Is the catholic Eucharist suppose to change you?

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dann

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Is the Eucharist suppose to change you?

Do you get an improved character.?
Or ability in life ?
Do you get wiser ?

Or is it a ceremony that makes you feel good?
Does it help in remembering scripture?

Do you get better at getting
answers to prayer?
 
The Eucharist is intimate communion with Christ and others.
Our response and full participation will have some effect on our experience of the Eucharist.

Feelings will come and go, but Christ is alive and well and will change us as we commune with Him.

“We become what we receive”
 
The Eucharist recognizes our need for continuous intimate communion with God and the nourishment we receive via that communion, after Baptism where we first enter His kingdom. That’s the basis of the New Covenant: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 “With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26.

When we sin we compromise that relationship, which is why we’re not to participate in receiving the Eucharist after grave-or mortal-sin; our communion, our love, is already compromised at that point. With confession/repentance that relationship can be reestablished, communion resumed.

Catholic theology, the gospel teachings, are “built in” to these sacraments which guide and provide the world a means to live or act out this vital relationship with God. Man was made for communion with God. That’s the right and just order of things. We tend towards chaos and sin without it. The more we understand and believe this the greater our own presence in participating, and the greater the spiritual benefit IMO. At any rate, yes, communion with God is meant to change/transform us.
 
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dann said:
Is the Eucharist suppose to change you?

Do you get an improved character.?
Or ability in life ?
Do you get wiser ?

Or is it a ceremony that makes you feel good?
Does it help in remembering scripture?

Do you get better at getting
answers to prayer?
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If a person is properly disposed, then sanctifying grace may be increased with the reception so each act of will to do what is good will be strengthened accordingly. There are various virtues (the gifts of the Holy Spirit) strengthened through grace:
  • wisdom (sapientia) which perfects charity,
  • understanding (intellectus) brings intuitive penetration into truth,
  • knowledge (scientia) which perfects hope,
  • fortitude or courage (fortitudo) perfects the virtue of fortitude,
  • counsel (consilium) which perfects prudence,
  • piety or love (pietas) which perfects justice in giving to others that which is their due, and
  • fear of the Lord (timor Domini) perfects temperance in controlling disordered appetites.
 
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dann said:
Do you get an improved character.?
…
Or is it a ceremony that makes you feel good?
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The traditional understanding of the Eucharist is that it encompasses the entire liturgy, the Mass, during which the Body and Blood are transfigured. Thus regular active participation in the Eucharist will improve one’s understanding of scripture and morals, as the Liturgy of the Word is integral to the Mass.

However, the Body and Blood of Christ still impart graces apart from witnessing the mass, which makes an Act of Communion, the reception of the Host or Cup, a supreme act of worship. The human soul was built for communion with God. Baptism washes away original sin that blocks perfect communion, and transforms the soul to receive grace and produce good works.

Without communion with God, the soul rots; this is why the faithful are called to both witness the Eucharist at least weekly, and make an Act of Communion at least annually. The Liturgy of the Eucharist, Greek for the Liturgy of Thanksgiving, is the ritual during which this communion becomes possible by endurably transubstantiating the Body and Blood of Christ; Christ gave the Father thanks and praise as he instituted the ritual by which his body and blood became present.
The Eucharist, the Mass, makes this communion possible, and links it to scripture and instructs the faithful in preparation for reception of Communion.
 
At times, I yearn for the Eucharist. It doesn’t happen every day, but when it does, I will want it so badly that I know my spirit is thirsting for God, and I would rush to Mass to receive Him, and rejoice so much in my union with Christ that I feel like I wanna sing and dance to praise the Lord all the time.

I have had a very shocking spiritual experience in front the Eucharist that led me sobbing through the whole Mass uncontrollably. I felt His sacrifice, and was deeply sorry for not being willing to give him my whole self and my whole life. I know a couple of friends and nuns who had similar experiences, and after which they decided to become priests, nuns, missionaries, or other religious workers.

I can’t tell how many times the Adoration has calmed me down and cast away all the disturbances.

As for what you have listed. I am more and more aware of my weaknesses I was never aware of, but I am peaceful. I am more and more aware of the limitation of my knowledge and wisdom. I am more and more aware of the fact that God is not a wishing machine, and he doesn’t just give us what we want. He gives us what we need.
 
