This Catholic Journey
I think a lot of Catholics leave because other churches demand less. Also, with the dumbing down of key beliefs like the Real Presence, this has led people to feel bored during the second half of Mass because it's "always the same." If they knew what was happening right in front of their eyes they would fall on their faces, or at least their knees! But how often do homilies address that? Also with crappy songs (not hymns)that refer to Holy Communion as bread - well, it's no wonder people don't get it.
I heard James Akin make a point on a radio show he did where a former Catholic asked that question "how come I wasnt taught the real gospel in the Catholic Church?" Many Catholics would say " oh well... you know the catechesis of the Church needs improvement" etc... etc... but Akin said "well sir you must not have been paying attention" and he was so right.
Anyone who can sit through a mass and think that the Catholic Church isnt teaching Scripture and the word of God is definitely not paying attention. Akin also pointed out that Protestants tend to teach converts from Catholicism (especially who grew up Catholic) to blame their own spiritual laziness (which isn't uncommon especially for young people) on the Catholic Church.
Amber, I could never go back to a symbolic communion... and I don't get why anyone could leave the Church and receive a symbolic only communion... I believe you're right that if they knew what was really going on, they wouldn't leave.
GodFearin, I agree that they must simply not be paying attention. When I'm at Mass, I cannot believe how this could possibly be missed by anyone... but some are simply blind until the Holy Spirit touches them and opens their eyes and hearts.
"If you are a former Catholic reading this post, I urge you to return to the Christ in the Eucharist! It is a wonderful gift that Christ has given his followers and you are missing out! The Scriptures are clear on this: Christ said if we do not eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life in us (John 6:53-54). What is this body and blood that we MUST have if not the Eucharist? A mere symbol does not give us life... but Christ's presence in the Eucharist does!"
Christ's gift to us is not the eucharist but that He laid down His life on the Cross for our redemption.
I am a former Catholic who used to attend Adoration or visit "Jesus" in the tabernacle. Unbeknownst to me I was actually worshipping/adoring a graven image (man-made wafer)and breaking God's commandment. Deuteronomy 32:21
"They made me jealous by what is no god.."
We are to worship in spirit. "God is spirit, and those who worhsip Him must worship in spirit (not visible) and in truth" John 4:24
We can not physically see God for He said "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God,"1Tim 1:17
Also, "the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal" 2 Cor 4:18
Christ warns us about those proclaiming other christs. Matthew
24:23
"At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it."
Romans
1:23
"and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
1:25
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,"
Jesus does not dwell in man-made temples in the form of bread. 2 Cor 6:16 says "2 Corinthians 6:16
"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
The "presence" of the eucharist christ lasts only until consummed.
There is no miracle during Mass to transform ordinary bread into Jesus' body and blood, soul and divinity because there is no evidence. When Christ changed water into wine there was an actual change. The wedding guest said it was the best wine.
Marie,
This passage says we must worship in spirit but this does not say we should not worship in other ways... or that it is the ONLY way to worship. That is like saying we cannot worship by singing or praying or anything else. The passage itself also does not say "not visible", which you added in there... We are also called to visible worship of God in our obedience to Him and in loving others.
The Eucharist is not "another Christ". It IS the Christ...
To top it off, you are completely ignoring the question at hand. Jesus told us that we must drink his blood and eat his flesh to have eternal life. What did he mean? If this is something we have to do, how do we do this? If he was only speaking metaphorically, why didn't He explain himself, like he'd done with so many parables before? If He was only speaking metaphorically, why did so many leave him because the teaching was too difficult for them to accept?
All things are possible with God. You seem to want to limit Him and say that there must be some EVIDENCE in order for you to believe it. John 20:29 says, 'Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."' And also Matthew 12:38-39, 'Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'
If Jesus is not present in the bread, then how are we to eat his flesh and drink his blood? And how are we to understand what He told us in at the Last Supper when he told us that the bread IS his body and the wine IS his blood?
Quote:"The Eucharist is not "another Christ". It IS the Christ..."
The Catholic Church is worldwide each with a tabnacle containing the eucahrist. Each eucharist is Christ to your belief. However, Jesus warns us not to believe anyone who says "Here is the Christ" Matthew 24:23. Jesus is now physically present at the right hand of the Father Luke 22:69. God is incorruptible and yet the eucharist, as you believe is Jesus, decays within the digestive system.
The eucharist christ is temporal while God is eternal. 2 cor 4:18 "the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal".
Jesus also said He's the gate, door, living water. He didn't mean that He was literally a door or literally water. The bread and wine are symbolic and which have a richer meaning if understood correctly. He satisfies all spiritual hunger for those who have faith in Him.
I will address your last comment but I'd also like you to answer my questions, stated above.
Jesus told us that we must drink his blood and eat his flesh to have eternal life. What did he mean? If this is something we have to do, how do we do this? If he was only speaking metaphorically, why didn't He explain himself, like he'd done with so many parables before? If He was only speaking metaphorically, why did so many leave him because the teaching was too difficult for them to accept?
If Jesus is not present in the bread, then how are we to eat his flesh and drink his blood? And how are we to understand what He told us in at the Last Supper when he told us that the bread IS his body and the wine IS his blood?
By the way... when Jesus said he was the door, vine, etc, he explained what he meant. In the passage about the body and blood, he offered no explanation but instead repeated himself.
Where in the Bible does it say that the body and blood he speaks of, is only symbolic or metaphorical? If it was, why didn't he explain this when the disciples asked him or when they went away from him. No one left him when he said he was the door or the vine because they understood that he was talking symbolically. This is not the case when he told us to eat his body and drink his blood. In fact, those who left him were the same ones who had witnessed him feeding thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and some fish! They witnessed this miracle but still could not accept what He was saying... It is obvious Christ could not have been speaking symbolically here!
First, there aren't separate "Christs" in each tabernacle as you claim. It is the one and only, same Christ present in each and every consecrated host. How it happens is a mystery, but it's more like Jesus pulling the substance of the bread and wine to himself,rather than being separated as you say. (It doesn't "decay" or "dissolve".) Also, it's not the "bread itself", simply for the sake of being bread, that we worship. We do worship Jesus present under the appearances of bread and wine. The verses you are referring to are about people claiming to be Christ who aren't, not the Eucharist. (No credible Protestant theologian would interpret them that way, either. Actually, first time I've heard that one, LOL.)
BTW, the "I am the door" argument (a long-standing one on many anti-Catholic websites) doesn't make any sense, since in those cases Jesus explained the meaning of those parables afterwards, unlike John 6 which is obviously different to any rational reader -- even Luther and most of the other reformers thought so.
Another thing you might want to consider is that your view of the Eucharist is both alien and strange to Christian belief and history. The earliest Christians believed in a real presence (we know Paul did), even the majority of early Protestants did (many still do). Your view about the bread being "just bread" isn't biblical, either (i.e, how would you explain 1 Cor. 11:23-30, since according to you it's "just bread"??).
For CATHOLICS who read these posts and left the teachings of the Catholic Church:
PLEASE COME HOME!!!
NO REGRETS!!
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