Is eucharistic adoration tantamount to idolatry?

[ChristianWAB]

On December 2, 2004, Catholic Answers apologist Michelle Arnold was kind enough to provide a brief explanation on what adoration means in the Catholic context. She wrote:

“Adoration” in this context refers to worship of the Eucharist, which is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, present under the appearance of bread and wine. Because the Eucharist remains the body and blood of Christ so long as the appearances of bread and wine remain, the Church invites people to worship Christ under the form of bread in Eucharistic adoration. A Communion host is placed in a monstrance, and placed upon an altar for people to gaze at, pray before, and worship.

I just can’t understand how this isn’t considered to be idolatry in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Michelle Arnold used the word worship more than once in her explanation of the adoration of the communion host, yet unless I’m grossly misinterpreting the scripture, Exodus 20:4-5 seems to condemn the practice.

Don’t get me wrong – I can certainly understand breaking bread in memory of our Lord Jesus… but to worship the bread seems to stretch the scripture a little further than it was ever meant to go (…especially in light of Exodus 20:4-5). Jesus DID refer to Himself as the bread of life, but then again, He also referred to himself as a door (John 10:9), yet we clearly wouldn’t worship the door to any given church.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Suppose a man walks into the room dressed in a disguise. Despite the disguise, you recognize him to be Jesus. Would it be idolatrous to worship this man as God once you recognized him to be Jesus Christ? No, because you are worshipping Jesus, who is God. In a similar manner, the Eucharist really is Jesus present under the “disguise” of bread and wine. Just as it would not be idolatrous to worship Jesus if he were disguised by a costume, so it is not idolatrous to worship him under the “disguise” of Communion.

Recommended reading:

Christ in the Eucharist
The Real Presence
The Institution of the Mass
The Sacrifice of the Mass