A Question for My Protestant Brothers and Sisters…

Naturally, I am Catholic. A fundamental belief of the Catholic Church is the Real Presence of the Eucharist. This belief is that Jesus Christ dwells truly and really in the Eucharist; Body Blood and Soul Divinity. The bread and wine BECOMES the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is not a metaphor, symbol, analogy, etc. The Person of Jesus King of Kings Lord of Lords becomes present in the Eucharist from the consecration of the matter until the integrity of the matter is disposed of through purification or digestion.

My question to my protestant brothers and sisters who do not share this belief in the true presence is this: How is the faith improved with a symbolic interpretation of the presence? The belief in the true presence was unrivaled for centuries. Early Christians were arrested on charges of cannibalisms due to this teaching. It wasn’t until the second millennia that there were significant challenges. Even still, those challenges were answered with the Fourth Lateran Council 1215 AD when they defined Transubstantiation being the process that the bread and wine becomes the body blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus of Nazareth known as the Christ. However, the Protestant Reformation insisted on a symbolic interpretation… for what benefit?

We just celebrated the feast of the Epiphany in the Catholic Church. God was incarnate in the flesh. He is our Emmanuel. He was born as witnessed by the Magi of the East. Emmanuel means God is with us. Throughout the Old testament there is prophecies of a Messiah. Prophecies that God Himself will shepherd his people. (Ezekiel 34:11-31) I believe that the teaching of the True Presence fulfills the prophecy. While teaching a symbolic understanding makes that prophecy underwhelming at best.

The teaching of the True Presence fills me with a wonder, mystery, and beauty unrivaled by earthly pleasures. God Himself is there hidden in the accidents of the bread and wine. The God that I know wants to live with us. Since the time of Adam and Eve God walked in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. (Genesis 3:8) It caused God distressed when He discovered Adam and Eve was hiding from Him. Since the time of Moses God dwelt in the Tent of Meeting and in the Ark of the Covenant. (Exodus 40:34-38). The ark brought confidence and consolation to the people of Israel even till the time of David. It was Solomon who made a Temple for God’s presence to dwell. He even said, “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).

The Jewish people believed God was present in their Temple. They even had the bread of presence in their temple worship. (Exodus 25:30) Yes, they can pray to God. Yes, God is omnipresent and is everywhere at once. A priest put it best and said, “There’s water in the atmosphere, but if you want a drink then go to the well.” God in his abundant mercy and Love makes Himself present in concrete ways such as the Ark of the Covenant, Tent of Meeting, Temple of Solomon, and (I truly want to believe) in the Eucharist. But then protestants will say it is a symbol . . . how is that better?

I am able to meet the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the Eucharist. I am able to become a tabernacle when I consume the Body and Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Mary was pregnant with the Creator of the Universe for 9 months. That same God dwells in me for the hour it takes to digest the Eucharist. That is a profound intimacy and miraculous gift that makes me cry out as the centurion did, “Lord I am not worthy that you enter under my roof!” (Matthew 8:8-13) My entire week is centered on how to receive the Eucharist better. How can I prepare the temple of my Body to truly become a Temple where God Himself dwells? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Then I try to imagine that same bread as a symbol. It becomes a farce. The protestant services that I’ve been to rarely emphasize the communion bread. The bread becomes optional. It’s almost forgotten amidst the sermon, and songs, and general gathering. For justifiable reasons, it is just bread after all and nothing more than a symbol. How is that better? Flannery O’Conner has a spicy take saying, “If it’s just a symbol, then to Hell with it.”

I fail to see how treating the Eucharist as a symbol is better. Personally, I prefer to see the Eucharist as truly present. Because Jesus is Emmanuel. He wants to have a personal relationship with me and all of those willing to follow His Father’s commandments. That relationship that I have with Jesus Christ is consummated every time I worthily receive the Eucharist at Mass. Jesus is the Bride Groom and the Church is His bride. The Eucharist truly present gives a daily witness to how much God truly loves His people.