Since Jesus is present body and blood, and as literally real and alive as you can get, just looking differently than what He is, then how should a vegetarian partake in the eating and drinking?
Hi SpeakKindly,
I think one important consideration is that Christ isn’t
just looking differently than what He is, but is actually present in an entirely different mode in the Eucharist than normal, i.e. He is present “substantially” and in a sacramental mode.
This means that His entire being is made present as a substance,
not just His substance, but his whole being, i.e. His entirety, His bones, His hair (and His hair has a color! and length!) is made present
in the manner of a substance and substances are something we do not sense or interact with directly through the senses. Substances, likewise, can’t be harmed or cut or broken etc. So, receiving Holy Communion is receiving Christ’s Body and Blood in a completely unique way and in a unique mode of being.
This unique way of eating is so completely different than any other kind of eating that it is its own kind of thing – Communion – and not just the eating of a different thing. For instance, when you consume the Eucharist you don’t diminish Christ in anyway. When you consume anything else you diminish it (i.e you have less cheerios in your bowl, or less of burger). When you consume the Eucharist you are united to Christ’s Mystical Body, unlike when you consume other food whereby you change the food into
your body. When you consume a living creature it is either dead or will become dead. When you consume Christ He remains alive.
You can see that what is going on here is so far removed from eating animal flesh that it is a whole different category of eating. A vegetarian who objects to having any flesh in their stomach, and who thereby would object to Holy Communion, might as well object to having the flesh
of their own stomach in their stomach! That is a silly example, but it illustrates the uniqueness of Holy Communion. Obviously the fleshy inner lining of your stomach being in your stomach wouldn’t violate any principle of vegetarianism, because it is a whole different kind of “flesh in your stomach” than what vegetarian principles contemplate.
Likewise, vegetarianism doesn’t contemplate or engage Holy Communion because it is so unique an eating that it is the only instance of its kind.
SpeakKindly:
They’re probably more concerned about what they’re REALLY eating in substance.
I think they might be actually more concerned with the
mode of eating! Look at it this way: would a vegetarian object to being nourished by a creature if he could be nourished by it by 1)just looking at it, 2)and the creature isn’t harmed or diminished, and 3)this can be done over and over to the same living creature, and 4)in fact the living creature want this done and gives itself to the vegetarian as nourishment? When you look at it this way, a vegetarian might have more reason to object to eating plants which
are rent and torn and diminished and harmed by a unilateral decision made by the vegetarian than they have reason to object to Holy Communion!
Is this any help?
VC
