The Body and Blood of Christ

I do my best when it comes to Christianity. I really do try. But to be honest with I just can't take it. For example, I will be completely anathema in this thread so I apologize to you ahead of time for being offensive. Consider the following CANONs:

CANON I.- If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema.

CANON IV.- If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification; -though all (the sacraments) are not necessary for every individual; let him be anathema.[18]

en.wikipedia.org...

I understand the importance of having rituals and having people experience being sacred. But there is something just really odd for me with the idea of taking the sacrament of receiving consecrated bread and wine. The bread has been referred to as the body of Christ. And the wine has been referred to as the blood of Christ. I once worked with engineer from Indonesia, he was probably a Muslim, and he referred to Christians as "blood drinkers". The idea of drinking blood is a little weird.

But I do get the idea . The body of Christ is like yin. The blood of Christ is like yang. And the Holy Ghost is like the Tao. It's the comic mystery of Christ permeating in all things. I don't have a problem with this conceptually. I just have problem with the rituals of it.

There is just something not right for me when someone kneels down before a priest and the priest sticks something in someone's mouth. Especially when the thing that is being stuck is the body of Christ. It's not the Christ part. And it's not the Jesus wafer that bothers me. It's sticking a body part in someone's mouth seems like it has some sexual weirdness to it.


Priests sticking body parts in people's mouths is just weird for me. Sex is a huge part of human existence and cannot be ignored. Maybe I'm just not looking at this correctly. Please enlighten me with your thoughts.

btw, I'm okay with being labeled "anathema". My faith in an all-loving and all-powerful God is stronger than name calling. I believe God will forgive me no matter how I practiced my religion or what sins I may have committed during my time on Earth. I know a lot people love to think about people ending up in Hell suffering eternal damnation. I'm not petty that way. I think everyone is forgiven and saved because God is all-power and all-loving no matter what happens on Earth.

a reply to: dfnj2015

The founder of Christianity St Paul is your prophet. Not Jesus.

a reply to: dfnj2015

By taking Christ into your body you are taking your body into Christ and surrendering yourself to the spirit of Christ, you are giving your body and life over to him that through him you may be made whole.
You are not actually eating body part's you are eating the bread broken by Christ at the last supper into which he put his authority, which he made his Body and blessed with his spirit.
He has paid the ultimate price and risen, only by crucifying the old you, that you which is not part of Christ and by finding your sanctuary in him can you find true life.
Creation is damned, everything here dies and is dead already even if it walk's around but the creator is eternal and only by being with him, in him and him in you as he is in the father and the father is in him can you hope to see the new creation, to not be part of the dead creation.

a reply to: LABTECH767

I totally understand and get what you are saying. It's the ritual that is a little weird for me.

a reply to: mekhanics

You are simply wrong, you know the one's that have the most to gain from the anti Paul rhetoric are the Muhammadan's and they have pushed that agenda for a while now.

All I will say to you is Road to Damascus and the scales falling from his eye's.

He was the last person whom would have come to Christ because he persecuted the Christian's, he was chosen by Christ whom saw he was misguided and blind so blinded him with his own light then gave his sight back once he had learned to see turning his enemy into his friend, his persecutor into his champion.

You want darkness then carry on spreading darkness to other's and those shadow's around you will surely get thicker and darker, I would suggest you turn away from self righteous lies and find the truth.

originally posted by: LABTECH767
a reply to: mekhanics

You are simply wrong, you know the one's that have the most to gain from the anti Paul rhetoric are the Muhammadan's and they have pushed that agenda for a while now.

All I will say to you is Road to Damascus and the scales falling from his eye's.

He was the last person whom would have come to Christ because he persecuted the Christian's, he was chosen by Christ whom saw he was misguided and blind so blinded him with his own light then gave his sight back once he had learned to see turning his enemy into his friend, his persecutor into his champion.

You want darkness then carry on spreading darkness to other's and those shadow's around you will surely get thicker and darker, I would suggest you turn away from self righteous lies and find the truth.

Lol, someone drank ALL of the Kool aid. Just, lol.

a reply to: dfnj2015

For what it's worth....

