November 26, 2008
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Thanksgiving
Hello all, and Happy Thanksgiving!
I would like to next blog about the Eucharist.
Did you know the word “eucharist” comes from the Greek eucharistia which means “thanksgiving?”
Granted, I am hoping to blog about the Catholic belief about the Eucharist, basically, that the Eucharist is the living Body and Blood of Christ, that he is fully, absolutely present in the Sacrament.
I know that this can be a sensitive topic for some. It is also an absolutely vital topic for others. But I also know that it is a topic that a lot of people on both sides don’t know an awful lot about.
I am the bread of life.
- Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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.”
- The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”
- 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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
- These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
- Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you?”
- (John 6:48-61)
I’ve often marvelled at how controversial this was, even from the moment Jesus made it know. Many of his disciples left after hearing it.
- Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
- Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”(John 6:67-69)
I have been (and many Catholics have been) called: a vampire, a cannibal, a cultist, and other things because of my belief in the Eucharist. So, if you are here to do this (or otherwise be uncharitable to myself, other Catholics who visit my blog, or other people who would like to read it and learn about it in the spirit of Christian dialogue, curiosity, etc), please refrain. However, I cannot stop you and I will not block you.
The Eucharist is the most important thing in my life, because it is Jesus. So as Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is approaching, I wanted to share my thoughts and feelings on this mystery that has been so central to the Christian faith since the Last Supper, has survived through every single persecution, has proved its truth through countless miracles, has been the cause of thousands of martyrs yesterday, today, and surely tomorrow.
So, please, if you will, what questions do you have about the Eucharist? What would you like to know? What have you always wanted to know, but never got around to asking? I don’t have all the answers, and I may have none, but perhaps there is something within me that someone will find helpful (besides that extra kidney haha).
- Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 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.”
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Comments (23)
Being catholic (and older than dirt), I have no questions, but I am pleased you posted this. I’m interested to see what kind of response you get. Hopefully nice ones.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Protestants too have been called canabals; or really anyone who observes the Lord’s Supper. I’ve had several professors use this practice to say that Christianity is no different than the pagan and canabalistic rituals of other countries. While I am not Catholic and based on my own understanding of the Scriptures do not believe that the bread and wine are the physical body of Christ, I do believe that they represent the sacrifice of Christ’s crucifixion and our salvation; whenever I partake of the bread and the cup it is always with extreme reverence and rememberance of how I don’t deserve salvation and the sacrifice of Christ. Though I do not believe as you do on this, I greatly respect your beliefs.
Props for the absolutely appropriate photograph for the background of this post.
I will be thinking of questions to ask later on.
OH, I do have one. I’m a convert from Evangelical Christianity, and meditation (other than on Scripture) was not really encouraged or practiced. How should one approach Eucharistic adoration?
This’ll be an excellent post. I’m quite anxious to see your thoughts. Also, I agree. The background picture is quite appropriate. A good movie. As for questions, I’ve got none really.
ditto on maje_charis!!!
happy Eucharist day!!!
the word eucharist, (from scientific root words perspective) EU= true/ true form (like eukaryote= true karyon/ has a true nucleus [cells]) and Charist= i would suspect would be pertaining to Christ
will look forward to your response!
ps, what movie is that pic from? i feel i’ve seen it before, but i can’t remember.
@jn316ps23 - ”The Mission.” It is basically one of the best movies ever made (and certainly the best movie about Jesuits ever made!).
I’m with
bardoftara on this one, as I never thought of communion as the actual, physical body or blood. I’m interested to hear that perspective.
Are we able to view the walk up to the Communion railing as our own spiritual Calvary, to recieve Christ crucified in the unbloody sacrifice of the Eucharist?
The rest of my questions stem from Vat-II actions – like the physical decentralization of Christ and the Tabernacle from the Mass, and even removing Him from the church building entirely – the reasoning behind it and why they think it was the correct thing to do. I should probably find the Vat-II documents online to answer that, huh?
Ok, since the whole vampire/cannibalism bit has been done to death I’ll spare you that. However the whole blood and flesh of Christ thing is a bit narcissistic if you ask me. Come on people. “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.” ‘What kind of all loving, holy, figure talks like that? OMG eat me as a symbol and be special like me. OMG I’m so special.’
