22 holy eucharist

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Talk #3 HOLY EUCHARIST:REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS, FLESH & BLOOD

THE MASS

A MEMORIAL OF THE LORDS SUPPER.The mass, also known as the Eucharist and a memorial of the Lords Supper,

repeats what happened at the Last Supper and allows us to enter into the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ in Calvary. The term memorialin the Catholic understanding means a great dealmore than simply a memorial service!. Christ instructed the apostles, Do this in

remembrance of Me "Luke ##$%&' % Cor. %%$#()#*+. o what- Celerate this Last

Supper, this new /assover of 0is 1ody and 1lood, this sacrificial offering. 2nd how-

2s a memorial.

The Jewish understanding of memorial was not simply to ring to mind a past

event. 3t involved actually main! "re#ent t$at "a#t event. Thus, the past is not only

rememered, ut also relived i.e.. made "re#enthere and now in the celeration and we

enter into the event of the sacrifice in Calvary. This is consistent with the Jewishtradition. The Jews celerating /assover at the time of Jesus thought of themselves as

one with their ancestors 4 a# t$ou!$ t$ey t$em#elve# $ad %led %rom E!y"t. 2s one

ancient Jewish commentator e5plained, In every generation a man must so regardhimself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt. 6e now consider ourselves to have

een delivered from our own Egypt "ondage from sin+ and thus truly united in 7ods

covenant family. Just as the Jews really participated in their ancestors e5odus throughthe /assover feast, Christians participate in the new e5odus, Christs victorious death on

the cross, through the new /assover, the Eucharist. The mystery of Christs going to the

8ather! through 0is suffering, death, resurrection and ascension is called the /aschal9ystery!. Through the mass, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is perpetuated

throughout the centuries until he should come again. The Church teaches that the 9ass is

the re)presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary, which also is invarialy misunderstood y

non)Catholics. The Catholic Church does not teach that the 9ass is a re)crucifi5ion ofChrist, who does not suffer and die again in the 9ass. 3n the 9ass, there is no real

shedding of lood, no real death' ut the separate consecration of the read and wine

symoli:es the separation of the ody and lood of Christ and thus symoli:es his deathupon the cross.

The Sacrifice of the 9ass was prefigured in the ;ld Testament in which it was

predicted that Christ would offer a true sacrifice to 7od in read and wine 4 that he

would use those elements. 9echi:edek, the king of Salem and a priest, offered sacrifice

under the form of read and wine "7en. %($%ection of the Jewish priesthood,predicted a new sacrifice would e offered in every place. rom the rising of the sun,even to the going do!n, my name is great among the "entiles# and in every place there is

a sacrifice and there is offered to my name a clean oblation. "9alachi %$%=)%%+ ?ote

that he speaks of one sacrifice, not many sacrifices, ut one that is offered everywhere.

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0erews also stresses that the loody sacrifices of animals in the ;ld Testament

prefigured the loody sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sin. "0e. &$%%)#


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D. PARTS OF THE MASS.

The mass consists of two principal divisions$ the Liturgy of the 6ord, which

proclaims and e5plains 7ods message to 0is people, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist,which focuses on the essential act of sacrifice in the Consecration and on the Eucharistic

1anAuet of 0oly Communion.

1 Li!"$ % '( )%"*:

2t the eginning of the mass, the priest and the people prepare to enter into 7ods

presence y a common con%e##ion o% un,ort$ine##. This is followed y the yrieEleison! asking for 7ods mercy and the singing or praying of 7lory to 7od in the

0ighest! which was sung y the angels on the first Christmas.

The Liturgy of the 6ord proper usually contains three lessons from the ile.

The first of these is ordinarily taken from the ;ld Testament followed y theDesponsorial /salm that is intended to e a meditation of the 6ord of 7od. The second

lesson is always taken from the ?ew Testament and is usually from one of the Epistles.

Then we have the reading of the 7ospel selected from 9atthew, 9ark, Luke, or John.The 7ospel and the previous Scripture lessons are arranged on a three year cycle so thatonce every three years the entire 1ile is proclaimed. 2fter reading the 7ospel, the

celerant may give a homily in which he elaorates, e5plains, and shows practical

application of the 7ospel message. The congregation then recites the Creed, which is theprofession of faith in all that 7od has taught us. 3t is the summary of Christian octrine

and our proclamation of elief in it. The prayers of petition of the people conclude the

Liturgy of the 6ord. 6e have carefully listened to 7ods message, we have professedfaith in it, and we have asked 7od for mercy and help in fulfilling it.

