What is the Eucharist?

When you think about that, what comes to mind?
It's complicated! Right?
In the Catholic church we call that a mystery.
But a mystery is not something that we can no anything about, it is something that we cannot know everything about.
the index of the Catechism, it describes the eucharist in 5 ways
as an act of thanksgiving,
as a memorial,
as presence,
as sacrifice,
and as the source and summit of Christian life.
It is indeed all of those things, but the “source and Summit of our faith” that is a huge one. Something that big is going to be difficult to explain in 40 minutes. but that is what we are going to try to tackle tonight.
When you open the catechism to the very first section of the Eucharist, we have this definition, and I would like us to read it.

CCC 1324 The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.” (864)
NOTE: Pasch means easter or passover.
That is a good definition but It by no means gives us full understanding.
For that we need more information.
Let’s start our study with some deeper explanations… lets start with the mystery of transubstantiation.

What is transubstantiation?

This is the miracle that happens at mass when the eucharistic host of bread and wine is transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.
The word describes what is happening in the process, the word literally means “to change the substance of.”
Meaning the substance (or essence) of a thing changes, while the outward appearances remain the same.
This is a great mystery of our church, but this is a mystery that we can understand quite a lot about.
In my studies Thomas Aquinas in his “suma thealogiae” has provided the best explanation that we have for this miracle.
To start though we have to cover some basic theological terms.
The terms Aquinas uses here, might seem alien to our modern American ears because for us today they have multiple definitions
but when He wrote about this, these terms had very precise meanings:
1st Accidents — these are the attributes of a thing, like color, or shape, or size — these things don’t change.
2nd Substance — this is what the thing actually is or does. This is the combination of all of the accidents, into a single identifiable form.

Let me explain using an example of a round red rubber ball.

The accidents are the attributes of roundness, redness, and bounciness
The substance is a ball.
balls can have different colors, or different degrees of roundness or bounciness (those are accidents), but if I say the word “ball” you all know what I mean, because the form of a ball is something that we are all very familiar with, (that is the substance).
Now if we decide to force our will upon the ball, by placing it in the oven at 300 degrees. We are imposing the force of heat on it and that force will change the ball into a puddle.
It will still have most of its accidents. Still kind of round, still red, and still bouncy’ish (if you allow it to harden in the puddle shape), but it is not a ball anymore, it is a puddle.
This is what happens when we as human impose our will on the things of the world, when we change the substance of a thing, we cannot help but change at least some of the accidents of it as well.

But when God imposes his will on the eucharist, the result is very different.

The accidents of the eucharist are wheat and grape. In the specific case of the eucharist…
The bread must be only wheat and water, and must not have any yeast or spices of any kind.
The wine can varying levels of alcohol, but must not exceed 18% alcohol content.
Nevertheless, the substances of the eucharist are bread and wine.
These can vary to some small degree, but we understand that bread contains wheat, and wine contains grapes,
the bread can be hard or soft, crunchy or chewy,
and the wine can be sweet or sour.
But we all understand what the form of bread and wine looks like in this world
but when God acts in the in the mass and transubstantiates the bread and the wine, the force of God’s will is fully and completely imposed on the bread and wine and it’s “substance” is utterly changed.
the substance of the bread and wine is transformed (by God’s will) into the body and blood of Jesus Christ,
but ALL of the accidents of bread and wine remain.
It is the only thing in the whole world where this happens, and it only happens because God is God, and He can do what He wills.
This is a miracle that happens at every mass, and it is truly incredible when you think about it.

Now with that understanding under our belts, I want to try to show you how the eucharist has been part of God’s plan from the very beginning, and how he has been slowly moving us toward it, and toward Him, with love and patience for literally millenia. So, let’s now look at some biblical history.

The Eucharist in the Old Testament

The eucharist has always been part of the way in which worship has been offered to God.
And many of the stories of the old testament foreshadow and foretell the miracle that Jesus will ultimately fulfill in the eucharist.
But we need one more definition first,
I know sorry!
Typology is the study of how things in the Old Testament foreshadow the New Testament.
We are going to dive into a little of it right now.
The Catechism explains - The Church, as early as apostolic times, and then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God’s works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.
That is pretty good, but I personally prefer how St Augustine explains what typology is…
He famously wrote — “In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed.”
Nevertheless, the eucharist has been part of our tradition from the very beginning of our story. And the more that you study the old testament, in the light of the new, you will see that there are hints of the trinity and the eucharist everywhere, and the foreshadowing is astounding.
Let’s look at a couple examples.

