1. The Coexistence of the Truths about the Holy Eucharist and their Denials in Our Times

The official teaching of the Catholic Church on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is that, by the Power of Jesus Christ represented by a validly ordained priest, when the priest consecrates bread and wine during the Mass as Jesus did during the Last Supper before His Passion, the substances of the bread and wine change into the true Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, while the species of bread and wine remain unchanged.  Also, as the Flesh and Blood are of the resurrected and living Jesus and, therefore, are united with His Soul and Divinity, the Full and Real Presence of Our Lord exists in the Eucharist.  The Church announced as follows: “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained’,” [Catechism of the Catholic Church #1374].   

John Calvin and other Protestant reformists of the 16^th Century did not accept the Catholic Church’s teaching and said that the bread and wine of the Last Supper only signified the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Martin Luther, on the other hand, said that the substances of bread and wine co-exist with the substances of the Body and Blood of Jesus.  During the past several centuries since then, the Protestant denominations in general have maintained the idea that Jesus Christ is only spiritually present in the bread and wine (or grape juice) used in their ceremony of the Last Supper.  (Note:  The Protestant reformists did not correctly recognize Jesus’ assurance that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church that He established on the rock of Peter to the end of the world (Matthew 16:18) and His promise to be with His disciples all days to the end of the world (Ibid. 28:18-20) and separated themselves from this Church.  Therefore, the divine powers of the Eucharistic Consecration as well as the power of forgiving sins (in the Sacrament of the Confession) that Jesus bestowed on the Apostles did not continue through the line of the Protestant ministers.) 

To make things worse especially during the past several decades, even some of the Catholic theologians [Fr. Karl Rahner (1904-1984) of Germany, Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009) of Belgium, and others, enormously popular among the liberal and modernist priests and seminarians worldwide] promoted the Protestant idea that Our Lord’s Presence in the Eucharist is only a symbolic and spiritual one.  Influenced by them, the majority of the lay people in the entire Catholic Church (over 70% according to some statistics) do not believe the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist thinking that the Eucharist is bread and wine that only signifies the spiritual presence of Jesus. 

God has been deploring the current situation about the Holy Eucharist and has sent down a total of 33 Eucharistic miracles in Naju, Korea and other places [such as the Vatican, Rome, Jerusalem, Lanciano (Italy), Hawaii, and Sibu (Malaysia) from 1988 to 2010.    The 33 Eucharistic miracles include (1) the changing of the Eucharist turning into visible Flesh and Blood on Julia Kim’s tongue 14 times; (2) the bleeding from the Eucharist in a ciborium or a monstrance 3 times in Naju; and (3) the coming down of the Eucharist from above 16 times in Naju.  These Eucharistic miracles have been God’s own testimonies to the truthfulness of the Church teaching of the Full and Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.  All human persons who have become aware of these miraculous signs are being called to discern the signs and messages in Naju according to the Church teachings and their consciences and, accordingly, to change and renew their lives.

The leading priests in the Gwangju Archdiocese (to which the Naju Parish belongs) have been ignoring, rejecting, and condemning these signs and the accompanying messages, because the heavenly messages, teachings, and warnings contained in these miracles are not compatible with their own ideas and agenda that despise the supernatural contents of the Catholic Faith and Life.    Thus, they refused to order scientific examinations of the evidences of the miracles and even totally ignored Blessed John Paul II’s positive discernment of the Eucharistic miracle through Julia during the Mass in a Vatican chapel on October 31, 1995.  Eventually on January 1, 1998, the Gwangju Archdiocese officially announced a negative Declaration on Naju, which was an enormous shock and disappointment to millions of the Catholic faithful in Korea and abroad.  Six years later (March 2001), during the Korean Bishops’ ad limina visit to the Vatican, Pope John Paul II asked the Korean Bishops if they had carried out the request (which he made to the Korean Bishops during their previous ad limina visit in 1996) to share the wonderful graces in Naju with other nations especially in Asia, but, learning that they had not done so, allowed a public exhibition of the photographs and explanations of the Eucharistic miracle in the Vatican of October 31, 1995 and also permitted a major Catholic TV station in Italy to broadcast nationwide the information about the miracles in Naju, hoping that the Korean Bishops and priests will follow the Pope’s advices and examples.       

