Cannibalistic Catholicism

So here's the accusation that began in the early days of Christianity. It was also a charge the Romans made during their persecution of Christians. Maybe you have heard it yourself.

Cannibalism! That’s right, Catholics are cannibalistic at the Mass. What?

Well, Catholics do say that when they receive communion that they are receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus. If this is true doesn't that make them cannibals? It must because eating human flesh is cannibalism, right?

Pretty strong accusation especially since most people don't believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

OK, so let's look at this...

The first thing to point out is that a cannibal is a human that eats human flesh.
Jesus came to Earth in human form so He could live among us, suffer, and die for our sins. On Earth Jesus had two natures, He was fully human and fully divine. He was God and man. Jesus, in His human nature died on the cross. But it was His Divine nature that rose from the dead. After His resurrection He ascended into Heaven in His glorified and divine form. So, when we receive the Eucharist (communion) we are receiving Jesus in His Divine form, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We do not receive the human Jesus. The amount of human flesh is finite and therefore would be quickly exhausted. The Divine Body of Jesus is infinite and can never be exhausted. So, there is a never-ending supply of Jesus for all-time.

Why do we do this, why do we say that we eat the Body and drink the Blood of Jesus? The easy, first answer is because He told the Apostles to do it at the Last Supper.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mark 14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

Luke 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

There we have five examples where Jesus is telling the Apostles to eat His Body and drink His Blood in remembrance of Him. The Apostles were, from that moment commissioned as priests to spread the Word, make disciples, and share with the world, His Blood and His Body. Now for more direct and even more convincing words from Jesus, let’s go to John Chapter six, where we find Jesus again commands us to eat His Body and drink His Blood. Jesus commanded that for someone to enter Heaven and have eternal life they MUST eat His Body and drink His Blood.

John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Jesus said that He IS the Bread of Life. He did not say he was a symbol of bread. He said “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” He did not say that unless you pretend that you are eating my flesh and drinking my blood you have no life in you. No, He stated several times that you must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Do you really think He would allow over five thousand of His followers to leave over a simple misunderstanding? Of course not! They knew exactly what he was saying and it was too much for them to accept. Jewish law strictly forbade the consumption of blood. That is why they left, plus I expect some of them were a bit shocked and possibly even grossed out because of the words Jesus used. Seeing that His followers had left because they could not accept what He was saying Jesus asked the Apostles if they would leave Him as well. Peter replied, that there was nowhere else to go because Jesus had the words of eternal life. What were these words? One good example of those words is; “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Here we must also look at verse 53; Then Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” Anytime Jesus started something with ‘Verily, verily’ or ‘Amen, amen’ that statement was to be taken very seriously. He means for you to listen and understand the importance of whatever follows.

Six times Jesus says we must eat His body at first He uses the word ‘phago’ that simply means ‘to eat’, and can sometimes be used symbolically, but as the people started to complain He got more graphic and used the word ‘trogo’ which means ‘chew’ or ‘gnaw’ like an animal tearing into its prey. Trogo is literal, it is never used symbolically anywhere in the Bible, or in ancient literature.

From the Old Testament: When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, to prevent the angel of death from killing their first-born child, they were told to kill a lamb and put its blood on their doors and then they had to eat the lamb. They had to eat the lamb because God commanded them to eat it. They could not eat a symbol of a lamb or pretend to eat lamb. As Scott Hahn said in his book The Lamb’s Supper; if they did not like the taste of lamb, they could not bake cookies in the shape of a lamb and eat it instead.

Therefore we must eat the real Jesus. This is not make-believe, this is straight from the words of Jesus.

Whenever the Apostles did not understand something that Jesus said He would explain it to them. But this time He did not explain it because there was no misunderstanding. Here is one example from Matthew, Jesus is explaining something that the Apostles misunderstood.

Matthew 16:5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

The Apostles thought Jesus was scolding them because they forgot to bring something for them to eat. He was in fact warning them about the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees was not bread, it was their doctrine. They understood the law and they taught the law but thought they were above the law. Their doctrine was pretty much “do as I say, not as I do”. Jesus explained this to the Apostles because they did not understand what He was saying. So, for something that had so much impact on the followers of Jesus, and was so disturbing to all that heard it, He would have cleared up any misunderstanding if there had been a misunderstanding. But there wasn’t, so He didn’t.

In the fourth chapter of the Gospel of St. Mark it says:

33 - And with many such parables, he spoke to them [the crowds] the word, according as they were able to hear.

34 - And without parable he did not speak unto them; but apart, he explained all things to his disciples.

Jesus spoke to the the people who followed him in parables, but apart from the crowds He explained everything He said to the Apostles. Again this shows that Jesus would explain what He meant. "Eat my Body" and "Drink my Blood" needed no explanation because everyone there knew exactly what He was saying.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians had some pretty strong words if the Eucharist is only a symbol.

1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

Paul says anyone that eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily “shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” What would it matter if it were only symbolic? Could you be guilty of a cracker and grape juice? What would you have to examine about yourself to determine if you are worthy a simple cracker or a piece of bread and a little cup of grape juice. That would actually be silly if Paul had meant that you must determine if you are worthy of a cracker. No, it has to mean so much more than that. I would venture to say that it has to mean exactly what it says; “the Body and Blood of the Lord”.

Nowhere in the Bible can it be found that Jesus or His Apostles were talking symbolically when they spoke of eating His Body and drinking his Blood. In fact, to the contrary, each instance confirms the meaning of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in relation to the bread and the wine. Through the power of the Holy Ghost the bread and wine become the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Of course the accusation of cannibalism can actually work in our favour, because of the obvious contradiction in the words of the accusers. If it were only a cracker and grape juice there could be nothing for them to call cannibalistic. So, are those that make the accusation that we are cannibals acknowledging that there really is something more to this Eucharist than they are willing to admit?

Even if we are not accused of cannibalism, there are still unbelievers. It is more common to be told that it is only a symbol.

Using logic and reason it is clear that there are only two reasonable conclusions we can take from this.

1. He is the Son of God who gave us His Body and Blood to consume so that we can have everlasting life.

2. He is insane and should have been locked for His own safety and the                safety of others.

As a Catholic I have made my choice, how about you?

I, however do not understand something. Try a simple Q&A with some of the nonbelievers of Jesus in the Eucharist and maybe you see what I mean.

Q: How many days did it take God to complete the heavens and the Earth?

A: Six, and then He rested on the seventh day.

Q: Was that seven literal 24 hour days?

A: Yes, everything in the Bible is literal.

Q: How many days was Jonah in the belly of the fish?

A: Three.

Q: Was that three literal 24 hour days?

A: Yes, everything in the Bible is literal

Q: How long was Noah on the Ark?

A: Forty days and forty nights.

Q: Actual forty calendar days and nights?

A: Yes, everything in the Bible is literal

Q: What did Jesus mean by “Eat My flesh and drink My blood”?

A: He meant that we are to remember Him at the Last Supper.

Q: I thought everything in the Bible was literal?

A: It is, that’s literally how He meant it.

Q: But He literally said “Eat My flesh and drink My blood”?

A: Yeah, but He did not actually mean it literally.

Wow! These responses, this (logic?) has always left me baffled. 

+JMJ+