In the Garden of eden, there were 2 trees…,

did you know that?
The tree of knowledge is what Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating,
but there was another called the tree of life
they could eat of this tree as much as they liked.
The fruit of this tree would allow them to live forever. It was the original “bread from heaven” that gave eternal life.
Many scholars believe that this tree is a “type” of the Jesus on the cross, and the fruit of this tree is a “type” of the Eucharist.
The promise of the covenant that God made with Adam was that if they stayed in a state of grace (aka lived without sinning) they could have lived forever in the garden, with God for all eternity.
But Adam and Eve fell…, and as a result death entered into the world, and they were expelled from the garden.
But this was not a punishment perse, it was more of a mercy than anything.
Because to live forever in a state of sin would be a punishment worse than hell.
You might be interested to know that this is where the lore of Vampires comes from
Vampire exists forever in a state of sin, living only by stealing life away from the living.
God had another plan though. and this is where the story of God’s salvation began.

Next, Skipping forward many years, we have Abram and the mysterious character of Melchizadek who offered bread and wine

Melchizadek was the king of Salem (aka. Jerusalem) and the great high priest of the time.
Abram, upon returning from his war with the four kings, gave Melchizedek a 10th of his riches.
In return Melchizedek brought out bread and wine and made an offering of thanksgiving.
Bread and wine have been used from the very beginning to celebrate and give thanks.
In fact, for all of Jewish history, the offering of bread and wine, called a thanks giving (or Todah) offering was considered the highest form of worship that a person could offer to the lord.
Melchizedek is the only man in the Old Testament that was both high priest and king
Christ too is identified as both the ‘high priest’ -- a priest forever in the line of Melchizedek, and He is also the king of the universe – the second person of the trinity.
This character is seen as a very early “type” of Christ and the bread that he would offer as high priest to the world was a “type” of the eucharist.

Next , we have Moses and the mana that came down from heaven.

The mana from heaven is a clear reference to the eucharist.
It came down from heaven miraculously, they collected it and made it into bread.
There is also quail that came out in the evening, to feed them flesh (aka blood),
There was also the rock that gave water. This rock followed them through the desert and would provide them life giving water when they needed it.
It all kept them alive in the desert for 40 years.
Many scholars believe that these all are a “type” of Jesus, and the eucharist. The body of christ (manna), and the blood of christ (water and quail), both giving life to the jews for all of the years that they wandered in the desert —
So that is just three examples.
This is obviously a limited list, but the Old Testament is full of many other examples, we just don’t have time to consider them all here.
But I have chosen these three because they reveal the primary elements of the eucharist, and how they will all ultimately be fulfilled in the person of Jesus:
That Jesus is the bread from heaven that comes down to give life to the world.
That bread and wine were always given in thanks for the goodness and providence of the Lord.
That the high priest was always the one that would make this sacrifice on behalf of the people.
But there was a fourth element that does not become fully evident until the jews better organized their wordship in the temple, and specifically around the…

The Dwelling place of the lord

Eventually as the jews settled into right worship and got the paganism of Egypt out of their system, they learned to systematize their worship, and properly orient their offerings in a way that better glorified God.
This form of worship revolved around the temple and specifically the dwelling place of the lord in the center of the temple, also known as the ark of the covenant.
The ark was the place where the jews kept the tablets of the 10 commandments, Aaron’s staff, and a jar of mana that the Lord had preserved from ever spoiling.
And it was also the dwelling place where the presence of the lord resided.
The worship that was made in the temple became a “type” of our future Catholic mass and the offerings given there became a “type” of the future eucharist.

Moses made The first temple of the lord, but it was actually just a tent (also known as a tabernacle)

In the desert they were wanderers, so they needed a portable tent that would serve as their portable make-shift temple.
inside the tent was the ark of the covenant.
This is where the lord would dwell when the jews would stop and make camp.
I want to direct your attention to the top-right corner where you can see the tabernacle’s size in comparison to an American football field.
It was pretty small, which makes sense considering that it needed to be portable.
The lord was very present to the jews at this time.
Present but utterly terrifying.
When they traveled the “presence” would proceed them in a pillar of fire, by night, and cloud of smoke by day.
When they camped the “presence” would reside in the ark, inside the tabernacle
The people were mostly in total fear of the “presence”.
They worshipped god, but they were not in relationship with him.
God was like a sheepdog that protected the sheep from the wolves, but the sheep were just as afraid of the sheepdog as they were of the wolves.

Many years pass, and they eventually settle in Jerusalem, and finally Solomon builds a temple for the lord that befits his glory.

