The bishops of the United States, through the National Eucharistic Revival, seek to recover the lost faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and also to strengthen the faith of those of us who still believe so that we don’t lose it.

We can explain the Eucharistic theology of the Fathers of the Church, dissect what the catechism teaches, review the pontifical documents …   but, more than a problem of intellect, not believing in the Real Presence is a problem of faith.

To have faith means to trust — in this case, trust Jesus and believe what he has told us. Believing in Jesus means believing what Jesus says. Period.

The consistency in the words of the four accounts of the institution of the Eucharist referred to by the Synoptic Gospels and Paul is striking. Speaking about the bread and wine, Jesus commands:

  • Matthew: “Take and eat; this is my body… Drink … this is my blood” (26:26d.27d-28a).
  • Mark: “Take it; this is my body … This is my blood” (14:22d.24a).
  • Luke: “This is my body … This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (22:19c.20c).
  • 1 Corinthians: “This is my body … This cup is the new covenant in my blood (11:24c.25c).

This consistency reinforces the fact that the words of the institution of the Eucharist that Jesus pronounced at the Last Supper are true: Consecrated bread IS his body and consecrated wine IS his blood. Jesus uses the verb “to be” directly and forcefully. In none of the references to that event does he say, “This symbolizes my body, this represents my blood.”

John presents the Bread of Life Discourse, in which Jesus declares:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and  I in him” (John 6:53-56).

Jesus remarks the truthfulness of his statement: “Amen, amen, I say to you, that my flesh is true food and my blood true drink.”

Both the words of Jesus at the Last Supper and those of the Bread of Life Discourse are ipsissima verba Jesu, the very words of Jesus himself. Whoever truly believes Jesus is the Son of God has no choice but to trust what he says, to believe what he says, to accept what he says. And so, believe him when he tells us he is present in the Eucharist.

Listening to the intention of our bishops and taking part in the Eucharistic Revival, I have written this special series of Seeds of the Word on the Eucharist. This series concludes here to focus on another event in the following installments, this one designated by Pope Francis: the Year of Prayer in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025.

Be passionate about our faith!

This article appeared in the June/July 2024 issue of Northwest Catholic magazine. Read the rest of the issue here.