Transubstantiation

[hs_hopeful]

Where did the Catholic belief that priests have the ability to perform this act come from?

 

[puzzleannie]

from Christ’s words and actions at the Last Supper when he ordained the apostles, and through them their successors, to perform this rite and effect this sacrament.

 

[valentino]

Where did the Catholic belief that priests have the ability to perform this act come from?

Christ said at the last supper before his death"And taking the bread He brake it saying take ye this and eat it for this is my body which will be given up for you.Jesus was contemplating His death.“Do this in remembrance of Me”.

 

[Tepeyac]

John 6:51-56

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats 19 my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Luke 22:19-20

19 Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

I Corinthians 11:23-25

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, 24 and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 

[k8e308]

Where did the Catholic belief that priests have the ability to perform this act come from?

I think it’s important to point out that there is no “ability” of priests involved in transubstantiation. The priest does not receive magical powers to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood at his ordination. The priest is simply acting as the visible person of Christ, while the power and blessing comes from Christ Himself. Priests are the only ones allowed to act in the person of Christ because of the authority He gave the apostles, but it is not their ability which changes the bread and wine, just as in Reconciliation it is not the priest who forgives your sins, but God.

 

[Spencerian]

Where did the Catholic belief that priests have the ability to perform this act come from?

Hi.

Let’s preface what priests were in the Old Covenant first. They managed the offerings of animal sacrifices–lambs–in the Temple. These men, of the Levite tribe of Israel, were appointed by other priests, who themselves were appointed by their predecessors since the start of the Covenant by Moses. These priests were the only people allowed to consecrate any offerings at temple.

Enter Christ, centuries later, who says in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” That confirms that Christ was not striking out the principles of priesthood, but modifying it for the New Covenant, and with new priests–The Apostles.

The Apostles, too, as with many other followers of Christ, were hung up on the hows–especially when Christ said that His own Body and Blood would be used (John 6:27-71)

They learned later. Christ became the new Lamb in place of the many animals of the Old Covenant, sacrificing Himself once and for all since only an infinitely valuable man as Christ could truly be sufficient to merit our salvation through the Father.

Before his Passion, he gives the Apostles (and only they–no one else was present) instruction. As with John 6 (where Christ also doesn’t explain away His words as parable or hyperbole), He states that His Body and Blood are present in the bread and wine that they should offer to God–just as priests of the Old Covenant offer their lambs to God.

The bread and wine is supported, as a priest named Melchizedek once did, which God used as a template for the New Covenant (Hebrews 7).

A Catholic priest does not himself change the bread and wine at Mass into anything–he hasn’t that power. But by the* authority granted to him by Christ* by way of the bishops who granted the priest the Sacrament of Holy Orders (whose bishops, in turn, received that Sacrament from their predecessors back to the Apostles themselves, who received it from the new High Priest, Christ), the appearance of bread and wine remain but the Lamb is presented as Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, for our salvation.

Nor is the priest “re-sacrificing” Christ. The priest offers the One Sacrifice as if we were all there at the moment of Christ’s passion–its a extra-temporal thing, a mystery of our faith. As with the Old Covenant, the New Covenant must have priests, who also must offer up a Sacrifice. Else, Christ was lying in Matthew 5:17.

And in both Old and New Covenants, a portion of the sacrifice is eaten.

By Pentecost, the Twelve are given the final means (the decent of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2) that make them worthy as the first earthly priests (given authority by Christ in John 20:21, among other passages).

Christianity reflects the acts of the Old Covenant, through Christ’s own words. A faith that ignores the need for priests and a sacrifice is ignoring Scripture. God bless.

 

[k8e308]

:clapping: Excellent explanation, Spencerian. I’ve never seen it linked in quite that way. It’s a fantastic defense/explanation of the faith that I’m sure I will use for a very long time. :clapping:

 

[Cat_Herder]

Quick Answers Part 1 of 2

A Tale of Two Priesthoods: Holy Orders, Eucharist, and Reconciliation
The Church, Sacraments, and Salvation

 

[RosaryFan]

Where did the Catholic belief that priests have the ability to perform this act come from?

“Do this in remembrance of me…”