Eucharist question

[Gwendolen]

from Gwedolen’s son, age 9

We have left the Episcopal church and starting to go to Catholic Church. The Episcopal priest said that Christ was present in the bread and the wine. My mom told me that the Catholics believe that the bread and the wine turns into the body and blood of Christ. My question is that if this is true, why doesn’t it taste really bad, like drinking blood?

I asked the priest after mass today, and he just said “it’s a miracle”. I’d like a more complete explanation, if anyone has one.

Thanks!

 

[Rich_C]

A good summary that answers your question, from the Baltimore Catechism, No. 3; my emphasis in bold:

LESSON 22 - ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST

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Q. 869. What does the word Eucharist strictly mean?

A. The word Eucharist strictly means pleasing, and this Sacrament is so called because it renders us most pleasing to God by the grace it imparts, and it gives us the best means of thanking Him for all His blessings.

Q. 870. What is the Holy Eucharist?

A. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine.

**Q. 871. What do we mean when we say the Sacrament which contains the Body and Blood?

A. When we say the Sacrament which contains the Body and Blood, we mean the Sacrament which is the Body and Blood, for after the Consecration there is no other substance present in the Eucharist.**

Q. 872. When is the Holy Eucharist a Sacrament, and when is it a sacrifice?

A. The Holy Eucharist is a Sacrament when we receive it in Holy Communion and when it remains in the Tabernacle of the Altar. It is a sacrifice when it is offered up at Mass by the separate Consecration of the bread and wine, which signifies the separation of Our Lord’s blood from His body when He died on the Cross.

Q. 873. When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?

A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died.

Q. 874. Who were present when our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?

A. When Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, the twelve Apostles were present.

Q. 875. How did our Lord institute the Holy Eucharist?

A. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist by taking bread, blessing, breaking, and giving to His Apostles, saying: “Take ye and eat. This is my body”; and then, by taking the cup of wine, blessing and giving it, saying to them: “Drink ye all of this. This is my blood which shall be shed for the remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration of me.”

Q. 876. What happened when our Lord said, “This is my body; this is my blood”?

A. When Our Lord said, “This is my body,” the substance of the bread was changed into the substance of His body; when He said, “This is my blood,” the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of His blood.

Q. 877. How do we prove the Real Presence, that is, that Our Lord is really and truly present in the Holy Eucharist?

A. We prove the Real Presence – that is, that Our Lord is really and truly present in the Holy Eucharist:

1. By showing that it is possible to change one substance into another;
2. By showing that Christ did change the substance of bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood;
3. By showing that He gave this power also to His Apostles and to the priests of His Church.

Q. 878. How do we know that it is possible to change one substance into another?

A. We know that it is possible to change one substance into another, because:

1. God changed water into blood during the plagues of Egypt.
2. Christ changed water into wine at the marriage of Cana.
3. Our own food is daily changed into the substance of our flesh and blood; and what God does gradually, He can also do instantly by an act of His will.

Q. 879. Are these changes exactly the same as the changes that take place in the Holy Eucharist?

A. These changes are not exactly the same as the changes that take place in the Holy Eucharist, for in these changes the appearance also is changed, but in the Holy Eucharist only the substance is changed while the appearance remains the same.

Q. 880. How do we show that Christ did change bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood?

A. We show that Christ did change bread and wine into the substance of His body and blood:

1. From the words by which He promised the Holy Eucharist;
2. From the words by which He instituted the Holy Eucharist;
3. From the constant use of the Holy Eucharist in the Church since the time of the Apostles;
4. From the impossibility of denying the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, without likewise denying all that Christ has taught and done; for we have stronger proofs for the Holy Eucharist than for any other Christian truth.

Q. 881. Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine?

A. Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine.

Q. 882. How do we know that under the appearance of bread we receive also Christ’s blood; and under the appearance of wine we receive also Christ’s body?

A. We know that under the appearance of bread we receive also Christ’s blood, and under the appearance of wine we receive also Christ’s body; because in the Holy Eucharist we receive the living body of Our Lord, and a living body cannot exist without blood, nor can living blood exist without a body.

Q. 883. Is Jesus Christ present whole and entire in the smallest portion of the Holy Eucharist, under the form of either bread or wine?

A. Jesus Christ is present whole and entire in the smallest portion of the Holy Eucharist under the form of either bread or wine; for His body in the Eucharist is in a glorified state, and as it partakes of the character of a spiritual substance, it requires no definite size or shape.

**Q. 884. Did anything remain of the bread and wine after their substance had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord?

A. After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of Our Lord, there remained only the appearances of bread and wine.

