Okay, I am a fairly new Catholic so forgive the simpleness of some of these questions. After receiving communion this morning I thought about this question. If this is the body and blood of Christ, how is it that our feeble human bodies can handle it? There is a story of a woman in the Bible that is saved simply by touching the hem of Jesus’ pants. That is pretty powerful! Consuming his body seems even more so. The actual body and blood of Christ is intertwined with the person which seems like it would necessarily overwhelm the human aspects of the person and while the elelments were in the body, change that person completely both physically and mentally. I don’t mean on a metaphorical level or even spiritual level. I mean, you just consumed the body and blood of the Savior of the world. It would seem natural that every person receiving communion would pass out merely from touching the host, much less consuming it. Thoughts?
Laudatur Iesus Christus.
If the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak was saved, it was because her gesture connected her to Christ, His life and intentions. The reception of the Blessed Sacrament is the same, its effect happens as with whiskey, whether one is prepared or not. However, the effects vary with the person’s readiness: If the person is properly disposed, reception of Communion saves; if the person is not properly disposed, then it condemns the person who receives it – not conclusively, but in the sense of constituting a mortal sin.
Here is the text of the alternate form of the priest’s preparatory prayer from the Mass:
“Lord Jesus Christ, with faith in your love and mercy I eat your body and drink your blood. Let it not bring me condemnation, but health in mind and body.” (
Pauline Mass, Roman Missal of 1970.)
This points to the words of St. Paul:
For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:26-29.)
These truths are not primarily discerned sensually or emotionally. This is why they are called “spiritual,” they depend on what is true whether we discern it or not.
One who works to become familiar with the truths involved can integrate his knowledge with his other faculties. This is like a person who has a well developed knowledge of the workings of something – a legal system, a machine, the human body. Such a person can become sensitive to clues which have no meaning for others, but which to the discerning person indicate important things. It is not that the clues are different; only that the knowledge, which is not physical, gives meaning to the sensible clues. This ability to respond to clues often expands to include the knowing person’s emotions and intuition. This is why a lawyer can “feel good about the way the case is going,” or the mechanic can “have a hunch that it is the electrical system,” or a physician can “go with his gut” in a diagnosis. None of these responses would be possible if the lawyer, mechanic, or physician were limited to responding “naively” to the sensible clues. It is only viewing these clues in the light of the relevant knowledge that allows the development of the “sensitivity” that gives visceral and emotional effect to the clues.
Once one knows that the Blessed Sacrament saves or condemns, one can hardly resist the feeling of elation or dread associated with these truths. However, an unknowing person can swallow the Host without the slightest conscious response to the deeper truths about it. This is an important reason why the Church denies Holy Communion to those who would be unwittingly endangered by it.
Spiritus Sapientiae nobiscum.
John Hiner
It’s the mystery of the Eucharist , which is why St. Paul calls for us to have good consciences before receiving Him. I don’t know who said this but I heard this said and agree that “it would be easier to exist without the Sun than it would be without the Mass” ( paraphrased) …that should tell you the magnitude of the Holy Eucharist. We must have faith and just be grateful to be able to come to the Table . 
Spend more time in front of the Blessed Sacrament and you’ll be overwhelmed ! 