Do you truly believe in the Real Presence?

[serendipity]

This is an issue I am struggling with, and maybe I have recieved some grace in this aspect, beucae I am finding it credible, but I’ve always wanted to believe and it’s not always possible for me. Though I would never feel comfortable telling others that I lacked faith.

 

[yankeebob]

The poll results were somewhat amazing in that I’ve seen polls where less than 50% of Catholics questioned believed in the real presence. I am really quite happy to see these results.

 

[donc]

Who ever does not believe, get a copy of the book “Eucharistic Miracles”. If this dosen’t convince you, nothing will…

 

[A_Chaoidh]

serendipity:

This is an issue I am struggling with, and maybe I have recieved some grace in this aspect, beucae I am finding it credible, but I’ve always wanted to believe and it’s not always possible for me. Though I would never feel comfortable telling others that I lacked faith.

I understand it may be difficult, I find comfort in the example of Apostles St. Peter and St. Thomas.

The book I recommended on Dogma is a great help too. The Dogma provides an intellectual, fact and science basis. These fundamentals help define Catholic Belief and create a solid foundation for Faith. This is one wonderful book!

The book on Dogma: “Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma” by Dr. Ludwig Ott, published by TAN.

 

[BackRowBaritone]

I’ve always believed in the Real Presence, but my faith took a huge step forward when I heard Scott Hahn’s tape called “The Fourth Cup.” It was recommended by the staff at the local Catholic bookstore, and I thought it would make for good listening while driving on Holy Thursday … BIG mistake. When Dr. Hahn explained the Last Supper in terms of the Jewish Passover Seder, and that as the Jews killed and ate the sacrificed lamb, so we eat the body of the LAMB OF GOD. I had to pull over, turn the engine off, and just listen. Eventually, the intra-cranial pressure became too much to endure, and I had to turn it off. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper that evening was, shall we say, more intense than I had experienced in the past. I have since advised Saint Joseph Communications that they need to put a sticker on all copies of that tape that says, “WARNING - Do Not Listen To This Tape While Driving Or Operating Heavy Machinery.” I’ve also found a transcript of the presentation at ewtn.com.

Peter Kreeft has observed that if we’re wrong on this point, we’re not just a little bit wrong; we would be “bowing to bread and worshipping wine … that’s not just wrong, that’s terrible.” However, I’m sure he would agree that understanding increases faith. We live in the information age, and the information is available. When we take the time to consider the reasons for the Church’s teachings, our faith increases enormously.

Personal “note” from a choir singer: try to find a copy of Robert Shaw’s recording of the Four Motets for the Time of Christmas by Francis Poulenc. Among many incredible treasures of choral music, the motet “O Magnum Mysterium” is the most wondrous Eucharistic meditation I know. The awe and reverence of this work helped me to understand the emotional side of adoration.

 

[km112482]

I am a cradle catholic, and I must say over the years I went to communion, but I dont think I realized exactly the true presence of Jesus. I have been studying more about my faith and growing spiritually in my prayer life latley. I am in the process of getting my marriage convalidated because me and my husband have a civil union. Well this morning as I was sitting down while everyone was going to communion I felt this sense of disappointment in myself. I wanted to cry that I wasnt worthy to recieve the eucharist. For the first time I realized that I truely do believe that it is Jesus Body blood soul and divinity. I cant tell you what kind of feeling came over me, but I truely understand what a wonderful sacrament it is and I cannot wait to bless my marriage and go to confession and be right with our Lord I am falling more and more in Love with our Lord everyday.

Kerri

 

[DrCat]

JimG:

At my parish, unless it was the Saturday vigil Mass or the first Mass on Sunday morning, if you arrived a half-hour early you would be arriving near the end of the prior Mass. You might be going down the aisle just as the priest was coming up the aisle!

It was the same at my former parish – Mass started on the hour every hour. When the parish I officially belong to built a chapel near my house (3 minutes on foot), I started going there. I arrive at 10:00 am for the11:00 am Mass - and I’m not the only one to arrive early…

As for the real presence, what’s not to believe?

