important results of the ecumenical dialogues the insight that the issue of the eucharist cannot be narrowed to the problem of ‘validity.’ Even a theology oriented to the concept of succession, such as that which holds in the Catholic and in the Orthodox church, need not in any way deny the salvation-granting presence of the Lord in a Lutheran Lord’s Supper

Jon

 

[Bran_Stark]

It’s interesting that the Baptist celebrating the “Lord’s Supper” as a remembrance of Christ’s death is doing just that, from a Catholic perspective, while an Anglo-Catholic celebrating the “Most Holy Eucharist” as the literal Body and Blood of Christ is, as Catholics see it, not really doing that. So, even though his theology is much father from Catholic ideas than the Anglo-Catholic, his understanding of what he is doing in his own Communion would actually be the correct one.

 

[jmcrae]

After letting too much of my time pass to learn things, I am coming back to learn :]

Okay, recently my girlfriend and I had a conversation about communion. This Sunday, she went to see her sister perform at a Protestant church. (Her sister has joined a Protestant church and refuses to go with us to Mass or learn about the Catholic faith, especially her mom, due to “it’s not fun”. 18 years old)

My girlfriend noticed that her sister took the Protestant communion and was sad/surprised. And she told her about it and her sister said, “So what?” and her mom began to say, “The Eucharist is the same everywhere. No matter if it’s in a Catholic Church or a Christian church.”

Okay - rather than argue with you about this, what she needs to do is ask the Protestant pastor what he believes himself to be giving her, when he gives her “Holy Communion.”

Chances are good that he would react in horror, to find that she believes it to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or even remotely similar to anything found at a Catholic Mass - let him do all of your work for you, because he will say, “NO, that’s idolatry - this bread and wine is only a symbol. This is nothing at all like a Catholic Mass.”

 

[Th0t]

I appreciate everyone’s replies.

Though jmcrae makes the most sense. That never came to my mind. I’ll surely do just that! lol Thank you.

TRANSUBSTANTIATION was just the word the Church was looking for to describe what was happening in the Mass. It wasn’t a dogma that was recently made up or conjured up. It was happening ever since the beginning of the Church.

The early Christians believed in the Real Presence. Before the year 500 A.D. it was hard to find someone who denied the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

St. Justin Martyr “God has therefore announced in advanced that all the sacrifices offered in His name, which Jesus Christ offered, that is, in the Eucharist of the Bread and of the Chalice, whiche are offered by us Christians in every part of the world, are pleasing to Him.” “Dialogue with Trypho”, Ch. 117, circa 130-160 A.D.

and we believe that the priest in that moment is Jesus Christ reliving and saying the same words He said that night before He was betrayed. A priest is “In Persona Christi”

And please no sarcasm. Peter didn’t say to defend your faith with sarcasm did he?

1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” Where’s sarcasm? Just a constructive criticism in the name of Jesus.

…God Bless…

 

[sameole1]

Truly, truly I say to you: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood has eternal life…for My flesh is REAL food and My Blood is REAL drink…He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in him…he who eats me will live because of Me.(Jn.6:53-57

…and He took bread…saying THIS IS MY BODY…the cup…the new covenant in MY BLOOD (Lk. 22:19-20)

Whoever therefore eats the Bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guity of profaning the BODY AND BLOOD of the Lord. (1 Cor.11:23-30)

The ‘reformers’ of the middle ages threw out the sacramental life to begin churches of their own making. They seemed to think they knew a better way than the way established by Christ and how Christians worshiped for 1500 years. That is still going on with tens of thousands of protestant churches making up a ‘Christ’ to their own image. But one cannot separate Christ from His Church, the Catholic Church, to whom He gave His authority such that those who hear the Holy Father and the magisterium, hear the will of Our Lord. Many nowadays who call themselves ‘Christian’ have little resemblance to what Christ intended. Merely believing in Jesus is not enough for Scripture tells us that the demons believe. The Gospel of today (1/12) has Our Lord casting out demons who recognized Him as ‘the Holy One of God’. It is we humans who have trouble figuring it out. Many so called Christians accept lifestyles and behaviors totally contrary to the natural law and to God’s law. And if you don’t like what your current church teaches, rent a storefront and set up your own version…

Our Lord has made His Real Presence known to millions in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Not a ‘spiritual’ or wishful thing but a Real physical Presence. Read the Saints. You Catholics, read your own heart as you adore Him in adoration or when you receive Our Lord in Holy Communion…but, you need to be in a state of grace for only the pure in heart can truly see God.
We all need regular confession. Yes, it is a humbling thing. But Our Lord Himself told us to follow Him, who is meek and humble of heart.

