Hi, Dyluck,
Actually, Dyluck, that ‘meat’ you served up wasn’t even half-baked… My focus will be on Holy Communion. There are no context problems here. I am, however, hard put to even guess why you omitted all of John 6 in your presentation…
Here are a couple of Catholic links you may find helpful, Dyluck, in reading about the Eucharist from a Catholic perspective. Considering that you are on CAF, you may actually find it helps you to focus your argument. You really can’t misquote, mispresent and misdefine Catholic teaching and expect not to be called down for it.
newadvent.org/cathen/05572c.htm (this contains several other links)
newadvent.org/cathen/07402a.htm
catholic.com/library/Institution_of_the_Mass.asp
Let’s take a look at the last link with some detail. Here is what the Catholic Church says about the Mass and there is quite a lot of scripture to back this up…in addition to the teaching authority given to Peter (Matt 16).
“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 47).
Even a modestly informed Catholic can set an inquirer right and direct him to biblical accounts of Jesus’ final night with his disciples. Turning to the text, we read, “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19).
The Greek here and in the parallel Gospel passages (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22) reads: Touto estin to soma mou. Paul’s version differs slightly: Touto mou estin to soma (1 Cor. 11:24). They all translate as “This is my body.” The verb estin is the equivalent of the English “is” and can mean “is really” or “is figuratively.” The usual meaning of estin is the former (check any Greek grammar book), just as, in English, the verb “is” usually is taken literally.
Fundamentalists insist that when Christ says, “This is my body,” he is speaking figuratively. But this interpretation is precluded by Paul’s discussion of the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:23–29 and by the whole tenor of John 6, the chapter where the Eucharist is promised. The Greek word for “body” in John 6:54 is sarx, which means physical flesh, and the word for “eats” (trogon) translates as “gnawing” or “chewing.” This is certainly not the language of metaphor."
The Church teaches that the Mass is the re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary, which also is invariably misunderstood by anti-Catholics. The Catholic Church does not teach that the Mass is a re-crucifixion of Christ, who does not suffer and die again in the Mass.
Yet, it is more than just a memorial service. John A. O’Brien, writing in The Faith of Millions, said, “The manner in which the sacrifices are offered is alone different: On the cross Christ really shed his blood and was really slain; in the Mass, however, there is no real shedding of blood, no real death; but the separate consecration of the bread and of the wine symbolizes the separation of the body and blood of Christ and thus symbolizes his death upon the cross. The Mass is the renewal and perpetuation of the sacrifice of the cross in the sense that it offers [Jesus] anew to God . . . and thus commemorates the sacrifice of the cross, reenacts it symbolically and mystically, and applies the fruits of Christ’s death upon the cross to individual human souls. All the efficacy of the Mass is derived, therefore, from the sacrifice of Calvary” (306).
The Catholic Church specifically says Christ does not die again—his death is once for all. It would be something else if the Church were to claim he does die again, but it doesn’t make that claim. Through his intercessory ministry in heaven and through the Mass, Jesus continues to offer himself to his Father as a living sacrifice, and he does so in what the Church specifically states is “an unbloody manner”—one that does not involve a new crucifixion."
I suggest that if you are going to quote Catholic doctrine, you get it straight first.
God bless
Fair enough, I will attempt to quote accurately and target responces to statements.
Honestly, it is difficult as there are publishings of catholic dogma that differ from one another slightly and don’t know which one to focus on necissairly so please forgive my ignorance. i.e. some believe in baby baptism and some do not.
I agree that communion is a celebration and remembering of christ’s death on the cross and what that really means for us (our only salvation). At the end of the day both catholics and protestants celebrate the eucharist for the same end goal. Doing it rememberence of Christ and as a command from Jesus.
The following doesn’t sit quite right, can you go into further detail about this statement? “The Mass is the renewal and perpetuation of the sacrifice of the cross*]… namely this part—> * in the sense that it offers [Jesus] anew to God . . .”.
Thanks