Of all of the Catholic churches I've been to and all the masses I've attended..... I've never, ever seen a priest placing the wafer in someone's mouth. (That is not to say it may not happen in some places).

What I have seen and what I was taught through RCIA some years back when I first decided to join the Church.... One is to approach the priest, bow slightly, cup both hands and the priest places the wafer in the parishioner's hand. Often people (including me) make the sign of the cross shortly after and as I walk back to my seat.

Generally speaking though.... if you don't like something.... don't do it. If others do something that doesn't directly affect you..... why do you even care?

a reply to: dfnj2015

Didn't Jesus or the apostles warn against rituals. Been a while since I picked up my bible but I'm pretty sure was several things they said that Catholics ignore. And that group is only part of the group not all denominations

a reply to: dfnj2015

It does not have to be that way, it can be done simply every time you sit at your table with your family and friend's, saying grace and breaking a little bread in his name in memory of his words at the last supper and accepting it as part of that given you, in fact it was never meant to be the modern style of almost pagan ceremony it became after the church was organized into a state religion.

Were ever two or more are gathered in my name there I am also (the first church's were humble houses, people sat around talking and listening to the gospel, discussing it in a very Jewish way not the pagan preacher talking at people and not too them, they would share bread and wine in memory of the last supper and it was regarded at that moment as sacred but perhaps to emphasize it and to pander to the pagans whom wanted pageantry and could not grasp a god whom was also a man but needed there Zeus and there Jupiter's with there over sized temple's it became twisted into what we see today.

Real church including Peters and Paul's gentile church the branch grafted on were originally much more like Jewish Kibbutz but centered around the life of Christ and his teaching's, the Sacrament taken with every meal and with every discussion about him and his lesson's served to unify them as one with the body of Christ.

It still does but this modern ceremony turn's him into a distant deity when in fact he said "I am WITH you even to the end of the world".

a reply to: luke1212

Yes and he had low regard of priests whom love there ritual, creatures of habit rather than of faith.

You will find though that the apostles including peter grew short tempered with some church's that had lost there way so tying the church's together with a living tradition - if not repetitive ceremony - was a necessary early adoption as the faithful grew in numbers, unfortunately for some later priests though saw those whom did not stick to THERE later interpretation as heretic's and many true Christian's were then murdered by other's far less true christian whom waged wars and purges against them without even reading or understanding the words of Christ themselves as we all know from a quick study of history, some church's had indeed become something else and they were not really christian but what we would interpret as sect's.


That said the traditions shared by all the churches including those not of Constantine's influence show a true thread of tradition dating back to the early days of the church.

The reverence in which the sacrament was and is held was merely enshrined by the modern mass of catholic and orthodox church's.

But think on this, the Jewish tradition of setting a place at the table for Elijah.
www.uucpa.org...

What is most important is what it mean's to the one taking the sacrament, be that in a more formal ceremony or in a more social setting like a house church were the bread and wine are broken and shared as a meal or before or after a meal.

a reply to: eluryh22

That is very good to hear.

a reply to: eluryh22

What I have seen and what I was taught through RCIA some years back when I first decided to join the Church.... One is to approach the priest, bow slightly, cup both hands and the priest places the wafer in the parishioner's hand. Often people (including me) make the sign of the cross shortly after and as I walk back to my seat.

I am not a Catholic, but I have been through the RCIA course. What you say here is true. I see some people open their mouth and slightly stick out their tongue, and the priest places the host on their tongue. These are mostly older people that do it this way, the remainder hold their hands out to receive the host.
I promised to raise my children in the Catholic faith, and I intend to live up to that promise. I attend Mass every week with my children.
I saw something interesting last week though. The Monsignor that was assisting for the Mass chased down a woman after she took Communion and said something to her. She was facing away when he talked to her, but as she turned towards me, I saw the communion wafer come out of her mouth into her hand. After Mass ended, the Monsignor asked her outside the church if she was Catholic, and she replied, 'No'. He informed her that she couldn't receive Communion if she wasn't Catholic. She laughed and said that she didn't know that.
I called him later to tell him about the host coming back out of her mouth, as that is a big deal in the Catholic Church.

