Although Jesus is present in his Church in many ways, his presence in the Eucharist is special because this is where He is real, substantial, and complete.
Jesus taught that what was once bread and wine are not merely a symbol but are his true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The Church teaches that this occurs through a process called transubstantiation.
The Latin phrase for Body of Christ is Corpus Christi.
Beginning in France and extended to the Universal Church by Pope Urban VI in 1264, the sole purpose the Feast of Corpus Christi is to emphasize this real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist to Catholics every year.
Formally known as the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, this holy day was traditionally celebrated on the 60th day after Easter, a Thursday, but it is now usually celebrated on the following Sunday.
We receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus:
Real blood in the Old and New Testaments:
A mystical reality takes place at Mass:
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.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1376
Because Jesus told us:
“If it’s a symbol, to hell with it.”:
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from Heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
John 6: 47-51
The New Testament Manna must be greater than the old manna:
The Word of God can change existing matter:
The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our nourishment. When for the first time Jesus spoke of this food, his listeners were astonished and bewildered, which forced the Master to emphasize the objective truth of his words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you”. This is no metaphorical food: “My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed”
Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, April 17, 2003
Proof of a Eucharistic miracle from over 750 years ago:
Christ dwelling among us:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
A collective memory of faith:
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