I believe He is really and substantially present, body, blood, soul, and divinity.

John

 

[BulldogCath]

Food For Thought – Communion in the Hand…WHY?

**‘Out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches it but what is consecrated.’

–St. Thomas Aquinas
**

• Have you noticed a change in the way the Catholic Church receives and administers Holy Communion from the way it once was?
• Do you remember when Catholics always knelt for Holy Communion?
• Do you remember when Catholics received Holy Communion on the tongue only?
• Do you remember when only the priest administered Holy Communion?
• Do you remember our priests and sisters teaching us it was sacrilegious for anyone but the priest to touch the Sacred Host?
• Do you remember when tabernacles were always on the center of the altar as the primary focal point?
• Why has kneeling for Holy Communion disappeared?
• Why are tabernacles disappearing from the center of the Churches and placed on the side?
• Why are people receiving Communion in the hand?
• Why are there lay-ministers of the Eucharist?
• Why were these things changed?
• If things were changed for the sake of “modern times” and “modern men”, has it resulted in record crowds of “modern men” flocking into the Churches to pray and receive the Sacraments?
• Do we have record turnouts in our seminaries, monasteries, and convents?
• Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of vocations in the Church?
• Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of converts coming into the Church?
• Was there a “vocation crisis” before these essential and fundamental things were changed?
• In the rubrics of the Old Rite of Mass, why was there such precaution taken against the desecration of the Sacred Species?
• Why did the priest wash his fingers after administering Holy Communion?
• Why did the priest scrape the corporal with the paten so as not to allow even the slightest minute particle to fall to the ground and be desecrated?
• Why when Holy Communion was dropped, the Host was covered and left on the floor until after Mass, where the priestwould then remove it, and then carefully clean the area where the Sacred Host lay?
• Why did these rubrics disappear?
• Was there more faith in the Real Presence before the “renewal?”
• Was there a deeper and greater understanding and appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament as really and truly being the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine?
• Were the old rubrics simply “over scrupulous?”
• Did the old rubrics and strict laws safeguarding reverence, dignity, and holiness, not express the Catholic Faith regarding the Blessed Sacrament properly?
• Do we now understand and believe in it in a different manner, and this is therefore manifested by the actions of first the clergy, then the laity?
• Are we afraid to adore the Sacred Host?
• Are we ashamed to adore the Sacred Host?
• Is it any coincidence that Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament began to fade away more and more with the introduction of Communion in the hand and lay ministers of the Eucharist?
• Has Catholic teaching changed regarding TRANSUBSTANTIATION, that is, the changing of the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ during the Sacrifice of the Mass?
• If the teaching has not changed, why has attitude, spirit, rubrics and practice changed?
• Where did Communion in the hand come from since it is nowhere proposed or even mentioned in the documents of Vatican II?
• Why did it still come about on a worldwide scale even after Pope Paul VI in his 1969 letter to the Bishops, “Memoriale Domini” stated “This method, ‘on the tongue’ must be retained?”
• If it is supposed to be “optional”, why are the little children in most parochial schools taught no other way than receiving in the hand as “this is the way it is done?”
• Why is there a new attitude of “anyone can handle it?”

The results of Communion in the hand and the Novus Ordo have caused a major crisis in the Catholic Church. *The New York Times *reported that when Catholics were asked, in a *Times-CBS *news poll, what best describes their belief about what happens to the bread and wine at Mass, most chose the answer that the bread and wine are “symbolic reminders of Christ” over the answer that they are “changed into the Body and Blood of Christ”. The official Church teaching, which we must believe in order to be saved, is this: "The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharist species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and the whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ

 

[Exporter]

BulldogCatholic, You wrote a great post. Thanks. You reminded me of how the Eucharist used to be thought of as Sacred, Holy and untouchable.

 

[CreosMary]

Positively absolutly YES
The source and summit of our Faith, My Lord and my God.
Sweet Sacrament we thee adore; Lord make us love thee more and more. :bowdown:

 

[flick427]

Food For Thought – Communion in the Hand…WHY?

