One of the most important tenets of the Catholic faith is the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  What does this actually mean?

Let’s go back to the very beginning of the Eucharist – the Last Supper.  It was in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, earlier on the night that Christ was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, where he was eating the Seder meal (Passover Meal) with the Apostles, where Christ took bread and wine, gave thanks to the Father and gave it to His disciples saying, “This is my body.” and “This is my blood.”  This was the institution of the Eucharist.  He also said, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:19), which commanded the apostles to continue the Eucharistic feast as a replacement for the Passover feast. 

So, what about this would cause Catholics to believe in the Real Presence as a Doctrine of the Faith?  Simple – Throughout scripture, we see where God the Father or Jesus speaks and reality is changed.  In Genesis 1:3, God says, “Let there be light, and there was light”.  Reality, as we know it, came into existence at that moment.  John’s gospel clearly tells us of the power of God’s Word:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John also tells us of the power of Jesus:

“He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.”

We know that Jesus is the “Word made Flesh”.  That He the Son, the second person of the Trinity, was with God the Father from the beginning and everything came into being through Him.  Simon was changed from a mere fisherman to Peter, the head of the apostles, at the word of Jesus.  After the ascension, Saul, the chief persecutor of those who followed The Way (later known as Christians), was blinded during a vision with Christ and later was transformed into Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles and author of a majority of the New Testament…at the Word of Jesus.

God, speaking to the great prophet Isaiah tells us, “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

Also, “The Lord of Hosts has sworn, saying, ‘Surely as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand’”. (Isaiah 14:24)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Himself says, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

One final note:  Eating this Body and Blood of Jesus is NOT optional.  In the Gospel of John, verses 47 – 58, Jesus preaches the following (emphasis added):

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.  I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.  The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  Jesus said to them, “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.  Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven.  Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 

After this passage, those following Jesus were concerned saying that this teaching was hard, and asked who could accept it?  As a result of this, many of his followers returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.  However, Jesus did NOT, as he customarily did, explain this as a parable to the Twelve – that his words had some sort of metaphorical or symbolic meaning.  Rather, He simply turned to them and asked, “Do you also want to leave?” (John 6:67).  Jesus KNEW what He was going to do at the Last Supper and was preparing His followers for it.

Given these transformations, prophecies, witnesses, and statements, as well many others throughout the Holy Scriptures, it should not strike us odd that Jesus, who gave his Disciples the ability to Heal, Exorcise Demons and Resurrect the Dead, could, and in fact did, impart to them the ability to transubstantiate simple bread and water into His most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity at the Last Supper.

Wait a minute – that’s a $50 word – Transubstantiate.  What does it mean?  Here’s an easy way to understand it:  Every physical item in the universe has two properties – Form and Substance:  What it looks like and what it’s made out of.  A painting or a sculpture can be incredibly realistic – even 3-dimensional – but no matter its Form, its Substance remains the same:  Sculptures are marble, clay or wood and paintings are canvas, paints, and texture.  We, as humans, can easily change the Form of things – Transform them – but their Substance remains unchanged.  Only God can take something, say simple bread and wine, and leave their Form as it is, but change the actual Substance – Transubstantiate them – into the Body and Blood of Christ.  The Eucharist retains the Form of bread and wine – look, feel, smell and taste – but has had its substance miraculously changed to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

So, this is a great theory, but is there any evidence that it’s really true?  In a word, YES!  Do a simple search on Amazon for “Eucharistic Miracles” and you’ll be amazed at the results.  One that is FREE on Kindle, by Father Antony Netikat is titled: “100 Eucharistic Miracles: Proved by Science – Approved by the Church”.  Another is ”A Cardiologist Examines Jesus: The Stunning Science Behind Eucharistic Miracles” by Dr. Franco Serafini.  These are modern, real-world examples of Eucharistic Miracles taking place or being proven in the 20^th and 21^st centuries…testing performed by scientists using modern technology that prove the Eucharist has the substance of human flesh and blood.

So why do we have to eat Him?  Simple answer – Jesus is the perfection of the lamb sacrificed during the Passover in Egypt.  The Hebrews were to slaughter an unblemished lamp, cook it, and eat it standing up, fully clothed with shoes on, to be ready to leave Egypt at a moment’s notice.  The blood of the lamb had to be smeared on the doorposts and lintel to notify the Angel of Death to pass over that household.  Typology, which we have already talked about, shows that Jesus is the perfected Paschal Lamb and that His blood not only saves us from death, but imparts eternal life.  Sacrifices in ancient Israel were always consumed (this is where the word consummated comes from) as the final sealing of a pact or covenant.  Jesus’ pact with us is that consuming His body and blood grant eternal life.

