What is the Eucharist? According to the New Testament Writers and the Early Church Fathers

Fr. Spitzer and EWTN host, Doug Keck discuss what is the Eucharist according to the New Testament Writers and the Early Church fathers.

RESOURCES AND LINKS:
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Article: The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist—History and Evidence ~https://blog.magiscenter.com/blog/the...
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The conviction about His real presence in the Eucharist is the universal view of the New Testament writers and the early church fathers. Why is it important to make that statement? A lot of people think somehow that Jesus intended that the Eucharist be just a memorial or a celebration.

So in other words we're all gathering together to remember Jesus mentally. We're not here to receive the real Jesus into us. So we're here to celebrate symbolically Jesus's presence. We're not really here to receive His real presence. And so you have to just say, well, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Now, who was closest to Jesus? Well, there's all these evangelists and apostles. Well, what did they have to say? I mean, John 6, I don't need to reread it to you again, St. Paul, I don't need to read Corinthians again. You know, I mean the Eucharistic words themselves in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, right?

I don't need to give that to you again. I mean, it's all saying real presence, real presence, real presence. How can you read in John 6:58 , you know, where he says, you know, and, and the, the bread that comes down from heaven is my meaning Jesus' flesh! Flesh! You know body for the life of the world.

I mean, what more do you need? I mean, it's you know, the bread that comes down from heaven is me and it's my flesh for the life of the world. That bread equals me flesh. I mean, I don't get how you can come out with any other interpretation, but of course, let's just pass by that. What did the church fathers think?

What did St. Ignatius of Antioch think? What did as a St. Ireneus think as you go through father, after father, Your father, as you go through the Didache I mean, it's very clear. What did St. Paul think it's very clear. They all believe in the real presence of the Eucharist. How in the world, anybody could come up with a different interpretation?

I don't know, but that's how John Henry Newman or St. John Henry Newman now. That's how he was able to convince so many of his own protestant, former protestant friends to reconsider the Catholic church. He introduced him to the church fathers and he says, let's start with, you know, the sacraments, let's start with the Holy Eucharist.

Let's start with the mass. What did these guys say? Oh, what do they say about the papacy? Oh, you know, it's exactly what the Catholic church says today. And if they who are so close to Jesus and so close to the evangelist, that's telling you, you know, th th th the evangelist just didn't communicate things with their writings.

They're communicating things to orally. They're communicating things within the church. You know, the fathers who are living in almost within living memory of Jesus and certainly in living memory of, of the apostles and evangelists, those church fathers, the early ones you know, can, you know, attest to the fact that what we believe today is pretty much what they believed and therefore very likely what the evangelists.

And of course, most importantly, Jesus Jesus taught. So all of these things being the case I would say it's really, really important to ascertain that. And John Henry Newman was right. It's a fantastic approach.

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