It had an outer wall that separated the world from the temple.
Inside that wall was a courtyard, in the middle of the courtyard was the altar of sacrifice, and in back of the courtyard was another building.
Inside the smaller building was a room that contained many things. It had a minora that would burn incenses, there was a table to place the grain and bread offerings.
In the back of this room was the holy of Holies. The Most sacred place of the temple. It contained the ark of the covenant where the lord dwelled.
Again, let me direct your attention to the top-right corner of the slide where you can see the size in comparison to an American football field.
You can see that it is definitely bigger but not that much bigger than the tent.
The temple brought order to the worship of the lord.
the “presence” resided full time in the ark at the center of the temple, and rarely, if ever came out.
The people were less afraid, because they now had separation from His presence, and they could worship without being utterly terrified.
This temple was destroyed in the 700’s BC by the babylonians.
But for several decades before Jesus was born, Herod the great was constructing a new temple that was still under construction during the time of Jesus’ ministry.

Here is a comparison.

Herod’s temple was much larger, look at the comparison in the bottom right-hand corner.
It was considered one of the man-made wonders of the world.
It had solid gold adornments along the roof, and it had intricated depictions of the garden of Eden along its sides that were also inlayed with gold
Ancient writers claimed that it was absolutely stunning, even in the state of construction that it was in.
It was extremely large and extravagant in every way.
It is clear that Herod was trying to make a statement,
but I think it was because he did not have a rightful claim to the throne and he was trying to placate the jews.

To summarize the Old Testament typology

The bread from heaven is a metaphor that has been with us from the beginning of this story.
Bread and wine have always been given as a way to give thanks for God’s goodness, and providence
The images of the priest (and king) have always been part of the offering of thanks
The temple (and altar), have been the dwelling place of the lord, and the center of our right worship from the beginning.
Gods plan from the very beginning was to bring us back into communion with Him, not to be in fear of Him.
In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve had perfect communion with Him, The walked with Him and knew him personally.
When they fell to the temptation of sin, all of that changed.
The fall in the garden created a cizm (schism) between us and God
That cizm (schism) was our attachment to sin.
We cannot be in sin, and also be in God’s presence.
Our sin put us so far away from Him, it created a distance that we could not fix ourselves. Only God could bridge that gap
So, in starting the story of salvation he created the plan and method to bring us back into communion with Him
It begins with fear and trembling
slowly moves into organized worship
And then finally becomes systematized into ritualistic sacrifice in the temple.
But God was not finished there, He wants full communion with us, He wants to bring us all back into the garden, and reclaim what was lost in the original sin.
That is where Jesus comes in, that is how Jesus bridges the gap that we created by our sin.

Ultimately, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is…

The fulfillment of every prophecy.
The satisfaction of every sacrifice.
The great high priest that offers Himself for the life of the world I want to explain each of these further…

The entire old testament history and prophecy has foretold the coming of Jesus and All of Jesus’ life foreshadowed what He planned to do in the fulfillment of the eucharist.

At his conception God’s presence (in the form of Jesus) enters into this world through the womb of Mary, the new ark of the covenant.
He is born in a small town called Bethlehem (translated: house of bread)
He is laid in a manger (translated: feeding trough) for all of the world to come see.
At Cana He shows us that he is the source of superabundance, by making water into wine.
At the last supper He instituted the eucharist, and gave us His body as the bread from heaven that will bring eternal life.

He is the satisfaction of all of the previous sacrifices.

In the eucharist, He represents the answer and the fulfillment of all of the offerings made in the temple.
His sacrifice on the cross is the one sacrifice that fulfills all sacrificial offerings made before…
He gives himself completely to us who are to receive it wholly.
not just the priests of the temple/church but all of us who are in communion with Him.

He is the great high priest that offers Himself for the world

Jesus offers himself to reconcile our sins with the Lord.
The loving promise of that reconciliation is made real in His sacrifice on the cross
The forgiveness that he promised is completed by our participation in the mass
And through that participation, we become the new dwelling place (temple) of the Lord, and Jesus now comes to dwell inside of us.

It gives me goosebumps when you actually consider how this all has come to fulfillment.
So you may be saying to yourself, that is a great but how do we know this to be true?
The answer is: Because Jesus told us from his own mouth. And then He proved it.
The second part of John 6 explains this better than anything.
I am going to have you help me read it, so please open your bibles to john 6, starting in verse 25
This is the quintessential work on the what the Eucharist is, and how we are to commune with it.
For a little background on this chapter
it starts with the feeding of the five thousand
then Jesus walks on water.
After they get off the boats they find Jesus and He explains what the eucharist is.
This explanation is what we call the bread of life discourses
Let’s read through these discourses together in six parts.