+ Li!"$ % '( E!'a"i-:

The Eucharistic part of the 9ass egins with the ;ffertory, which is the offeringof our lives in union with Christ to our heavenly 8ather. Typically, the ;ffertory is

divided into two parts. 3n the first part, we are invited to make our offering of money forthe work of the church. 2nd in the second part, a few memers of the church ring the

gifts of read and wine 4 as well as our offerings 4 up to the priest. ;ur offering of

course is more than money. 3t is a symol of our whole lives. 6e too were eing takento the altar and eing offered to 7od as an acceptale sacrifice.! 2s the priest offers the

read and wine to 7od, so do we offer ourselves. 2s water ecame one with wine, in like

manner we would wish to e united with Christ. This is a way of prayer that transforms

us and lifts us up. 3t changes us from spectators in the pews to an integral and necessarypart of the whole celeration of the 9ass. 6e can then ecome the very thing that we

receive. 6e are transformed as we >oin ourselves to the offering upon the altar. 3n fact,the more fully we offer ourselves on the altar, the more fully we will e5perience 7odspower and grace when we receive Communion.

The washing of the hands is symolic of the purification of the soul, so that the

priest may approach the great sacrifice without lemish.

The heart of every 9ass is the Euc$ari#tic /rayer. Eucharist! means

thanksgiving.! 3n this prayer, we thank 7od for the lessing of salvation that has come

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to us through Jesus. uring this prayer also, we recall the words and deeds of Jesus at the

Last Supper when 0e gave us a living memorial of 0is redemption. Then the read and

wine is consecrated and we elieve that the read and wine truly ecome the glorified1ody and 1lood of Jesus Christ. 3n the Consecration, the celerant repeats the very

words of Jesus at the Last Supper as 0e lessed the read, roke it, and gave it to 0is

disciples, saying Take this and eat it, this is 9y 1ody.! 0e does the same thing in theconsecration of the wine. 6e then pray for intercessions for the Church, for Communion

with the saints, for all of us, and for our needs and for the deceased. The Eucharistic

/rayer is concluded with the do5ology! "through 0im, with 0im, and in 0im in theunity of the 0oly Spirit, all honor and glory is Bours, almighty 8ather, forever and ever!+

followed y the 7reat 2men considered as important for the laity as the words of

consecration are for the priest.

The preparation for 0oly Communion then egins with the Lords /rayer, ourprayer for daily read, for our Eucharistic read and its fruits.

Then follows the reaking of the read!. 3n the ?ew Testament, the name given

to the 9ass came from the rite of reaking read. The first Christians had their

communal life in the reaking of the read. 2cts #$#% states 4 +hey devoted themselvesto the apostles- instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the

prayers. The reaking of the read is a sign that all, though many, were one loaf, one

read, one 1ody of Christ. The 2gnus ei! is then sung and the celerant uses the

words first used y St. John the 1apti:er$ ehold the /amb of "od# behold &im !hotakes a!ay the sins of the !orld. The congregation answers in a paraphrase the words

of the humle centurion /ord, I am not !orthy to receive you but only say the !ord and

I shall be healed. uring the 0oly Communion, the priest or the lay minister declares$+he ody of %hrist0 and +he lood of %hrist and in oth instances, each

communicant replies$ $menprofessing his or her elief that the read or the wine is

truly the ody and lood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Since our lives too have een offered,we too can ecome the very thing that we receive. 1ut we are transformed only as we

>oin ourselves to the offering upon the altar. 3n fact, the more fully we offer ourselves on

the altar, the more fully we will e5perience 7ods power and grace when we receiveCommunion.

2t the end of the mass, the priest sends the congregation forth to live the spirit of

the Lord$ "o in peace to love and serve the /ord.

2s Jesus has offered 0imself for us, forgiven us, restored us to the grace of the

8ather, so now we resolve that we shall e the light of the world and the salt of the earth'that we shall lead all men to 0im y our lives of sacrificial love.

uring the mass, our physical senses are constantly eing engaged. 6e sit, kneel,and stand. 6e sing, pray out loud, and emrace one another. 7od wants to work in us

during the mass in ways that involve our odies and our spirits eAually. 9any spiritual

realities are given odily e5pression at 9ass.

