What Early Christians Believed About The Eucharist 

This more scripted vid is quite different to my other off the cuff one's. Let me know if it was the most boring thing you’ve ever watched. PLEASE SHARE if you think it's worth it.

I’m a Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus). It is the Eucharist that is making me want to become Catholic. EDIT: I'm officially Catholic!

I am a recovering addict and if it wasn’t for the Eucharist I never would’ve made it out of addiction. When I was in jail I had my first confession in 20 years than I received the Eucharist. My life changed so drastically, a deliverance from meth!!! I do not crave drugs!!! I’ve been clean for 18 months!! Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Thank you God for leaving the 99 for me! Grateful for the Catholic Church and Her Sacraments 🙏🕊🔥

Well, I must say, as a Pentecostal, I have debated against the Catholic view of the Eucharist, but this is a pretty strong argument. I'm definitely gonna have to do more research.

I left the Catholic church a few months ago becoming protestant, anti-Catholic, i got to recieve the Holy Eucharist as a Catholic again today, i went to Holy Eucharistic addoration i was deeply convicted by Jesus that the Eucharist is truly him, i went to confession yesterday and got to recieve Jesus at mass today :) im happy to be home family

Former Baptist here. It was reading John chapter 6 and the reality of the Real Presence in the Eucharist that brought me back to Christ's only Church, His Catholic Church

This video will change lives.

When I was a Baptist I always wondered what the point of Holy Communion was. It seemed redundant, and nobody really expanded on that. We had it like once a month at best. When I started researching Catholicism this was the key topic I studied, probably most of the time. Eucharist is the number one reason for conversion

I didn’t even know this about how all the early Christians believed it was His true presence. And I’m a cradle catholic. This is really important info!

Shoutout Catholic answers . They helped me come to the reality of the Eucharist .

I believe in Transubstantiation...i am aware of many Eucharistic miracles that happened in the past...I also experienced Jesus during Consecration and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. If I may share, I had a vision of the Suffering Christ image in 2012 during Consecration at the Holy Mass in time of our Catholic Community Covenanting. Jesus said to me in an indiscribable voice, "Unite your sufferings with Me and these will be light", and i said my yes and thanked Him. My tears fell like rain but it was because of joy...and it was a warning of an upcoming big problem that came 2 weeks after. In another event, one Saturday afternoon in 2016, I was adoring the Blessed Sacrament exposed at the altar of our Parish Church when i felt my head opened and heard the same voice i heard in a vision in 2012. He said to me, "Tell my people to love Me. My command for them is to love Me, not only to believe in Me. I am the fount of all holiness. If they would love, they will stop sinning and if the would not love Me, they will keep on sinning. Focus on the LOVE that is in the light... upon arriving home that afternoon, the message was confirmed when I turned on the TV at EWTN Channel. The same message was onthe TV screen.... 😊Oh i love You, Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament! You are my goal, my all, my love.❤

I am going through RCIA currently, and honestly I am already so excited to receive The Eucharist for the first time. There's such a sense of reverence and peace knowing Jesus did this for us over 2,000 years ago and yet he still joins us for it to this day.

I'm born and raised Presbyterian... I've always struggled with the Calvinistic and Zwinglian understanding of Holy Communion... I've even argued in my youth with some of my Sunday school teachers that if we were serious about Sola scriptura then we would indeed teach this he is truly present.

The Eucharist moved me from being an evangelical to being a Lutheran. After reading what the Bible actually says and what the earliest Christian’s believed, it is undeniable that the real presence of the Eucharist is the correct doctrine. As time went on, I kept moving closer and closer to the catholic position on other doctrines. Today, I am essentially catholic in nearly all doctrines. I am looking for reasons to not be catholic, and when I am satisfied there are no good objections, I plan on entering RCIA.

