Is the Holy Eucharist only for Catholics?

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I completely agree, I was ignorant to the truth growing up. I depended on what others taught me and not getting the word straight from God himself through His bible. Since the Bible is not placed in the pews of the church, I never read it in any detail.
I always wondered why they are not placed in the pews?
Apparently you never opened a missalette in your life. They contain the exact Bible readings for every single day, and are indeed in the back of every pew. (This is a convenience, so you’re not having to flip back and forth between the pages to find the various Scriptures.) As stated above, you will get a non-Psalm Old Testament reading (with the exception of certain feast days, when it’s replaced with Acts of the Apostles), then a Psalm, then a non-Gospel New Testament reading, and finally a reading from the Gospel. The priest is then required to preach a homily, which differs from a sermon in that it must directly explain the readings heard at that specific Mass.

Readings are done on a three year cycle. If you were to attend Mass every single day for three years, you would hear read aloud virtually the entire New Testament, and the vast majority of the Old Testament. The selections are made so that the texts complement each other, and the most important readings are reserved for Sundays. An average Catholic will have heard the entire Bible read aloud many times in their life. The cycle ensures that even the more obscure passages are presented and explained.
 
I’m finding it hard to believe that** every single person** that the Apostles taught got it wrong. Didn’t they receive the Holy Spirit on Pentacost, and weren’t they supposed to go out and preach to all the nations?

YES! This is what has me scratching my head, too. It makes me wonder why whatisthetruth isn’t a Mormon or JW, b/c that sounds suspiciously like “the Great Apostacy” theory. (Actually, I personally believe that whatisthetruth wasn’t expecting to get hit w/ historical evidence that the first Christians held Catholic beliefs, and got backed into a corner and this is the best he could come up with, other than admitting he’s wrong. But shhhh! His secret’s safe w/ me! 😛 )

In Christ,

Ellen
 
I’ve been following this thread with some interest. And forgive me because I have a bee in my bonnet. Here goes…I’ve run across this question a few times over the years and for the longest time I couldn’t tell you why the Church asks non-Catholic not to receive communion. I’d sort of shrug my shoulders and walk off. In fact, until I had a deeper conversion a few years ago I couldn’t tell you much about what the Church taught or why.

You see, I’m 40 years old and part of that ‘post Vatican II generation’ that was let down by parents, pastors and catechists. I didn’t know much and didn’t much care. Seem like people in my shoes follow one of a few paths. They fall away from the Church and have no or very little faith. They stay in the Church but are for the most part going through the motions (that was me). Both of these are basically dead faith. They leave the Church and become zealous for Christ in another community. Or like me, they take a look around and kick themselves for not seeing the beauty that was there all along.

Now each person has to find there way I suppose but I have a hard time with those who fit category three above. I realize it isn’t their fault they were poorly catechized (so was I) but there comes a point when one must take responsibility for their ignorance. Many leave the Church without bothering to look around then make outrageous claims about never hearing about Moses or Jonah. The truth is they didn’t hear those stories because they tuned out. If you didn’t read the bible it’s not the Church’s fault. It’s your fault!

How anyone can criticize the Church for not sharing scripture is beyond me. The Mass is full of scripture, the Catechism is full of scripture, the Church canonized and preserved scripture for heavens sake! Don’t blame the Church for your ignorance. Instead, please take the time to find out what Christ’s Church really teaches.

Now if some of you feel I’m not being charitable, well I’m sorry. I don’t intend to be rude…just forthright. I don’t mean to say that I can read anybody’s heart but I can read their actions or at least what they type here and from what I’ve read I’d say that I’m pretty close to the mark. So while I don’t mean to offend I do mean to call it out for what it is.

M
 
The Bible is the only book where God’s true word is revealed.
all else is an interpretation which is subject to error
This takes us to the point of why you believe the Bible is the Word of God. The Catholic Church canonized the Scriptures for you. If you believe the Catholic Church is in error, then you have a big problem on your hands.
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whatisthetruth:
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mercygate:
He actually gave the teaching job to the men He trusted. Do we also “go directly to Him?” Of course. But we go with the assurance that He will never teach us anything that contradicts the teaching He entrusted to His Apostles.
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whatisthetruth:
Interesting you phrased it like that,