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
Seriously?! Let’s face it, human beings are animals. Scientific fact we are mammals. We are omnivores who have been eating whatever we find edible since the beginning of human existence. Humans have continued to exist eating crappy food long before Christ’s magical ambrosia body was introduced. Also, who the flying @#$% wants to live forever? Did no one see Highlander? Did no one listen to that song by Queen? It’s incredibly lonely living forever, even if you’re with God. Let’s face it, after so long of frolicking in the lord’s good graces you will get bored. That’s why reincarnation pwns and is even starting to branch off in Christian belief. Pssh eternal life, talk about having too much time on your hands. Only God should have eternal life. The very notion of wanting it or being granted it can be sacrilegious in the way that it is playing god. People should just live their short lives to the fullest and not make up stories about Jesus’s magical ambrosia body. BTW, if you really want to live foever, I heard the Holy Grail can help you in that.
@King_of_The_Night -
Oh crap I forgot to say something. Happy Thanksgiving!
I know very little don’t I
The Eucharist is still pretty confusing to me. I don’t think I even know enough to find a question in my mind.
I also didn’t know what a cathedral was but I do now. I just went to St. Francis Xavier like I always do. But you went to a cathedral in the morning. I feel dense now
I missed you a lot this week.
@antisocialfriend - Don’t feel dense! There is a whole other world you know very little about, just as there are worlds I know nothing about. You will learn these things, some of which I can help with and others I cannot! How exciting for you to begin learning at this time in your life what I had taken for granted for so many Hopefully, then, my upcoming entry will be helpful for you!
Did you know Bethlehem Means House of Bread and that Baby Jesus was laid in a feeding trough? JOHN 6:66 says that many followers of Jesus could not accept Jesus word that He truly was real food and His blood real drink…They though he was speaking about cannibalism and so thy no longer followed him. This is very Eucharistic and Jesus became the 4th Seder cup of the passover. More on this can be found here in a trascript of a talk by Scottt Hahn. http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/ech.html
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58T his is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
@King_of_The_Night - the original language of the word “eat” in those verses actually mean “to munch” and “to crunch.” Crunching and munching doesn’t sound very symbolic does it?
@living_embers -
What are you getting at?
@King_of_The_Night - you seemed to be saying that lots of things in the Bible are only symbolic – when I think much is not quite that simplified.
@living_embers -
I suppose….
Stick to your guns….you are right!!! And you are correct because you are only “reiterating” what Christ taught. The HOLY Eucharist is not only the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ as Catholics believe….it is so because Jesus Christ said it was so at the Last Supper. This was a most beautiful post…and keep your stature on this……because….Christ spoke to those who would “persecute who came to His defense and for His Name’s sake” in the Beautitudes. Matt: 5.
The Holy Eucharist IS the Bread of Life….because it IS Jesus Christ!!! Amen! (Just a post script….the Catholic Church…since it’s inception when Christ gave Peter the Keys to His Kingdom….has NEVER changed…nor will it change that immutable Truth. Why? Because the Living God said so.)
by the way, the term Transubstantiation is the word Catholics use to talk about the change of the bread into the Body of Christ. this term does not hold the same meaning today as it did when it was first instituted because the common person is not aware of the Aristitilian context to which it is referring. if you break the word down, tran= change, and substance= substance, right? WRONG! when Aristotle was talking about the two parts to reality, he used the words “substance” and “accidents”. in our modern English, our meaning of “substance” is what he means as “accidents” and his use of “substance” does not really have a word in this language, but can be comparable to the “spirit” or the “identity” of the “accidents” (ie, as a human, our accidents is masses of cells and tissues and bones; our “substance” is who we are as individuals/ our identity). when we say Transubstantiation in terms of the Holy Eucharist, we are not literally “munching” on cell tissue because it is “The Body of Christ”- we are eating bread, but the bread IS the physical “accidents” but the identity has been changed from being just bread to having the identity of “the Body of Christ”- the substance of the mere bread had changed. we are taking the full Body of Christ into ourselves so to be as close to Him as physically possible in this physical world, but there is so much more to it than that.
now i remember- i saw that movie in high school with my Church History class!
@jn316ps23 - Excellent.
Hi–
I remember you made a post a little while back asking what your readers would like to see. Personally, I wanted to know your thoughts about animals (i.e., do they have souls? Do they go to Heaven? etc.) I ask because my beloved pet rabbit just died, and because I’m a vegetarian. Animals and the treatment of such are very important to me, and I’m not sure how to look upon them as God’s unique and beautiful creations. Any thoughts at all would be appreciated. Thanks.