In their Declaration on Naju of January 1, 1998, the Gwangju theologian priests tried to justify their negative decision on Naju on doctrinal grounds.  They said that the Eucharistic miracles in Naju contradicted the Church teaching that says that the species of bread and wine must remain nchanged even after the Consecration.  It has been revealed, however, that this statement in the Gwangju Declaration itself is a misrepresentation of the Church teaching, as the Church doctrine only says that the priest’s Consecration results in the change of the substances of bread and wine into the substances of Our Lord’s Flesh and Blood without causing any changes in the species of bread and wine.  The Church teaching does not contain the meaning that the species of the Eucharist must continue to remain unchanged after the Consecration.  If the Gwangju priests’ interpretation were correct, all of the Eucharistic miracles in Church History would have to be rejected as contradicting the Church teaching.  The Gwangju priests made a doctrinal error, because their minds were closed to the possibility and value of the true miracles from God. 

The Gwangju Declaration also condemned the miracles of the Eucharist that came down from above saying, “According to the Church doctrine, the Eucharist begins to exist only through the Consecration by the validly ordained priests”.  This is another distortion of the Church teaching, as the Church only teaches that those who have not been validly ordained to priesthood cannot perform the Eucharistic Consecration, meaning that the laypeople or the clergy of other religions and denominations do not have the power to do the Consecration.  The Church teaching has never meant that even Our Lord Himself, the Highest Priest and the source of all priestly powers, cannot miraculously visit people in the appearance of the Eucharist by His own Will, not relying on the priests’ Consecration.  The numerous descents of the Eucharist to the Saints and children in the past (including those at Fatima in 1917) are evidences that the Gwangju priests’ interpretation of the Church teaching was incorrect.       

Soon after the Gwangju Declaration was announced, a layman asked a monsignor in Korea, “Why did the Gwangju Archdiocese not perform any scientific examination of Naju?”  The Monsignor answered, “Now that the phenomena in Naju have been judged to violate the Church teachings, why should we waste time doing scientific examinations?”  It is a serious matter that the shepherds in the Church distort and misrepresent the Church teachings and, then, use their incorrect version of the Church doctrines to justify their unjust decisions.  This is a matter that should not be overlooked for the sake of the integrity of the Church teachings.  

  2. God requires of us faith and love before we receive the Holy Eucharist

The critical test given to the people in Judea and its vicinity two thousand years ago was whether they could choose to recognize Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah for them or not.  Jesus’ teachings and miracles were enormously shocking and amazing to them, but His Divinity was still hidden behind His human appearance.  Only those who were humble and open to truth and justice were able to recognize and believe Jesus’ true identify with the help of the grace from above, while those with darkened minds and hearts by their pride, face-saving, and attachment to secular vanities were not willing to acknowledge and accept the truthfulness of Jesus’ teachings.  They, eventually, handed Him over to the Roman governor and soldiers to be condemned and killed on the Cross.  God wants to save every human being in the world to eternal life and happiness, but, as they were given free will, they had to choose their own decision, for which they would be eternally responsible. 

Now in our own age, Jesus does not walk with us on the earth any more, but He, not just His Soul but the whole Jesus with His human body, human soul, and Divinity, comes to us hiding His Divinity and Humanity behind the external appearance of bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.  The test given to us now is whether we can penetrate the external barriers of the species of the Eucharist and the pride in our heart and are able to recognize and worship the true and real Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with our faith in and love for God.  Jesus already gave us His Words about the Eucharist [John 6; Mathew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24] and those who are humble and open to the truth will be able to recognize the truthfulness of Jesus’ teachings without too much difficulty.  Considering the infinite dignity and love of Jesus in the Eucharist, the requirement of belief, trust, and love before we receive Him seems to be an extremely small price indeed for us to pay. 

Along with the test about the Eucharist, we are also being tested about the Blessed Mother — if we truly love, respect, rely on the Blessed Mother as our true Mother and Queen.  As the Blessed Mother is the Mother of Jesus, Who is God the Son, and Jesus is the Life of our souls, it is undoubtedly correct that she is our souls’ true Mother.  Also, it is obvious that Jesus will love more those who love His Mother.  The Mother of Jesus formally became our Mother, when Jesus said to her from the Cross: “Woman, behold thy son (John)” and said to John representing all of Jesus’ disciples: “Behold thy mother”.  It is said that the greatest gift that a father can give to his children is their mother.  God’s Eternal Kingdom is a large Family and God gave us the Mother of Jesus as our Mother as well because He loves us and wishes to increase the probability of our salvation. 