If God directly tells you something that goes against the Apostles teachings, you probably misunderstod what God was saying to you instead of assuming the Apostles are the ones who misunderstood, correct??
Absolutely correct. Christ gave the Great Commission first to the Eleven. If I read my Bible (which comes to me through the Apostles) and I think it says something the Apostles say it does not say, then I am definitely the one who is confused – not the Apostles.
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whatisthetruth:
. . . Did you notice how Jesus ended each bible verse …
24 . . . do this in remembrance of me."
25 . . . do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
If you were taking Jesus at communion, there would be no need to remember, He is right there being offered to you in body and blood
This sort of confusion is why Catholics are so cautious about personal interpretation. We have translations and linguistic transformations in the translated languages that can literally make a text appear to say the opposite of what the author intended. The Greek word “anamnesin”, translated as “remembrance,” does not mean a psychological act of thinking about a past event. In the Hebrew sense, as used for the Passover, this “remembrance” means “make truly present in the here-and-now.” (I learned this as a Protestant; it ain’t no Catholic propaganda.)
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whatisthetruth:
. . . Not the priest, bishops, cardinals or the pope but Jesus Christ.
You suggest that Christ’s headship of each Christian is somehow at odds with an orderly church structure for the preservation and communication of the Gospel. Catholics (and Orthodox) follow the Scriptural Order of the Church: Bishops, deacons, & priests (presbyters). Cardinals, and even the Pope are bishops with jurisdiction over more than a single city or region. The real question is why any Christian body claiming Scripture as its model would NOT have such a structure.
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whatisthetruth:
In our chuch, the “bread” and “wine” are distributed through the church. . . . [cut for brevity].
. . . prayer and remembrance is also done for the “wine”
This sounds very nice.
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whatisthetruth:
. . . My friend, God’s word says until he (Jesus) comes. God’s word is true so how can you eat Jesus body if He is has not come yet according to God.
Catholics see Christ’s promise to be “with you always” as fulfilled in the Eucharist. I do not see why you find this to be problematic since most evangelicals believe that Christ comes into the heart of each individual Christian without confusing it with the Second Coming.
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whatisthetruth:
I have ! final question to you. From the verse below,
Did Jesus mean with us… in body (flesh) (Holy Eucharist) or
did he mean it in spirit?

I believe He meant He is with us in spirit.
You seem to believe that “spirit” means “symbolic” or somehow “not real.” But God is spirit (so St. John tells us). And God is definitely “real.” Catholics believe that we receive the glorified, resurrected Body of Christ in the Eucharist. That is why the feeding of the 5000 juxtaposed with the Bread of Life discourse is such a powerful testament to His Presence in the Eucharist for Catholics and the Orthodox. We read that whole passage “in the Spirit”.
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whatisthetruth:
The verse…
63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life
I am always perplexed when this verse is quoted to deny the Real Prsence. All through the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus refers to “my flesh.” Here He says “the” flesh. In the idiom of the day, “the flesh” meant the basic animal nature (as in “The spirit is willing but ‘the flesh’ is weak”). Surely, you do not claim that the flesh of Jesus counts for nothing.
 
It is also for Eastern Oriental Churches or Eastern Orthodox. The Catholic Church recognizes the valid Sacrament of the Eastern Christians, those who are not in full communion with Rome. They can if there is Eastern Orthodox Church in their area, Eastern Orthodox Christians may received Holy Communion in the Catholic Church.

Though, many Eastern Orthodox would avoid receiving ours. Some of their clergy or church leaders does not recognized the validity of the Catholic Church sacraments.
Some Protestants do not accept the validity of Catholic communion and have policies to not allow Catholics to receive in their churches in a similar fashion of how Catholics would not allow others to receive.
 
We could say our clubhouse, our rules. We don’t. Would you argue if we did?

We say that there is a real part and a symbolic part. Real: it is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. If you do not beleive it, you should not receive it. Real: the reception of the Eucharist helps unite us spiritually to each other and Christ. If you are not united, you should not recieve. It is a sign of our unity, too. If you are not united, you should not recieve.

Personally, I hope all churches have rules on their practices. It is their clubhouse, their rules. Just don;t tell me that mine should be what they want them to be.
 
Some Protestants do not accept the validity of Catholic communion and have policies to not allow Catholics to receive in their churches in a similar fashion of how Catholics would not allow others to receive.
Why would I want to receive the non-Host in a protestant church?

I wouldn’t mind having lunch with them, and if they consider that whatever-it-is that people “receive” in their church to be lunch I’d be happy to get a snack, but to call their non-Host anything but a memorial snack seems odd to me.

