Hep me understand

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Can someone please help me to understand how bread becomes the Body of Christ. I believed the Eucharist is the body of Christ but I have trouble understanding sometimes. I am not doubting it is I just want to come to know and to believe more. Any help would be great. (For example isn’t it like we are chewing the Body?)
 
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Tank said:
(For example isn’t it like we are chewing the Body?)
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Well, I was taught not to chew it, but – yes. Have you ever been to an Eastern Rite church that uses actual bread instead of wafers? The bread is very sturdy, so that it can hold up when dipped in the Precious Blood and then administered with a spoon. I couldn’t avoid chewing that one, and I have to say, it was almost like chewing meat. With juices coming out. That was an enlightening experience.
 
Chewing is fine. Jesus himself uses the word “gnaw”.

The bread becomes Jesus under the appearance of bread. The wine becomes Jesus under the appearance of wine. You receive Jesus. You don’t receive parts of Jesus, or divisions of Jesus. Jesus himself is not divided or harmed.
 
A very simple thing I heard from Father Warren Tange on The Journey Home may not be very helpful, but I found it very down to earth. Regarding transubstantiation, he said, “We don’t know the process, He didn’t tell us.” Some things just cannot be understood from the human point of view. We set our minds at rest and accept that some things won’t make much sense for now.
 
@Tank
It appears to be bread and wine. If you test it in a lab it would test like bread and wine. Actually it is the real body and blood of Jesus! Why because He said so! Some have said it is Cannibalism. Well they could not prove it in court. It takes faith to believe like all the sacraments take faith!
There is much that happened to prepare us for this mystery. Manna in the dessert. The Passover meal. The Jews were told to kill an unblemished yearling from the sheep or goat. Kill it, roast it, put the blood on the door posts and lintel and EAT it! So that the angel of death would pass over their house.
Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Bishop Barron pointed out that things are not always what they seem to be in life. Take balls and strikes in baseball. A strike is exactly what the umpire says it is! There is no appeal!
The Eucharist is exactly what Jesus said it is! When many left Jesus because eating flesh and blood was something they could not accept, Jesus did not say come back I was just speaking figuratively! Jesus let them go and turned to his disciples and ask if they were going to leave also. Peter said no. You are the one with words of everlasting life!
 
Tank said:
Can someone please help me to understand how bread becomes the Body of Christ. I believed the Eucharist is the body of Christ but I have trouble understanding sometimes. I am not doubting it is I just want to come to know and to believe more. Any help would be great. (For example isn’t it like we are chewing the Body?)
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Consider the host, as the host of a dinner party, and you will find that the Eucharistic Host does the same things as shared in the Gospels. *Keep in mind that the Eucharistic Host has a Representative to act/speak on His behalf.

Here are some examples:
  1. Upon entering the Mass, the Host Representative/Priest should recall Baptism in the River Jordan at the Baptismal Font.
  2. The Representative will enter the Sanctuary/Temple in a Triumphant Procession as Jesus did on Palm Sunday.
  3. The Representative will preach as Jesus did.
  4. The Representative will transfer sins from penitents to the Eucharistic Host, then the Host will be sacrificed as Jesus was Sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins.
  5. The penitents, who are like dead temples, have the Host laid in them, as Jesus’ dead body was laid in the tomb.
  6. The Host has new life upon being consumed by the penitents, as Jesus resurrected into a glorious body.
There are several other connections. I encourage you to check out The Lamb’s Supper by Dr. Scott Hahn!
 
Tank said:
Can someone please help me to understand how bread becomes the Body of Christ
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Look up Transubstantiation. However, I do not focus on the how but on humbly accepting this wonderful gift which the Lord gives us for our spiritual benefit.
 
Consider this. The Jews rejected Jesus because God would never lower himself to be man. No test would ever prove Jesus was God.

Some would say God would never lower himself to appear in the form of Bread Or Wine. And no test can prove that bread or that wine is God.

That requires faith.
 
No! We know it happens. We do not know how; therefore, no one can tell you. It is simply a mystery. It is enough for us to know God does certain things. It is quite unnecessary for us to know the exact how.
 
In the same way Jesus multiplied loaves and turned water into wine. He can do miracles, and we never with our human brains be able to fully understand them. We “understand” by faith.
 
Hi Tank and welcome!
Think of how a cow can eat grass and by a very normal process, that grass becomes beef.

Jesus used natural things to help us understand the supernatural and hidden things.
God bless.
 
I’ve always got a kick out of the wag who said the real miracle is that anyone thinks the wafer is bread.

There really is no answer beyond faith. Without faith, the whole thing, and all the arguments for it you’ll see, are ridiculous.
 
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