Growing up I logically assumed consuming the body of Christ was figurative. Now as an adult I discovered transubstantiation where one believes it’s literally the body of Christ. As 21st century man I have difficulty believing a Catholic priest has the power to allow me to literally consume the body of Christ via the Eucharistic. What is the consensus on this subject?
Logic and the consensus could be wrong.
There is a truth to the matter.
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
If one instead goes to Jesus and what He said on the matter, is that better than a consensus of human beings who do not know the fullness of the mystery as He does?
yup
.
If one believes in Jesus (and therefore what He says and claims - and the claims are substantial) this becomes easier. For nothing He has said does He emphasize more.
In the sixth chapter of St. John He repeats Himself, and several times emphasizes His “difficult teaching” with more and more vehemence. Insisting that eating His flesh and drinking His blood is necessary or one has no life in them.
Red = Jesus Blue = Objections, Rejection Green = Belief, Faith
**John 6:47 ** Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, "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.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
57 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.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."
59 These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum*.
60 Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
61 Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you?
62 What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.
65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”
66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
- Capernaum was later called cursed for its unbelief by Jesus -
Matt 11:23 And as for you, Capernaum: ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."
Those believers did not eat that flesh as one eats chicken or beef but due to their belief and faith were present at the Last Supper, when Jesus gave them His flesh to eat and blood to drink in the form of bread and wine.
None rose up from the table to correct Him with an argument about whether what He was saying was true. Or breathed a sigh of relief and said "ah yes, figuratively … symbolically … ***not actually! *** :coolinoff: **- **
Because it was the sealing of a New Covenant, and not a time to be obscure. And if this was not really fulfilling the mandate of John 6:53 - a dire imperative of Jesus’ – how DOES one do it?
Jesus told the apostles to “Do this …” and the Church has. It is an act of faith to receive it, and when one does, the Church declares “Body of Christ” to which one assents “Amen!” (Yes! So be it!).
A believer need not know all of the mystery at once, particularly since the Church itself probably doesn’t know what it will someday. But the truth of the Eucharist is established, and taught by the same Church Jesus founded and empowered to teach in His name with the authority of
Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
The Good News? We can believe, receive, and have “the peace that passes all understanding.” And “… cast our cares on Him …” and probably more.