What does the old Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark have to do with Marian typology? Well, let’s dig a bit deeper and find out.

First of all, the Ark they refer to in the movies was the lost Ark of the Covenant that served as the “seat of God” while the Hebrews wandered around the desert for 40 years and was placed in the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple as that was where God’s presence was located.

Surprisingly, the movie got a few things right about the Ark – it said that the Ark contained the original tablets of the 10 Commandments and armies that had the Ark with them could not be defeated. The movie said a bunch of other things, but these two are the ones they got correct.

There were also a couple of other things in the Ark along with the tablets: (1) A container holding some of the manna that came down from heaven to feed the Jews in the desert and (2) the staff of Aaron that had blossomed and marked him as the High Priest of Israel. Here are a few other notable facts about the Ark:

Anyone who touched the Ark, died. Even when King David was bringing the Ark out of the hill country of Judah to his city, when the oxen were tipping the cart carrying it and Uzzah reached out a hand to steady it, he was instantly struck dead. No man was able to touch the Ark and live (2 Sam 6:7).

When David saw Uzzah die, he was afraid to bring the Ark into the city and he left it at the house of Obed-edom in the hill country of Judea for 3 months.

So what does all of this have to do with Mary? Simple – the Ark of the Covenant was the “type” – or foreshadowing – of our Blessed Mother. Here are the parallels that show Mary to be the fulfilment or perfection of the Ark:

1. The Ark contained the 10 Commandments – the Word of God. Mary’s womb contained the Word made Flesh.
2. The Ark contained the manna from Heaven – Mary’s womb contained the Bread of Life.
3. The Ark contained the staff of the High Priest – Mary’s womb contained the True High Priest.
4. When Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth (who was also pregnant – with John the Baptist), the baby inside Elizabeth “jumped for joy” when Mary came near. The only other time in Scripture that word “jumped” is used is when David was “jumping and dancing before the Lord” as he brought the Ark into the City of David.
5. When Mary went to see Elizabeth, she went to the high country of Judea, which is where Elizabeth lived – the same area that the Ark was in when at the house of Obed-edom.
6. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months – the same amount of time the Ark was in the house of Obed-edom.
7. Mary’s womb contained God made flesh – the physical location of God on Earth. The Ark was the physical location where God took up residence during the Exodus and when leading Israel to the Promised Land.
8. No man could touch the Ark and live – it was too pure and holy for human hands once God had consecrated it. Mary was immaculate – the only human person ever born without the stain of original sin. She was also ever-virgin – pure in all ways at all times – untouched by human hands.
9. Finally, we look to the fact that the Ark, which had been the primary focus and artifact of the Jewish faith for hundreds of years, disappeared from history about 600 years before the birth of Christ. And yet, in Revelation 11:19, John is given a vision of the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple in Heaven. One would think that upon seeing the most important artifact of Jewish history – arguably, the most important artifact of all time – which had been lost for 600 years, that John would say a few words about it. However, in the very next verse, Revelation 12:1, John describes a “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”. This woman is the Virgin Mary. John saw the REAL Ark of the Covenant – the one perfected in the person of Mary – and that’s what he wrote about.

Nothing in these pages is intended to indicate any hatred, dislike or rejection of any human being, no matter what the state of their life or soul. Actions, which are completely separate from souls, can be judged and corrected by friends and acquaintances…souls can only be judged by God. We are called to love one another no matter what the circumstance – that is the underlying philosophy of this blog – no judgement of any individual – all are welcome and encouraged to read, learn and love.

“Transphobia”, “Gender Dysphoria” & “Non-Binary”

Might as well jump right in with the current “biggie”! First off, let’s correct some of the terminology and point out how the narrative is being misrepresented and twisted.

(Since this is my first post here, some info on how I approach these posts – I will typically address Common Sense and Scientific positions first and then I will present the Catholic position at the end of the post.)

The term “phobia”, from the Greek φόβος (phόbos), is generally used as a suffix to indicate a morbid fear of something (e.g. Acrophobia is a fear of heights and claustrophobia is a fear of small spaces). While it can mean an “aversion” to something, it’s generally accepted to be much more acute and severe than that. Applying that suffix to the term “Trans” (which is, in itself a misuse – the correct usage would be transgenderphobia), this word implies a morbid fear of transgender individuals. I seriously doubt that this is the case – I can see a dislike, maybe even hatred, of “transgender” individuals, but not fear. Using a term like this causes people being accused of “transphobia” to be considered fearful and the “trans” person that is being feared is subconsciously elevated to a position of relative power – that is simply not the case.