dann said:
Is the Eucharist suppose to change you?
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Absolutely; BUT conditionally based on Belief in the Mystery & MIracle
dann said:
Do you get an improved character.?
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One can and OUGHT too based on Beleif & accepting ALL of the Offered Grace receiving our GOD offers
dann said:
Or ability in life ?
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No. but one may find a desire for TRUTH [singular per defined issue] and knowledge
dann said:
Do you get wiser ?
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One certainly Can [conditionally] based of one;s Faith and willingness to allow God to be in charge of one’s life [literally]; and praying for the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit; and then being OPEN to receiving them.
dann said:
Or is it a ceremony that makes you feel good?
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No, not by God’s intent, all though, it CAN if God Ordains such, which is rather rare by God’s intent as a TEST of our Faith and Love in and for Him
dann said:
Does it help in remembering scripture?
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It CAN if one in FAITH seeks the assistance of the Holy Spirit in doing so. It has with ME personally a GREAT deal.
dann said:
Do you get better at getting

answers to prayer
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Absolutely; BUT ALSO in a fuller and more correct understanding that while ALL prayers ARE answered; God can say:
YES
NO
NOT NOW

And very often answers our prayers in a time, manner and place of HIS choosing; always in a manner that is TRULY for our Spiritual good as the 1st consideration

May God continue to guide your path to His TRUTHS which can be ONLY singular per defined issue.

FYI:

Jesus Christ /GOD is only Present Really, Truly and Substantially in Catholic & Orthodox Holy Communion. All other claims are false.

Patrick [PJM]
 
All the Sacraments of the Catholic Church are death birth realities. Reality that can become experienced by the body and soul.

The effect the Eucharist has on the soul is difficult to notice by someone living a life of ease. But, can be profoundly noticeable to someone living a life of sacrificial love, someone enduring the kind of suffering Christ suffered in service to others.

In committing to bring Christ to others, the faithful often become aware that the Eucharist is the source of Grace that enables them to love what they couldnt otherwise love. To endure what they couldn’t otherwise endure. To decide to do what they could not otherwise decide to do. They become aware of a supernatural source for acts of faith, not just in the acts themselves but in the supernatural results that follow.

The effect of the Eucharist on the soul enable acts of heroic virtue that never fail to unite suffering to the saving acts of Christ.

The Eucharist unites the suffering of the faithfull to Christ, and their suffering, united to His, becomes redemptive.

The Eucharist enables the faithfull to be so much more united to Christ Crucified that their suffering becomes redemptive and they participate in saving the world and can even experience a foretaste of the Resurrection.
 
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Reverse your thinking: First, you allow God’s grace to purify you to receive our Lord. And, since the Eucharist is a channel of God’s grace, He comes and dwells in us, along with the Father and Holy Spirit. We become temples of the Spirit. It is the consummate win-win situation.

What it is not: magic or superstition. That was said about our Lord and was equally wrong 2,000 years ago.
 
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm

Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH

CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION

ARTICLE 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.’"135
 
There have good posts to your OP.

The Eucharist is a Sacrament and thus is a grace. We cannot see grace thus we say, a Sacrament is an outward sign of inward grace.

Specifically the Euharist is the Body of Christ the when received it, it is a spiritual food that nurtures our souls on this earth as we embark on our spiritual journey.

It therefore gives us strength during the journey and since we are receiving the literal Body of Christ, it will make us more and more like Jesus.

The Eucharist, of course, must be received while we are in a state of grace.

Thus if received in the right disposition, it becomes a part of our Christian life into holiness.

Hope that hepls.
 
dann said:
Is the Eucharist suppose to change you?

Do you get an improved character.?

Or ability in life ?

Do you get wiser ?

Or is it a ceremony that makes you feel good?

Does it help in remembering scripture?

Do you get better at getting

answers to prayer?
Click to expand...
I would expect that any intimate encounter with our Saviour would be transformative. If grace is working in our lives, both within and outside of the sacraments, then it should be reflected in an improved character, improved fruit of the spirit (one of which is wisdom).

Feeling good about participating in a sacrament is fine but it is not really relevant to efficacy. The disposition of the heart is what matters.

All exposure to scripture aids in remembering scripture.

I think we get better at recognizing and accepting the answers to prayers that occur.😉
 
runningdude said:
The traditional understanding of the Eucharist is that it encompasses the entire liturgy, the Mass, during which the Body and Blood are transfigured. T
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I really like the content of this post, but I kept getting hung up on this part.
 
OK… So the answer is: maybe ? It will help you if you believe correctly.

And if you don’t believe correctly. Maybe not?
 
dann said:
OK… So the answer is: maybe ? It will help you if you believe correctly.

And if you don’t believe correctly. Maybe not?
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It goes beyond correct belief to correct action, as runningdude articulated, one must take steps to be properly disposed to receive the grace that is present. Attending Mass exposes one to the grace that is present, even if one does not participate in the Eucharist. A spiritual communion is also transformative.
 
Considering that the mass is a sacrifice at Calvary, it is efficacious when it is celebrated, regardless of people’s belief. As Jesus’ death on the cross is redemptive, it too would change and redeem.

As for individual’s benefit, similarly it can be both tangible and untangible, its power being unleashed when it’s being celebrated. There’s much to harness from spiritually.
 
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