everythingcatholic

The Eucharist His Personal Gift To Us

Scripture references for the Real Presence in the Eucharist:

Jn 6::27
Jn 6:31
Jn6: 34-35
Jn 6: 51-52
Jn 6: 53
Jn 6: 54-57
Cor. 11:23
Lk 22:19
Mt. 26:26
Mk 14:22

One of my goals is to present different works from different authors. Here are some quotes from three of my favorite Catholic Scholars on the subject of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist:

Kenneth Baker: The circumstances of the Last Supper itself give added reason for taking Christ’s words literally. It was his last meeting with his Apostles before going to his death; his last words were like his last will and testament. In such situations people speak clearly and openly , not symbolically. (pg 234 Fundamentals of Catholicism, Kenneth Baker, S.J.

Karl Keating writes: There was no attempt to soften what was said, no attempt to correct “misunderstandings”, for there were none. His listeners understood him quite well. No one any longer thought he was speaking metaphorically If they had why no correction? On other occasions, whenever there was confusion, Christ explained what he meant.
(pg 233, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, by Karl Keating)

And finally Scott Hahn: But after lots of prayer and study, I realized that Jesus could not have been speaking figuratively when he taught us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The Jews in his audience would not have been outraged and scandalized by a mere symbol. Besides, if they had misunderstood Jesus to be speaking literally when he meant his words to be taken figuratively he could have easily clarified his point.
(pg 50 Rome Sweet Home, by Dr. Scott Hahn)

A recurring theme here is if Christ was talking figuratively in his dialog with his followers and the Jews, knowing full well how some of his audiences would get upset about this topic and the eating of the flesh, why did he not clarify the point. He does not clarify this because he was talking literally. Such clarity in the three above arguments for this point just hit home. If you are going to read a book about the topic, probably one of the easiest scholars to understand, is Dr. Scott Hahn. I think the reason is because Dr. Hahn is a teacher and is use to getting his point across to young people. His writing does not get too technical. He writes his books in easy to understand language. I applaud him for this and encourage all to pick up one of his books. One of my dreams is to meet this man. One dream at a time.

Vern Paul
Catholicamericatoday.net

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