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THE HOLY EUCHARIST

The greatest treasure in the Catholic Church is the Eucharist. 3n it, Jesus humlyassumes the appearance of read and wine proving his desire to e with us always and

never to e separated odily from us. The Eucharist is the heart of the Catholic faith.The new Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Eucharist the #ource and #ummit

o% t$e '$ri#tian li%e! and the #um and t$e #ummary o% our %ait$!. "CCC, %#( and

%#F+. 6hy- 1ecause the Eucharist is oth the origin and the end of that supernatural

reality which is the point of everything in the Catholic religion. That reality consists inparticipating in the very life of 7od. The Eucharist is the most intimate union etween

us.

3t is alarming, however, that in the %& 7allup poll, the ma>ority of Catholics are

confused in their eliefs aout Christs presence in the Eucharist. ?early F=G of allCatholics in this country hold erroneous eliefs aout Christs presence in the EucharistH

#&G elieve they are receiving the read and wine that #ymoli/ethe ody and loodof Christ "which is the predominant /rotestant eliefH+.

%=G elieve they receive read and wine in which Jesus is also present "which is

Luthers position called consustantiation! or with! or alongside! thesustance of read and wine+.

#(G elieve they are receiving what has ecome Christs ody and lood ecause of

their personal elief "holding of some other /rotestants like the Calvinists+.

;nly =G elieve they are really and truly receiving the ody, lood, soul and

divinity of the Lord Jesus ChristH

There are three "+ different ways y which Jesus can e present$0e is present everywhere as 7od "omnipresent+.

0e is present spiritually in those who are in the state of grace.

0e is present in his flesh and lood in the Eucharist.

The presence of 7od in 0is 6ord is a true presence, of course, ut Aualitatively

different from Christs /resence in the Eucharist. Christs presence in the Eucharist issacramental ut still physical "although not in the normal sense of the word+ in that it is a

material presence. /ope /aul @3 e5plained this in Mysterium ideino.(I, stating that

%hrist is present !hole and entire in &is physical 1reality,- corporeally present,

although not in the manner in !hich bodies are in place. 3n his glorified human ody,Jesus is present only in two places$ at the right hand of the 8ather in heaven, and in the

0oly Eucharist on earth.

I CATHOLIC TEACHIN ABOUT THE EUCHARIST

The Church has always taught from the very eginning Deal /resence of Christ in the

Eucharist. The early Church 8athers, our link to early Christianity, testify to this teaching

as follows$

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%. St. I!natiu# o% Antioc$, a disciple and contemporary of the 2postle John, wrote

around %%= 2.. 2 I desire the read of "od, !hich is the lesh of 3esus %hrist . . . and

for drink I desire &is lood, !hich is love incorruptible.

#. St. -u#tin Martyrwrote in his apology to the emperor at Dome "around %*=

2..+$ 4e call this food Eucharist# and no one else is permitted to partake of it, e5cept

one !ho believes our teaching to be true . . . or not as common bread nor commondrink do !e receive these# but since 3esus %hrist our 6avior !as made incarnate by the!ord of "od and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as !e have been

taught, the food !hich has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set

do!n by &im, and by the change of !hich our blood and flesh is nourished, is both thelesh and the lood of that incarnated 3esus.

. St. Irenaeu#( i#$o" o% Lyon#, a pupil of St. /olycarp who had een taught ySt.

John the 2postle, wrote around %&* 2..$ &e '3esus( had declared the cup, a part of

creation, to be &is o!n lood, from !hich &e causes our blood to flo!# and the bread, apart of creation, &e has established as &is o!n ody, from !hich &e gives increase to

our bodies.

(.St. 'yril o% -eru#alem, in a catechetical lecture given in the middle of the fourth

century "*= 2..+, said$ Do not, therefore, regard the bread and !ine as simply that2for they are according to the Master-s declaration, the ody and lood of %hrist. Even

though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not )udge in this

matter by taste, but be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed!orthy of the ody and lood of %hrist.

