this may be why many protestant churches have had to down - play the Eucharist. Because, unfortunately it becomes as an idol to some who don’t understand the reality of a living Christ. If the Eucharist truly is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, how could there possibly be ANY need to “downplay” that? How could Christ possibly become an idol? The definition of an idol is a false god. Christ can never be a false god.
I’m sure if you’ve read the Gospels you’re aware that many of the Jews at Jesus’ time saw the Law as a means of saving themselves rather than allowing it to show them their need for a Savior. Did that make the Law bad or an obstacle to their salvation? Of course not! People take the good that God offers them and they twist it or misunderstand it, but that doesn’t make the good thing bad. Cults like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses take the Bible and use it to support their false teachings, so do we therefore conclude the Bible needs to be downplayed so people don’t use it to teach things that aren’t true? The answer isn’t to “downplay” any truth, but to teach the truth to people so they *do *understand.
Which comes first? … the good behavior/transformation or the partaking?
Simply partaking of the Eucharist will not automatically transform us, just like simply listening to the Gospel and not responding to it will not change us. Change isn’t often instantaneous–often it is gradual, over time. Like Jesus said in the parable of the sower, God’s Word falls on all sorts of hearts, and it’s the condition of the heart that determines whether or not fruit will be borne in that heart and how much. So it is when we receive the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
Would a Catholic say, I felt called to communion with Christ, I prayerfully accepted the sacrament, and THEN my heart was changed, and I had no desire to sin as I had before?
Catholics are supposed to receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner, meaning being in a state of grace --saved. Our hearts have already been changed *before *we receive the Eucharist. Like I mentioned before, for most of us change is a gradual process. We don’t receive the Eucharist and have an instant transformation where we have no desire at all to sin. That’s why Jesus continually offers Himself to us in the Eucharist – we continually need His grace to resist sin and grow in sanctity. He doesn’t set a requirement for us where we have to have achieved a certain level of sanctity in order to receive Him or continue to receive Him. None of the Protestant churches I belonged to over a period of 20 years taught that Christians were expected to make dramatic transformations after reading the Bible, praying, going to church or receiving communion.
Or does a Catholic say, I must be good and not sin THEN I am worthy to go accept the sacrament? And unless I accept it each Sunday, I will fall back into my sinful nature? A Catholic is to abstain from receiving the Eucharist when he is conscious of having committed a mortal sin (s) without having received absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation. As long as a Catholic is in a state of grace, he is worthy to receive the sacrament. And the operative word there is grace–it’s only God’s grace that makes us worthy to receive Himself. Why *wouldn’t *a Catholic want to receive Christ every Sunday, or every day for that matter? It’s a privilege, a blessing! The Protestant churches I belonged to stressed reading the Bible and praying every day in order to grow in grace and avoid sin. The same with the Eucharist. It is Jesus *Himself *we receive, so not receiving Him definitely makes it harder for us to live obedient lives and avoid sin, just like living without an active prayer life makes us weaker too. We *depend *upon Christ for the power to be good, and when we don’t avail ourselves of that power, we’re headed for trouble.
I understand now that the Catholic teaching is that the bread and wine are transformed, but what about the heart of the partaking soul? Absolutely! Here is an excerpt from St. Faustina Kowalska’s diary, *Divine Mercy in My Soul, “*All the good that is in me is due to Holy Communion. . .Herein lies the the whole secret of my sanctity. . .one thing alone sustains me and that is Holy Communion. From it I draw all my strength; in it is all my comfort. . .Jesus concealed in the Host is everything to me. . .I would not know how to give glory to God if I did not have the Eucharist in my heart. . .” But the nature and degree of that transformation is going to be very individual.
