{"id":30603,"date":"2024-08-25T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T04:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=30603"},"modified":"2026-02-03T21:32:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T04:32:05","slug":"real-food-real-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/real-food-real-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Food, Real Presence","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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IF\u00a0<\/strong>we seek Jesus, the Beloved, we should seek Him where He is. And where He is, is there,\u00a0on the altars of His Church<\/em>. Why then is He not surrounded by thousands of believers every day in the Masses said throughout the world? Is it because even we <\/em>Catholics no longer believe that His Body is Real Food and His Blood, Real Presence?<\/p>\n

It was the most controversial thing He ever said during His three year ministry. So controversial that, even today, there are millions of Christians throughout the world who, though they profess Him as Lord, do not accept His teaching on the Eucharist. And so, I’m going to lay out His words here, clearly, and then conclude by showing that what He taught is what the early Christians believed and professed, what the early Church handed on, and what the Catholic Church, therefore, continues to teach 2000 years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I encourage you, whether you’re a faithful Catholic, a Protestant, or whomever, to take this little journey with me to stoke the fires of your love, or to find Jesus for the first time where He is<\/em>. Because at the end of this, there is no other conclusion to be had… He is Real Food, Real Presence among us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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JESUS: REAL FOOD<\/p>\n

In the Gospel of John, the day after Jesus had fed thousands through the multiplication of loaves and then walked on water, He was about to give some of them indigestion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you… (John 6:27)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then He said:<\/p>\n

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…the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.\u201d So they said to him, \u201cSir, give us this bread always.\u201d Jesus said to them, \u201cI am the bread of life\u2026\u201d(John 6:32-34)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ah, what a lovely metaphor, what a superb symbol! At least it was\u2014until Jesus shocked their senses with the following words.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. (v. 51) <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wait a minute. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?\u201d, they asked among themselves. Was Jesus implying a new religion of… cannibalism? No, He wasn’t. But His next words hardly set them at ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. (v. 54)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Greek word used here,\u00a0\u03c4\u03c1\u03ce\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd (tr\u014dg\u014d),\u00a0<\/i>means to literally “gnaw or chew.” And if that wasn’t enough to convince them of His\u00a0literal\u00a0<\/em>intentions, He continued:<\/p>\n

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For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. (v. 55)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read that again. His flesh is\u00a0\u1f00\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u1ff6\u03c2, or “truly” food; His blood is\u00a0\u1f00\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u1ff6\u03c2, or “truly” drink. And so He continued…<\/p>\n

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…the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. (v. 57)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u03c4\u03c1\u03ce\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd or tr\u014dg\u014dn\u2014<\/i>literally “feeds.”\u00a0 Not\u00a0surprisingly, His own apostles finally said “This saying is hard<\/em>.”\u00a0Others, not in His inner circle, didn’t wait around for a reply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. (John 6:66<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But how on earth could His followers “eat” and “feed” on Him? \u00a0<\/p>\n

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JESUS: REAL SACRIFICE<\/p>\n

The answer came on the night that He was betrayed. In the Upper Room, Jesus looked into the eyes of His Apostles and said,\u00a0<\/p>\n

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I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer\u2026 (Luke 22:15)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Those were loaded words. Because we know that during Passover in the Old Testament, the Israelites ate a lamb<\/em> and marked their doorposts with its blood<\/em>. In this way, they were saved from the angel of death, the Destroyer who “passed over” the Egyptians. But it was not just any lamb…\u00a0<\/p>\n

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…it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male… (Exodus 12:5)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, at the Last Supper, Jesus takes the place of the lamb, thereby fulfilling the prophetic announcement of John the Baptist three years earlier…<\/p>\n

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Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…a Lamb who will save people from eternal<\/em> death\u2014an unblemished<\/em> Lamb:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin<\/em>. (Heb 4:15)<\/span><\/p>\n

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. (Rev 5:12)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, most notably, the Israelites were to commemorate this Passover with the Feast of Unleavened Bread<\/em>. Moses called it a zikr\u00f4wn\u00a0<\/em>or a “memorial” [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Exodus 12:14<\/span><\/span>