What does it mean when Catholics say 'unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life within you'?

Answer 1

Catholics believe that Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. To "eat [His] body and drink [His] blood" is to receive the Catholic Eucharist. This gift of grace is life-giving.

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AnswerWhen a Catholic says "unless you eat My Body and drink My Blood you have no life in you" he is quoting from St. John's Gospel, chapter 6, verse 53: "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; (54) he who east my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. In the original Greek the first time Our Blessed Lord refers to eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood, he uses common, ordinary eating terms. When the Jews object, Our Blessed Lord raises the ante and uses words for gnaw and chew, and the word He uses for flesh indicates flesh-meat. In other words, by repeating this verse, the Catholic is pointing out the impossibility of thinking that Our Blessed Lord is speaking only spiritually. The Jews tried that approach and Our Blessed Lord rebuked them in the most down to earth way that refers to the feeding of animals such as mules, pigs, and cattle.