Eucharist & the Sacraments | cruxchfaithformation

Apologetics Minute: The Eucharist & the Sacraments

"Babies can't consciously choose to follow Jesus, why does the Catholic Church baptize infants?"

It should be understood that the purpose of Baptism is not to consciously choose to follow Jesus (though this often leads to one's Baptism), but to receive God's grace. Jesus tells us that we must be born from above into God's family with water and the Spirit in John 3:3, 5. The purpose of His redemptive work is to restore our relationship with God as children by adoption (Rom. 8:15). We must be like children if we are to inherit the kingdom in Mat. 18:3. Receiving God's grace even in infancy is certainly biblical. In his mother's womb, St. John the Baptist received an outpouring of grace when Jesus was near (Luke 1:44). In Acts 16:15, Lydia accepted Christianity and had her entire household baptized as well. There are also many other early Christian documents outlining the practice of infant baptism.

“Why must Catholics fast for at least one hour before receiving the Eucharist?”

Catholics are expected to fast one hour before receiving the Eucharist because of something St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians, whereupon he said, “Everyone ought to examine themselves,” before one, “eat[s] of the bread and drink[s] of the cup,” and that those who eat without “discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves” (1 Cor. 11:28-29). This practice also follows what Jesus said, quoting Deut. 8:3, that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4), and Jesus is “the Word” that “became flesh” (John 1:14). By fasting, we are acknowledging the insufficiency of “bread alone,” and our need for the “bread of life,” Who is Jesus (John 6:35).

“What does the Catholic Church believe the Eucharist to be?”

The Catholic Church believes the Eucharist, a word that means Thanksgiving, is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This belief is called the Real Presence of Jesus. The Catholic Church believes in the “Real Presence” for many reasons, but primarily because of John 6:22 – 71. Here, Jesus is using the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 (Jn. 6:1 – 15) and the Old Testament story of “bread from heaven” (Ex. 16), to show His disciples that He is the “bread of life” (Jn. 6:35, 48) and the “living bread…from heaven” (6:51). Jesus also says His “flesh is true food” in 6:55. While many claim that Jesus is speaking metaphorically, this doesn’t follow the context. If it is metaphorical, when some disciples said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (6:60) and “no longer accompanied him [Jesus]” (6:66), Jesus would have stopped them and clarified His meaning. A metaphorical understanding of the phrase “eat my flesh” would have meant Jesus wanted His followers to disparage His reputation, which does not make sense in this context at all. When asked why the Catholic Church believes the Eucharist truly is Jesus, simply say, “Because Jesus said so.”