I’d be respectful of course while dining with them. That’s just good manners.

Am I wrong in this?
 
Why would I want to receive the non-Host in a protestant church?

I wouldn’t mind having lunch with them, and if they consider that whatever-it-is that people “receive” in their church to be lunch I’d be happy to get a snack, but to call their non-Host anything but a memorial snack seems odd to me.

I’d be respectful of course while dining with them. That’s just good manners.

Am I wrong in this?
I think it to be disrespectful of their beliefs, they are obviously not wanting the Eucharist that Catholics know either. It is an impasse really.
 
The Bible is the only book where God’s true word is revealed.
all else is an interpretation which is subject to error

.Apparently Catholic church changed… When I grew up, there were 2 new testament readings and a Gospel reading.

In our chuch, the “bread” and “wine” are distributed through the church.

As we all are holding the “bread”

We have a prayer of remembrance and thankfulness to the Lord for what he has done for us
after prayer, pastor would then say…Jesus then said “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

then we all take the bread as one unified church

prayer and remembrance is also done for the “wine”

Yes he does. with that verse…when Jesus said “And behold, for I am with you until the end of the age.”,

I have ! final question to you.
From the verse below,
Did Jesus mean with us…

in body (flesh) (Holy Eucharist)

or

did he mean it in spirit?
Pilgrim,

You left the last thread, with so many questions to answer. You run the long posts, as questions, demand answers, yet when you are asked for answers, you sneak off. Hopefully, you will return to the thread to respond.

Yes, there is the Bible, which is the Written Word of God, and you privately interprete it, which is subject to error. Lots of error.
Only the Catholic Church can interprete it infallibly in matters of faith and morals.

The Catholic Church has not changed in matters of faith and morals. Are you saying that the Church has really changed because its liturgy is different today than it was when you were growing up.

As far as the Eucharist is concerned: you have no priest to offer the Sacrifice. Your bread and wine is just that - bread and wine.

I saw a Communion service on TBN where the guy took a loaf of bread and grape juice in his kitchen and then claimed it was "Communion’ He even said, if you like, use water in place of the grape juice.

This is not communion. It does not claim to be the Real Presence. As in your church service. The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is not really, truly and substantially there, as it is in a Catholic Church during Mass.

Quote:
My friend, God’s word says until he (Jesus) comes. God’s word is true so how can you eat Jesus body if He is has not come yet
according to God. Unquote

Are you serious? If I say to my son, 'stay here until it snows". That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t continue to stay. You misunderstand ‘until’.

Our Eucharist in the Catholic Church is physically Jesus’ Flesh and Blood.

I look forward for your responses which are due.

Thanks

peace
 
Why do you not respond to some of our postings to you?

I realize that it’s a bit time consuming, but isn’t making your understandings known to others and responding to other’s understandings of things, such as your understandings of things, why you are here?

Please be a good citizen within this community and be responsive as you’d have others be responsive.

Thank you. Looking forward to more of your very interesting and thought provoking insight and perspective. 🙂
 
bump

Hi again CalmDownWisWins, mgrfin, MercyGate

My apologies. I been posting other threads and completely forgot about this one. please forgive me

I reaaquainting myself with the subject at hand. I do want to respond to concerns you left opened.

mercygate
The Catholic Church canonized the Scriptures for you. If you believe the Catholic Church is in error, then you have a big problem on your hands.
I believe the word of God has the final authority not the other way around. and yes the reason I am hear is to see through our differences. Since the church is made up of fallible people, Even God said “all have sinned” I believe there are things in the RC church which are not in accordance to the will of God. one of them being the topic of this thread. RC’s Holy Eucharist is the presence of the body and blood of Jesus.

In my church as you all are aware we have a spiritual remembrance and have the bread and juice as symbolic emblems.

I asked
If God directly tells you something that goes against the Apostles teachings, you probably misunderstod what God was saying to you instead of assuming the Apostles are the ones who misunderstood, correct??
you said
Absolutely correct.
could it be the apostles are the one that misunderstood, after all they are human too??

you said
Catholics (and Orthodox) follow the Scriptural Order of the Church: Bishops, deacons, & priests (presbyters). Cardinals, and even the Pope are bishops with jurisdiction over more than a single city or region.
The real question is why any Christian body claiming Scripture as its model would NOT have such a structure.

the bottom line is interpretation God’s word(bible), again which is the authority over the church not the other way around

We are on bookends on who has the right interpretation. I agree with what you said above “then you have a big problem on your hands” will apply to someone. As to who? only God knows.

you said
Surely, you do not claim that the flesh of Jesus counts for nothing.
I am not talking biblical with what I am about to say but rather from the heart.