’Out of reverence towards this Sacrament, nothing touches it but what is consecrated.'

*–St. Thomas Aquinas *

• Have you noticed a change in the way the Catholic Church receives and administers Holy Communion from the way it once was?
• Do you remember when Catholics always knelt for Holy Communion?
• Do you remember when Catholics received Holy Communion on the tongue only?
• Do you remember when only the priest administered Holy Communion?
• Do you remember our priests and sisters teaching us it was sacrilegious for anyone but the priest to touch the Sacred Host?
• Do you remember when tabernacles were always on the center of the altar as the primary focal point?
• Why has kneeling for Holy Communion disappeared?
• Why are tabernacles disappearing from the center of the Churches and placed on the side?
• Why are people receiving Communion in the hand?
• Why are there lay-ministers of the Eucharist?
• Why were these things changed?
• If things were changed for the sake of “modern times” and “modern men”, has it resulted in record crowds of “modern men” flocking into the Churches to pray and receive the Sacraments?
• Do we have record turnouts in our seminaries, monasteries, and convents?
• Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of vocations in the Church?
• Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of converts coming into the Church?
• Was there a “vocation crisis” before these essential and fundamental things were changed?
• In the rubrics of the Old Rite of Mass, why was there such precaution taken against the desecration of the Sacred Species?
• Why did the priest wash his fingers after administering Holy Communion?
• Why did the priest scrape the corporal with the paten so as not to allow even the slightest minute particle to fall to the ground and be desecrated?
• Why when Holy Communion was dropped, the Host was covered and left on the floor until after Mass, where the priestwould then remove it, and then carefully clean the area where the Sacred Host lay?
• Why did these rubrics disappear?
• Was there more faith in the Real Presence before the “renewal?”
• Was there a deeper and greater understanding and appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament as really and truly being the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine?
• Were the old rubrics simply “over scrupulous?”
• Did the old rubrics and strict laws safeguarding reverence, dignity, and holiness, not express the Catholic Faith regarding the Blessed Sacrament properly?
• Do we now understand and believe in it in a different manner, and this is therefore manifested by the actions of first the clergy, then the laity?
• Are we afraid to adore the Sacred Host?
• Are we ashamed to adore the Sacred Host?
• Is it any coincidence that Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament began to fade away more and more with the introduction of Communion in the hand and lay ministers of the Eucharist?
• Has Catholic teaching changed regarding TRANSUBSTANTIATION, that is, the changing of the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ during the Sacrifice of the Mass?
• If the teaching has not changed, why has attitude, spirit, rubrics and practice changed?
• Where did Communion in the hand come from since it is nowhere proposed or even mentioned in the documents of Vatican II?
• Why did it still come about on a worldwide scale even after Pope Paul VI in his 1969 letter to the Bishops, “Memoriale Domini” stated “This method, ‘on the tongue’ must be retained?”
• If it is supposed to be “optional”, why are the little children in most parochial schools taught no other way than receiving in the hand as “this is the way it is done?”
• Why is there a new attitude of “anyone can handle it?”

The results of Communion in the hand and the Novus Ordo have caused a major crisis in the Catholic Church. *The New York Times *reported that when Catholics were asked, in a *Times-CBS *news poll, what best describes their belief about what happens to the bread and wine at Mass, most chose the answer that the bread and wine are “symbolic reminders of Christ” over the answer that they are “changed into the Body and Blood of Christ”. The official Church teaching, which we must believe in order to be saved, is this: "The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharist species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and the whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ

This is good stuff, right on!

 

[Wildgraywolf]

YES I DO!

The most moving part of the Mass for me is at the elevation… “This is Jesus. This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those called to His supper”

 

[Michael_Welter]

BulldogCath:

• Have you noticed a change in the way the Catholic Church receives and administers Holy Communion from the way it once was?

Well, it’s hard not to notice.

Do you remember when Catholics always knelt for Holy Communion?

Yes, many still do. I ALWAYS show reverence before receiving.

Do you remember when Catholics received Holy Communion on the tongue only?

Yes, so what’s your point?

