9- THE EUCHARIST.
Some people think that the bread and wine in the Eucharist are just symbols; the rite of breaking bread is only to remember Christ.
But the Church absolutely believes the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are the FLESH and BLOOD of Jesus Christ, as Saint Paul has affirmed: Col 11, 27-29: "Therefore, whoever eats the Bread and drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let each person examine himself, and then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Indeed, whoever eats and drinks without discerning the Body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself." Just as before celebrating the rite of consecrating the Eucharist, the priest prays: "We earnestly implore you, Father, by your Holy Spirit, to sanctify these gifts so that they may become for us the BODY AND BLOOD of Jesus, your Son, our Lord." And when giving the Holy Body or Blood of Jesus Christ to the parishioners, the priest chants: "The Holy Body of Christ" or "The Holy Blood of Christ", the person receiving the Holy Body or Blood responds: "Amen" which means that he or she truly acknowledges that this is the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Yet when we eat the Bread and drink the Wine, it tastes exactly like ordinary bread and wine, without any change or difference?
We know how great the merit of FAITH is: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Therefore, the smaller and more ordinary the Bread and Wine look and the more indistinguishable they are, the greater the merit of the person who believes that it is the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
But before the storm of criticism, here are some opinions on this matter:
1- Scientific view.
As presented in the section "Origin of the Universe", objects in the universe include: hard matter, soft matter, liquid, gas, semi-material and meta-material. But there is a precious and noble SUBSTANCE that surpasses all the above substances that no one in the world knows or talks about, and that only Jesus Christ revealed in His Gospel: TRUTH. TRUTH cannot be dissolved, cannot be changed, LIVES and exists forever, interwoven to encompass the entire universe. That is LIFE, the Holy Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Body of the Trinity. And the soul of each of us is created by God using His Holy Body: Genesis 1:27: "God created man in the IMAGE of God." And Genesis 2:7: "God took dust from the ground (matter) and formed man, and breathed into his nostrils the BREATH OF LIFE (which is TRUTH, LIFE, the Holy Body of God), and man became a LIVING CREATURE (man has a SOUL).
Because of such scientific awareness, even though there is no feeling to recognize the soul, no matter how sophisticated the machine is, it cannot explore the soul, but through the evidence from the Bible, the soul is created by the Holy Body of God. And through the clear physical phenomena every day, we know for sure that the soul is a strong, durable, flexible being like the creatures in the spiritual world, so that every day and every hour it is still attached to the body, the soul needs to be nourished by the Flesh and Blood of Christ to become tall, healthy, strong, intelligent, and bright: "The souls of the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Therefore, every time we attend Mass and receive the Body and Blood of Christ, our souls are attending a feast, being nourished by God's Word, and truly eating and drinking the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ to grow, become bright, and holy.
2- Jesus performed the transformation of bread and wine into His Flesh and Blood:
Looking at all four Gospels, Jesus performed many miracles, still only three miracles were Jesus offering praise and thanksgiving to God the Father: the miracle of multiplying loaves (twice), the miracle of Jesus bringing Saint Lazarus back to life after four days of the death, and when Jesus established the Eucharist, all three Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and the letter of Saint Paul recorded in detail: Jesus offered praise and thanksgiving to God the Father.
First was the miracle of multiplying loaves, once to feed five thousand people, not counting women and children, and once to feed four thousand people, also not counting women and children. The difficult task was to transform immediately a mass of about thirty or forty hundred kilograms of bread and fish that had been baked and ready to eat and to create the fish and bread naturally in the act of breaking the bread and fish, and passing the hand, the bread and fish were created. Because of such complexity, Jesus had to call on God the Father to send angels, and when God the Father accepted to help, Jesus offered praise and thanks to God the Father.
The next miracle is Jesus resurrecting Saint Lazarus. We see that Jesus performed miracles of healing the blind, the lame, the lepers, the possessed, and even raising the dead, but in no miracle did He offer praise and thanks to God the Father. But here, Saint Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days and was already smelling bad. All the systems and organs in his body were almost rotten and decayed. If we want Saint Lazarus' soul to return to that body, it must be recreated from the atoms in all compounds, each cell, each tissue to the muscles, organs, parts, functions... The work was difficult, so Jesus had to ask God the Father, and then He thanked God the Father when He accepted: "Father, I thank you because you have heard me. As for me, I know that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around here, I have said it so that they will believe that you sent me."
When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, we see in all three synoptic Gospels and the letter of Saint Paul that Jesus offered thanksgiving before giving the Bread and Wine. Thus, it cannot be said that Jesus simply broke the bread and raised the cup of wine to give to the disciples, that Jesus had to ask the Father, then offer thanksgiving, and it cannot be said that the bread and wine were just a form, a symbol that Jesus had to call upon the Father.
Therefore, we understand that this was an extremely "crazy" decision because of Jesus' boundless mercy that He begged the Father to follow His will. The work was extremely difficult for Jesus to ask God the Father and then thank God when God the Father accepted, because from then until the end of the world, every time the priest of God celebrated the ceremony of offering bread and wine and read the words according to the form that Jesus taught, the Bread and Wine immediately transform into the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (the Eucharist of God) which is the LIFE that lives forever, to nourish our souls that are born with the LIFE that lives forever, and pours out all the blessings and graces through the Eucharist and lives, works, eats, sleeps with us to teach, advise, defend, protect, and comfort us.