The 8ourth 7eneral Council of the Lateran in %#%* defined that the 1ody and 1lood

of Christ are truly contained in the Sacrament of the 2ltar y Transustantiation!. "2s

distinguished from transformation, a carpenter can transform a log of wood into all kindsof furniture.+ The Council of Trent summari:es the Catholic faith y declaring$

ecause %hrist our 7edeemer said that it !as truly his body that he !as offering

under the species of bread, it has al!ays been the conviction of the %hurch of

"od, and this holy %ouncil no! declares again, that by the consecration of thebread and !ine there takes place a change of the !hole substance of the bread

into the substance of the body of %hrist our /ord and of the !hole substance of

the !ine into the substance of his blood. +his change the holy %atholic %hurch

has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.

2ll the outward appearances and sensile Aualities "accidents+ of the read and wine

remain, i.e. color, si:e, shape, taste, weight or whatever is apparent to the senses. Christ

has not een converted into read ut the read into the ody of Christ. Just as we can

change Aualities without changing the sustance "e5. powdered iron+ 7od can change thesustance without changing the accidents or its Aualities. St. Thomas 2Auinas in his

6umma +heologiae 333, F*, %+ declared 4 +he presence of %hrist-s true body and blood

in this sacrament cannot be detected by sense, nor understanding, but by faith alone,!hich rests upon divine authority. 6e neither feel nor see Christ as he really is so that

faith, not feelings or seeing, can e e5ercised, trained, and emerge triumphant. 2 faith

that does not go eyond human feelings is not faith at all, >ust as faith that does not goeyond seeing 4 a faith that says, seeing is elieving! is no faith at all.

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CCC %F( reads$

In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together

!ith the soul and divinity, of our /ord 3esus %hrist and, therefore, the !hole

%hrist is truly, really, and substantially contained. +his presence is called 1real-8 by !hich is not intended, to e5clude the other types of presence as if they could

not be 1real- too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense# that is to say, itis a substantial presence by !hich %hrist, "od and man, makes himself !hollyand entirely present.

1ecause Jesus is truly present, we adore the Eucharist as 7od. Thats why we

genuflect "or ow deeply+ efore the taernacle. Thats why the Church reserves the

consecrated hosts with such care. Thats why the Church carries the consecrated hosts inprocessions and e5poses them for solemn adoration. "?ote$ There is no middle road 4

the other side results in idolatry+.

The moment the priest says the words of consecration 4This is my ody! and This

is my lood! 4 7od miraculously changes the sustance of ordinary read and wine in

the sustance of the ody and lood of Christ. Christs presence in the Eucharist eginsat the moment of consecration and lasts as long as the appearance of read and wine

remains. 6hen a consecrated host is digested or dissolved and no longer has theappearance of read, it is no longer Jesus. 6hen we receive 0oly Communion, Jesus

remains in our odies for aout %* minutes. 6e should adore him within us as long as he

is sustantially present in us. 8or a short time, we are living taernacles of the all)holy7od.

This is also the reason why we should make thorough preparations in receiving Jesus.

To receive 0im, we must e in a state of grace. 1ecause the Eucharist is our 7od and

Savior Jesus Christ, we dare not receive him in the state of mortal sin. 3f we havecommitted a mortal sin, we cannot receive 0oly Communion without first receiving

asolution in the sacrament of confession. ;ut of great reverence, we are also reAuired tofast at least one "%+ hour efore communion.

Jesus, present wholly and entirely in each of the Eucharistic element as well as ineach of its parts. The smallest particle of the consecrated host or the tiniest drop from the

chalice contains the whole Christ. 6e can receive Jesus under the form of read alone,

under the form of wine alone, or oth together. 3n each case, we receive the same perfect

sacrament, the same Jesus into our souls.

CCC %FF reads 4 %hrist is present !hole and entire in each of the species and

!hole and entire in each of their parts, in such a !ay that the breaking of the bread does

not divide %hrist.

The Catechism further teaches that the Eucharist strengthens our charity, and thisliving charity wipes away venial sins and remits the punishment due to sin. 1y the same

charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins and

lessens our inclination to evil. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his

friendship, the more difficult it is to reak away from him y mortal sin. Those whoreceive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. "CCC %&(, %&*, %&I+.