Baptism this weekend and confirmation! Ready to have the Eucharist in my life

As a Catholic revert I have been reading the early church fathers and the Saints, Sister Marie of St Peter in 1844 said oh if you only knew what great Merit you acquire by saying even once "admirable is the name of God" I decided to say this throughout the Catholic mass every time I was at church looking at the Tabernacle and talkin to God and thanking him I also said the Golden Arrow prayer, I would also say it at home visualizing the tabernacle, this has made such a difference I am 100% sure that Jesus is present there at every Mass because of the grace he is poured into my heart, the love he has poured into my heart is immeasurable!!!!! I wish I had been praising him all my life as I should have been and I write this hoping that everybody will love the Lord in the Eucharist because he is in the Eucharist that is his heart in the tabernacle. The Lord should be loved, adored, thanked daily. God bless everyone

This video came at a perfect time! I'm about to have a friendly discussion with my best friend about why the Eucharist makes me want to join the Catholic church 😁 Thank you!

Not only the Church Fathers believed the Eucharist to be the Real Presence, but the Apostles as well.

As a Lutheran theology student I fully support and agree with this! It was never a questioned for the Apostolic Fathers or the Early Church, if Christ was present or not in the Eucharist. Thank you for the video, Matt! I really enjoy all of your work. Bless you and your family!

I'm an associate pastor in a Baptist Church, but I was baptized Anglican as a teenager, and my sensibilities are far more sacramental than most Baptists. Increasingly so! I also love history broadly and the Church tradition (though I admit I'm not well-read in it). I admit that I am in an uncomfortable position.

My favourite quote from the Church Fathers on the Eucharist comes from Justin Martyr in his First Apology: “For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” It’s such a perfect quote because he appeals to the incarnation in his explanation which leaves no room for saying that he was speaking metaphorically.

Matt, I am a Protestant who converted easter before last because the biblical proof of the Eucharist was undeniable to me. In all my years of attending church and bible study I had never encountered that text. It’s just glossed over by most churches because it so contrary to Protestant teachings. I loved this talk because it shows the Bible text and belief in the context of history. Now, if I could only get everyone I love to listen with an open heart and believe. I want to suggest a follow up, How typology proves the Eucharist has to present to satisfy our salvation.

Anglican here. Thank you for laying out the truth of the Eucharist. Blessings.

I'm a fan of this format!

Finally! Someone who not only explains the belief of the early church fathers concerning the Eucharistic. But, also gives more than one scripture to back it up. I am a protestant. I've always been taught and believed that the Eucharist was merely symbolic. A few months ago I started questioning that teaching. I haven't delved deeply. I have other studies that I've focused on. But, I have done some searching. Your video is the ONLY video (and I have watched many and read many Catholic articles on this subject) that has convinced me that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharistic. THANK YOU!❤

Thank you for this presentation on the Eucharist. I teach Catechism to 5th and 6th graders who are preparing to receive First Holy Communion in May. The book we use doesn't go quite deep enough and everything else seems too deep for them and I want to give them a better understanding of why we believe in the true Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. This is a great help to me since I don't have the time or books to read about the first doctors of the Church and then break it down for them. Thank you and God bless you!

Lutheran here, I really appreciate that you don’t stereotype or straw man any denomination and that you’ve done your research very well.

Such a GREAT video Matt. Though I'm Catholic, this helped me further understand the true divinity in the Eucharist.

Awesome video on our blessed sacrament, Matt!! Like stated by Scott Hahn on the Holy Eucharist, “If the Eucharist that Jesus institutes as the Passover of the new covenant is only a meal, not only is it not a Passover (which has to be a sacrifice), than Golgotha, Good Friday, and Calvary is only a Roman Execution. BUT IF - and only if- the Eucharist that is instituted in the Upper room on Holy Thursday is in fact the Passover of the new covenant, than suddenly we find the light that illuminates in the darkness of Good Friday transforming what happened to Jesus on the cross from being an execution into the climax of the sacrifice! On Good Friday, Jesus is not a victim of Roman violence and injustice as much as he’s a victim of Divine Love and Mercy! And that he wasn’t losing his life on Friday if in fact he was laying it down as a gift of love on Holy Thursday when he was celebrating Passover, instituting the Eucharist precisely as the Passover of the new covenant!” In other words, the Eucharist is the new covenant Passover. Jesus instituted the New Testament( the Eucharist ) for all is his followers to celebrate Passover of the new covenant every Sunday, or whenever attending mass. Jesus created a sacrifice that is eternal, and the meal is never ending. We don’t resacrifice Jesus at mass, we essentially bring the meal from the last supper into mass every time the bread is consecrated. On earth as it is in heaven. Like stated in exodus - In the Old Testament, the Passover ritual is not completed by the death of the sacrificial lamb. It is completed when the Israelites eat the “flesh” of the lamb that is slain so that they might be delivered from bondage in Egypt and, ultimately, from death (Ex 12:8). That is why Paul, himself an expert in Jewish Scripture, can write, “Our paschal lamb [Greek pascha, meaning Passover] Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast” (1 Cor 5:7-8). If the Eucharist is the new exodus of the new Passover, you have to eat the lamb! You can’t just eat the symbol of the lamb. You can’t just remember the lamb. You have to eat the flesh of the lamb in order for the new Passover to be complete because Passover isn’t completed by the death of he lamb. It’s completed when the ppl, for whom the lamb died, receive its flesh that was offered on their behalf. “So Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’” (John 6:53)