3- The Bread of Life Discourse. (John Chapter Six)
John 6:23: "But many others came from Tiberias near the place where the people ate the bread AFTER THE LORD HAD GIVEN THANKS.": The previous evening, Jesus had performed the miracle of multiplying bread to feed five thousand people, not counting women and children, and the leftovers were twelve baskets. The phrase "After the Lord had given thanks" is the connection between the Lord's easy transformation of bread from a supernatural object in an instant to feed thousands of people, to the Lord's consecration of the Eucharist to nourish our souls, all of which can be done in the power of God, permitted and also intended by God the Father.
And from the thousands of people who were able to eat and drink freely like that, people had the idea of making Jesus their king, so that He would let them enjoy happiness without having to work hard, so Jesus said: John 6, 27: "You should work, not for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life.": With the idea of being lazy and industrious, the crowd could not understand that the hard work of working for food would produce merit for eternal life, so they kept asking: "What must we do to be called doing the work of God?"
Because they were not good, they did not have merit to be explained by Jesus, so He said in other words: 6, 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one He sent.":
Believing in Jesus Christ and practicing His teachings creates merit for eternal life, but people continued to question Jesus, provoking Him: 6, 30-31: "What miracle will you perform, that we may see and believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven.'"
And Jesus revealed His intention: 6, 32-33: "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God must come down from heaven and give life to the world.":
But people misunderstood that Jesus was about to please them, so they could not hide their intention: 6, 34: "Sir, give us that bread always."
Then Jesus announced: Jn 6, 35: "I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."
And He saw the disappointment on their faces, so He continued: Jn 6, 36-40: "But I told you that you have seen me, but you do not believe. ALL THAT THE FATHER HAS GIVEN ME will come to me. And whoever comes to me will not be turned away. Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but raise it on the last day. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day."
"Those whom the Father has given me" means only those who are good and virtuous, with meritorious deeds, will have their hearts and minds opened by Jesus to believe in Him.
Therefore, the unenlightened crowd was angry because Jesus said "I am the bread that came down from heaven" while they knew that Jesus was the son of Joseph the carpenter, and Mary, a poor and ordinary woman. Therefore, Jesus repeated: Jn 6, 44-45: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me DRAW him, and I will raise him on the last day. In the book of the prophets it is written: "Everyone will be taught by God." Whoever hears the TEACHINGS OF THE FATHER will come to me. No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God, and he has seen the Father.":
Jesus wanted to say that He knew the Father's will and always carried out His will, that only good and meritorious people would be enlightened to recognize that the living Flesh and Blood of God is the nourishment for our immortal souls.
Then Jesus announced again that He would use His Flesh and Blood to nourish our souls: Jn 6, 47-51: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will have eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died. This is the 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."
Jesus spoke of using His FLESH AND BLOOD to nourish our souls, but the crowd understood that Jesus wanted to use His flesh to feed their bodies, so those lazy people argued foolishly: John 6, 52: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
And Jesus proclaimed it a third time: Jn 6:53-58: Jesus said to them: "Truly, 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. 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 live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like your fathers who ate manna and died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever."
In the end, not only the crowd was surprised, but many disciples also grumbled against the Lord: "This saying is hard! Who can accept it?" Because they did not believe that Jesus came down from heaven, and they mistakenly thought that Jesus wanted to use His Flesh and Blood to feed the bodies of them, and the Lord said to them: "Does that make you uncomfortable? Then what do you think when you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, and the flesh is of no avail. But the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.":
"What if the Son of Man ascends to where he was before?": The Eucharist of Jesus was once united with the Eucharist of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the SOURCE OF LIFE that covers the entire universe, can not feed the human soul?
Jesus was grieved by the unruly: Jn 6:65-66: "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray him. And he said: "Therefore I say to you, NO ONE CAN COME TO ME UNLESS IT IS GIVEN TO HIM BY MY FATHER.":
Why did Jesus know from the beginning who they were who did not believe, yet he spoke, and spoke again and again? Because the Lord Jesus took His Flesh and Blood to nourish our souls, it is extremely precious and noble, and Jesus practiced the Law of "Who has, more will be given": Jesus deliberately repeated it over and over again, and only revolved around those things, refused to explain further, so those who were not good, not meritorious enough to be enlightened by Jesus to understand, got bored and left, while those who were good, meritorious like the Twelve, were enlightened by Jesus to open their minds as Saint Peter said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. As for us, we believe and we know that: You are the Christ, the Son of God."
The evidence from science, the evidence from miracles, and the Lord's explanations in the "Bread of Life Discourse" are so obvious, but if one does not have enough meritoriousness to be enlightened and guided by God, then one cannot understand and cannot believe. On the contrary, the blessed poeple are enlightened to truly believe that the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and they always long to receive Him into their soul.
