The Real Presence
and the importance of the Eucharist
An Article by The Catholic Philosopher
IG:@the.catholic.philosopher
In a skeptic world lacking in supernatural faith, belief in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist is extremely important. In the Gospel of John, Jesus clearly commands that we must eat of His flesh and His blood, “So 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; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.’” (John 6:53-58 RSVCE)
Furthermore in 1 Corinthians, Paul clearly argues that the Host is to be treated with reverence: “For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.“ (1 Corinthians 11:29 RSVCE) So you see, Scripture is quite clear on this topic. But due to the rise of secularism and poor catechesis, belief in this core dogma has been on the decline. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center last year, only 28% of US Catholics accept the teaching of transubstantiation. What’s even more disturbing? That 43% of those surveyed think that the Church teaches that the bread and wine are merely symbolic.
So, how do we combat this rise of heresy? By receiving the Host reverently kneeling and on the tongue. That is not to say it is not possible to receive reverently on the hand (as Pope St. John Paul II has said), but that the later is superior than the former. Even the aforementioned John Paul II always received kneeling on the tongue, even needing to be raised and lowered by aids in his old age. The reason? It treats the Eucharist like what it is: God in physical form.
By treating Christ in this physically pious way, it signals to the people around you that what you are receiving is holy in a way that reception in the hand never can. I theorize that this dip in belief can be attributed partly to the rise of communion in the hand, and that means it can be cured by reversing this change. The old Jewish proverb “Customs are stronger than laws” is indeed a true one. Until we get our act together and start treating the body and blood of a Christ as it is, I doubt we can change those numbers. We must lead by example.
Of course, this only fixes one part of the problem. If we are to have a major impact on this society, we need to reform the education system. As a graduate of a Catholic school, I can say from experience that the religion classes are not good enough. But this is a very great change that will take a very long time to come, so in the meantime we must resort to what is available. Parents should be teaching their children how to pray and what the Church teaches. Even if you are single, start reading theology books and do your own research; educate yourself so that you can aptly defend your beliefs, and above all keep praying.
If we are to defeat this beast of modernism that has lay siege to Holy Mother Church, you must step up to the plate and battle too. We must start from the ground up, the ground being the lay, if we are to create a lasting impact. Remember 1 Timothy 6:12: “Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (RSVCE)