The Holy Eucharist and Christ's real presence

Question 238

What is the Holy Eucharist?

The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine.

Question 239

When did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist?

Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the night before He died.

Question 240

Who were present when our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist?

When our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist the twelve Apostles were present.

Question 241

How did our Lord institute the Holy Eucharist?

Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist by taking bread, blessing, breaking, and giving to His Apostles, saying: Take ye and eat. This is My body; and then by taking the cup of wine, blessing and giving it, saying to them: Drink ye all of this. This is My blood which shall be shed for the remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration of Me.

Question 242

What happened when our Lord said, This is My body; this is My blood?

When our Lord said, This is My body, the substance of the bread was changed into the substance of His body; when He said, This is My blood, the substance of the wine was changed into the substance of His blood.

Question 243

Is Jesus Christ whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine?

Jesus Christ is whole and entire both under the form of bread and under the form of wine.

Question 244

Did anything remain of the bread and wine after their substance had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord?

After the substance of the bread and wine had been changed into the substance of the body and blood of our Lord there remained only the appearances of bread and wine.

Question 245

What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine?

By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses.

Question 246

What is this change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord called?

This change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord is called Transubstantiation.

Question 247

How was the substance of the bread and wine changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ?

The substance of the bread and wine was changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ by His almighty power.

Question 248

Does this change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continue to be made in the Church?

This change of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ continues to be made in the Church by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His priests.

Question 249

When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood?

Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, Do this in commemoration of Me.

Question 250

How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ?

The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are the words of Christ: This is My body; this is My blood.

Who is present in the sacrament

Questions 238

The historical answer says that the Eucharist contains Christ's Body and Blood, soul and divinity. Current Catholic teaching expresses this as Christ himself—living and glorious—present truly, really, and substantially under the consecrated species. These words do not divide Jesus into separate parts or suggest that the sacrament contains an object detached from him. The whole risen Christ is present. This sacramental mode of presence is unique, while Christ is also present to his Church in other ways.

Instituted on the night before the Passion

Questions 239, 240, 241

The Synoptic Gospels and 1 Corinthians place Jesus' words over bread and the cup within his final meal with the apostles before his death. Read Luke's whole scene rather than isolating one phrase: the meal looks toward the kingdom, interprets Jesus' self-giving, and commands remembrance. In biblical and liturgical language, memorial is more than privately recalling an absent person; the Church celebrates Christ's once-for-all Paschal mystery sacramentally until he comes again.

Change of substance, not sensory disguise

Questions 242, 244, 245, 246, 247

Transubstantiation names the change of the whole substance of bread into Christ's Body and the whole substance of wine into his Blood. The appearances—or species—remain: what can be seen, tasted, touched, and otherwise measured still presents the qualities of bread and wine. Consequently, the doctrine does not ask the senses to report different color or taste. It makes a claim, received in faith from Christ's words, about what the consecrated gifts truly are. 'By his almighty power' keeps the change God's action rather than a natural process or human technique.

The whole Christ under either species

Questions 243

Because the risen Christ is living and undivided, he is present whole and entire under the species of bread and whole and entire under the species of wine. Receiving only one species does not mean receiving only part of Christ. The separate signs of bread and wine still have their full liturgical meaning, but Christ's sacramental presence is not divided according to their visible form.

Christ acts through ordained ministry

Questions 248, 249, 250

The Church continues to obey 'Do this in remembrance of me' in the Eucharistic celebration handed on from the apostles. Catholic teaching identifies Christ as the principal actor: the ordained priest does not exercise a private power over Christ or manufacture the sacrament. Acting in Christ's person and within the Church's liturgy, a validly ordained priest invokes the Holy Spirit and pronounces Christ's words of institution over wheat bread and grape wine. The whole Eucharistic Prayer supplies the setting; the consecration should not be treated as an isolated verbal formula or magic incantation.

Luke 22:14–20

Luke places the bread, cup, command of remembrance, coming Passion, and hope of the kingdom within one Last Supper scene.

14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 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 11:23–29

Paul hands on the institution tradition and joins Eucharistic remembrance to proclamation, discernment, and responsible reception.

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. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 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. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

John 6:48–58

Jesus' bread-of-life discourse prepares readers for the gift of his flesh and blood while directing them toward abiding life in him.

48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 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.