The Holy Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Catholic faith. If one does not believe, then they will not accept many other of the tenets of the faith. And then they can leave, they are free to leave and pick a place that ‘resonates’ with their emotions or whatever. Our Lord let those go who did not believe Him about the Holy Eucharist. The early Christians were even accused of being cannibals for testifying that they ate the Body of Christ and drank His Blood; that certainly was their understanding and , if needed, they would give their lives for the privilege.

The Holy Eucharist IS Jesus Christ! That is a truth worth dying for and millions upon millions have done so. We may , some of us, be given the opportunity in our own lifetimes. The attack on the Church, and the Holy Eucharist, must come. Right now the attacks are small but growing. Oh, ‘hate’ crimes if you speak the truth about certain perversions, etc. Who will speak the truth? Who will have the courage? We need supernatural strength that comes from the sacramental life to be willing to lay down our lives for the Truth. That was what the early Christian Catholic martyrs did with Holy Mass daily or as often as they could go. And when the demonic attacks against the Church really rev up–the hatred is palpable. The hanging, drawing and quartering of Catholic priests in Elizabethan England for example. Or the extermination of all priests found in the civil war of Spain in 1936 such that in some dioceses all clergy were murdered. And murder the cloistered nuns too for their prayer power is so strong and must be eliminated. You will not find this sort of demonic hatred against the ‘New Way Covenant’ church at the shopping center; they do not pose much danger to the demonic and secular atheistic agendas. The attack will target the priesthood, the Holy Mass, and the Eucharist. Now it is against the family and marriage and there is the liberal penetration into places of authority in the Church that has done much damage, but we will see the fine tuning of all this.

A ‘remembrance’ is a nice thing in our current understanding. Yet the ‘remembrance’ as the Jewish people understood it and as we Catholics understand it is to ‘make present again’ in a sense of entering into that one moment, that time again. In a mystical sense at each Holy Mass there is again the mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ. We enter into that once for all event! And this event will continue on until the end of time.

We are speaking here of the fullness of the faith, not bits and pieces here and there. When we come to Holy Communion and the priest says ‘Body of Christ’ and we say ‘Amen’, we are saying amen to the belief in the Real Presence and we are also saying amen to all that the Church teaches and that we are in communion with those teachings. That is why it is such a scandal when very public figures say they are Catholic and go to communion and then live their lives contrary to Church teachings; it makes every Communion a lie.

We are, as Catholics, called to be signs of contradiction in the world. We must love, and we must also speak the truth. To stand up and be counted takes great strength. We draw that from Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine: all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.

 

[sameole1]

I am a Protestant and yes we changed from the Catholic church. Can you say that the Catholic church has not changed just as much over the centuries?

Jesus was celebrating Passover. So if we take Communion from this meal, would we only do it once a year?

 

[jmcrae]

I am a Protestant and yes we changed from the Catholic church. Can you say that the Catholic church has not changed just as much over the centuries?

Jesus was celebrating Passover. So if we take Communion from this meal, would we only do it once a year?

The obligation to receive Holy Communion is once a year at Easter time. Not to be confused with the obligation to attend Mass which is every Sunday.

Of course the other prophecy is that the pure Oblation will be offered continually throughout the whole world, meaning daily Mass, and anyone who is properly disposed can receive at any Mass they happen to attend, up to twice a day.

