What to do when unable to believe in the Eucharist?

[Harry123]

Jesus said it was His flesh and blood. If Jesus said it, then its true. Listen to Jesus first before listening to other people.

In any case, on a molecular level, the atoms of bread and flesh are the same. So magnify it up. Just because something looks like bread, doesn’t mean at the molecular level that its not something else.

The host looks like bread, but at the molecular level its Jesus real flesh. Just like He said.

 

[Frankenfurter]

Jesus told us that he would be with us until the end of the age.

Jesus went out of his way to instruct people that he saw after his resurrection to know him through the breaking of the bread.

Jesus wants to be with you. He wants it to be simple.

The focus of the Eucharist should be on Jesus. He wants to be in you and with you. He wants you to be his body. Take your mind off of yourself. Give yourself a break. Refresh yourself in the Lord. It sounds like you need it.

 

[fred_conty]

The questions:

1. 
   *]What should I do when I cannot believe that “what looks to be” a piece of bread is Jesus’ Body and Blood?
   *] How can you tell if the consecration did not take place if you don’t speak the language used for consecration and don’t know the exact prayer to be used? (The matter used appeared to be the standard unleavened bread wafer and wine; the priest appears to be endorsed by the Archbishop in Tokyo.)
   *] How are we to understand 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul talks about discerning the Lord’s body?
   *] Shouldn’t we expect more healing and more illness for those receiving the Eucharist with faith and those receiving unworthily?
   *] Isn’t it unreasonable to tell yourself it’s Jesus’ Body without this evidence?
   *] Isn’t it true that God wouldn’t require us to actually do something unreasonable?
   *] How do you know whether you’ve met the three conditions for a mortal sin, and whether you’re “just kidding yourself” in thinking that you haven’t?
   
   This thread seems related to my previous concerning creed recitation.
   
   For the last Sunday Mass I was praying for numerous things; in addition to miraculous healing for myself, some sign to console the parents of a ten-year-old girl who died suddenly of a heart defect two days ago, days before her tenth birthday. (Alleah Jen appears to have been her name, if you want to pray for her or her family.) I both prayed for her purification and for her intercession, thinking perhaps some miracle from her, a sign of her being in heaven, would comfort her devastated mother.
   
   (Edited)
   
   Frankly, this appears to me evidence that the Church’s doctrine of the Eucharist is not true: If it really is Jesus’ Body and Blood, then surely it’s not a guessing game – reality ought to be like what St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11, “he is eating and drinking damnation to himself if he eats and drinks unworthily, not recognizing the Lord’s body for what it is. That is why many of your number want strength and health, and not a few have died.” We ought to be seeing more healings among people receiving the Eucharist who really believe, who have faith and ask to be healed, and more sicknesses among those who are receiving while guilty of grave sin, e.g. pro-feticide politicians. Instead, it appears nothing is happening either way: No healings, no sickness. It’s like what St. Paul wrote no longer applies. Why?
   
   This observation raises the question: What if this priest hasn’t been validly ordained? How can you tell? What if the Eucharist isn’t being validly confected? How can you tell?
   
   [finished in next post]

1. 
   As far as death and illness, how do we know that this hasn’t been the case?
   As far as I know there is nothing to prove to the contrary.
   
   I believe another way to explain this is this may have been the case in the very early church. Just as two people died for lying to Peter in the Acts. We don’t have people getting healed by someone’s shadow as in the case of Peter either. So maybe this death and illness only occured early on.
   
   But the question of how can one believe in the real flesh and real blood of Jesus in Holy Communion, has much to do with whether we accept Jesus’ other miracles.
   
   He was then and is now God. So he changed the substance of water into wine at Cana. He multiplied loads and fishes from a few two times. He calmed a stormy lake Gallilee. He was able to do anything he wished. So he certainly has the power, just as he has the power to sustain us in existence, or to create anything he wishes.
   
   When the priest holds up the host after saying the words which change it into Jesus’ own flesh, we say, “my Lord and my God” … not because we see him but because we know he makes good on his word that he is the Lamb of God. All we see is bread. But he said that this is his flesh given for the life of the world. So when we look at the sacred host, we shouldn’t try to see an image of him, but rather know that his flesh is there and that he is bodily present. When we are receiving him we should never try to see an image of him but rather acknowledge that this is his flesh and that he is present in his person and his flesh… his real flesh given in the form of food that we can eat. Jesus knew that he could not let it look like flesh, for this would be distasteful to us. So he allowed it to look like bread so that we could receive it easily, but that it really is his flesh and is his person.