Part 1 — v.25 – 31

And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

Jesus begins his discourse by laying out the 3 Main points that he wants them to understand, and he will repeat them several times in this chapter, these points are His explanation of the what the eucharist is.
These 3 points are not immediately obvious in this first section but they will become so as we continue along.
The 3 points are:

Your fathers ate manna in the desert and were filled for a day, The Lord will give you food that will last forever.
Jesus IS the food that came down from heaven, He who believes this will not hunger and will not thirst
You must eat His body and drink His blood if you want eternal life.

The Jews response is that they do not understand and so they ask for a sign so they can believe.

They are still worked up about the miracle of the feeding of 5000, and want to see another miracle.

Part 2 — v.32 – 42

So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen [me], you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day.” The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus says the same 3 points again
this is the second time that he has repeated his message.
But the message is becoming more clear now
The Jews for their part are still confused, and ask how can this be, they “murmur” about how he is just a man
murmuring is translated as grumbling, showing verbal discontent.
They clearly don’t like what they are hearing, and are growing impatient.

Part 3 — v.43 – 52

Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living 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.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?”

Jesus says the same 3 points
This is now the 3rd time
His language is getting very clear now.
The Jews now are quarreling and say how can he give us his “flesh” to eat.
they are getting really angry, and verbally arguing with each other.
Understanding the original greek is really helpful here…
In greek there are two words that can be used for "body." They are Soma and Sarx.
The word "soma" means "body", meaning any type physical body.
The other word for “body” is "sarx", which literally means "mortal flesh".
The word used in this passage it is "sarx."
Jesus very clearly wants us to know that this is not a metaphor or a symbol, He is clearly stating that if you want eternal life you must eat His mortal flesh, and drink His mortal blood.
The Ignatius study bible is really helpful in understanding this point. It explains that the mortal flesh that He gives is not like our human flesh, but far greater and higher than we could ever imagine:
“Jesus gives us, not his mortal flesh as it was during his earthly ministry, but his glorified humanity as it was after rising from the dead. This is why he calls himself the ‘living bread’”
and continuing on…
“Drinking the blood of animals is forbidden under the Old Covenant. To do so is to consume ‘life’ that is merely natural and of a lower order than human life. Jesus' injunction does not fall under these prohibitions. The ‘life’ he imparts is not natural but supernatural; it does not pull us down to the level of animals; it elevates us to become sharers in his divine nature”

Part 4 — v.53-60

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.” These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

he repeats his 3 points again
this is now the 4th time
And now is message is unmistakable.
But it is the disciples now not just the jews that are having trouble with this saying
But Jesus clearly wants us to think about this and struggle with it, because it is the source and summit of our faith.
Proof is found again, in the greek word that was used here. The Greek word used for "eat" in this instance is "trōgōn." This word literally means to gnaw, munch, crunch, like a lion chewing on the carcas of a gazelle, out on the African savanna.
This is not prim and proper ”tea with the queen.” This is hard, difficult chewing, a struggle...
God does not want zombies following him, he wants disciples that love Him and believe in Him, and would walk through fire for Him.
secondly, when Jesus says “live forever” here he is using a Hebrew expression that is only used twice in the whole bible,
Here and once in the Greek version of Genesis.
The comparison thus implied here (again from the Ignatius Study Bible) is between “the ‘Tree of Life’, [in the garden of eden,] which bore the fruit of immortality, and the ‘Bread of Life’, which tradition calls the medicine of immortality”
If you missed the significance of that quote, let me explain! Adam and eve abandoned the “tree of life” in the garden of Eden and chose their own sin over God’s will for their lives. God then sends Jesus to reconcile that sin, and bring us back into the garden. He does this by His sacrifice on the cross, in the mystical gift of His life for us, Jesus becomes the new “tree of life,” and He offers us the “fruit of immortality” in his body, the eucharist.

