Is It Sacramental Abuse to Believe the Eucharist is Only a Symbol?

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The Catholic Church believes that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. Literally! Therefore, when a communicate receives the bread and wine from the priest or extraordinary minister, the response “Amen” which means in Aramaic, “I believe” is testifying to one’s agreement in the belief of the Church in Transubstantiation. If the communicate believes it is nothing more than a “Symbol” are they in a state of sin by misrepresenting what they believe about the Eucharist, as well as by receiving it.
 
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Yes, this is the Church’s position.

Is there a question or discussion topic here?
 
  1. The communicant doesn’t receive bread and wine, he receives the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.
  2. Yes. It’s heresy and sacrilege, in that order.
 
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The question is whether or not it is a sin to misrepresent what one believes about the Eucharist while receiving it, and if so, shouldn’t the Church leadership inform the 70% of Catholics who believe it to be only a “symbol” of the Church as the Body of Christ, that their mortal souls may be in danger?
 
LBJ1 said:
The question is whether or not it is a sin to misrepresent what one believes about the Eucharist while receiving it,
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Yes, it is. You didn’t ask that; you stated it.
LBJ1 said:
and if so, shouldn’t the Church leadership inform the 70% of Catholics who believe it to be only a “symbol” of the Church as the Body of Christ, that their mortal souls may be in danger?
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Yes. And as far as I can tell, they do. At some point it’s the job of the laity to believe what they’ve been told. And, again, you didn’t ask this; you stated it.
 
You’ve made a serious error in character judgment. @HopkinsReb is in no way mean-spirited. Your first post was confusing – you could have simply acknowledged that rather than resorting to a personal attack on someone who expressed genuine confusion.

Rather than forgiveness, you should be apologizing.
 
LBJ1 said:
shouldn’t the Church leadership inform the 70% of Catholics
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Don’t stand around and wait for that to happen. You and I also can lead, teach, and build faith in our parishes.

I would advise you, however, to avoid judging others and even speculating about the fate of their souls. They may be holier than you think. Work on your own holiness.
 
In the interest of Charity, I honestly don’t see how my post was confusing, with the possible exception of the period instead of a question mark. That’s why I perceived his twice in row responses that I was stating something, as being mean spirited. I sense a hostile environment. For that, I am sorry.
 
LBJ1 said:
That’s why I perceived his twice in row responses that I was stating something, as being mean spirited.
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The main written difference between a statement and a question is whether a period or question mark is used.

I’m not being hostile to you. Your OP was indeed unclear.
 
The position of the Catholic Church is that we believe that Jesus Christ, in body, blood, soul and divinity, is truly present in the sacred elements. Your use of the words “is” and “literally” are not part of the language used by the Church to describe the real presence. We believe and accept that in receiving Holy Communion, we are receiving Jesus Christ. We know that the consecrated elements look like bread and wine, they taste like bread and wine, they corrupt like bread and wine and that if we were to conduct a chemical analysis, they would be composed of bread and wine. However, we believe that Jesus is present. The difference between your beliefs and those of the people you are trying to condemn is a matter of semantics. Many people have died from semantics. Catholicism is separated from the Orthodox Communions by semantics. Please stop persecuting people because your understanding of the Church’s doctrine is different to yours.
 
Dear Sir, I’m condemning anyone! My point is that, if it is the case that 70% of Catholics do not believe in Jesus Christ, in body, blood, soul and divinity, is truly present in the sacred elements the Church leadership has a responsibility to inform them that by receiving it by responding with “Amen” (I believe in Aramaic) they may committing a Grave Sin putting their souls in danger. This my concern as a christian.
 
If the shoe (that you were predestined to wear) fits… 🙂

(And now, I shall make my way slowly and surreptitiously out of the “Sacramental Abuse” thread before anyone realizes that I’m actually here…)
 
The amen isn’t the issue. It’s the heretical lack of belief in the real presence and the sacrilege of taking communion in a state of mortal sin. I suppose you could add lying, but I don’t know if it’s venial or mortal in this case.
 
It’s probably grave but not mortal; mortal sin requires a degree of knowledge that I think the situation precludes.
 
LBJ1 said:
The question is whether or not it is a sin to misrepresent what one believes about the Eucharist while receiving it, and if so, shouldn’t the Church leadership inform the 70% of Catholics who believe it to be only a “symbol” of the Church as the Body of Christ, that their mortal souls may be in danger?
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Does this person 100% not believe
or
Does this person have a tiny doubt that well maybe it is?

Are you this person? If not , how can you determine another has 100% disbelief, afterall that person is attending Mass and in thr Communion line. And presumably be clean of mortal sin.
 
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LBJ1 said:
If the communicate believes it is nothing more than a “Symbol” are they in a state of sin by misrepresenting what they believe about the Eucharist, as well as by receiving it.
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You are asking if they are lying by saying “Amen” and if that is a mortal sin in itself? I don’t know that many people think of what “Amen” means or even know. In the end, I would say it is the least serious sin being committed when a person who does not believe Receives. So while lying about believing a Dogma of the Catholic Church may very well be grave matter, I doubt it is a mortal sin, because I don’t think people are saying it to deceive. It is just what they are supposed to say in the Communion line. They may not know better, either due to being misinformed or poorly instructed.

The worst sin is Sacrilege, the unworthy Reception of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord. The second worst is the Heresy of believing that it is a mere symbol. In many cases, that may be material heresy, rather than formal heresy, due to a lack of or poor catechisis. Even the sacrilege may only be material rather than formal unless they know better, reject the teaching, and yet still Receive.
 
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