Originally posted by ZooMom
No, Joe. Remember, *just* eating the Eucharist is not sufficient. If you do not believe that Christ is truly Present in the bread and wine, and receive anyway from false motivation (ie. eating this bread will keep me from going to hell), you are doing yourself more harm than good. It is better for you to honestly refrain than dishonestly partake.
I would like to add to this and put some of this in theological and historical perspective. All Bible quotations are from the Revised Standard Version.
The day after Jesus fed the multitudes (note, with in part, bread), the Jews found Him and asked Jesus to perform a sign for them. As a challenge, they remarked that their forefathers had been given manna to eat in the desert. As we see, "bread" has always been equated with Life and God and at the time of Christ, held special meaning.
Jesus told them that the real bread from Heaven (which is what manna was) comes from the Father, not from Moses. They responded: "Lord, give us this bread always." (Jn 6:34). Note that their request was ALWAYS.
Jesus responded to them: "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." (Jn 6:35). The Jews were taken aback by Jesus' claim that He was the bread which came down from Heaven. They thought He was being metaphorical and didn't really understand. So Jesus clarified it, in no uncertain terms: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I give for the life of the world is my flesh." (Jn 6:51).
Still, they didn't understand. Jesus clarified it yet again: "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; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (Jn 6:53-54).
These statements by Jesus foretold more than the Last Supper, after all, Jesus was not one to say things without deep reflection and meaning. Here, Jesus was also foretelling how it was that the living Church He would leave behind Him would use this as a means to bring people to Him (remember above: Jn 6:34 - "Lord, give us this bread
always"). The Eucharist is a tool, not an end. Notice how Jesus chose to use bread as His tool. Manna, the gift from God prior to His coming and to be the gift from God after His going (physically, of course) through the Church He established.
We don't take these statements literally in the sense that you must merely take of the Eucharist in order to be saved. For in order to receive the Eucharist, you must live according to Jesus' example and rules, which is the true path to Him. In order to receive the Eucharist, you must be without mortal sin and clear of conscience. You must believe that It is, in fact, the actual body and blood of Jesus, made so by the power of the Holy Spirit as instructed by Jesus.
When Jesus made these remarks (and many others), He made them in full knowledge of how the Church He would establish through Peter would operate (for all time until He would return). He knew His Church would follow his instructions to celebrate the Eucharist and how it would be that people would participate in receiving it. How wonderful a gift! Jesus knew all that was and would be.
As such, receiving the Eucharist (according to the rules) assures that we are living as Jesus intended, thereby keeping us on the path to eternal life. There is no easy way to Heaven. We must struggle every second against our nature.
God Bless and Stay Safe.