The flesh of Jesus means the world to me. I only wish I could go back in time and be on the street as he passed by carrying the cross he would be crucified on. I would look HIm in the eye, fall on my knees and say thank you Jesus for saving me. I deserved the punishment that you endured not you. I am tearing at that thought as I type. that is not tradition just raw emotion for what Jesus did for all of us.

Thats a relationship with my Saviour which I believe is all God wants not a religion with rituals and traditions.

mgrfin
Yes, there is the Bible, which is the Written Word of God, and you privately interprete it, which is subject to error. Lots of error.
not at all do I privately interpret it, my church has bible study small groups where we openly discuss the word. There are times I privately go to GOd in prayer with the bible and yes He will reveal to me a message by HIs word through the Holy Spirit.
**Only the Catholic Church **can interprete it infallibly in matters of faith and morals.
Wow:confused:

Would you tell Jesus "whatisthetruth is not Roman Catholic so there is no way he can interpret your word correctly unless he comes back to the RC catholic church and reunites with the ways of your church?
you said
Our Eucharist in the Catholic Church is physically Jesus’ Flesh and Blood.
Mathew 24 26,30
"So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

What do you believe God is saying?

Let us all agree on the truth

Merry Christmas

Truth
 
In your recent reply, I noticed a couple of “**I **believe” and “our church believes.” But you really do not address what God’s intentions are!

Belief in the Word of God is necessary, true, but let me ask you then why did Christ insist in John 6 that the bread is “true flesh indeed” and the wine is “true drink” if it were merely symbolic? Do you negate Christ’s authority in this respect? IMHO, this is a rejection of what Our Lord intended. And, no, I do not think the apostles misunderstood him. They knew when after His Death and Resurrection they recognized him when he broke the bread. I would also suggest examining the letters of Paul once again. Surely, he was not a direct apostle, but even HE understood the importance of the Eucharist and the reverence one must show towards it.
 
I believe the word of God has the final authority not the other way around. and yes the reason I am hear is to see through our differences. Since the church is made up of fallible people, Even God said “all have sinned” I believe there are things in the RC church which are not in accordance to the will of God. one of them being the topic of this thread. RC’s Holy Eucharist is the presence of the body and blood of Jesus.
whatisthetruth,

Which came first, the Church or the Bible? Jesus Christ ordained 12 apostles and his apostles appointed successors to spread the good news throughout the world long before the New Testament was completed. Our Eucharist is the historical Eucharist. The belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist predates any of the schisms of our church, which means our sacramental belief system exists in the Orthodox Churches of the East (Constantinople) and of the Orient (Alexandria). The Fundamentalist Protestant interpretation of Jn 6 is a farely recent one dating back to the 19th century and all of the early church fathers writings attest to our understanding of the Holy Eucharist - that it is the paschal sacrifice made present. We do not resacrifice Christ at Mass, we are sent back into time to Calvary at the foot of the Cross to when Christ was crucified for us uniting us fully to His sacrifice. Christ is the Eternal High Priest.

Christ is born! Glorify Him!
 
If you believe in the symbolism of the Eucharist, instead of the Real Presence, at least you ought to get the symbols correct.

Jesus did not drink ‘juice’ at the Last Supper". He drank wine.

So, you should use bread and wine. Juice just doesn’t do it.

peace
 
could it be the apostles are the one that misunderstood, after all they are human too??
So you think that the Apostles could be fallible in matters of faith?

Could anything that St. Paul said and wrote be erroneous?

Do you think that St. Matthew and St. John could have gotten it wrong? Maybe they didn’t see the resurrected Jesus?

And if so, then all this Christianity stuff is all a mistake?

You have to be careful…the apostles were taught by Jesus, so we have to believe they got it right, and were infallible in matters of faith. We call this the ‘deposit of faith’, Divine Revelation’. This was passed to the Church, and that is how the Catholic Church got the infallible message, deposit of faith. That is why the Catholic Church is infallible, because the Apostles left this message with the Catholic Church for all time.