Powerful. Thanks for helping me understand this confusing issue during lent 2023! Be blessed.

For those who want a detailed yet accessible biblical study of the Eucharist, I suggest reading "Jesus and the Jewish roots of the Eucharist " by Brant Pitre: all the context is there, IMO. Great video, otherwise !!!!!

Thank you so much for making a shorter video on the Eucharist! Its a lot easier to get a friend to watch this than a hour long lecture.

I know this is an old video, but thank you Matt for explaining this so well.

Wow, that is eye opening! To know the disciples, disciples spoke of the real presence of Christ! That completely changes my mind! Thank you for sharing.

As a Lutheran, I sincerely appreciate this video. Yesterday a friend tried to tell me St Ignatius didn’t believe in the true presence Eucharist. He’s wrong, of course, but I didn’t have a response at the time. Thanks for this video!

Viva Cristo Rey ! Viva María Santísima ! Hi, from Aguascalientes, México.

The historic case for the real Presence brought me into the Catholic Church after 44 years as a Protestant. Deo gratias.

Great clarity, Matt Fradd. You quoted from some of my faves - I'm doing my PhD on two of those fathers right now!

This was extremely helpful. Thank you for all the resources.

This was a blessing. Please make more of these on more topics.

Beautifully and clearly articulated, Matt! Thank you for this humble, but passionate presentation!! Strengthening my faith! 🙏

One of the best videos ever. Appreciate you Matt !!!

Love the way you presented and explained this. I'm going to be sharing this with others

I'm a Protestant and this is the best video I've found on this subject. The Protestant videos that talk about this subject never quote the Church fathers.

Very well done; i think you could have included more quotes with the time you have, maybe saints from each century until 500 or something, but the ones you picked are excellent and the additional resources are very helpful

Superb! Thanks Matt, excellent video!

The video format is great Matt! I'm adding it to my repertoire for discussions with my protestant friends.

Definitely not boring. I listened to it several times to make sure I got everything. Thank you.

Wow, what a video! I have been studying about the Eucharist these past few days, so I had to watch this! Thank you Matt, beautifully explained!

I am a protestant.. after watching this vedio and studying with brother Sam Shamoun now i completely and without any doubt i believe Eucharis that we receive is Our LORD'S BODY AND BLOOD That HE shed on the cross..

Well done! Praise God for this - if it’s True, it’s probably not new; if it’s new, it’s probably not true. Amen, brother

Really liked this video! Thank you, as a cradle catholic I just recently have begun to really desire to believe the real presence in the eucharist.

I love the attention you pay to this subject. I'm confirmed but I never really knew what I was supposed to believe. I'm still learning, trying to internalize the logic of what I'm committing to believe so I'm not just saying the right thing but actually grasp it in some sense. I think transsubstantiation is where people like myself are confused. I see lots of contradictory definitions out there. Clearly defining what it means and what it doesn't mean and committing that both to memory and to my heart is where I'm at currently. It's so confounding that most Catholics don't believe in arguably the greatest of sacraments in our church. I hope as I grow in my understanding of it I can help teach other layity in my personal circle. God bless your ministry Matt! Your show/podcast lead me back to Catholicism from my stint in protestantism.

Go off Matt! Great explanation of the topic!

Great video! I’m glad I found this and can share it!

I just love this channel, long may it run.

Love this! Very well done and it was the history of the Church that led my husband to it! Do you have a video on Eucharistic Miracles?

This is wonderful! I am a cradle Catholic absolutely in love with my faith and our Lord in the Eucharist. What a beautiful way of pointing out the true teaching on the Eucharist, that Jesus is truly present - body, blood, soul, and divinity! 😊🙏

Protestant here (currently) the eucharist is what made me start questioning my practice of faith. great video!

Great and poignant presentation dear Bro. in Christ. 🙏 God bless you and may you grow in Christ to spread the Eucharistic faith more and more👏

In my experience when I started believing in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, my life was changed. Man is one of biggest stumbling blocks to himself.

great and informative video!

Loving the new format!

I think you are great! God bless you for your work. Keep it up!

I loved this video! Super brief and straightforward. Thank you so much!

Very informative and educational. I enjoyed the format. This is a teaching all Catholics would benefit by viewing. Peace.

I played this video to my 88 year old Protestant father and he found it "very interesting" and I saw a light in his eyes I hadn't seen before. If anyone reading this could whisper a small prayer for him as I continue to evangelise him, I would greatly appreciate it! (his name is Ross). My dream is that he comes into the Church before he dies. Thanks in advance 🙏

Thank you Matt! This helps so much!

I was raised evangelical Protestant (memorialist view of communion) and I had no idea that the early church considered the Eucharist to be the literal flesh and blood of Jesus until recently (I read JND Kelly's book after learning of it). I also was completely unfamiliar with the John 6 passage. I've noticed that some Protestant apologists will point to places where the church fathers seem to use "symbolic" or "spiritual" language and argue this means the Fathers didn't teach Real Presence. However, JND Kelly explains in his book that ancients didn't have the same conception of symbolism that modern people do. In ancient times, a "symbol" was seen as a reflection of the real thing that it represents. So they would have considered the Eucharist to be symbols *and* the real thing.

Matt! I love your videos! I am a protestant investigating Catholicism, and I want to be willing to humble myself and convert if it is true. Could you please do a series on Catholic apologetics for protestants? I have a lot of questions! P.S. I'm still mot close to being converted.

Hey Matt, thanks for sharing this. Its pretty solid. A great one to share :) It wasn't the most boring thing I've ever seen, BUT it is a pet peeve of mine to see presenters reading a script/teleprompter. I reckon you've definitely got in in ya to find a balance and ditch the word for word script but still present in this format.

Phenomenal video. Most direct, down to earth, and practical video in support of the real presence I have seen.

That was great Matt. Keep up the good work. Any new sibling horror coming out? 😊 God bless

As a former Baptist for 40 years of my life, once I saw the reality that Christ is present body, blood, and divinity in the Eucharist, any other form of worship seemed cheap, tawdry, and an imitation of the real Mass administered by Priests ordained through apostolic succession. I had no defense other than to convert to the Catholic Church.

Fantastic, not boring at all - full of useful info from start to finish

Matt this is not boring at all. Wonderful information God bless you Aussie brother.

Quote of the Day "Be a Catholic: When you kneel before an altar, do it in such a way that others may be able to recognize that you know before whom you kneel." -St. Maximilian Kolbe

Blessings.

Thanks, wonderful education, May God richly bless you and your family

We need more of these types of videos! Excellent!!

After receiving the Eucharist, miracles have happened in my life.

I believe in the Eucharist as central to our Christian worship. I was baptized by immersion in the Baptist tradition. I was taught that Catholics were in idolatry in their belief in the Eucharist. I attended the Eucharistic service in the Episcopal Church in the 1980's. I took the elements believing that Eucharist was only a symbol, a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. I tell you, that I took the wine and tasted not wine, but SALTY BLOOD. This was a personal miracle to someone who was baptized in the Baptist tradition, that only sees the communion as symbolic. I was then believing in the grace of Christ, but thinking that Catholics were in error about Holy Communion. Even idolatry, I had been taught. I learned that day that Eucharist is not just a symbol, but the true Body and Blood of Jesus. God gave me a miracle. There was not one ounce of wine in that element; it was completely Jesus' blood. I am forever devoted in worship to Holy Eucharist as His Body & Blood.