Now let’s look at the term “transgender”. “Trans” means to change or move as in transform or transmit. The word seems to suggest that an individual can change his or her gender. This is prima facia (on the face of it) ridiculous. A person can transform their body to look like the other gender, but to change genders at a biological level is, simply put, scientifically impossible. No surgery or chemical process can transform a man into a woman or vice versa. Common sense also makes this abundantly clear to us. Removal or addition of body parts does not impart the inherent abilities of the opposite gender – in other words, cutting off a penis and testicles does not imbue a man with the ability to become pregnant. Nor does the chemical and or surgical enhancement of a man’s breasts provide him with the ability to breast feed a child. Likewise, attaching a “penis” to a female and cutting off her breasts does not give her the ability to impregnate another female.

Now let’s look at the word “dysphoria” – this is from the Greek δυσϕορία (dusphoria) which means “excessive pain”. True Gender Dysphoria is a medical condition – a VERY RARE medical condition. The term has been co-opted and applied to people who choose to be “gender fluid” or “gender diverse”. Understand that these are NOT medical conditions – they are merely cultural constructs. The same applies to the term “non-binary” – this is also a cultural construct and NOT a medical condition. Again, common sense and science are both crystal clear here – there are only 2 genders and gender assignment is decided at the moment of conception (except in the rare case of hermaphroditism where both genders are represented in a person – in these cases, fertility is extremely rare and the condition is considered abnormal). To see this for yourself, simply look at all mammalian life on this planet – there are males and females, nothing else. Across the animal kingdom, males provide sperm and females provide ova – this is an objectively provable fact. Scientifically, the difference between male and female is genetic (XY chromosomes = Male; XX chromosomes = Female) and this is easily determined in a genetics lab.

The Catholic Position

Now we get to the theological position. The Bible, way back in the very first chapter of Genesis, made it perfectly clear: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27). This couldn’t possibly be clearer – God created man and woman. He did NOT leave it up to us to decide for ourselves (i.e. NO “gender fluidity). He did NOT create any other genders (i.e. NO “non-binary”). He did NOT provide the means or the ability to switch back and forth (i.e. gender is decided once and for all at the moment of conception). In the following verse of Genesis (Gen 1:28) God directs man and woman to: “be fruitful and multiply – fill the earth and subdue it”. Something that can ONLY take place when a man and a woman both participate. A little later in the book of Genesis, God also indicates how men and women are expected to fulfill His command to be fruitful and multiply: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Gen 2:24). This clearly establishes marriage as being between a man and a woman and also establishes the nuclear family as the environment in which to bring forth children into the world. Nowhere is this intentional interdependence between man and woman described more beautifully than in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other.” (CCC:340).

Side bar: To dispel the argument that man and woman cannot both be created “in the image of God”, understand that God is pure spirit – he does not HAVE an image in the visual sense of the word, nor can he be assigned human gender. The phrase: “In the image of God” refers to man being not just something, but someone. “He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons.” (CCC:357). In other words, he has free will.

Finally, in CCC:369: “Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God’. In their ‘being-man’ and ‘being-woman’, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.”

Anything that denies, destroys or compromises this wisdom and goodness is NOT of God and is NOT good.

As we journey through the faith, we will always try to reference the appropriate scriptures that support the things we state. It helps to understand how the Old and New Testaments relate to one another. Basically, the whole Old Testament prepares us for the coming of Christ and the New Testament is his coming into the world as God made flesh and redeeming the whole human race on the cross. One of the main ways we can see God preparing us in the Old Testament is through Typology – this is the “pre-figuring” of things in the Old Testament that are fulfilled and perfected in the New Testament. The next entry I’ll put here applies Typology to the Blessed Virgin Mary – for those who have never seen these relationships between old and new, it will be quite the eye opener. I remember browsing through a Christian store with a small Catholic section one day and the clerk came over and asked about the Virgin Mary and why Catholics revere her so much. I went through the typology quickly and, while he certainly wasn’t converted on the spot, I am very sure that he had a much different view of our Blessed Mother after that conversation…planting seeds!

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who have taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that in that same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation.