Eucharist

[maria83]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

 

[WesleyF]

I’m sure you will get a much elaborate answer, but the short answer is - by acting in the person of Christ; “in persona Christi” as it is called.

“For, what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned any thing, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ” (2 Cor 2:10)

In this verse Paul explains that whatever he forgave he forgave in the person of Christ, which means that Christ forgave through Paul. This same principle of “in persona Christi” is at work when the Catholic priest consecrates the bread and wine that becomes the Eucharist.

Read about “in persona Christi” by searching for it online.

 

[EricFilmer]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?

(and…)

I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

Welcome to CAF, Maria!

From the Catholic perspective, the priesthood is a calling from God. Those who discern and answer the call (and complete seminary studies and training) receive the sacrament of ordination. This empowers them to act as Jesus’ visible representatives for the sake of ministering the sacraments to people (among other things). But a priest has no power to do this apart from Christ. Christ is the eternal high priest who is present when the sacraments are ministered, and priests act in conjunction with him.

How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass?

It is an aspect of Sacred Tradition and we see this practice elaborated upon in some of the writings of the Early Church Fathers. For example, the oldest surviving complete description of the Mass is found in St. Justin Martyr’s First Apology (please click on the link and scroll down to read sections 66 & 67). This document was written in the 2nd Century.

Simply put, this practice has been handed down from generation to generation since apostolic times. Note that the various Eastern Orthodox Churches and the various Oriental Orthodox Churches have done likewise since the time of antiquity.

 

[pablope]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m5/lmbsp.html

chnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/eucharist.pdf

Transubstantiation and the Eucharist
By David Armstrong
Both “transubstantiation” and “Eucharist” are big words foreign to the everyday language of everyday
Americans. We may be more familiar with words like “Monosodium glutamate,” “euthanasia” or “inalienable
rights,” but yet in the same sense even these terms can make us feel intellectually lethargic.

 

[guanophore]

Welcome to CAF Maria!

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian.  I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?

When Jesus was in the upper room, He washed the feet of the Apostles, given them “part in me”. He brought them into His One Priesthood. He then showed them the manner in which He wanted the anamnesis to be done, and told them “do this”. The words mean to do or to “make”, which is why we call it a sacrifice. It is patterned on the Last Supper, where the Lamb was slain, and eaten.

How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass?

The Apostles taught:

1 Cor 11:26
6 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

In the beginning, Mass was not held every Sunday. But they celebrated the sacrifice as often as they gathered.

I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

This is amazing that you understand this. Praise God!

Man does not do that, the Holy Spirit does that, through the prayer of the priest, standing in the person of Christ.

 

[po18guy]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

Basically, Jesus commanded the Apostles to “do this” as often as they did it (weekly, on the Lord’s day). He gave all authority to do this to the Apostles, and they passed that authority on. You would greatly benefit from a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. It is an excellent, easily read and understood explanation of the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. I learn something each time I open my copy. It is a resource that may be relied upon for years to come.

 

[Church_Militant]

I wrote this article to answer just such a question as yours. The Eucharist IS Scriptural

BTW, how does any believer ever do anything that is miraculous.

 

[po18guy]

I wrote this article to answer just such a question as yours. The Eucharist IS Scriptural

BTW, how does any believer ever do anything that is miraculous.

Or, from another angle, the scripture is Eucharistic in nature.

 

[bzkoss236]

This should be helpful:
Christ in the Eucharist

 

[Linusthe2nd]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

So far the posters are correct but so far they have all omitted the one thing that is absolutely necessary. The offering of the sacrafice ( changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood, of the Whole Glorified Person of Christ), can only be done by a Priest ordained by a Bishop who is in Apostolic descent from the Apostles who received the power and authority from Christ to celebrate the Eucharist. There can be no break in this line. This is why few celebrations of the Eucharist besides those of Catholic priests and Orthodox priests are valid. In other words, no matter what your Church ministers say, if they are not Cathoic or Orthodox nothing happens when they celebrate the eucharist - the bread and wine are not changed into the Body of Christ, no matter how much they wish it to be, no matter what they say. There are a few cases which would have to be clafied with Rome .

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Christ instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper:

Gospel of Luke 22:19-20:

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

 

[mab23]

Great Question Maria - to add to everything that is posted look at the early church fathers as well and what they did

I mean we have writings from Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, , and many more who write about the Eucharist in the beginning of Christianity - well well over 1000 years before the protestant reformation - its clear they understood it as Catholics do today… below is a link to the actual writings as well as many more - God Bless

staycatholic.com/ecf_the_real_presence.htm

 

[spockrates]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

I believe it’s God doing the transforming of the bread and wine, rather than the priest. An example by comparison: Let us say you were to pray for a miracle for me–I might have cancer and ask you to pray that I be healed. I later hear from my physician that there is no sign of the cancer. If I were to come to you and say, “You healed me!” wouldn’t you correct me and say, “No, brother–God did the healing.”

 

[Actaeon]

I am new to this forum and I am a non-denominational christian. I would like to know how the priests are given the authority to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? How do we know God wanted the priest to do this every Sunday or at every Mass? I understand that God turned the bread and wine into his flesh and blood, but how does man do that?

Hi Maria,

I think others have hit the germain points of how a priest has the authority to transubstantiate the material of bread and wine into the sacred Body and Blood of Christ (by acting as Christ directed when He “breathed His spirit upon them”)… but let’s talk about WHY the Eucharist as the Real Presence is absolutely mandatory in Christian life:

Christ says, again and again, “If you do not eat my Body and drink my Blood, you shall not have life within you.” He made no reference to symbolic consumption, no reference to spiritual presence… why not? Because symbolic consumption or spiritual substitutes are NOT ALLOWED under God’s regulations regarding the passover sacrifice and how it is to be carried out. Something you may or may not be getting out of your non denominational church is the fact that the old covenant and the new come together in the final Passover Sacrifice of Christ on the cross… and that that sacrifice HAS to conform to the requirements that God laid out in the old covenant. It is by participating in THAT Passover Sacrifice that we are truly saved, as that Passover sacrifice of Christ’s is the source of all redemptive grace in all the sacraments of the New Covenant.

Under God’s law regarding the passover, one could NOT symbolically participate in the passover, nor were there any spiritual substitutes. In order to receive the grace of the sacrament, one HAD to consume the flesh and blood of the sacrificial lamb. That SAME requirement is present in Christ’s paschal sacrifice!

So it would be terrible to assume that ONLY the Apostles present at the last supper had access to the Flesh and Blood of the Lamb of God who brings redemption to the world… if we believe that it is POSSIBLE for us to have life within us, then we MUST believe what Christ said: that we must eat His Flesh and drink His Blood.