This is very helpful ♥️ thank you very much 🙏

excellent talk Matt.

ST. IGNATIUS (107 A.D.): Eucharist practice by early church! "The Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for our sin." (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 6) GO CATHOLIC!!!

This gave me chills. Thank you! I'm a cradle Catholic, and I didn't know all of this about my faith!

Thank you for this post! I'm still at odds in my head about literal vs symbolic but you put forth a great deal to thing about.

This was one of your best videos because of the tight format.

First of all, you're really awesome... SO thoughtful and generous with your kind remarks toward Protestants. Well done. I just don't think it is so historically cut and dry. Here are just some examples that seem to push back a little at what you're saying. Tertullian wrote: “Having taken the bread and given it to His disciples, Jesus made it His own body, by saying, ‘This is My body,’ that is, the symbol of My body. There could not have been a symbol, however, unless there was first a true body. An empty thing or phantom is incapable of a symbol. He likewise, when mentioning the cup and making the new covenant to be sealed ‘in His blood,’ affirms the reality of His body. For no blood can belong to a body that is not a body of flesh” (Against Marcion, 4.40). The Didache, written in the late-first or early-second century, referred to the elements of the Lord’s table as “spiritual food and drink” (The Didache, 9). The long passage detailing the Lord's Table in this early Christian document gives no hint of transubstantiation whatsoever. Justin Martyr (110-165) spoke of “the bread which our Christ gave us to offer in remembrance of the Body which He assumed for the sake of those who believe in Him, for whom He also suffered, and also to the cup which He taught us to offer in the Eucharist, in commemoration of His blood"(Dialogue with Trypho, 70). Clement of Alexandria explained that, “The Scripture, accordingly, has named wine the symbol of the sacred blood” (The Instructor, 2.2). Origen similarly noted, “We have a symbol of gratitude to God in the bread which we call the Eucharist” (Against Celsus, 8.57). Cyprian (200-258), who sometimes described the eucharist using very literal language, spoke against any who might use mere water for their celebration of the Lord’s Table. In condemning such practices, he explained that the cup of the Lord is a representation of the blood of Christ: “I marvel much whence this practice has arisen, that in some places, contrary to Evangelical and Apostolic discipline, water is offered in the Cup of the Lord, which alone cannot represent the Blood of Christ” (Epistle 63.7). Eusebius of Caesarea (263-340) espoused a symbolic view in his Proof of the Gospel: For with the wine which was indeed the symbol of His blood, He cleanses them that are baptized into His death, and believe on His blood, of their old sins, washing them away and purifying their old garments and vesture, so that they, ransomed by the precious blood of the divine spiritual grapes, and with the wine from this vine, "put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man which is renewed into knowledge in the image of Him that created him." . . . He gave to His disciples, when He said, "Take, drink; this is my blood that is shed for you for the remission of sins: this do in remembrance of me." And, "His teeth are white as milk," show the brightness and purity of the sacramental food. For again, He gave Himself the symbols of His divine dispensation to His disciples, when He bade them make the likeness of His own Body. For since He no more was to take pleasure in bloody sacrifices, or those ordained by Moses in the slaughter of animals of various kinds, and was to give them bread to use as the symbol of His Body, He taught the purity and brightness of such food by saying, “And his teeth are white as milk” (Demonstratia Evangelica, 8.1.76-80). Athanasius (296-373) similarly contended that the elements of the Eucharist are to be understood spiritually, not physically: “[W]hat He says is not fleshly but spiritual. For how many would the body suffice for eating, that it should become the food for the whole world? But for this reason He made mention of the ascension of the Son of Man into heaven, in order that He might draw them away from the bodily notion, and that from henceforth they might learn that the aforesaid flesh was heavenly eating from above and spiritual food given by Him.” (Festal Letter, 4.19) Augustine (354-430), also, clarified that the Lord’s Table was to be understood in spiritual terms: “Understand spiritually what I said; you are not to eat this body which you see; nor to drink that blood which they who will crucify me shall pour forth. . . . Although it is needful that this be visibly celebrated, yet it must be spiritually understood” (Exposition of the Psalms, 99.8). He also explained the eucharistic elements as symbols. Speaking of Christ, Augustine noted: “He committed and delivered to His disciples the figure [or symbol] of His Body and Blood.” (Exposition of the Psalms, 3.1). And in another place, quoting the Lord Jesus, Augustine further explained: “‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man,’ says Christ, ‘and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ This seems to enjoin a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure [or symbol], enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us (On Christian Doctrine, 3.16.24).