  3. Our Lord explained the Holy Eucharist before He established the Blessed Sacrament

In St. John’s Gospel, in Chapter 6, from Verse 1 to 71, Jesus explains the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist which He will give to His Church as a means of perpetuating His Real Presence on earth after His Ascension.  Jesus said: “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven.  If any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world” (John 6:31-32).  Some of the Jews complained:  “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Ibid. 6:53).  Jesus continued: “Amen, amen I say to you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him on the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed; and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.”(Ibid. 6:54-57)  Then, many of his disciples said, “This saying is hard, and who can hear it” (Ibid. 6:61).   

Knowing that his disciples were murmuring, Jesus said: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profitheth nothing.  The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life.  But there are some of you that believe not” (Ibid. 6:64-65).  It is written that many of his disciples went back and walked no more with Him (Ibid. 6:67).  Jesus said to his 12 Apostles: “Will you also go away?” (Ibid. 6:68).  Peter, representing all of the Apostles, answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  Thou hast the words of eternal life” (Ibid. 6:69).  We can derive some important conclusions from the above conversations:

a.It is obvious that the disciples understood Jesus’ words about His Flesh and Blood not symbolically but literally.  That is because they complained and left Him.  

  b. Jesus also spoke His words in the literal context instead of the symbolical one.  The reason is that, when many of the disciples were leaving, He did not say, “You misunderstood Me.  I was only speaking in the symbolical context.  So, do not leave but come back.” 

  c. The disciples who complained most likely thought that Jesus was going to cut some of His Flesh with a knife and give it to them to eat.  In other words, they only understood Jesus’ teaching physically, while forgetting the more important spiritual aspect.  We know that the Eucharist is not lifeless Flesh and Blood cut from the Lord’s Body but is the whole, living Jesus with His Flesh, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.  By receiving the Eucharist, we unite ourselves more strongly with the true and living Person of Jesus as the branches can be more strongly united to the vine and, in consequence, receive more supernatural grace from Him. 

 d. We sometimes hear from our Protestant friends: “We spiritually receive Jesus into our soul and do not need to receive His Flesh and Blood.”  Of course, Jesus can reach us spiritually from Heaven, as He is God and capable of anything that He wishes.  However, in Jesus Christ the Divine and Human Natures are inseparably united by His Divine Personality from the moment of His Incarnation and, therefore, His Full and Real Presence necessarily includes both His Divine Nature and His Human Nature of His Soul and Body.  If we exclude Jesus’ Human Nature, we cannot speak of His being present with us in His whole Person.  When Our Lord was explaining the Eucharist to the crowds, He meant by the words of His “Flesh” and “Blood” His whole Person instead of “Flesh” and “Blood” separated from His Soul and Divinity and thus lifeless.   Therefore, the sentences that Jesus said: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profitheth nothing.  The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life,” do not contradict what He said earlier: “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him in the last day.  For my flesh is meat indeed; and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.”  Jesus was only rebuking the disciples for their focusing only on the physical aspect of His teaching while ignoring the whole dimension of the Eucharist.  They should have remembered what Jesus said at the beginning of His explanation, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.”  Even in our own time, if anyone thinks that he is receiving the lifeless Flesh and Blood of Jesus instead of the whole, living Jesus, Man and God, he is missing the essential reality of the Holy Eucharist.