Q. 885. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?

A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses.**

Q. 886. What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord called?

A. This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Our Lord is called Transubstantiation.

Q. 887. What is the second great miracle in the Holy Eucharist?

A. The second great miracle in the Holy Eucharist is the multiplication of the presence of Our Lord’s body in so many places at the same time, while the body itself is not multiplied – for there is but one body of Christ.

Q. 888. Are there not, then, as many bodies of Christ as there are tabernacles in the world, or as there are Masses being said at the same time?

A. There are not as many bodies of Christ as there are tabernacles in the world, or as there are Masses being said at the same time; but only one body of Christ, which is everywhere present whole and entire in the Holy Eucharist, as God is everywhere present, while He is but one God.

Q. 889. How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?

A. The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power.

Q. 890. Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?

A. This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests.

Q. 891. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?

A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, “Do this in commemoration of Me.”

Q. 892. What do the words “Do this in commemoration of Me” mean?

A. The words “Do this in commemoration of Me” mean: Do what I, Christ, am doing at My last supper, namely, changing the substance of bread and wine into the substance of My body and blood; and do it in remembrance of Me.

Q. 893. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?

A. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are words of Christ: “This is my body; this is my blood.”

Q. 894. At what part of the Mass does the Consecration take place?

A. The Consecration in the Mass takes place immediately before the elevation of the Host and Chalice, which are raised above the head of the priest that the people may adore Our Lord who has just come to the altar at the words of Consecration.

 

[padrepio_2012]

Well to put it short the bread and wine does really become Jesus’ actual flesh and blood at the moment of consecration. this is a process called transubstantiation. you could say it’s a “miracle” since bread and wine becomes God and and we really are not completely sure how, but yea that’s not the whole of it. Every particle of the bread and wine becomes Jesus even if it is seperated from the host or wine. this is why i also believe we should not receive the Eucharist with our hands b/c first off we aren’t worthy to touch God, and secondly if the particles from the handling of the host get on ur hands, then think of all the places ur hands will be with Our Lord on them. ur just basically wiping Jesus everywhere afterwards, and desecrating His precious body.

anyway, back on track, the Blessed Sacrament (Eucharist) is really Jesus’ flesh and blood, it just maintains the appearance and characteristics of bread and wine. But i do stress again, even though it appears to be just bread, it IS JESUS’ BODY. it is God.

Also, know that Jesus’ presence does not leave the Host and wine after mass has ended. He is still there, and that is why we put Him in the golden tabernacle box, because we acknowledge God is there in the hosts so we have to put them in a special place for Him

There have been Eucharistic miracles in which the host actually turned into real flesh of a human heart and the wine became actual blood. scientists have confirmed the blood type as AB blood. you can go to churches in Europe and see these miraculous hosts, (some of them are 500-1000 years old and are still the same as the day the miracle occurred. in some cases there is the smell of fresh bread lingering in the air around the Hosts) or just look up Eucharistic miracles, and you can read hundreds of stories. there have been miracles where a donkey bowed before the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist was thrown in fire but wasn’t burned, the Host became hard as a rock in the mouths of men who had committed grave sins, ect. it is very interesting and only confirms our belief that the bread and wine is the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.

but i think that our Lord doesn’t turn it into the characteristics of flesh and blood for our convenience, because who would do that? again though, it is still the actual flesh and blood of Our Lord. if you have any more questions PM me and ill be glad to answer!

oh and one more thing, i cannot assume whether you have done this or not, but just to make sure, if you are not a Catholic yet please know that you cannot recieve the Eucharist until you have become one. i am not trying to assume or offend you i just want to make sure that you knew, for Our Lord’s sake.

 

[Gwendolen]

but i think that our Lord doesn’t turn it into the characteristics of flesh and blood for our convenience, because who would do that? again though, it is still the actual flesh and blood of Our Lord. if you have any more questions PM me and ill be glad to answer!

oh and one more thing, i cannot assume whether you have done this or not, but just to make sure, if you are not a Catholic yet please know that you cannot recieve the Eucharist until you have become one. i am not trying to assume or offend you i just want to make sure that you knew, for Our Lord’s sake.

Forget about taking communion, I couldn’t even get him to leave the pew for a blessing, he was freaked out. (presumably by people ingesting Christ’s actual body)

I don’t see him wishing to become Catholic in the near future, this whole concept seems disturbing to him, I need child friendly language to explain, help!

 

[Aggies08]

Hmm.

Is he too young to understand the Passover, and how Jesus fulfills it? Culminating with consumption of the sacrificial lamb?

