I received an inquiry by email this morning that I thought would make a good post:
Dear Sir,
I viewed your
interview on the Journey Home on EWTN. I was a catholic till the age of 58 and
have since moved on. I would like to know how would you justify worshiping the
Eucharist in the light of the 1st commandment, are you not worshiping a created
God ?
Thank you
_________________________
_________________________
My
response:
First, thank you for contacting me. I think you have actually provided the answer
to your own question:
In the Eucharist I worship Jesus. Now, a Jewish person
in the first century would say that anyone who worshiped Jesus was guilty of violating
the First Commandment - "worshiping a created
God." The moment that the all-holy ("holy" meaning
"completely separate") God became a man, and the apostles worshiped
Him (see Mt.28:17; Jn.20:27-28), we Christians became susceptible to such a
charge.
You and I of course know that this charge is false,
because the man we are worshiping is God and man, so the worship that we extend
to Him in the flesh is no sin. On the
contrary, to understand that this man is God, and to fail to render Him the
worship He is due, would be sinful. The Catholic Church holds, as it has since Christ
founded her, that Jesus' words, "This is My Body ... this is My Blood," transform the bread and wine presented in the
Eucharist - at a level far deeper than our senses or instruments can register - into His Body
and Blood. This is the SAME Body and
Blood that the Apostles worshiped in union with His Divinity.
This is really a continuation of the original
"scandal" of the Incarnation- the thought that the eternal God would take
flesh and die upon a Cross was a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles
(1 Cor.1:23-25); but we Christians recognize it as the wisdom and power of
God. Our belief in the Eucharist flows
directly from this: We believe that the
God Who abased Himself to the point of being born as an infant in Bethlehem
(the name means "House of Bread") and laid in a feeding trough for
animals (Lk.2:16), loves us to the point of giving us the flesh and blood He assumed
- along with His Divinity - as food for our bodies and souls.
This was the difficult teaching that caused
"many of his disciples" to abandon Him (Jn.6:60). Jesus insisted on it to the point of requiring
assent to it from the Apostles, "Do you take offense at this? What if you were to see the Son of Man
ascending where He was before?" (Jn.6:61-62). Jesus' teaching has always been a difficult
one for people to wrap their heads around, this teaching that the SAME flesh He
offered in sacrifice upon the Cross is given to us, to bring us into Communion
with Himself and the Father (Jn.6:51).
This is what St. Paul reiterated, "Consider the practice of Israel;
are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? ... The cup
of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body
of Christ? (1 Cor 10:18,16).
The most powerful words on this point of course come
from our Lord Himself, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless you eat [“phogein” in Greek, the usual verb for “eat”] the
flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you; he
who eats [“trogein” in Greek, meaning “to munch or gnaw”] my flesh and drinks
my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real
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 live because of the Father, so the one
who feeds on me will live because of me.” (John 6:53-56, NIV)
This Eucharistic Flesh we worship is the Flesh of
the God-Man, and that is why it cannot be an act of idolatry. Is that at all helpful?
Your brother in Christ,
Shane
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