Holy Communion

[Julie_de_Sales]

The Catechism says that in the Holy Eucharist we receive Jesus Christ. But because there is only one God, do we receive at the same time the Father and the Holy Spirit?
Or, for example, at Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit and his gifts. But it is just Him, or together with the Father and the Son?

 

[Vico]

The Catechism says that in the Holy Eucharist we receive Jesus Christ. But because there is only one God, do we receive at the same time the Father and the Holy Spirit?
Or, for example, at Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit and his gifts. But it is just Him, or together with the Father and the Son?

**John 17:20-23 **And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me; That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as we also are one: I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

“The body of CHRIST,” “The blood of CHRIST” is what I hear. While the oneness of the Triune God is a fact, neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit are possessed of a body or of blood.

 

[John_Martin]

The Catechism says that in the Holy Eucharist we receive Jesus Christ. But because there is only one God, do we receive at the same time the Father and the Holy Spirit?
Or, for example, at Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit and his gifts. But it is just Him, or together with the Father and the Son?

How about this:
Sacramentally, where the bread became the Body of Christ, we receive the Body of Christ, and where the wine became the Christ’s Blood of the new Covenant, we receive the Blood of Christ.
Now, since Christ is alive and whole, we sacramentally receive the whole Body of Christ, which “concomitantly” includes his Blood, his Soul, his Essence (Divinity). The whole living Christ.
And since Christ is alive and whole, we sacramentally receive his Blood, but this also “concomitantly” includes his Body, his Soul, his Essence (Divinity). The whole living Christ.
And since Christ is “consubstantial” with the Father, with the substance of Christ, we receive also the substance of the Father, and where his Substance is, there is the Father.
And since the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father and from the Son, well, you can fill in the rest.
For us, we receive things into our souls through our material bodies, whether sounds and words through our hearing, so that we might come to believe in Jesus or believe his forgiveness at confession, or through eating so that we might receive him into our souls with the material food going into our mouth. The Catholic Church is Sacramental because we are human - receiving what is spiritual by means of what is material.

Concomitant and Consubstantial - you really end up with much more than you see.

I find the real meaning and solemnity of the Eucharist, not when I am chewing or sipping, but at the words of consecration, when suddenly there is a Body on the altar sitting next to Blood on the altar, then lifted up toward heaven, toward God. Blood separated from a Body on an altar - this is a sacrifice, the Sacrifice. And it is then a covenant where we, as parties to the covenant with God, now consume the sacrifice that God has accepted as perfect.

John Martin

 

[corsair]

The Triune God cannot be separated. When you receive Jesus, you also receive God and the Holy Ghost. Same at Confirmation. The three persons are always present together; never separated.

 

[Brendan]

The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

His Divinity is Consubstantial with the Father and the Spirit.

Therefore, when we receive the Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist, we also partake of the Divinity of the Father and the Spirit, as the Divinity is One

 

[anixx]

Watch out with all this reasoning, for you may fall in error. In the first centuries, someone else tried to reason that since the triune God is inseparable, then on the Cross, the Father suffered also. The heresy was called patripassionism.
When Jesus said he will give his body for the life of the world, he literally meant his body. Jesus Christ is in the Eucharist, not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit. The triune God is inseparable, but distinct in all of it’s three persons. We take part in his suffering and dying when taking Holy Communion, then, since only Jesus suffered and died, not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, we actually receive Corpus Christi. Through Christ we participate in the life of the Trinity.
If you will notice on the old monstrances, it is clearly depicted. Above the Sacred Host there is an image of the Father, and below an image of the Holy Spirit. Our forefathers knew how to depict Catholic doctrine, in the simplest manner.

 

[Brendan]

Watch out with all this reasoning, for you may fall in error. In the first centuries, someone else tried to reason that since the triune God is inseparable, then on the Cross, the Father suffered also. The heresy was called patripassionism.
When Jesus said he will give his body for the life of the world, he literally meant his body. Jesus Christ is in the Eucharist, not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit. The triune God is inseparable, but distinct in all of it’s three persons. We take part in his suffering and dying when taking Holy Communion, then, since only Jesus suffered and died, not the Father, nor the Holy Spirit, we actually receive Corpus Christi. Through Christ we participate in the life of the Trinity.
If you will notice on the old monstrances, it is clearly depicted. Above the Sacred Host there is an image of the Father, and below an image of the Holy Spirit. Our forefathers knew how to depict Catholic doctrine, in the simplest manner.

That is true that we do not receive the Body and Blood of the Father, as He has none. And likewise, the Father and the Spirit did not suffer, as the were not incarnate. But the Divinity is One, Where the Divinity of One Person is present, by definition, the Divinity of the Trinity is present. The are distinct, as you said, in that there are distinctions between the Persons, but the cannot Divinity is not separable. Where it is, the fullness of the Divinity is present.

 

[Julie_de_Sales]

That is true that we do not receive the Body and Blood of the Father, as He has none. And likewise, the Father and the Spirit did not suffer, as the were not incarnate. But the Divinity is One, Where the Divinity of One Person is present, by definition, the Divinity of the Trinity is present. The are distinct, as you said, in that there are distinctions between the Persons, but the cannot Divinity is not separable. Where it is, the fullness of the Divinity is present.

Thank you for the clarification! So, in other words, in Holy Communion we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, but we partake of the divinity of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Hope this is right

Partaking of the Divinity of the Father and the Holy Spirit is the same with receiving the Father and the Holy Spirit?

 

[Brendan]

Thank you for the clarification! So, in other words, in Holy Communion we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, but we partake of the divinity of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Hope this is right

Partaking of the Divinity of the Father and the Holy Spirit is the same with receiving the Father and the Holy Spirit?

100% correct . In the Eucharist, we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.

The Body, Blood and Soul are uniquely Christ’s, as He is the only Person who Incarnated.

There is only one Divinity to receive, so when we receive the Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist, we also receive the Divinity of the Father and the Spirit. There can be no other reception.

 

[Julie_de_Sales]

100%. In the Eucharist, we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. There is only one Divinity to receive, so when we receive the Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist, we also receive the Divinity of the Father and the Spirit. There can be no other reception.

The Father and the Holy Spirit don’t have a soul, they are “formed”, let’s say, only by their Divinity? Because in the case of the Son we say that we receive his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

 

[Brendan]

The Father and the Holy Spirit don’t have a soul, they are “formed”, let’s say, only by their Divinity? Because in the case of the Son we say that we receive his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

A Soul is the power than animates matter. It is what distinguishes living matter from dead matter.

Christ is the only Person of the Trinity who was Incarnated, who has a Body.

Since Christ is Alive, Resurrected, the Body is animated by a Soul, which we also receive since we receive the Living Christ

But that Soul is unique to Christ