I recently heard there was a poll done questioning Catholics about their belief in the true presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Around 70% said they believe that the Eucharist is just a symbol, that they do not believe in transubstantiation and that Jesus’s Body and Blood are concealed within the Host and Wine. At first this shocked me, but only for a second because it actually makes sense.
So many of us were never properly catechized by the Church or by our parents. I had no idea about this truth until I was in my early 30’s. There are many reasons for this lack of knowledge which I won’t go into right now. To make matters worse, we are now living in a time of advanced science, relativism and a bunch of other isms that lead to skepticism. And let’s face it, it was a hard teaching 2000 years ago for Jesus’ followers as well. Let’s read what Jesus had to say.
John 6:52-55 – The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” 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.
With those words we see many of his followers becoming more upset with what He was saying.
John 6:60 – Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Finally we see the result.
John 6:66 – As a result many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
They walked away, they knew what he said and many of them rejected it. He didn’t try to stop them. He could have said, no wait a minute, you misunderstood, but He didn’t. He let them leave.
It was a hard teaching during the reformation just over 500 years ago and it’s a hard teaching to this day. Who in their right mind would believe that Jesus would allow through the hands of his priests to turn bread and wine into His body and blood? You bet it’s hard. But the reality is many Saints, followers and lovers of Jesus have died over the last 2000 years to defend this truth.
I chose the title Just Behind the Mystical Veil for this blog because I believe with all of my heart the main reason people have lost their faith is because by and large we no longer believe in the miraculous. Our spiritual senses have been dulled. We’re all skeptics. It’s good to be skeptical to a certain degree, as long as we are hearts are open to the possibilities. I know there isn’t anything I could write that will add to what has already been written, there isn’t any new information per say. But I feel the need to write none the less. Because of modern science we have found that some miracles of the Eucharist around the world are scientifically proving some pretty amazing truths. The Veil is thin for those who truly believe.
As I share some stories with you, that many of may have never heard before, I hope your hearts are open and the Veil thins for you as well.
If anyone would like to understand a little more history about how the first disciples of Christ did believe what Jesus said, I would highly recommend a book written by Brant Pitre titled Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. I couldn’t put it down and he digs into the history of the Jewish faith through ancient history to help explain how this made perfect sense to the Jewish people whose hearts were open to hear it.
Just behind the Mystical Veil 