4- Jesus eagerly awaited the moment He instituted the Eucharist.
Luke 22:14-16: "When the hour had come, Jesus sat at table with the Apostles. He said to them: 'I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God":
"I have eagerly desired...": Jesus has long awaited the moment of establishing the Eucharist to use His Flesh and Blood to nourish our souls for a long time.
"I will never eat this Passover again until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God": The Kingdom of God is the Church, so "the complete Passover in the Kingdom of God" is the Holy Mass in which Jesus participates in the Holy Table and gives His Holy Body and Blood to nourish our souls. Therefore, the Holy Mass is extremely solemn and mysterious.
5- NEW WINE in the Kingdom of God.
Mark 14, 24-25: "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'Take it; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it NEW in the kingdom of God":
"Offering praise" as well as "Offering thanks" is Jesus thanking God the Father for allowing him to institute the Eucharist.
"The Kingdom of God" is the Church where Jesus is always present on the Holy Table in the Holy Mass, so the NEW WINE is the HOLY BLOOD of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, attending the Holy Mass is our soul participating in the HOLY BANQUET with Jesus Christ, eating the precious FLESH, and drinking the precious BLOOD of Jesus Christ.
6- Jesus administered the Holy Eucharist in Emmaus.
Luke 24:13-35: That same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking and discussing all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and walked with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing with each other as you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" Jesus asked them, "What things?" They said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. How our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Besides, it is now the third day since these things happened. Indeed, some women in our group have amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body, and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see." Then Jesus said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to one another, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them. They were saying, “The Lord has truly risen, and he has appeared to Simon.” The two men told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread."
This passage of Scripture adds convincing evidence that Jesus was determined to establish the Eucharist, transforming bread and wine into His Flesh and Blood to enter our hearts and nourish our souls:
-First: If the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist were only symbols to commemorate the Lord in the ordinary sense, then Jesus would not have repeated the Breaking of Bread ritual because He had only performed it four days ago, and He was there.
-Second: Jesus intended to meet the two disciples with the purpose of teaching them how to confer the Eucharist and receive the Lord into their hearts through this Holy Sacrament, because this appearance was the longest, and as soon as he finished conferring the Eucharist, Jesus immediately left the two.
-Third: Jesus repeated the same ritual as when he performed it at the Last Supper: "He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.": Thus, the Lord truly taught the disciples and us to celebrate this Holy Sacrament.
-Fourth: Jesus appeared to the two disciples in the same way that the Lord taught us to come to the Lord in the Holy Mass: When celebrating the liturgical rite of the Word, the Lord teaches us to learn and understand His Teachings: "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?" And when we celebrate the Eucharistic rite and receive the Lord into our hearts, we meet the Lord in a real way and His Body and Blood are truly food to nourish our souls: "Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him."
7- Eucharistic rite.
Previously, the Mass was in Latin so very few people understood the meaning clearly, but since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has allowed the use of local languages, so everyone knows that the Eucharistic rite is very pure, clear, and true:
After the offering of the gifts and the preface, the priest prays:
Our Father, You are truly Holy, the source of all holiness, so we earnestly beg You to use the grace of Your Holy Spirit to sanctify this offering, so that it may become for us THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, Your Son, our Lord.
Then the priest took the bread and prayed:
When he had given himself up to be crucified, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU." Then the priest knelt to worship the Blessed Sacrament.
Next, the priest took the cup of wine and prayed:
In the same way, after supper, He took the cup, also gave thanks and gave it to the disciples, saying: "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT, AND THE EVERLASTING COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY, THAT SINS MAY BE FORGIVEN. DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME." Then the priest knelt to worship the Blood of the Lord.
That's all! It was considered as just reporting and repeating the Lord's words. Therefore, many people found it too ordinary, nothing formal, nothing sacred, nothing mysterious. Therefore, they could not believe that the fragile bread and the ordinary cup of wine could become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
But read Mt 18, 19-20: "Truly I tell you, if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Therefore, when we pray: "...we earnestly ask you, Father, to sanctify these gifts by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that they may become for us the BODY AND BLOOD of Jesus, your Son, our Lord." then the Father has heard our prayer. And at the very moment, we join in offering the Holy Mass, Jesus is present at the Holy Table, and when the priest reads: "Take this, all of you, and eat it, for this is my body which will be given up for you." And "All of you take this and drink it, for this is the cup of My blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of Me." Then we understand and absolutely believe that Jesus is present at the Holy Table and is speaking those words with the priest and Jesus Himself has performed the blessing to change the bread and wine into His Flesh and Blood, and is truly present in that Holy Body and Blood! Thus, JESUS IS REALLY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST!
IT IS THE GREATEST MYSTERY!
IT IS EXTREMELY SARCRED AND HOLY!
IT IS REAL MYSTERY OF FAITH
In short, such evidences are more than enough. Whoever is blessed will believe and enjoy the extremely precious blessing of welcoming the Lord of heaven and earth into his soul, the eternal Flesh and Blood of the Lord to nourish his immortal soul. That is a great blessing that even the angels in heaven do not receive.
Little Soul.
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