Eucharist

Friends, if you have read the bible you have probably picked up on the fact that the flesh is almost exclusively referred to as being contrariwise to salvation, correct? As we are weak in the flesh, we can only become justified through faith in Jesus Christ. And if we believe that the bible speaks true that we are saved through faith and not works (Ephesians 2:8-9), then how do we go about obtaining that faith?

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). And the Word of God dictates that we have a spiritual rebirth in order to obtain salvation. Jesus said to Nicodemus “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). And for a man to be born again we know “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) So, if we hold fast to the biblical truth that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we are granted grace unto salvation, can we justify enjoining the works involved in preparing and participating in the Lord’s Supper as being intrinsic to everlasting life?

As a lifelong Catholic, I remember not being able to eat before going to Mass as to prepare oneself for the receiving of Christ. As the Eucharist is the focal point of the celebration of the mass, each celebrant must be physically and spiritually ready to eat the body and blood of their Savior. Yes, that’s what I said: eat Jesus. The Catholic Church teaches that a priest can turn a piece of unleavened wheaten bread and grape wine into the real body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order for the Catholic faithful to consume Him.

This is not such a hard thing to believe if you read scripture out of context. For in John 6:53 we read, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” And then at the Last Supper we are told “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”(Matthew 26:26-28) I daresay that if this was all that we knew about the bible, then the Catholic Church would be spot-on. However, these verses are not in context and there is a much deeper meaning to them; as any person that studies the bible knows.

But, before we delve into the contextual applications of the prior quotations, I would like to introduce some of the beliefs imposed on the Catholic congregation, which is recorded in their catechism. As always, this is presented as an exposition of doctrine, not a railing against the believers themselves. We pray that some will come to know and love the scripture and realize the fallacy of this doctrine:

1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” ²⁰⁶

1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

If the Mass of the Catholic Church is nothing more than a bloodless re-sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ, then what did his real sacrifice mean? We cannot, nor should we desire to, sacrifice our Lord so that we could eat his flesh and drink his blood. “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”(Romans 6:9-10) The Lord’s Supper was instituted as a way for us to remind ourselves of the sacrifice of his flesh and blood for the remission of sins. Whereas being Christians we should remember Christ in everything we do; the sharing in the Lord’s Supper provides us with an opportunity to gather and collectively and individually consider the loving sacrifice that Jesus made for each one of us.

To revisit the verses that were previously ascribed to the Catholic doctrine, we must expound what was fully said in the scriptures, and not just accept ambiguously selected verses that become adulterated doctrines of men.

First, let us look at the verses in Matthew. Christ, as was his way, was relating the unleavened bread and wine of the Passover meal to His own body that would soon be sacrificed for his people. Our Lord spoke in a way that many could not understand and it required him to explain his teachings on several occasions (read through the parables in Luke, if you will). But, without the help of the Holy Spirit we are unable to understand the bible, that we might falsely assume something to be literal when it does not add up with the rest of the scripture if considered as such. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto Him: neither can He know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

So, when we read through the bible, we must pray that the Holy Spirit guide us in all truth, so that we do not read something that is spiritual and apply it as literal and build our entire belief system around it. Where the Catholic Church will take Matthew 26:26-28 as proof positive that Jesus turned the bread and wine into his body and blood, and by proxy they too have the ability to make man-made sustenance cease to be what it really is and, instead, take on the corporeal body and blood of Jesus Christ; I must ask what do you do with the next verse? “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”(Matthew 26:29) Jesus does not misspeak. He referred to the drink once again as “this fruit of the vine” and not blood. It was an allegory, if you will, of the sacrifice that He would endure for us.

When revisiting chapter six of the gospel of John, I invite everyone to read that for themselves the entire chapter. But, regarding Jesus pronouncing himself as the Bread of Life, he certainly is that. He had recently fed the five thousand and they followed after Him. He admonished them for seeking Him out, not because He had performed miracles, but because He had filled their bellies; they were carnally minded. So, Jesus told them that they should be seeking the meat that endureth to everlasting life. When they wanted to know what to do to work the works of God, Jesus told them that the work of God is to believe on the one whom he sent. And despite that fact that he had just recently fed them all, they wanted another sign before they would believe, and told Jesus that their fathers had received bread from heaven to eat. At that point Jesus reminded them that it was not Moses that gave bread, but His Father in heaven. To which they said for Him to give them that bread. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”(John 6:35) And because they were carnally-minded and did not see the deeper spiritual meaning of His sayings, they murmured amongst themselves and Jesus reiterated to them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”(John 6:47) He then went into a short discourse about himself being the bread of life, and about the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. However, his disciples could not bear what he was saying, for they were thinking like a natural man thinks. So, Jesus reiterated “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”(John 6:63) The truly sad part of this story is that despite the redundancy of Christ’s profession of belief in Him, many people could not get past the carnal-mindedness of the natural man, and they left: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”(John 6:66)

