The Most Ancient Mass and the Real Presence?

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mkellogg

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I was speaking with a very charitable Protestant friend of mine at the office today about differences and similarities between our faiths. She actually did not know anything about the Catholic faith other than that we had sacraments, etc. As an example, when I talked about how important receiving the eucharist is to me, she said “well we have that, too, and though we don’t have it every Sunday, we do it maybe once a month, and we believe it symbolizes the body and blood of Jesus.” I pointed out to her that Catholics and Orthodox believe in the REAL presence, and I described it. She didn’t say anything mean at all, but she seemed very befuddled.

It occurred to me that Christians, since inception, have believed in the Real Presence and that Protestants today think that this is some recent Catholic invention or something, whereas they actually are the only ones who ceased to believe this fairly recently. My question is, can I back this up? Do we have any evidence that the earliest versions of the Mass, indeed the earliest Christians (ideally the apostles) believed in the Real Presence? I’d really appreciate any guidance.

God Bless and Happy New Year,
Michael
 
Have your friend read the 6th Chapter of John and tell your friend that you believe every word. People would not have walked out on Jesus, if they believed that his giving his body and blood were only as symbol. They understood that Jesus actually ment that it would really be his body and blood (True Presence).

May God bless you for your faith,
Deacon Tony
 
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