Would John 6 help? [talk about WHY many deserted Him, etc, WHY the teaching was hard]

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Forget about taking communion, I couldn’t even get him to leave the pew for a blessing, he was freaked out. (presumably by people ingesting Christ’s actual body)

I don’t see him wishing to become Catholic in the near future, this whole concept seems disturbing to him, I need child friendly language to explain, help!

Actually, the practice of blessing a person who cannot receive communion is something that ‘grew up’ in SOME Catholic parishes out of nowhere and is not what a priest–and certainly not what a lay person–is SUPPOSED to do. (And one of these days the parish is going to stop it, probably sooner rather than later.) So in a way it is a good thing he didn’t get out for a blessing because he shouldn’t be getting one AT THAT TIME. Stay in the pew if you cannot receive; there is nothing wrong with that. Everybody gets blessed at the end of Mass anyway so he is not being denied anything.

It is indeed a great mystery and unfortunately instead of him absorbing the teaching as a youngster (when young children are able to accept almost anything because everything to them is mysterious), he is coming at a time when developmentally speaking he is at a stage where he wants ‘concrete proof’ and where anything that cannot be ‘demonstrated’ is going to be seen as, frankly, a ‘lie’. It’s the kind of ‘black and white’ thinking that children his age go through and it’s perfectly normal.

IMO the best thing for you to do is speak to the priest and ask his advice (he may send you on to the director of religious education) but you can stress to the child that he is not going to be FORCED into doing something he isn’t ready for. Since you can’t answer the question, YOU are just going to talk with somebody who is an ‘expert’ on the subject. That should relieve him on several accounts, not least being that the concept might indeed be ‘creepy’ but it might turn out to be ‘truth’ because Catholics actually have people who have done enough research on the subject to make them experts.

Children his age are HUGELY into ‘fact’ and ‘naturalism’ and TRUTH (although like any of us they can be tricked by APPEARANCES.) So rather than diving right into communion, it might be wiser to start off with learning more about Christ Himself as I’m sure you’ve already been doing with him. Let him read Scripture, let him ‘see’ things like how Catholic (Christians) were the people who developed things like hospitals, universities, even scientific principals --things which will make him more comfortable with the whole idea of Christianity itself.

 

[Swiss_Guy]

from Gwedolen’s son, age 9

We have left the Episcopal church and starting to go to Catholic Church. The Episcopal priest said that Christ was present in the bread and the wine. My mom told me that the Catholics believe that the bread and the wine turns into the body and blood of Christ. My question is that if this is true, why doesn’t it taste really bad, like drinking blood?

Thanks!

The substance changes, but the accidents (appearance) stays the same.

 

[floresco]

I don’t see him wishing to become Catholic in the near future, this whole concept seems disturbing to him, I need child friendly language to explain, help!

Try reading Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer Adler. This book was written to explain Aristotle’s thought at the simplest possible level. This gives the philosophical background to make sense of the Church’s teaching. St. Thomas used the categories established by Aristotle to explain the Eucharist. (There is also a good basic explanation in the early chapters of Feser’s The Last Superstition)

Adler’s book is suitable for teens but it may not be for your son. However, if you read it (or Feser’s book) yourself, you may be able to base an explanation on it that is geared to your son.

 

[Stylites]

Every particle of the bread and wine becomes Jesus even if it is seperated from the host or wine. this is why i also believe we should not receive the Eucharist with our hands b/c first off we aren’t worthy to touch God, and secondly if the particles from the handling of the host get on ur hands, then think of all the places ur hands will be with Our Lord on them. ur just basically wiping Jesus everywhere afterwards, and desecrating His precious body.

anyway, back on track,

Your beliefs are not in alignment with the Church’s beliefs. No one is worthy to touch God, whether with the tongue or the hand; we do need to be in a state of grace though, which happens through no effort on our own part except having a correct disposition, contrition and humility. Furthermore, the accidents of transubstantiation occur as long as the Holy Sacrament appears as bread, and microsopic particles and dust do not appear as bread. So rest assured that you or anyone else are not committing any desecration by receiving His body in any fashion approved by the Church. We don’t want to think that we know better than the Church does, or are more reverent than priests, bishops or the Pope, afterall.

Anyway, back on track . . .

 

[TimothyH]

this is why i also believe we should not receive the Eucharist with our hands b/c first off we aren’t worthy to touch God, and secondly if the particles from the handling of the host get on ur hands, then think of all the places ur hands will be with Our Lord on them. ur just basically wiping Jesus everywhere afterwards, and desecrating His precious body.

This is editorial comment. It is opinion, not Church teaching.

anyway, back on track,

Yes, please. The OP asked about transubstantiation, not about our own opinions about communion in the hand. Thanks.