Do you remember when only the priest administered Holy Communion?

Yes, but with the shortage of priests, at least in my diocese, things have had to change. In my parish, we don’t even have a pastor. Thank God the laity have stepped up to serve.

Do you remember our priests and sisters teaching us it was sacrilegious for anyone but the priest to touch the Sacred Host?

Nope. I never heard that one. In fact, as I read Scripture, I see many ocaissions where people, other than ordained people, touching Jesus.

Do you remember when tabernacles were always on the center of the altar as the primary focal point?

Yes, I do. But the focus is not supposed to be on the Tabernacle. It is supposed to be on the Eucharistic sacrifice which takes place on the Altar.

Why has kneeling for Holy Communion disappeared?

Has it? Not in my parish. And I attend a Life Teen Mass.

Why are tabernacles disappearing from the center of the Churches and placed on the side?

Again, to place the focus on the Eucharist, not the Tabernacle. Although, in my parish, the Tabernacle is still in the center, on the High Altar.

Why are people receiving Communion in the hand?

Because the Church, who Christ promised protection from error, has stated that we may receive Jesus in our hands. Do you disagree with the Church?

Why are there lay-ministers of the Eucharist?

Because the Church, who Christ promised protection from error, in her great wisdom, saw a need, and moved to fill that need.

Why were these things changed?

Because the needs of the people had to be met. Remember, the law was made for man, not man for the law.

If things were changed for the sake of “modern times” and “modern men”, has it resulted in record crowds of “modern men” flocking into the Churches to pray and receive the Sacraments?

I don’t believe these changes were made for the sake of “modern times” or “modern men”. I believe these changes were made to meet the changing needs of the faithful.

Do we have record turnouts in our seminaries, monasteries, and convents?

Not at all. Society has degraded the Church so much that religious vocations have dropped. I don’t see any connection to the Eucharist.

Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of vocations in the Church?

I don’t believe it’s had any impact at all, either way.

Has the introduction of these new things increased the amount of converts coming into the Church?

 

[Michael_Welter]

Hmm, that’s hard to say. I suppose that would require substantial research to answer.

Was there a “vocation crisis” before these essential and fundamental things were changed?

First of all, I don’t make that connection. Second of all, what do you mean by “essential and fundamental”? Again, it sounds like to are saying the Church is wrong in making certain changes.

In the rubrics of the Old Rite of Mass, why was there such precaution taken against the desecration of the Sacred Species?

Because it is Jesus. Because we love Him.

Why did the priest wash his fingers after administering Holy Communion?

• Why did the priest scrape the corporal with the paten so as not to allow even the slightest minute particle to fall to the ground and be desecrated?
• Why when Holy Communion was dropped, the Host was covered and left on the floor until after Mass, where the priestwould then remove it, and then carefully clean the area where the Sacred Host lay?

Because Jesus is God, and deserves out utmost honor.

Why did these rubrics disappear?

Did they? Not in my parish.

Was there more faith in the Real Presence before the “renewal?”

Which renewal? In my case, my faith increased after renewal.

Was there a deeper and greater understanding and appreciation of the Blessed Sacrament as really and truly being the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine?

When?

Were the old rubrics simply “over scrupulous?”

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Over-legalization is common in well established religions. Jesus often criticized it, but only when it replaced what was truly important, which a Holy and Contrite heart.

Did the old rubrics and strict laws safeguarding reverence, dignity, and holiness, not express the Catholic Faith regarding the Blessed Sacrament properly?

Yes they did, to that generation.

Do we now understand and believe in it in a different manner, and this is therefore manifested by the actions of first the clergy, then the laity?

I wouldn’t put it that way. We still believe in the Real Presence. That hasn’t changed. It is still taught vigorously, at least in my parish.

 

[Michael_Welter]

Are we afraid to adore the Sacred Host?

• Are we ashamed to adore the Sacred Host?

Not at all. Adoration is a cherished, and well attended event, in my parish.

Is it any coincidence that Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament began to fade away more and more with the introduction of Communion in the hand and lay ministers of the Eucharist?