I see, like most Protestants, you like to put a great store in the Book of Revelations, which is an allegory, and no one is sure what it means. You want to read it literary, but that kind of writing is not something you take literally.

peace
 
No purgatory, mortal or venial sin to mention a couple.

So who is practicing communion in the way God wants it to be.
Somehow I doubt God accepts both ways?

Thank you,

truth just a suggestion…why dont you read what the early church fathers wrote about The Eucharist,those who were taught by the apostles themselves…I think newadvent.org has lots of writings,as well as many other sites (i’m sure someone out there has more sites to give you) . wouldnt you think that if they who were taught by the apostles themselves (and many became saints and popes) could clear things up for you? you have to be willing to read alot,because there is alot
 
What protestant church has the Eucharist (Holy Communion) Body,blood, soul,and divinity teansformed in the host and the wine?

Last I checked there is not.

I went to a Lutheran service and there was a simbilance with grape juice not wine. The juice was placed in paper cups and the remants disposesd of in a garbage can.

No there is no authority in any church other than the Catholic Church for trans substansiation and no belief other than the Catholic Church that what they are receiving is truly Christ in the Flesh as they would not be placing Jesus in the garbage can.

This is one item the Anglicans move over quickly with in the Bible Ask a minister to explain “my body is true food and my blood true drink whoever eats my body and drinks my blood shall have eternal life. whoever does not eat my body and drink my blood has no life within them”. This is repeated many times in the Bible and many a follower stopped following Jesus Christ due to Jesus’s statement.

The Last Supper was Christ teching the Apostles how to do this and giving them the authority to such.

If we all follow our own beliefs and not the bible and the teachings of Christ and his Apostles than we are not Christians but wantabe’s

This was not a parable, it was not a could be, or a stammer, or left up to translation.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is really, not just symbolically, present in the Eucharist (Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; and, most forcefully, John 6:32-71).

Ignatius of Antioch

"Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God…

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6:2; 7:1 [A.D. 110]).

This was not several hudred years after Christ bue some 80 years.

Now your interpetation is different from the early church?
 
Ancient Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This wondrous Event took place in the 8th century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk’s doubt about Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist.

During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size.

The Host-Flesh, as can be very distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church; it is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back.

The Blood is coagulated and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre.

Various ecclesiastical investigation (“Recognitions”) were conducted since 1574.

In 1970-'71 and taken up again partly in 1981 there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena.

The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs.
These analyses sustained the following conclusions:

The Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real Blood.

The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.

The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.

In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium.

The Flesh is a “HEART” complete in its essential structure.

The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB (Blood-type identical to that which Prof. Baima Bollone uncovered in the Holy Shroud of Turin).

In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of the fresh normal blood.

In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.

The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.
 
What protestant church has the Eucharist (Holy Communion) Body,blood, soul,and divinity teansformed in the host and the wine?

Last I checked there is not.

I went to a Lutheran service and there was a simbilance with grape juice not wine. The juice was placed in paper cups and the remants disposesd of in a garbage can.

No there is no authority in any church other than the Catholic Church for trans substansiation and no belief other than the Catholic Church that what they are receiving is truly Christ in the Flesh as they would not be placing Jesus in the garbage can.

This is one item the Anglicans move over quickly with in the Bible Ask a minister to explain “my body is true food and my blood true drink whoever eats my body and drinks my blood shall have eternal life. whoever does not eat my body and drink my blood has no life within them”. This is repeated many times in the Bible and many a follower stopped following Jesus Christ due to Jesus’s statement.

The Last Supper was Christ teching the Apostles how to do this and giving them the authority to such.

If we all follow our own beliefs and not the bible and the teachings of Christ and his Apostles than we are not Christians but wantabe’s

This was not a parable, it was not a could be, or a stammer, or left up to translation.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is really, not just symbolically, present in the Eucharist (Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; and, most forcefully, John 6:32-71).

Ignatius of Antioch

"Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God…

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6:2; 7:1 [A.D. 110]).

This was not several hudred years after Christ bue some 80 years.

Now your interpetation is different from the early church?
Protestants revel in Sola Scriptura, and argue that they don’t have to rely on Tradition.

They can have all the Scripture in all the Scriptoriums throughout the world, it doesn’t mean they open their eyes to what they read.

Fr. Martin would turn over in his grave if he saw his followers using grape juice for wine, and disposing of the leftover in the garbage.

Real Presence. Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation - how about ‘no presence’, physical, real, or spiritual.

peace
 
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