The Miracle of the Eucharist

By George E Pfautsch

There is no greater need in the Catholic Church today than to assist our younger generations in understanding the Holy Eucharist. Such understanding is crucial to having greater participation in their Catholic faith.

It is church teaching that the consecration of the Eucharist changes the nature of bread and wine into the body and blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The church calls this change transubstantiation, which is a miracle because it is a supernatural event.

The miracle of the Eucharist extends to the linkage of our soul to our Divine Lord, whereby we share in his divinity. Divinity is a mystery because it is beyond the nature of earthly things. The transformation of our souls to become more closely aligned with our Divine Lord is an extension of the miracle of transubstantiation.

The acceptance of church teaching as regards the Eucharist is an embrace of his words at the last supper to do this in memory of me. It is the optimal way humans have to express their love of their Redeemer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546234456

George E Pfautsch

George E Pfautsch spent most of his working life as a financial executive for a major forest products and paper company. His final years with Potlatch Corporation (now Potlatch Deltic Corporation) were spent as the Senior Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Following his retirement, he began writing about the national morality he believes was intended for this country by the founding fathers. He is the author of fifteen previous books covering the subjects of faith, freedom, morality, and justice. In addition, he is the co-author of a book written by Melitta Strandberg, which is the story of her family’s quest for freedom, before, during and after World War II. He is also the co-author of a book written by Leroy New, the “Guitar Wizard” of Branson, Missouri. George is married to Dodi, his wife of more than 60 years. He has two children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

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© 2018 George E. Pfautsch. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/21/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-3446-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-3445-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903640

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scriptural passages have been taken from The New American Bible - Saint Joseph Edition and all catechetical passages have been taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1:   Biblical References

Chapter 2:   Eucharistic Beliefs Of The Catholic Church

Chapter 3:   Early Church History

Chapter 4:   Eucharistic Testimonies Of Saints

Chapter 5:   The Divine Aspects Of The Eucharist

Chapter 6:   Eucharistic Adoration

Chapter 7:   The Cornerstone Of Evangelization

Chapter 8:   Do This In Memory Of Me

Chapter 9:   The Need To Increase Significance Of The Eucharist

Chapter 10: The Key To Increasing Faith

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

For the past two thousand years, the Eucharist has been the centerpiece of Catholic faith. At the Last Supper our Lord himself presided at the first Eucharist. He concluded the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into his Body and Blood with the words, Do This in Memory of Me.

With those words our Lord invites all the faithful into a very special Holy Communion with Him. The Eucharist is truly the apex of our faith.

The Catholic Church defines the Eucharist in the following two manners:

1. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life (the reason we gather together at the Mass).

2. The Eucharist is the Sum and Summary of our Faith.

Documents of Vatican II also placed significant emphasis on the importance of the Eucharist to the Catholic Church:

1. The most Blessed Sacrament contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth.

2. The Eucharist shows itself to be the source and apex of the whole proclamation of the Gospel.

The Church could not be more clear on the important role of the Eucharist to the Catholic faith.

To comprehend the importance of the Eucharist to the Church, one must understand that which the Church states to be the belief of the Eucharist. That belief was underscored at the Council of Trent which was held between the years 1545 and 1563.

At that Council, a reaffirmation was made of what the Church has always believed in regards to the Eucharist. The Catholic Catechism summarizes that reaffirmation made at the Council as follows:

Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God and the Holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called the transubstantiation.

Effectively, the Church is telling us that the Eucharist is a miracle. A miracle is defined as a supernatural event. The transubstantiation of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord is a supernatural event. It is also a beautiful, mystical mystery and a sacrificial memorial of He who died for our salvation. It is how we demonstrate our love of Him. We have no better way to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as He commanded us to do.

Even though the Eucharist is the apex of the Catholic faith to faithful members of the Church, there are many Christians, including Catholics, who do not view the Eucharist as a miracle. From the time of Christ until the present time many have not and many do not accept the belief that wine and bread can be transubstantiated into the body and blood of our Lord.

During his Discourse on the Bread of Life our Lord summarized his comments as follows:

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