 

[sameole1]

To JMKrae yesterday. Thank you for that response.
There are some scriptures listed at the beginning of this thread to prove that when we take communion we are eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus. Am I reading them wrong? They don’t seem to say that to me. John 6: 53-57. I am quoting only part of the verses, you can read them in whole.If you read from verse 47, it states that Jesus is the bread of life come down from heaven. The bread is his flesh which he gives for the life of the world. then on to verse 58 states If we eat this bread we will live forever. I don’t think he is referring to communion, do you? Then if we take communion we get everlasting life, I don’t think so. The other scriptures noted are both the same and one could argue either way as to whether the emphasis should be put on the remembrance of Him or that it is His actual body and blood in the eucharist.

 

[rfournier103]

To JMKrae yesterday. Thank you for that response.
There are some scriptures listed at the beginning of this thread to prove that when we take communion we are eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus. Am I reading them wrong? They don’t seem to say that to me. John 6: 53-57. I am quoting only part of the verses, you can read them in whole.If you read from verse 47, it states that Jesus is the bread of life come down from heaven. The bread is his flesh which he gives for the life of the world. then on to verse 58 states If we eat this bread we will live forever. I don’t think he is referring to communion, do you? Then if we take communion we get everlasting life, I don’t think so. The other scriptures noted are both the same and one could argue either way as to whether the emphasis should be put on the remembrance of Him or that it is His actual body and blood in the eucharist.

If we are in FULL COMMUNION with Christ, we shall have everlasting life. I DO think Jesus was talking about Holy Communion.

John 6:51-52- then Jesus says that the bread He is referring to is His flesh. The Jews take Him literally and immediately question such a teaching. How can this man give us His flesh to eat?

John 6:53 - 58 - Jesus does not correct their literal interpretation. Instead, Jesus eliminates any metaphorical interpretations by swearing an oath and being even more literal about eating His flesh. In fact, Jesus says four times we must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Catholics thus believe that Jesus makes present His body and blood in the sacrifice of the Mass. Protestants, if they are not going to become Catholic, can only argue that Jesus was somehow speaking symbolically.

John 6:23-53 - however, a symbolic interpretation is not plausible. Throughout these verses, the Greek text uses the word “phago” nine times. “Phago” literally means “to eat” or “physically consume.” Like the Protestants of our day, the disciples take issue with Jesus’ literal usage of “eat.” So Jesus does what?

John 6:54, 56, 57, 58 - He uses an even more literal verb, translated as “trogo,” which means to gnaw or chew or crunch. He increases the literalness and drives his message home. Jesus will literally give us His flesh and blood to eat. The word “trogo” is only used two other times in the New Testament (in Matt. 24:38 and John 13:18) and it always means to literally gnaw or chew meat. While “phago” might also have a spiritual application, “trogo” is never used metaphorically in Greek. So Protestants cannot find one verse in Scripture where “trogo” is used symbolically, and yet this must be their argument if they are going to deny the Catholic understanding of Jesus’ words. Moreover, the Jews already knew Jesus was speaking literally even before Jesus used the word “trogo” when they said “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” (John 6:52).

John 6:55 - to clarify further, Jesus says “For My Flesh is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed.” This phrase can only be understood as being responsive to those who do not believe that Jesus’ flesh is food indeed, and His blood is drink indeed. Further, Jesus uses the word which is translated as “sarx.” “Sarx” means flesh (not “soma” which means body). See, for example, John 1:13,14; 3:6; 8:15; 17:2; Matt. 16:17; 19:5; 24:22; 26:41; Mark 10:8; 13:20; 14:38; and Luke 3:6; 24:39 which provides other examples in Scripture where “sarx” means flesh. It is always literal.

John 6:55 - further, the phrases “real” food and “real” drink use the word “alethes.” “Alethes” means “really” or “truly,” and would only be used if there were doubts concerning the reality of Jesus’ flesh and blood as being food and drink. Thus, Jesus is emphasizing the miracle of His body and blood being actual food and drink.

(Thanks to www.scripturecatholic.com/ for the above)

I think that when the Holy Scriptures are read in their ORIGINAL languages, I think it does alot to clarify some of the misconceptions, don’t you? English is such a bad language for apologetics because we have too many words that mean multiple things. It’s a shame, really…

ALSO…

1 Corinthians 11:23-29…

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

For something symbolic, the bolded statement seems to be rather harsh, no?