The wine, it's not really blood, it's mostly grape juice, probably sometimes cordial
The bread, it's not flesh, it's a little biscuit or cracker

It's symbolic, really sorry you are confused by all this,


And it's not really about the cracker and grape juice, it's really all about the relationships

Nah, just kidding, we Christians are all cannibals, we are coming for yaaahhhh

Now seriously, that's your best....

It's important to differentiate between Catholicism (and it's children) and Christianity.

First, the ritual. Jesus asked us to do the breaking of bread and sharing of wine in remembrance of Him. Christianity thus, would honor his request and repeat the breaking of bread and having the leader serve the rest.

For the Body and Blood part, the Catholics believe in transubstantiation. Meaning they believe the consecration of the bread and wine makes it LITERALLY become the body and blood of Christ. That's the icky part.

I have had the priest, or Eucharistic server, place the bread on my tongue. It's actually kind of cool, having someone else feed you. But don't get confused, you're not eating the priest. He's not putting his body in you. He's feeding you, nourishing you, in this case, with the body of Christ. Some of that is quite literal, and to me, a bit of a stretch to take Jesus comments of "This is my body, given to you" to mean the literal body.

I think your sexual reference in this process may stem from a disdain of Christianity and the scandals that have challenged them. Not saying it's wrong, but the perception of the icky factor combined with their terrible handling of bad priests, would def. cause someone to move down that line of reasoning.

a reply to: cosmania

Actually regarding the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ is all Christianity not just Orthodoxy/Catholicism.
It is the very words of Christ at the last supper which you must pay attention to, this is my body, this is my blood.
Jesus made water into wine so it has authority and power.
It is more complicated than just being his body and blood though, we may eat it but we enter into Christ by doing so, as the church is his body on earth so are we part of that body in all denomination's.

a reply to: LABTECH767

That might be how some Christians think, but I wouldn't imagine many
It's symbolic blood and flesh.
It's not real flesh and blood

And the last supper was that, the last supper
A supper, a gathering, eating drinking as a community with Christ as the centre. It's more than the emblems, it's relationship between the believers

Many Christians don't believe they enter into Christ, that's absurd, Christ is a man.
Christians have the Holy Spirit within us
Jesus is a man with the fFather, how can we enter a man, who is in heaven

The church is not Christs body, we are His bride, His Gospel

Where do you get your theology from, really love to know, seriously love to know

a reply to: LABTECH767

Mmmmm, not exactly. Transubstantiation

a reply to: Raggedyman

First time I took the Sacrament was at an Anglican church, to me it was and is the body of Christ, I was and did give my body and life to him, as the host touched my mouth I felt my body vibrate and an energy seem to fill me then as the wine touched my lip's, barely even in my mouth I felt like I was torn apart, part of me seemed to fall away and another part moved upward while I was left in the middle, it hurt and I mean really hurt like I had been torn apart by it but I believe something evil was trying to keep me from the sacrament of my Christ, for a brief time I was actually in three places, seeing in triplicate as something fell away from me seemingly straight down and another part seemed to go straight up, I was in shock as it passed and did not go back to the church for a while as the shock of what had happened as too much for me.

I wont argue the point because we are both correct, just from different angle's and yes the church is his wife or rather it is the virgin with the lamp whom is waiting to enter the bridegroom's chamber and of course not every church is going to get in as some have diluted there oil a little too much and there lamps are not lit any more.

From the morning watch even unto night let Israel hope in the lord for with the lord there is mercy and with him plentiful redemption and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquity's.

a reply to: LABTECH767

The Mormons have a burning of the breast when you confess their little prayer
If I say that prayer and get that feeling should I be a Mormon
Feelings lie

I don't get any feelings, I have Christs word, that's enough for me

My hope is Jesus, not crackers and grape juice, priests or sacraments
Jesus is my sacrament, Him only

body of christ = psylocyben mushrooms

blood of christ = wine

This is an ancient mushroom ritual.