  4. Some common-sense ideas that can help improve our faith life   

  a. The first and most fundamental principle that we need to establish and follow in our life is to worship and glorify God and obey His Will and Commandments instead of pursuing our own ambitions and glories.  To sufficiently train our minds and hearts so that we may feel comfortable in following this principle, we need to make persistent and aggressive efforts to educate and discipline ourselves by studying and digesting the Truths and Commandments from God and applying them to our daily lives throughout our lifetime.  This way of life is the only true and best road to our eternal happiness and success, because God is eternal and absolute and the source of everything that is good, while we are creatures, weak, shaky, and vain.  While we live on this earth, we can either make considerable progresses in spiritual growth and doing the right things for ourselves and others or fail miserably in achieving our ultimate goals because we made the wrong choices and relied on ourselves instead of relying on God and obeying His teachings.

  b. Receiving the Sacrament of Confession before Communion is the best way of cleaning our souls and receiving more grace from Our Lord in the Eucharist.  Even when we do not make the Confession, we should have a sincere, humble, and contrite heart before every Communion, because we cannot completely avoid sins in our daily lives, especially the venial sins, and we will be better prepared to receive God’s mercy and more graces whenever we admit our pride and other sins, pray for God’s mercy, and are grateful for every thing from God. 

  d. Our Lord is really present in the tabernacle.  That is why the church is the House of God and Place of Prayer, which we visit not only to attend the Mass but also to pray before Jesus in the tabernacle.  As we enter the church and leave the church, we should humbly and lovingly genuflect and make the Sign of Cross.  In the church, we should avoid all kinds of the avoidable noises such as gossiping, laughing, running, the ringing of cellular phones, and others.  There should be a cry room in every church for children.  Also, children can be encouraged to use the restroom before the Mass so that they do not need it during the Mass.  One should be careful not to miss especially the most important part of the Mass (such as the Consecration and Elevation).  Especially on warm days, everyone should be careful to avoid excessive exposure.  The good Catholic traditions should be preserved instead of being lightly thrown away, because they enhance the holy atmosphere in the church.   

  e. Receiving the Eucharist in the hand has been permitted since the early 1960s starting in the Netherlands as an exception rather than an obligation.  For many centuries in Church history, the Catholics received the Eucharist on the tongue.  Sadly, in some churches and in some countries now, Communion in the Hand has become almost a law.  This is a violation of the Holy See’s intention and instruction.  There are some concrete reasons why Communion on the Tongue is more desirable than Communion in the Hand.  (1) If the Eucharist is distributed in the hand, it is easy for someone with evil intentions to take the Eucharist outside the church and desecrate the Eucharist;  (2) It is easy for the particles of the Eucharist to remain in the communicants’ hands. It has actually happened many times that tiny particles of the Eucharist remain in the Communicant’s hands and soon fall down on the floor without anybody being aware of it.  Therefore, those who still choose to receive the Eucharist in their hands should at least very carefully examine their hands immediately after putting the Eucharist in their mouths for any particles of the Eucharist remaining in their hands and consume them.  Dropping and losing even one tiny particle of the Eucharist is a very serious matter.  On the other hand, when Communion is given on the tongue, the distributor (especially a lay distributor) should be careful not to touch the Communicant’s tongue with his or her finger.  Untrained lay distributors can also easily drop the Eucharist or spill the Precious Blood. 

Fr. Karl Rahner (who was mentioned before) promoted his heretic idea: “The Eucharist is a meal and must look like a meal.  The particles of the Eucharist do not have the appearance of a meal and, therefore, cannot be considered to be the Eucharist.”  As a result, the evil habit has spread worldwide that mistreats and desecrates the particles of the Eucharist.  We should remember how sorrowfully and carefully St. Thérèse of Lisieux and other Saints treated the little particles of the Eucharist which were found on the church floors.  It is our grave responsibility to give the most loving and thoughtful care to Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

   h. In the Eastern Orthodox churches and among the young Catholic priests and lay people in some countries, an incorrect idea has been circulating that the Transubstantiation (the change of the substances of bread and wine into the substances of the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ) occurs at the time of the prayer before the Consecration asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit so that by his power bread and wine may become the Body and Blood of Jesus (Epiclesis).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says as follows (#1353):  “In the institution narrative the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ’s body and blood, his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all.”  It is clear that the Transubstantiation occurs at the time when the priest, representing the Person of Jesus, offers the consecration prayer that Jesus offered at the Last Supper and, thus, by the power of Jesus and His words as well as the power of the Holy Spirit.   

   i.The Church law that requires a one-hour fasting before Communion, should be diligently observed (with the exceptions mentioned in the Canon law).

         Benedict Labre Lee, Gresham, Oregon, USA.  www.marys-touch.com