The Roots of Real Presence doctrine . . .

The Catholic Church has always and consistently taught the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  It also has taught that the Eucharist is the Sacrament of Unity within the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. As early as the Didache, written perhaps as early as A.D. 60,  and as recently as 2005 as Pope Benedict XVI gave THIS ADDRESS, the constant theme is that Christians find their common bond in a common spiritual food; that is, the consecrated bread of eternal life.

Sadly, among the major “reformers” who brought about the Protestant Reformation, only Martin Luther, the German priest who started it, clung to the truth of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Asked by other reformers to abandon his belief in the validity of the Eucharist, he refused.  Pointing to St. Paul’s statement in First Corinthians, he wrote in 1524: "I am caught, I cannot escape, the text is too forcible."

Rejection of the teaching of the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ has demonstrated, by negative example, the loss of unity among Christians. Nearly 500 years later there are over 30,000 Protestant denominations in the U.S. alone, the fracturing not yet subsided.  Question: Does rejection of Christ’s Body and Blood also carry a consequence for Christians? Answer: Only if it is not merely symbolic but is truly divine.

Is there a link between rejection of Real Presence doctrine, Christian unity?

There are also strange and wonderful accounts over the centuries in which the Divine properties of Holy Communion have been revealed to select groups. If you are interested in these miraculous moments in the history of the Eucharist, I would suggest that you could start your supplemental reading HERE.

Without a mutual (and complete) understanding of the sacramental meal, we cannot truly be one as Christ desires for us to be.  Without a common understanding of the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, we cannot join as one flock, one church. (Sure there are other issues involved, but the Eucharist is the Big One, the cornerstone of the Catholic faith that is the stumbling block for so many.)

If unity for the sake of unity was the only issue, the Catholic Church could change its teaching regarding the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, snuff out the red candles, ignore the words of the consecration, and purchase crackers and grape juice.

But the truth of the matter is much more important than the need for agreement and consensus. The Church will not change its nearly 2,000 teaching because it cannot change teaching of Jesus Himself, so clearly enunciated in Sacred Scripture.

So the red light will stay on in the sanctuary next to the Tabernacle where He waits for us to worship. Unlike the red lights outside of the recording studio booth and the photo lab, which exist to warn outsiders not to enter, the red candle at the Tabernacle of the Lord is an invitation to enter in to the Mystery of how God became Flesh, dwelt among us, and continues to be with us and feed us.

Or as the occasional bumper sticker proclaims: “Wise men still seek Him.”
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(And that, dear sister of mine, is what I wanted to say but did not have the presence of mind to tell you.  Forgive me for taking so long to get back to you on this.)