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II EUCHARIST PREFIURED AND FULFILLED INSCRIPTURES

A P"(i!"(* i/ '( Ol* T(-a0(/

The ;ld Testament contains many signs and symols of the Eucharist that arefulfilled in the ?ew Testament. 2mong them are$

%. 7en. %($%< 4 The read and wine offered y the priest)king 9elchi:edek prefigurethe read and wine offered y the eternal priest)king Jesus at the Last Supper. "0e. I$#=

calls Jesus high priest! forever according to the order of 9elchi:edek!.+

#. E5odus %#$ %)#= 4 The same victim that was offered up to save the lives of the

first)orn of 3srael was also the victim consumed as food for odily nourishment as the3sraelites egan their >ourney to the /romised Land. This prefigures the Eucharist where

the same victim, Jesus, who was offered up for our sins to save us from spiritual death, is

consumed in the Eucharist to provide spiritual nourishment during our pilgrimage onearth on our way to heaven. The Eucharist was celerated on /assover, and so the

Eucharist is the fulfillment of the Jewish /assover sacrifice. John the 1aptist calls Jesusthe Lam of 7od! "John %$#&+ and St. /aul calls Christ our paschal lam who has eensacrificed! "% Cor *$F+.

. E5odus %I$* 4 The manna from heaven sustained the 3sraelites throughout their

pilgrimage in the desert, ut ceased to e provided when they entered the /romised Land.

Similarly, the Eucharist nourishes us spiritually in this life of pilgrimage until we enterthe promised land of heaven. Jesus, however, claims the superiority of his read over the

manna given to the 3sraelites. 0e said$ 3 am the read of life. Bour ancestors ate

manna in the desert, ut they died' this is the read that comes down from heaven so thatone may eat it and not die.! "John I$ (


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1 Fai'

Jesus stressed the uniAue and special faith needed to accept his difficult teaching

aout the 0oly Eucharist. 2s we read John I, we will see how many of Jesus owndisciples lacked the faith reAuired to elieve in the Deal /resence. 6hen he walked the

earth, it took great faith to elieve Jesus was 7od since his humanity veiled his divinity.

0owever, to elieve that Jesus is present in the Eucharist reAuires even greater faith,ecause the Eucharist veils oth his divinity and his humanity. This is why Jesus stresses

the theme of faith so strongly at the time he reveals his teaching on the Eucharist.

3mmediately prior to the Eucharistic discourse, Jesus performs two of his most

famous miracles, oth of which emphasi:e faith, namely$ The multiplication of the loavesand the feeding of the *=== and the calming of the storm at sea.

The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves tests /hillips faith "John I$I+. The

2postles distriute five loaves of read to a huge crowd. The very same five loaves feed

thousands of hungry people at the same time, filling twelve askets with leftoversH Thisclearly prefigures the one ody of Christ eing really and truly present to millions of

people, without eing divided or diminished. 2s CCC %* puts it 4 +he miracles ofthe multiplication of the loaves, !hen the /ord says the blessing, breaks and distributes

the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance ofthis uni9ue bread of the Eucharist.

6hen Jesus walked on water and /eter followed suit, /eters attention was diverted

from Jesus to the stormy seas around him and Jesus reprimanded /eter for his lack of

faith. 9an of little faith, why did you dout-! "9t. %($%+

Jesus clearly indicated that a mystery was aout to unfold since his teaching on the

Eucharist is eyond human comprehension and eyond reason. "0owever, we also

elieve that 7od created everything seen and unseen y >ust his word!+.

6e wonder why many so)called 1ile Christians cannot comprehend how 7od couldperform so stupendous a miracle as to give 0is ody and lood for our spiritual

nourishment. 0as not 7od created the heavens and the earth out of nothing- oes 0e

not transform the tiny lade into nutritious grain- id 0e not rain down manna from

heaven for forty years to feed the children of 3srael in the desert- id he not changerivers into lood in Egypt, and water into wine at the wedding of Cana- 3s not everything

around us a mystery- 2re we not a mystery to ourselves- 3s not the Scripture full of

incomprehensile mysteries- 6e can understand why rationalists, who admit nothingaove their reason, re>ect the Deal /resence' ut that 1ile Christians should re>ect it is

incomprehensile.

+ T(a'i/ a2%! '( E!'a"i-

John I$= egins a discussion that took place in the synagogue at Capernaum. The

Jews asked Jesus what sign he could perform so that they might elieve in him. 2s achallenge, they noted that our ancestors ate manna in the desert.! Could Jesus top that-

0e then told them that the real read from heaven comes from the 8ather. "ive us this

bread al!ays, they said. Jesus replied, I am the bread of life# !hoever comes to me!ill never hunger, and !hoever believes in me !ill never thirst. 3n this Eucharistic

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discourse, Jesus clearly teaches that we must consume his flesh and lood as food$ . . .

and the bread I !ill give is my flesh for the life of the !orld "verse *%+. The Jews then

disputed among themselves, saying, &o! can this man give us his flesh to eat: "@erse*#+. Jesus then affirms, $men, $men, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the 6on of

Man and drink his blood, you do not have life !ithin you "verses (< *+' My flesh is

real food and my blood real drink"verse **+.

