Receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, also known as Communion or the Lord’s Supper, is the climax of every Catholic liturgy. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving (εὐχαριστία).
The Eucharist is talked about all throughout the Bible, but mentioned explicitly in verses such as:
John 6:53-58
✞ 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.”
Acts 20:7
✞ On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight.
Luke 24:35
✞ Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
1 Corinthians 10:16
✞ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
✞ For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, 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 the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
🍞🍷 The celebration of the Last Supper that happens at church is not merely symbolic or commemorative, but breaks through the veil that separates heaven and earth as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ become present for all to consume and adore following the consecration of the bread and wine.
🩸Yes, the Eucharist is Jesus Christ Himself, the Manna, the Bread of Life, the Word Made Flesh. Indeed, He is the perfect sacrifice, the perfect Oblation, whom we offer to the Father at every liturgy, which He commanded us to do when He said “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). Early Christians were accused of, and persecuted for, being cannibals because they confessed to eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, which Catholic and Orthodox Christians still do to this day, following their example (and that of St. Paul too, as shown above).
If you read writings from the Church Fathers, you will find that belief in the True Presence of the Eucharist (i.e. that it is not symbolic) was universal. Why? Because this doctrine was passed down to them from the Apostles and from Jesus Himself, as we read in the epistle of St. Ignatius that I shared on the previous page, as just one instance of such attestation.
If you desire the Eucharist (that is, the Bread of Life: Christ Himself), there is only one place you can find it: in the very Church Christ founded. I am Catholic because I want to worship God not in a man-made way or through a man-made tradition, but in the way He wants me to, in the way that the first Christians were taught, and in the way they passed it down to preserve this teaching for the generations to follow, to the point that modern day Catholic priests have a direct connection, a line of apostolic succession, to Jesus Himself and the first priests: the 12 Apostles. The reason Catholics have priests is because this is a continuation from the Old Testament. Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Covenant, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The liturgy is the fulfillment of the Passover feast in which the priest offers Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). 🐑
⛪️ There is a difference between trying to live a version of Christianity based solely on your fallible personal interpretation of the Bible (Sola Scriptura), and living the Christianity that the first Christians in the Bible themselves practiced, and passed on (Sacred Scripture + Sacred Tradition). Jesus said that unless you eat His flesh, you will have no life in you (John 6:53). All Christians until the Protestant Reformation faithfully understood his words to be true. Do you stand in opposition to those who went before you?
If you’re utterly confused as to what I’m saying, go to a Catholic church and see what I mean for yourself. Don’t be afraid to reach out to me for clarification either.
Below I’ve linked a video for your convenience to help you understand what the Eucharist is, and its biblical origins as the greatest of the 7 Sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
OH HEY, FOR BEST VIEWING, YOU'LL NEED TO TURN YOUR PHONE