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| Blessed Sacrament - Eucharist |
Central to the faith and worship of the Catholic Church is
the Eucharist, which for the Catholics is the true body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ and therefore included is his divinity in unity with the Most Holy
Trinity that is worthy of worship by the true Christians. On the other hand the
non-Catholic Bible Only believers mock and vilify the Eucharist as just a piece
of bread falsely saying that it was just invented by the Roman Catholic Church.
Who is correct and what is the truth about the Eucharist?
If the Catholic belief is true, the non Catholics are in continuing blasphemy of the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and therefore they are living in a continuing mortal sin for their contempt of the Eucharist. A sin of the Holy Spirit which has no forgiveness.
If they are right on the other hand, then the Catholics are guilty of idolatry for worshiping a piece of bread which is a very grave sin against God and an abomination in the eyes of God. Thus the truth of the Eucharist is both important for both sides. Let us then prove which of the two doctrines is correct, the Catholic doctrine or the non-Catholic Protestant doctrine?
What is the origin of the Eucharist and the basis of belief
of each camp?
Since the doctrine as it is taught can't be found literally
in the English bible naturally by the man-made "standard" of truth of Bible Alone believers or Sola Scriptura doctrine, the doctrine of the Catholic Church is false that is what is taught by the Pastors of so many Protestant churches today. Next is the interpretation of the Protestants that the
breaking of bread as taught in the scripture is only ceremonial and that the
bread and the wine remains in the original species. No change has taken place
and they are just that, a piece of bread and a cup of wine. With such belief they blaspheme and profane the body and blood of the Lord that is the Eucharist.
But where is this teaching of the Protestants originated? It
originated with the Reformation Movement and from the Sola Scriptura doctrine.
The teachings of the Reformation Movement started out with Martin Luther who
ironically was a former Priest and a Monk in the Catholic Church who protested against the
practice of "Simony" done by the Catholic Church during the middle
ages. He and followers broke up with the Catholic Church and founded their own
independent churches. In Luther's case, it was named after him, Lutheran Church. The Protestant Churches grew and multiplied independently
of each other as they progressively developed doctrines based on their mother of
all Doctrines called the Sola Scriptura and Sola Fides. With the Sola Scriptura, the dogma of the Eucharist of the
Catholic Church is unacceptable with the Protestants. But they are wrong and both the scripture and history of the
Catholic Church will prove the Eucharist to be what it truly is, the true body and
blood of Jesus Christ.
The early Catholic Church teachings and early Christian life
and practices of the Liturgy shows the belief in the Eucharist that it is the
true body and blood of Jesus Christ is definitely rock solid. Are there
witnesses to the Catholic Church doctrine of the Eucharist? Yes there are
available early Christian Writings that have been preserved and survived from
the first century to the present.
BREAD AND WINE BECOMES BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD
We will first call on the Gospel of Matthew 12:26 While they
were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to
the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body." Then He took the
cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This
is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until
the day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom."
Jesus did not say the bread represents his body, but he said
THIS IS MY BODY. In the same way about the cup of wine, he did not say the cup
of wine represents his blood, he said THIS IS MY BLOOD. When Jesus said it to
his disciple was it in a form of a figure of speech or was it a true and
definitive declaration? We say it was a true and definitive declaration that
the bread and wine are his true body and true blood. To understand the
consistency of the teaching of the Lord we should go to John 6:47-58 which
states:
"Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”
At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can
this man give us His flesh to eat?”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you
eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real 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 live because of the Father, so also the one who
feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from
heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this
bread will live forever.”
In the discourse of Jesus with the disciples he did not
correct them in their understanding of what he was saying that he is going to
give them his body to eat and his blood to drink. It was too much for them to
even consider it. So many of his disciples left him and stopped following him.
Yet he did not make an attempt to clarify what he was talking about even to his
Apostles which he also asked "Do you want to leave too?" Jesus did
not correct the disciples why? Because he was indeed talking of his true body
and blood which have become clearer in the above Matthew 12:26-29. By the power
of God, the bread becomes his body and the wine becomes his blood. This is the
foundation of the doctrine of the Eucharist.
