© Copyright 2002 Grace D. MacKinnon
Grace MacKinnon is a syndicated columnist and public speaker on Catholic doctrine. Readers are welcome to submit questions about the Catholic faith to: Grace MacKinnon, 1234 Russell Drive #103, Brownsville, Texas 78520. Questions also may be sent by e-mail to: grace@deargrace.com. You may visit Grace online at www.DearGrace.com.
As touched upon in Part One of this column, the Catholic Church teaches that God’s Revelation is transmitted to us not only through Sacred Scripture but also by Sacred Tradition, and that both Scripture and Tradition are interpreted by the authoritative and authentic teaching of the Church — the Magisterium. We looked at the testimony from the Bible regarding the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, including Jesus’ own words. Now we will explore that which we learn from Sacred Tradition regarding the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist.
When we speak of Tradition with a capital “T” we are referring to what has been handed down to us by the Apostles, both in oral and written form. The earliest written account of belief by the early Church in the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist comes from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 11. He says, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’…. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”
This account of the celebration of the Lord’s Last Supper was written only 57 years after Christ. In another verse from that same chapter, Paul states, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). This clearly indicates that the early Christians truly believed that the Eucharist was indeed the Body and Blood of the Lord. In 350 AD, St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote about this passage and stated, “Since Christ himself has declared the bread to be his body, who can have any further doubt? Since he himself has said quite categorically, This is my blood, who would dare to question and say that it is not his blood? Therefore, it is with complete assurance that we receive the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ” (Catecheses).
There is an enormous amount of historical evidence in the writings of the early Church Fathers that testifies to belief in the Real Presence. These men were prominent writers of the early Church whose works manifested a pronounced theological sophistication. Why should this be important for us today? Because some of them received what they taught firsthand from the apostles. And the apostles learned it directly from Jesus Himself. He gave to them the authority to teach in His name. He even said, “Whoever hears you, hears me.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing in the year 110 AD, bears a strong witness when he expresses the following: “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7,3). These are powerful words! And it is only one example of the numerous early writings regarding the Holy Eucharist. This is Sacred Tradition.
The Catholic Church has consistently taught belief in the Real Presence from the very beginning to the present day. In the first thousand years, Christians generally did not deny it, although there were some heresies. It was not until the Protestant Reformation, fifteen centuries after Christ's death, that rejection of the Real Presence gained a following of any significance.
Jesus knew how we would hunger for this “food” which is Him, and He provided ways for us to know that it is available to us. He revealed it through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition and these are interpreted and taught authoritatively by the Roman Catholic Church.