I do not have any intention here of sounding vulgar, but if the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking completely literal in his saying don’t you think that we would have read next about him portioning himself out for the masses to eat? He cared for the salvation of all the world. And if it would have been that simple to bring people to heaven then I believe he would have done so. Unfortunately, it is not simply accomplished by eating a special piece of bread. We must accept Jesus wholly, spiritually; believing in Him. And that is something each man must choose for himself.

So, if the twelve disciples that stayed later became the elders of Christ’s church (except, of course, for Judas Iscariot) then they would have made sure to spread to the believers that they needed to eat the flesh and blood of their Savior. But, then why, when Paul (after receiving his apostleship) came to them to consult what behaviors should be followed, was abstaining from blood one of the rules? There was no exception. It simply said to abstain from blood. The answer is that the original apostles perpetuated the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Him and not a re-sacrifice. “But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.”(Acts 15:20)

In order to make Christ manifest in our baked goods and fermented products we would have to be able to bring Him down from Heaven. That would preclude our belief in the second coming of Christ as being the righteous judge of the earth, and we would have to concede that the second coming happened the first time that someone practiced the Lord’s Supper. While Catholics may argue this matter, the bible says nothing about Jesus leaving His throne in heaven to become flesh and blood for the feast, but instead the next coming of Christ will be as Lord over all the earth to rule, reign and judge. “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”(2 Corinthians 5:16)

The idea of the Catholic Eucharist proposes to us that we can receive the Lord inside of us, and that He is present for us to see. While it is certainly not in his glory that he appears, belief in the real presence of his body and blood is belief in the real Jesus Christ, present in our midst. However, we must believe scripture when it comes to the Lord. We will not be present with the Lord until we leave this body. We will not follow Him because we can see, touch, smell and taste Him; but because we have faith in Him. “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”(2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

If we believe that Jesus Christ comes down from heaven at every demand of a Catholic priest, then we must believe that whatever device that He occupies is God Himself. And if that is the case, then we have no other option than to worship that contrivance:

1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. “The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession.” ²⁰⁸

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”(Romans 1:21-23) And now the incorruptible God has been converted to easily spoilable grocery items. Men and women around the world will bow down and worship a piece of man-made bread that they have been told is God Himself. “And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.”(Isaiah 17:8)

Yet another quirky enigma about this belief of the need to cannibalize the Lord according to the highly selective literal application of scripture is that it is not required for a Catholic to consume the wine in order to enjoy the full grace that is given through receiving the sacrament. It is taught that it has a fuller form, but those that choose to only partake in the wafer of bread are not deprived of anything. If this is so, then what do we do with this verse? “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”(Colossians 1:14) You and I know. We know that it is through the sacrifice of the cross and our belief in Him and our confession of Him through our mouths.

Now, friends, if we could bring Jesus Christ out of heaven and into a piece of bread what would we build for Him to reside in?

1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Another favorite residence for Jesus-made-wafer is in an eyesore called a monstrance. It is a large, highly decorated spectacle in the fashion of a huge sunburst that can be paraded around for worshipers to adore their god.

When Paul was in Athens he came across people that thought they could contain God. “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands”(Acts 17:24)” Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.”(Acts 17:29)

Unless my math is off I have thus far figured out that a piece of bread made by man’s devices turns into God the Son, and a tabernacle or monstrance that is made by hands is the dwelling place for Him. Oh, well, maybe we should just erase Acts 17.

Friends, please pray for all those that do not know the Word of God as it is recorded for us in the scriptures. As always, I write to you so as to educate you of the false doctrine that plagues a huge portion of this world, so that you may be better equipped to help our Catholic friends and family members see the Light. And that we, too, might remember why we believe what we believe. God bless.

—-Anthony Dentler  (a 27 year veteran of the Roman Catholic Church…..now a Born Again Believer Saved by the Grace of God )

Posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 6:56 am | RSS

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