But how did the Apostles teach the early Christians about
the Eucharist. In 1 Corinthian 10:14-22 Apostle Paul warned us about Idolatry
which the Protestants with their false beliefs against the Eucharist accused us
of:
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak to
reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of blessing
that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that
we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we
who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf. Apostle Paul
warned of idolatry but here in the same verse he confirmed the bread is the body of Christ and
the cup of wine is the blood of Christ therefore the Catholics are not guilty
of idolatry as the Protestants teach other. By doing so they are sinning
against the Holy Spirit
Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the
sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar? Am I suggesting, then, that food
sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the
sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you
to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the
cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of
demons too. Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than
He? Thus the warning of idolatry of Paul is what the Corinthian had done at that time
that was partaking of food sacrificed to idols by pagan religions to their
false gods while at the same time partaking of the Eucharist which is the true
body and blood of the Lord. Paul therefore compared the sacrifice to the idol which is actually a sacrifice to the devil and the Sacrifice to the true God which is the Eucharist. The first is not of God and therefore idolatry while last is a true sacrifice offered to the True God, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is saying that after we have partake of the Eucharist,
we can’t partake of the food of the pagans offered in their altars. Otherwise
we profane the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and provoke the Lord. Let us
further examine the teaching of Apostle with regard to the bread and wine and
see if he really meant what he meant in 1 Corinthian 10:14-22. Lets proceed in
the next chapter of the same Letter he did for the church in 1 Corinthian 11:2
and 11:17-29 -
"Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and
for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you." Here
Apostle Paul commend the church in Corinth for maintaining the traditions he
passed on to them. Part of the traditions passed on by Apostle Paul is of
course the celebration of the Eucharist in the church of God as you will learn
in the following verses after verse 2.
"In the following instructions I have no praise to
offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. First of all, I hear
that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in
part I believe it. And indeed, there must be differences among you to show
which of you are approved." [Here Apostle Paul talked about the gathering
of Christians together as a church. The Christians gather together for the
thanksgiving of the Eucharist as a church not individually eating with their
own food not the Eucharist and Apostle Paul was so upset that it is done as
shown the next verses.]
"Now then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s
Supper you eat. For as you eat, many of you proceed with your own meal to the
exclusion of others. While one remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don’t you
have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of
God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise
you for this? Of course not!" [Here the Apostle Paul really castigated the
Christians for not coming together for the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist and instead
they come together bringing their own food during the gathering which is to be
the remembrance of the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper, the celebration of the
Eucharist.]
'For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:
that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had
given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning
against the body and blood of the Lord. Each one must examine himself before he
eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without
recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.' [This is self explanatory
confirmation that the Eucharist is the true body and blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and not just a simple ritual of remembrance]
If the Eucharist is just the same bread and the same cup of
wine in their original species after the Eucharistic prayers and offering of
the sacrifice have been made have been made how is it possible for Apostle to
say they are guilty of sinning against the body and blood of he Lord? Now the
last verse sum it all up on the reality of the Eucharist and we repeat it
"For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and
drinks judgment on himself." [Now Apostle Paul is saying we should
recognize the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist or we face
judgement on ourselves.]
The Protestants don't recognize the Eucharist and instead
they are mocking and vilifying the Eucharist which is the true body and blood
of Jesus Christ bring judgment for themselves. This is the product of their
Bible Only False Doctrine that prevent the people from entering the kingdom of
God.
Let us then go forward and away from the Gospels and go to
how the early Christians lived and how they regard the Eucharist. Let us take a
look at the Didache document which is one of the early Christian writings that
reflect the life of the church and the Christians from 33 AD. It is said that
the Didache may have been written at the same time that the Gospels and the
Letters of the Apostles were written. The Didache comes from the word
didoskilos meaning "teacher". It is known as "Teaching of the
Twelve Apostles". It is said to have originated in Syria probably Antioch
and spread out to the churches there and Egypt. According to scholars the
Didache must have been written between 50 AD to 110 AD and used as manual for
the churches. The original got lost but copy of it was found sometime in the
year.
It's been used as reference by Early Christian writers like
Eusebius, Athanasius, Ignatius and others. It's used in early Christians
writings like Dedascalia and Apostolic Constitution and used in the churches in
Syria and Egypt. Didache is a valuable church document as manual that is why
its not included in the Bible because its a church manual used to instruct the
Christians like a Catechism. For purposes of this article, we will be limiting
our reference to Didache's Chapter 14 Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day,
Chapter 9 Thanksgiving (Eucharist) and Chapter 10 Prayer After Communion. These
three chapters lead us to how the early Christians treat the Eucharist.
THE SACRIFICE OF THE HOLY MASS
In Chapter 14 of Didache it gives instruction how the
Christian Assembly should gather together on Lord's Day which is Sunday and
celebrate thanksgiving that is the Eucharist. "But every Lord's Day gather
yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having
confessed your transgression that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one
that is at variance with fellow come together with you, until they be
reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was
spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice; for I am
a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.