Has it? I love adoration more now than I ever did when I was young. And I always receive in the hand.

Has Catholic teaching changed regarding TRANSUBSTANTIATION, that is, the changing of the bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ during the Sacrifice of the Mass?

Of course not. Why would you ask that question. Have you not read recent Chruch documents? They have been ever so clear on the subject.

If the teaching has not changed, why has attitude, spirit, rubrics and practice changed?

To meet the needs of a new generation. People are different today than they were 500 years ago. Laws, rubrics, practices, all can change. Jesus didn’t do everything the same as His forefathers did.

Where did Communion in the hand come from since it is nowhere proposed or even mentioned in the documents of Vatican II?

It came from Rome. That’s why Rome still supports it.

Why did it still come about on a worldwide scale even after Pope Paul VI in his 1969 letter to the Bishops, “Memoriale Domini” stated “This method, ‘on the tongue’ must be retained?”

Communion on the tongue is still available, at least in my parish, and every other parish I visit. It has been retained.

If it is supposed to be “optional”, why are the little children in most parochial schools taught no other way than receiving in the hand as “this is the way it is done?”

In my parish they are taught both ways. I hope this is done in all parishes.

Why is there a new attitude of “anyone can handle it?”

There isn’t. Only the faithful who are in a state of grace can “handle it”, as you so crudely put it.

The results of Communion in the hand and the Novus Ordo have caused a major crisis in the Catholic Church.

Wow! That’s a huge logical leap. Do you have any documentation to support that claim? Or is that just your opinion?

As a fellow Catholic, I love you. But be very careful about criticizing valid practices that have been established by the Bride of Christ. I suspect that Christ would not be pleased with His bride being criticized.

 

[icequeen]

Yes! I discovered a few years ago why we Catholics do what we do in the Mass during our priest’s Homily. It was a light-bulb moment. Wow, this is really Jesus! I was not a well-formed Catholic (obviously!). I feel truly blessed to have this wonderful gift! I feel sorry for those Catholics who do not believe in the Real Presence. They are missing out on a true miracle.

 

[flick427]

Michael Welter:

, touching Jesus.

Because the Church, who Christ promised protection from error, has stated that we may receive Jesus in our hands. Do you disagree with the Church?

To back BulldodCath on this, I would like to see evidence that the Catholic Church actually has stated that we can recieve Holy Communion in the hand.
I have never found concrete evidence backing this. Hand Communion was pushed by Bishops who did not correctly interpret/follow the instructions of the Holy Father.
I have heard the early church had actually condemed Hand Communion.
Also, the people of the Church can be “in error” on some things, but the Church itself is infallible in matters of our fundamental beliefs (for example refer to the Nicene and Anathasian Creeds)…it is the difference between Tradition (capital “T”) and tradition (lowercase “t”).

 

[Michael_Welter]

flick427:

To back BulldodCath on this, I would like to see evidence that the Catholic Church actually has stated that we can recieve Holy Communion in the hand.

That’s a valid request. The following is from Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum.

[92.] Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her

 

[Kevin_Walker]

Yes, I do believe at the moment of consencration I believe the Bread and Wine actually become the Body & Blood of Christ.

It is the part of the Mass that I most intensely wait; for the chimes to ring and the Host is raised. That is a miracle for all to see and appreciate, and it is what I wait for; and it is what makes the Catholic Mass so very special indeed, the presence of our Lord himself.

It is also one of the reasons that makes a Catholic Priest so special, that he is actually hands-on with our Lord at that very moment. A Catholic Priest is not just entrusted with his flock, but he is also entrusted with God. The Catholic Priest is our spiritual Father, and that special relationship is re-established at every Mass.

The presence of our Lord Jesus Christ results at every Catholic Mass, and is a solemn event.

 

[Wildgraywolf]

Stephen-Maguire:

If I didn’t believe in the real presence I wouldn’t bother going to Mass.dsanford.com/miraclehost/hostvideo.wmv

Stephen;
I checked out your video… Simply Awesome!

The video is a MUST SEE!