The understanding of the Eucharist

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William1

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I never really understand the Eucharist. When I received my first communion the priest told us don’t bite the host you’ll hurt Christ or don’t have anything cold you’ll make Him cold. I know it sounds silly but every time I receive communion it sticks in my head. Does the church really believe that we receive Christ in this kind of manner?
 
No, the church doesn’t believe it.

In past eras, some religious sisters in USA would teach their young Catholic students that you couldn’t chew the Eucharist because it was disrespectful or hurtful to Jesus, and we needed to just let it dissolve in our mouth. This is also not official church teaching. The actual word Jesus used when he talked about people needing to eat of his flesh was actually equivalent to the word “gnaw” in English. The bread he used at the Last Supper also would have needed to be chewed in order for those present to eat it.

You cannot hurt or disrespect Jesus or make him uncomfortable by going through the normal process of eating the Host. I normally chew the Host because it is the best way to consume it quickly without choking, especially as I have to consume it before proceeding to the cup usually being offered a few steps away, and I only have about 15 to 30 seconds to finish consuming it before I need to say “Amen” to the priest or EMHC presenting me with the cup.
 
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William, it doesn’t sound silly. for alot of us were told something similar.

Turn to what Jesus said then He took the bread and broke it and giving to them said ’ Take this, all of you and eat, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you. ’ Then He took up the cup and giving thanks,gave it to them saying ‘Take this all of you and drink , for this is the Blood of the new covenant, which will be shed for many for the forgiveness of sin,’ Do This in Memory of Me.

William reflect on Jesus’s words.when you receive Communion, He will hear you. God bless you and keep you.
 
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He was probably trying to tell y’all to do x, but tried to phrase it in a way that a kid can relate to, and accidentally ended up talking down to y’all, and never followed up to phrase it in a more factual kind of way.

So, for example, you need to fast for an hour before communion, and for 15 minutes after communion, so that might have been where the “cold” came from— don’t eat/drink right after communion. And, like @Tis_Bearself mentioned, some communities encourage people to allow the host to dissolve, rather than chewing it like food, which might have been where the “don’t bite” came from.

When my kids were little, I would tell them, “Keep the door locked, so the bugs don’t come inside!” because that was something that made sense to them, more than, “Don’t leave the house without permission.” Because they think— why do I need permission to leave the house? What a silly thing to say! Because I can turn the knob, like this, and I can open the door, like that, and I can walk three blocks away, no problem, and no one has any clue where I am---- see, I didn’t need permission! 😛
 
I have a friend that is Anglican.He was telling me they teach the bread and wine do become the body and blood but it such a holy mystery only known to God.All we have to do is to believe in it. I think that’s the best way to teach it even for the Catholic Church.
 
That IS how the Catholic Church often teaches it to children.

The problem is, a lot of people do not have the faith to just believe and they want to get deeper into the theology, Church history and so forth of the whole thing. Also, because we have Protestant brethren who unfortunately separated from the Catholic Church in part over them having a different understanding of the Eucharist (never mind that these ideas just popped into some guy’s head after 1500 undisturbed years of accepting Jesus’ original teaching), we sometimes need to go a little deeper in order to make proper explanations and apologetics.

I am personally fine, myself, with declaring large parts of my faith a “mystery only known to God”. I have enough to handle without trying to logically understand supernatural things. But, not everybody is like me.
 
No. The church teaches it that way to children. Some people are taught they can chew the host or just let it dissolve.
 
I too can remember being told to leave the Blessed Sacrament to dissolve in the mouth. My understanding is that came from a desire to treat the Blessed Sacrament with reverence.

A few years ago I was at a Mass at my large Cathedral and there were a class or two of school students all within the range of 14-17yr old. Due to various factors I was not able to ignore seeing how some received. These few I noted didn’t receive the Precious Blood, but only the Blessed Sacrament. Some immediately whilst walking to their pews which were in the front, were talking/grinning at each other/ and chewing like a cow chews its’ cud! Where was the reverence? The communing with Jesus after receiving so great a gift!?

I couldn’t avoid looking after noticing the first irreverent action I guess because I was just so dumbfounded that the Blessed Sacrament would be treated in that way. Thankfully after observing a few, I was able to turn my gaze away and concentrate on preparing for receiving the Blessed Sacrament myself.

I am not judging the person in themselves as I did not know then or now know what level was their understanding of Holy Communion or what they’d been taught or not taught, but the objective wrongness of the action is what gobsmacked me.
 
It is one thing to teach kids to not talk with the Eucharist in their mouth and to chew it in a mannerly way, like not with open mouths.

However, when people judge how a person chews, it’s a bit ridiculous. If your mouth is closed and you are silently chewing, you can’t be expected to be concerned about how you look chewing and whether you look funny to someone else while chewing. I appreciate reverence, but people always want to carry it too far.
 
All we have to do is to believe in it.
That’s actually a major difference between protestants and Catholics. Us believing the bread is turned into the Body of Christ (de fide) doesn’t have an impact on whether it is actually transubstantiated. It does in some protestant theology. We are however asked to assent to the truth when, in the ordinary form, before receiving we say “Amen!”
 
If your mouth is closed and you are silently chewing,
Agreed - no issue with that especially as you said in an earlier post that there isn’t always time for any other way between receiving the Blessed Sacrament and the Precious Blood.

The young man I’m recallling had his mouth stretched wide open, rolled the Blessed Sacrament over with his tongue, then proceeded as I mentioned above. Where is the reverence in this action?
 
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