Eucharist Desecration

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Hi there.

I’ve just recently heard about people who desecrate the Eucharist. How disgusting! 😦

But I was wondering:

Can Jesus really be harmed by this? I mean, isn’t the Eucharist His glorified and Resurrected body? Can nails or fire really do anything?

On a brighter note, I’m waiting anxiously for the chance to receive my God in the Eucharist for the first time! It must be wonderful.

Just wanted to throw that out there 😃

Thanks!!!
 
The Eucharist is Jesus’ Body and Blood, so He can be offended. In His Passion, Jesus suffered because of desecration, and since all time is one before Him, He speaks of being harmed, wounded, and spat upon by those who desecrate His Most Blessed Sacrament.

We can console Jesus by making repair and praying for those who offend Him. Repair for evil can be made by recieving Holy Communion worthily, by offering the Body and Blood of Christ to God in reparation for the offenses and blasphemies committed against Jesus, or by making a Holy Hour of Reparation. These are but some ways to make reparation.

When you receive Jesus, ask Him to make you a saint. 😉
 
I’ve read a recent story as well… very disturbing! You would think that regardless of people’s beleifs they would take the benefit of the doubt, call it Karma, call it fate, call it common sense if you’re not Catholic-- but why on earth would you “tempt fate” in such a way?? Its beyond me-- I worry much more about the soul of the desecrator than for Jesus’ fate.
 
Can Jesus, in His flesh, be physically harmed by fire or nails, specifically, in the desecration of the Eucharist? No, because Jesus is in possession of a glorified body. However, Jesus is always deeply saddened when we sin and so there’s no question that someone who wishes harm upon Him by fire or nails would not upset or hurt Him on that level.
 
As I said elsewhere, does He go “Ouch!” when we chew His Eucharistic body?
 
passus said:
Can Jesus, in His flesh, be physically harmed by fire or nails, specifically, in the desecration of the Eucharist? No, because Jesus is in possession of a glorified body.
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While true in itself – that glorified body is unable to be physically harmed, and that Christ in the Eucharist now possess a glorified body and so cannot be harmed – it isn’t necessary that Christ have a glorified body in order not to be harmed in the Eucharist.

The way in which Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine preclude any damage done to him by damaging the appearances (they aren’t his appearances!). So even if he had a non-glorified body, he still wouldn’t be physically hurt.

Just a clarification (but an important one I believe!).

VC
 
Cluny said:
As I said elsewhere, does He go “Ouch!” when we chew His Eucharistic body?
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I thought you weren’t supposed to chew the Eucharist but let it disolve in your mouth. That’s what I do when I’ve received communion. I learned chewing was a no-no.

:confused::confused:
 
Congratulations on your first communion! I converted when I was 18, almost 50 years ago.
It has been an exciting journey and I have learner more about religion and history than ever before. While there are “things” the Church has done which disappoint me, I am still a passionate Catholic. Enjoy the trip!
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cluny View Post
As I said elsewhere, does He go “Ouch!” when we chew His Eucharistic body?
I thought you weren’t supposed to chew the Eucharist but let it disolve in your mouth. That’s what I do when I’ve received communion. I learned chewing was a no-no.**

Since leavened bread is used in most Eastern Liturgies, you have to chew it.
 
Cluny said:
**
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cluny View Post
As I said elsewhere, does He go “Ouch!” when we chew His Eucharistic body?
I thought you weren’t supposed to chew the Eucharist but let it disolve in your mouth. That’s what I do when I’ve received communion. I learned chewing was a no-no.**

Since leavened bread is used in most Eastern Liturgies, you have to chew it.
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I thought there was no Leaven? Or is it different in the East? Why does the East use levaven?
 
His glorified body is capable of eating - remember He asked for a piece of fish? So who is to say it is incapable of feeling pain still?

Sure, He doesn’t go ‘ouch’ when we chew His body, but then we’re not offending or harming Him when we partake worthily, rather we’re obeying His command and receiving something that He most willingly gives to us. Desecration on the other hand - receiving unworthily, or abusing the Eucharist in other ways - well, I wouldn’t be so sure.

Think of it this way - a boxer doesn’t go ‘ouch’ when he’s punched in the ring according to the rules of the sport, even when the punch hurts, because in that circumstance he expects and volunteers to undergo a certain amount of physical discomfort.

But if that same boxer was bailed up outside his home by a thug and subjected to a beating, you bet he’d say ouch, because the blows are unexpected and involuntary.
 
You can’t hurt God, physically or emotionally. God is, as St Anselm tells us, passionless. God’s response to the desecration of the Eucharist is the same response as he has to all sin. We often talk about God being saddened by our sin, but it’s only an approximation, like calling him compassionate. It is almost impossible for us to imagine what it means to love without things like compassion. And of course it is also true to say that God is not beneath compassion, but above it, and so in a way, encompasses and surpasses it.

Desecrating the Eucharist is very hurtful to the person doing it. It is a particularly bad sin because it almost always involves knowingly taking something which is holy and treating it as unholy - that is the whole point. It is a kind of willful and perverse passion for destruction, or offense, or untruth.

Not chewing on the Body is an exercise in piety for the faithful. It doesn’t hurt God any more than the enzymes in the saliva or acid in the stomach does, or any more than when the priest breaks the wafer in two.
 
GodIsGracious said:
I thought you weren’t supposed to chew the Eucharist but let it disolve in your mouth. That’s what I do when I’ve received communion. I learned chewing was a no-no.
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There is no prohibition against chewing the Eucharist, however if you do it do so quietly and with reverence, not like a cow chewing cud (as Mom used to say).

Some of our Eastern brothers and sisters used leavened bread as part of their Tradition. See the 3rd paragraph here for a good overview: newadvent.org/cathen/01349d.htm
 
LilyM said:
His glorified body is capable of eating - remember He asked for a piece of fish? So who is to say it is incapable of feeling pain still?
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Because the glorified body is impassible: it cannot suffer pain.

An offense is not an “ouchie”. It is a failure to render God the honor due Him. It doesn’t “hurt” Him… it hurts us!
 
Although Jesus isn’t physically hurt by desecration of the eucharist, He is greatly offended. If we could imagine his human feelings of rejection at being spit on and struck by his tormentors during his passion, when he had only wanted to do good for them, we might get some little idea of what it means to offend him.
 
I thought there was no Leaven? Or is it different in the East? Why does the East use levaven?
The real question is why did the West STOP using leavened bread?
 
bpbasilphx said:
I thought there was no Leaven? Or is it different in the East? Why does the East use levaven?
The real question is why did the West STOP using leavened bread?
Click to expand...
The flat unleavened bread dissolves easily in the mouth.
Plus (not sure if this is correct) but at the last supper it was passover, wouldnt they used unleavened bread?
 
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