Part 5 — v.61-66

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Now Jesus gives his final argument, This is actually the 5th time he is confirming His true teaching.
This again is not immediately obvious, but analyzing His words helps us to understand.
Jesus says: “It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.”
This line is used by some protestants to claim that Jesus was actually trying to bring back those that were leaving by saying it was just a metaphor.
But when you actually understand the real meaning of the translated words here, you will understand that this is actually a fifth time that Jesus reaffirms his message of the eucharist and that you must eat it to have eternal life.
The word used here for “flesh” in Greek is again “sarx”, which means “mortal flesh”,
the word used for “spirit” is “pneuma” which means the “holy spirit” or “the breath of life”,
and the word used for “life” is “zoe” which translated means “supernatural life” the life that we hope to have in heaven with God.
When you also notice that Jesus says here “the flesh” not “my flesh” it is clear that He is saying, that nothing in this world will give you eternal life, It is only His words, and the clear teaching He has given, that you must eat His real body, and drink His real blood, in order to attain eternal life. ——
The Jews at this point are now indignant, and all leave…
and Jesus lets them go.
He never backs down.
He never says "hey! you misunderstood me, that was just a metaphor, come back..."
He is as serious about all this as a heart attack.

Part 6 — v.67-71

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?” He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve.

Jesus asks the apostles if they will leave too?
Peter answers for us all, and gives us the very best response, “you have the words of eternal life, to whom would we go.”
And this is in fact, the only way to respond to any of Jesus’ hard sayings, by making a spiritual act of trust and faith.
It is the only answer that we can give, when we confront a mystery or hard saying.

To Summarize

Jesus while He was with us in His human body was the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament typology and prophesy.
His is the new bread from heaven, the eucharist.
His body is the new temple of the presence of the lord.
He is the great high priest that offers himself as the bread that will bring eternal life for the world.
But After His death and resurrection... Today in our Mass… he is still present in the form of the Eucharist
Jesus is still the bread from heaven that came down from heaven.
But “We” are now the new temple and tabernacle of the Lord that holds his presence inside us
(for a time),
and that fact changes us from the inside out.
But it is our priests that now serve “in persona christi” as the high priest,
and we participate in that same sacrifice that Jesus offered on the cross.

Incredible! But that whole paradigm depends on one thing…, We must, in good faith and full belief, eat His body and drink his blood if we hope to have this eternal life.

Do you believe this?

We have 4000 years of old testament teaching, that tells the story of salvation from the Fall to the coming of Jesus.
It foretells that the there will be a messiah (Christ), that will come and fulfill all of the prophecy.
Jesus then is born miraculously, lived a perfect life, and taught the right way to live, and the right way to worship God.
We have the writings of the new testament, and the teachings of Jesus that confirm that He fulfilled ALL of those prophesies
(not a small achievement by the way).
And we have Jesus himself, tell us (on many occasions) that He is the son of God, that he will be killed and rise again.
And most importantly Jesus did just that!
Think about this,
He foretold he was going to die,
He died in the most horrible of ways imaginable.
He was totally dead,
not just mostly dead like in princess bride,
and then after 3 days, he rose from the dead.
That is how we know that all of His teachings are true. No one else has that pedigree, no one has ever lived a life like Jesus, and NO ONE has ever raised themselves from the dead. NO ONE!
So, How do we know this is true, because Jesus said so, and because He proved it.
Now the more important question is what are you going to do with this information. Are you going to deny and reject it, and go back to your old way of life, or are you going to be born again into the knowledge of who Jesus is, and what the eucharist is, and allow it to utterly change your life in conformity to Jesus and his teachings?
Jesus said that I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the father except by me.
And that “by me” is the eucharist.
It is the source and summit of our faith and it is the ultimate pinnacle of right worship. It is the answer to every prayer, and it is the perfection of every sacrifice.
But more importantly than anything else it is REAL! It is the real body, blood, soul and divinity of our lord Jesus Christ, made present in this world. It is the miracle of the mass, and the only place in the world, right now, where you can physically touch Jesus!
St. Maximilian Kolbe said: “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion”. —
It is everything, and it is the greatest gift that God ever gave man kind.
My sincere wish for every one of you, is that you can come to believe what I believe about the eucharist, and in that belief, it will utterly change your life.

-- Deus Vult

Discussion Questions

The miracle of transubstantiation changes the substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. This truth requires faith because the accidents of bread and wine do not change. What are the challenges or questions your have about the process? What do you understand about this process? What do you struggle to understand? Do you have trouble believing?
Jesus Was born into this world, lived, and taught us how to find our way into heaven. He prophesied his death, and resurrection, and then he did it. These facts are some of the most well attested historical facts that we know. What are the things that you wrestle with about who Jesus was, what he taught us and how he lived his life. Do you reject the historical facts of his life and teachings? Why
If you except that Jesus is who He said He was, and that in giving us the eucharist, that He assures us that it is His real body and blood, How does that change the way you look at your life, and your relationship with God? What are the stumbling blocks that are preventing you from fully believing this and coming into full communion with our Lord in the Eucharist.

Jesse Waitz