[Clearly too the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the assembly offered to God at
the altar. Today it is called the Sacrifice of the Mass]
THANKSGIVING (EUCHARIST)
In Chapter 9 it teaches how to give thanks on the Eucharist
and this how to give thanks. "First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our
Father, for the holy vine of David your servant, which you made known to us
through Jesus, your servant; to you be the glory forever. And concerning the
broken bread: We thank you our Father for the life and knowledge which you
made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to you be the glory forever. Even
as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together
and became one, so let your Church be gathered together from the ends of the
earth into your kingdom; for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus
Christ forever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist)
but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this
also the Lord has said, Give not that which is holy to the dogs.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Chapter 10 teaches the faithful about prayer after communion
which is after receiving the Eucharist. "But after you are filled, thus
give thanks: We thank you holy Father, for your holy name which you caused to
tabernacle in our hearts and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which
you made known to us through Jesus your servant; to you be the glory forever.
You Master almighty created all things to your name's sake; You gave food and
drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to you; but to us you
freely gave spiritual food and drink and life eternal through your servant.
Before all things we thank you that you are mighty; to you be the glory
forever. Remember Lord, your church to deliver it from all evil and to make it
perfect in your love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for your
kingdom which you have prepared for it; for yours is the power and the glory
for ever. Let grace come and let this world pass away. Hossana to the God of
David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent.
Maranatha. Amen."
From the early liturgical practices as shown above taken from Didache, we can read from the 1st Aplogy of St. Justin Martyrs that the Lord's Day service of the Holy Mass for the Christians of the Catholic church has progressed and developed. The 1st Apology in 148 AD is addressed to the Emperor to defend the Christians against the continuing persecution of the Roman Empire. This document shows exactly how the holy mass, the Sunday worship is still practiced, celebrated and observed by the same Catholic Church of which St. Justin Martyr was baptized as true Christian.
CHAPTER 67 WEEKLY WORSHIPS OF THE CHRISTIANS
Here St. Justin Martyr has portrayed that Christians to meet
weekly to celebrate the Holy Mass that we Catholics continue to do today.
Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, [This second part of the Holy Mass is the Thanksgiving also called the Eucharist which is the sacrifice of the Holy Mass exactly as still being done today]
(2) and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given,(3) and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president [priest], who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. [Even today, in the Catholic Church we give what we can give according to our hearts desire for the works of the church]
"But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration." [Sunday is the Lord's Day exactly why we celebrate and worship on said day because it precisely the day that the Lord rose again from the dead and it is also the day the church was officially founded, on Pentecost.]
CHAPTER 66 THE EUCHARIST
From the 1st century, St. Justin Martyr clearly show us what the Eucharist really is - the body and blood of Jesus Christ - Just as Jesus himself taught, just as the Apostle John taught, just as Apostle Paul taught, just as all the Apostles understood the teaching of Jesus of the Eucharist, just as the early Christians believed it to be true. It is not as what non Catholics and Protestants mockingly portray as just a wafer or plain bread but in truth our spiritual food the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus.
"And this food is called among us Eukaristia (5) [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.(6) For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, (7) this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone."
CHAPTER 65 THE SACRAMENTS
St. Justin Martyrs presentation of how the Blessed Sacrament that is the Eucharist in the Holy Mass is celebrated by the Priest is almost the same from the first century to present. This is quite a wonder how early Christians celebrated the sacraments never changed in the Catholic Church. Here is how in Chapter 65 of the 1st Apology the celebration of the Sacrament is pictured
"But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. [In the Holy Mass of the Catholic Church today, we greet one another with "Peace be with you".
(3) There is then brought to the president [the Priest] of the brethren(4) bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings [Eucharist], all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito [so be it]. And when the president [priest] has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving [Eucharist] was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion." [Today this is still done in many parishes where the Eucharist is brought to the elderly and sick who can't attend the Holy Mass]
We can now conclude that from the Gospels and scriptures and in the lives of the early Christians the Eucharist is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ worthy of worship and adoration. In the Eucharist the divinity of the Lord is truly present and therefore not recognize it in its true form and regard it as just a mere wafer or piece of bread is a grave sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which is unforgivable. Protestants disdain and rejection of the Eucharist is the result of the false doctrines they have embraced both the Sola Scriptura and Sola Fides.
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