Transcript

I remember reading, um, the John Chapter 6 before I was in the Catholic Church.

Actually, I was supposed to prepare a sermon on John Chapter 6. Um, and, uh, what is that, the bread of life discourse, where Jesus talks, um, tells, uh, people, yeah, You, when you eat my body and drink my blood, then you, you have me in you.

Um, and people were so appalled, some of the disciples were so appalled that they didn't follow Him anymore.

So, I'd been to a lot of years of school, um, 93 credit hours of a master's degree in divinity, and I'm thinking, Nobody ever told me that's really what He meant, and that's why people quit following Him because they couldn't take it.

Well, I was reading that passage, and then I could see in my experience that's why people today still do the same thing.

They don't believe it.

They're appalled by it, and they don't wanna hear anymore.

Before I converted, uh, became Catholic, um, there were many Masses I attended, you know, either in, in middle school, high school, or when I was going to Mass with my wife.

Um, th- when, whenever, you know, when the communions were being given out, um, I would never be able to participate.

When I was younger, in middle school, I always thought, Okay, uh, since I'm not a Catholic, um, I don't get to receive them, and I'm It, it's almost like a, Everybody get to do it, and I don't, uh, type of, type of thinking.

I remember when I first started learning about the Catholic faith and was attending Mass with my then boyfriend, soon-to-be husband.

One of the very first and consistent questions I had is, Why can't I receive the Eucharist?

I grew up, uh, in a Baptist church where we received communion only twice a year, at Easter and at Christmastime, and anyone, even if you weren't a parishioner, if you were just visiting the church, you could receive communion.

So, I didn't understand why I could not receive the Eucharist when I went to Mass with him.

I remember asking him, and he didn't really have a very good answer.

At Looking back now, it was an awesome opportunity for us to learn about this together.

I remember learning that the Eucharist in the Catholic faith is something very, very different than it is in any other Protestant faith.

The Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ, and when you receive the Eucharist, the first thing you say is, Amen.

Amen meaning I believe.

I believe this is the body and blood of Christ.

I believe everything the Catholic Church teaches me.

Even if I'm struggling with executing it, I believe.

So if, if someone is not in a state of sanctifying grace, even if they're Catholic, they can't receive the Eucharist.

And I'm just so grateful now to, to be Catholic, to have converted to the Catholic faith, because now receiving the Eucharist, whether it be at Sunday Mass or whether it be at daily Mass, is truly a blessing.

At first, as a Protestant, I, I, um, thought of it as a remembrance of Christ.

But as a Catholic, I'm, I'm positive because of our because of the reading and learning and reading of Scripture that it is the body and blood of Christ, because He said, This is my body.

This is my blood.

And so, uh, it convinces me.

It's very comforting to know that every time I receive the Eucharist, I'm receiving Christ, which helps me to become stronger.

It helps me to, to be more, more harmonious and more at peace.

Sometimes I feel healed.

Sometimes I actually feel warmth, the warmth of the Holy Spirit.

And so, um, it's a, it's a gift from the, from the Lord to us that many people, um, love that experience.

Before I became Catholic, I looked at the, um, the taking of the blood and the, and the water as a, uh, um, actually, um, a metaphor, uh, of the body and the blood.

And, um, this was done, as my wife said, before, maybe three times a year.

And at that point, it was just in remembrance of my broken body and of the blood.

And you would receive, uh, reunion.

You receive a, a, a, a wafer.

But that was all taught.

But after becoming Catholic and, uh, listening to the prayer, uh, before the taking of the bread and wine and the gifts coming forth, the, the priest would pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the gifts and ask that these gifts would send forth the Holy Spirit like the dew falls upon this water and bread and that it would become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

That has given me a different outlook, and I can stand up and say, Yes, I believe that is the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

I don't really understand the true meaning of that until I con- after I converted.

And, and the reason is before you would, you know, the, the, my, my thinking is, okay, it's a symbolism of, you know, um, Jesus' body, um, Jesus' blood.

Uh, but now after I converted, it is not really just a symbol.

It, it is, um, the, the, uh, Jesus' body and blood that we're receiving, um, and it's just something that means a lot more to me because it builds up a, a connection, a relationship, um, that I, I don't have before.

Well, I coupled that experience with, with the experience of, of Protestants telling me, you know, Why is it the Catholics don't let everybody receive?

You know, they're shutting people out.

And I remember, um, my response one time It wasn't, it wasn't an argument necessarily, but my response was, Well, I'm pretty sure that God is keeping us from bearing false witness.

Because when you go up to receive, you say 'Amen.' It means, 'I believe.' So you believe it's Jesus Christ or you don't.

And if you don't believe it, you're lying in front of God.

And, and I linked that back to John:6.

I mean, that's why some of 'em said, I can't take it.

I don't believe that.

That's horrible thing.

So it was very real to me.

And, and as I said earlier, my whole goal in life was to get hold of God.

It was intimacy with God.

If you want intimacy with God, in so much as you can be physically united to Him in the Eucharist, then you're gonna end up being a Catholic.

And that's what I ended up being.

When I was first confronted in RCIA about the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, I had a decision to make.

The Catholic Church was either absolutely crazy or they were complete liars or maybe, just maybe they were right.

And it's through the gift of faith that I came to the conclusion that they are 100% right.

Um, the Eucharist is Jesus' truly present body, blood, soul, and divinity.