Is the Eucharist really the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?

Answer 1

Catholics believe in transubstantiation, that is, in the transformation of bread and wine into the real Body and Blood of Christ when the words of consecration are pronounced over them by a priest with valid orders with the intention to do so.

This doctrine needs some explanation: transubstantiation means that the substance changes, not the accidents. That is, the accidents or appearance of bread and wine remain, however, the substance is now that of Christ's flesh and blood. Thus Catholics truly consume the accidents of bread, i.e. looks like it, tastes like it, smells like it, crumbles like it, etc., however they also receive the substance of Christ's Body and Blood. The miracle of transubstantiation therefore lies not in it being Christ's Body and Blood, but in that the accidents of bread and wine remain without their substance. This substantial change without the conforming accidents is miraculous and is not duplicated in nature.

Answer 2

This is know in as transubstantiation: The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly His Body that He was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation." (Council of Trent {1551}: Denzinger-Schonmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum {1965}; cf. Mt 26:26 ff.; Mk 14:22 ff.; Lk22:19 ff.; 1 Cor 11:24)

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The early Christians who were called Apostles and Disciples back then started believing it when Our Blessed Lord told them. Most of His Disciples left because of it, and He then turned to His Apostles and asked if they wanted to leave as well! St. Peter asked Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the Words of Eternal Life." Our Blessed Lord insists over and over again that this is really His Body and His Blood, and He insists on this truth even to all of his disciples leaving Him. Read the whole sixth chapter of St. John, but particularly verses 47-72 where He keeps telling them in different ways that He is the living bread and that they must eat THIS. The first half of the chapter is important as well, as it sets the stage for the Bread of Life Discourse.

Answer 3

We humans are "real" flesh and "real" blood. When Christ lived, he assumed human flesh and blood; he sacrificed himself on the cross. But the night before, he broke bread, and blessed bread and wine in a symbolic act that represented his own "body and blood". The wafers today are wheat, oil, and water mixed together and baked lightly. Grape Juice or wine is used. It is not "real" flesh and blood, but symbols of it. Through that symbolism. we recall Jesus Christ, his life, his teachings, and that he died for us.

Answer 4

Protestant Churches say that the Eucharist is only symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church says that the Eucharist really is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, through a process it calls 'transubstantiation', although it retains the physical properties of the bread and wine.