The culmination of the Mass
comes when the Catholic person receives the consecrated host or
Eucharist orally. This physical act of consuming the reincarnated
Christ is how the Catholic person obtains a bit of the Divine, which
further aids them towards eternal life. The Roman Catholic Church
also emphasizes that eating the Eucharist empowers the individual to
overcome the temptation of mortal sin. In other words, the
Eucharist is a supernatural food that is able to help one get to heaven
and keep one from sin here on Earth. This teaching promotes
obtaining spiritual benefits through physical acts. I challenge
you, to consider what the Spirit of God says as you compare these
Catholic teachings to the Holy Scripture.
The Catechism Says:
The Bible Says:
Para1384 The
Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the
sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."
Para 1382 The
Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in
which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet
of communion with the Lord's body and blood. But the celebration of the
Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward the intimate union of
the faithful with Christ through communion. To receive communion is to
receive Christ himself who has offered himself for us.
John
6:52-66 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can
this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 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. 54 Whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him
up at the last day.55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers
did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live
for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in
Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard
this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew
in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth
this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up
where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the
flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that
believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that
believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said
I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him
of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and
walked no more with him.
Para 1405 …we
"break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the
antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus
Christ."
Para 1392 What
material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully
achieves in our spiritual life…
Para 1402 …"O
sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his
Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the
life to come is given to us." …
Para 1393 …For
this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same
time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins…
Para 1395 …
the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins…
John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Leviticus
17:11-12 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is
the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto
the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall
any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
Genesis
9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall
ye not eat.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us
from all sin.
John
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God...
John
1: 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...
John
10:10 ...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have
it more abundantly.
John
6:63 the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are
life.
The Bible is showing you the relationship between the written Word and
Jesus Christ Himself. Proper interpretation of the Scripture is
essential. Throughout the Scriptures we find that the Lord spoke
in parables. These parables were a figurative language that would
make the truths of Christ more discernible. Jesus knew that the
parables would be difficult to understand without an interpretation,
but He always gave the interpritation to those to whom He had called.
In the above text of
scripture (John 6:52-66) the Jewish people, to whom the discourse was
first addressed, misunderstood it. They quarreled among themselves and
said, “how can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The
Jewish people had seen and heard Him and yet, they did not believe in
Him. Some of their unbelief may have stemmed from their
understanding of the book of the Law (the old testament) in which
eating flesh and drinking blood was prohibited. Even today, we
know that Jesus could not have meant the literal eating and drinking of
flesh and blood because it would be a contradiction of the very Word of
God.
The Roman Catholic
Church, just as the Jewish people, have misunderstood Christ's message
as a corporal and carnal eating of Christ's Body. Jesus' words
have been misread to support the doctrine of transubstantiation.
This doctrine contradicts the Lord's essential message of the need to
solely believe on Him for salvation. When Christ said, “the
bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of
the world,” He is stating that He would offer Himself as a
sacrifice, His voluntary lying down of His life, His flesh. He
gave His flesh willingly as an atoning sacrifice “for the life of
the world” and this is for eternal
life!
According to the
above passage, eating the ‘flesh' and drinking the ‘blood' of the
Son of man signifies the acceptance of the Redeemer and His
sacrifice. Christ Jesus offers all the benefits of redemption:
pardon of sin, acceptance of God and the adoption of sons in which one
receives the Holy Spirit as a pledge of ones inheritance of eternal
life. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood means being
identified with Him by faith. Remember, it is the spirit that quickenith, the
flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life.
Dear Catholic, of
which bread have you partaken? Will you rest your eternal soul on
the person and offering of Christ Jesus for your sins or will you eat
the Eucharist in hope of obtaining eternal life? The Roman
Catholic Church claims that God's power effectively flows from the
element of Communion itself. Christ Jesus teaches that it is
believing on His person, John 6:29 “ this is the work of
God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Believing
on Him whom the Father has sent is our duty, yet it is “ the work
of God” which clearly signifying that believing is
possible only by the grace of God.