-Tim-

 

[fred_conty]

Teach first the love of Jesus had for all who came to him. The sick, poor, lonely, sinners, and tell stories in your own words how much he loved children and how he said everyone should be like children. Stay on that thought for a while. Then bring in the thought that he also wanted to be with all future children in some way as well, and with everyone because he loved them. Then introduce the way he thought up to make this happen. Explain his body in the Eucharist as food for us, and union with us because he loves us. And he kept his body looking like food so it would be easy for us to be one with him. Yet it is him in person.

Then sitting down in church, point out the tabernacle where this special food is kept for the sick and for those who want to be with him for a few minutes during the day. Point out the red sanctuary light which is burning to signify the burning love in his heart he has for us and that he is right there so we know he is there. Then pray a little childlike spontaneous prayer to the person of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will help you if you ask.

Just a thought.

 

[maureen30]

Tell your son that Jesus knew that it would be icky to eat something that tasted like blood or flesh. He is God, after all, and knows that we don’t have a desire to eat anything like that (and that we are not cannibals). And, He was also a 9 year old boy at one point in time and He knew what tasted good and what tasted bad. But, He had to leave something for all of us to consume during the Eucharist that would be available to anyone, in any country, at anytime forevermore. That is why He chose bread and wine. We human beings have been eating and drinking bread and wine forever and He knew that thousands of years later, we would all be eating the same thing. He knew that we would be ok eating bread and drinking wine, knowing that the consecrated host and blood tasted the same but was changed through His holy spirit. He would never leave anything for us that would hurt us or separate us from Him. He wants us to receive and we receive in the two forms that represent a banquet in honour of Him.

 

[padrepio_2012]

Your beliefs are not in alignment with the Church’s beliefs. No one is worthy to touch God, whether with the tongue or the hand; we do need to be in a state of grace though, which happens through no effort on our own part except having a correct disposition, contrition and humility. Furthermore, the accidents of transubstantiation occur as long as the Holy Sacrament appears as bread, and microsopic particles and dust do not appear as bread. So rest assured that you or anyone else are not committing any desecration by receiving His body in any fashion approved by the Church. We don’t want to think that we know better than the Church does, or are more reverent than priests, bishops or the Pope, afterall.

Anyway, back on track . . .

I know that no one is truly worthy to receive God in Eucharist but He allows us to because He loves us ect. And yes i know we must be in a state of grace. I was simply stating i think it is better to receive Our Lord on the tongue because that was good enough it was for 1950 years til Vatican II and it is more reverent. (i am not one of those who say Vatican II was a heresy whatever, and that we need to celebrate the latin mass only). plus you avoid the harm of dropping sacred particles on the floor. however i am aware that the Church says one may receive with the hands, i am Catholic and used to do this til i found you may receive on the tongue. i am not schismatic or a heretic. this is just my preference and i wish more Catholics would do this.

also, you say that Christ is only present in the host if it appears as a host. you say that paritcles and dust that fell from the Host are not Him then. this IS wrong for several reasons. First, during the mass the priest will (or at least SHOULD if he is doing the right stuff) wash his hands above the chalice after giving Communion to get rid of the sacred particles on his fingers from distributing, because he realizes Christ IS present in every particles of the host. then he drinks the water and wine mixture, with the host particles, to consume them again so that they may not be dropped or desecrated and to get rid of Them. he also scrapes his paten with his finger towards the chalice before receiving the Precious Blood, this is also to make sure no sacreed particles remain. i would know as i altar serve. we have had several instances at the altar when someone accidentally dropped the host. the priest did not simply pick it up and move on and say, “the particles are no longer Christ cuz they dont look like the Host”. no, he went and got some wine and a purificator rag and wiped it up, because Christ IS present in every single particle of the Blessed Sacrament whether seperated or not. the Church teaches this, ask anyone. just because it no longer looks like the host doesn’t mean it’s not Him. and i dont know what you mean by thinking im more reverent than the pope or know more than the Church, cuz i never said nor implied any of that . im hardly any of that. i could never even compare to the pope. im just simply relaying the information ive been taught FROM a very reverent priest to others to allow them to become more reverent and honor Our Lord in a better fashion. however, i do believe i have a calling to the priesthood so hope you will pray for me.

 

[Stylites]

also, you say that Christ is only present in the host if it appears as a host. you say that [particles] and dust that fell from the Host are not Him then. this IS wrong for several reasons.

The accident of transubstantiation occurs as long as the Holy Sacrament appears as bread. Microsopic particles and dust do not appear as bread; they are microscopic particles and dust, and therefore not Christ. While you might have a personal preference to how you receive the Sacrament, it isn’t really germane to the discussion.

 

[BertBlyleven]

The substance changes, but the accidents (appearance) stays the same.

What he said.