III JESUS WAS SPEAKING LITERALLY AND NOT SYMBOLICALLY

ABOUT HIS FLESH AND BLOOD.

A Li("al Bi2l( A--("i%/-

9ost /rotestants, especially fundamentalists, are literalists in approaching scriptures.

3t is parado5ical, however, that in John I, while the scriptural passages clearly indicatethem to e literal in meaning, they suddenly flip)flop and refuse to accept what Jesus said

literally. The reasons why we elieve Jesus was speaking literally are$

%. 6hen Jesus said that the read 0e will give is his own flesh, his listeners were

stupefied ecause now they understood him to e speaking literally. The est and mostreliale interpreters of our Saviors words are certainly the multitude and the disciples

who are listening to 0im. They all understood the import of his language precisely as it

is e5plained y the Catholic Church. They elieved that our Lord spoke literally of 0is

ody and lood. The fact that they never asked Jesus to e5plain himself shows that theyunderstood perfectly that Jesus meant precisely what he saidH 0ad they interpreted his

words in a figurative sense, it would have not have een a hard saying, nor have led them

to aandon their 9aster.

#. 9any of Jesus own disciples could not accept the literalness of his teaching andleft him "verse II+. This is the only record we have of any of Christs followers

forsaking him for purely doctrinal reasons. 3f it had all een a misunderstanding, if they

erred in taking a metaphor in a literal sense, why didnt he call them ack and straightenthings out- 3nstead of e5plaining that his listeners were misunderstanding him, or

correcting them that he was only speaking figuratively, Jesus, using the strongest possile

language 4 emphatically repeats the literalness of this teaching, si5 times in si5 verses."verses *)*


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harisees and 6adducees. ;nce again, his disciples think Jesus is speaking literally.

2gain, Jesus corrects them and e5plains that he is not talking aout real read. Then they

understood that he was not telling them to eware of the leaven read, ut of the teachingof the /harisees and Sadducees. 3n John $)*, Jesus e5plained what he meant y eing

orn again!' in 9t. %&$#()#I, Jesus e5plained that his e5pression that it is easier for a

camel to enter the eye of a needle! simply stresses the impossiility of entering heavenwithout 7ods help and in Jn.


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2nswer$ ?o. 2 ?ew Testament commandment, Eat my flesh and drink my lood!

always supersedes an ;ld Testament commandment against drinking lood. This is

similar to the allowance of divorce in the ;ld Testament "t. #($%+ ecause of thehardness of their heart. Jesus made it clear that it was not so from the very eginning and

in % Cor. F$%=)%%, one who remarries after divorce is committing adultery. 1esides, the

Levitical law prohiits actual drinking of lood. Jesus in the Eucharist is not giving hisody and lood in the natural form as discussed aove. 1esides, the Levitical laws have

passed away in Christ. "0e. F$%%)%# 4 a new priesthood. 6here there is a change of

priesthood, there is a change of the law.

I. 3ts impossile for Jesus ody and lood to e in two places at the same time.

2nswer$ 9ysterious, yes, ut not impossile. Christ was present at the Last Supper intwo ways$ at the tale with his disciples in a natural way and under the appearance of

read and wine in a sacramental way.

2. Even after consecration, Jesus calls the contents of the cup, the fruit of the vine! "9t.

#I$#&+ and St. /aul continues to call the other element read! "% Cor. %%$ #I)#


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2nother miracle is aout a 7erman lay woman, Therese ?eumann "%ect the plain, literal interpretation of

John I- 8or them Catholic sacraments imply a spiritual reality ) ) grace ) ) eingconveyed y means of matter. This seems to them to e a violation of the divine plan.

8or many /rotestants, matter is not to e used, ut overcome or avoided. 1ut 7od, Auite

literally, loves matter 4 he loves it ecause he created it ) ) and he loves it so much that hecomes to us under the appearances of read and wine.

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