This is interesting to consider. Ultimatly, this is an appeal to tradition, something that Catholics esteem higher than reformers. Looking unto Scripture would be the best way for us to proceed. When Christ says, "Do this in rememberence of me" that seems like a clear definition that this is a rememberence, and not magic. That this, along with other symbols like baptism, are outward reflections of inward grace, and spiritual realities. It's interesting that you contrast literal (what I would call carnal) truth, to spiritual truth, as if the carnal surpases spiritual in weightiness and significance. But I'm still understanding the sides of the debate, as there is clearly a lot of history to this discussion. I am praying for understanding of this delicate issue. (Edit): Also, looking at Scripture, in 1 Cor. 11, Paul takes Christs statement of the bread and equates it with the phrase, "in the same way" to Christ's statement about the cup. The second statement must be taken sybolically, as the new covenent is not literally just a cup, but a whole sacriment to proclaim the reality of Christ's final fufillment of the passover, and our new access and presence to Mt. Zion (Hebrews 11). Therefore, it follows that the bread is the body of Christ in the sense that it represents Christ spiritually, but there is no magic in the bread (as there is no magic in the water of baptism). We should not take a great spirital truth and mistake it carnally. (Matt. 16.6) 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (NASB) To anyone who actually read to the end, i commend you. Really just working out my thoughts.

Matt, the slide at 5:40 has Christ spelled incorrectly, missing the "r". BTW, you crushed it! Your passion is palpable. Thank you for your work and your faith.

Hello from Ballybofey, Well presented and researched.

We know the expressions, "Flesh of my flesh. Blood of my blood" and "We become what we eat." In the Jewish Passover, the Paschal lamb is sacrificed at the Temple and then brought home and eaten by the family that brought it. "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" "Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us." " For My flesh is REAL food, and My blood is real drink. " "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. " "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will LIVE forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is MY FLESH." "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is REAL food, and My blood is real drink.... ...Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood REMAINS in Me, and I in him." "REMAIN in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.." "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no LIFE in you." "I and the Father are one." "Because I live, you also will LIVE. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and YOU ARE IN ME, and I AM IN YOU." Just as with a man and wife become one so do we become one with Christ in as REAL a way as can be, "...and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh." When you see the Eucharist as the true body and blood of our Lord, then the adoption becomes crystal clear. We are children of God in a real sense - spiritually and literally. "And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God." "And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" So when we pray the "Our Father", it is as real as it can be - bodily and spiritually. Nothing "symbolic" about it. "“For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.” The word “brothers” is the word used for blood relatives. In the same way, we as members of the Body of Christ are one in a literal sense through Christ - "Because there is one LOAF, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one LOAF." 1 Cor 10:17 "...so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another." "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!" "...he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” In the Eucharist, JESUS CHRIST IS Flesh of my flesh; Blood of my blood.

It was reading the Bible when I saw Jesus words at Last Supper was the reason I became.a Catholuc.

Awesome video, thank you Matt

Thank you for this!!

I am a Roman Catholic and therefore I am overjoyed each time I partake of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. However, as I came to understand, the Real Presence is valid only if there is Apostolic Succession, and so it only concerns Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Is that true? So if our Protestant brothers in Christ want to experience it it is dependent upon the Apostolic Succession.

This and Fr. Fr. Mike Scmidtz video, “the Hour that will change your life” on youtube are the two best explanations I have ever heard. I am a cradle Catholic, but many of our own DO NOT believe in the Real Presence. The Church as a whole before 1500, the Eucharistic Miracles, The writings of the Catholic Church, The Saints testimony, Inedia Miracles, all prove it is Really Jesus.

The thing that concerns me is that the very earliest Christians were almost all Jews who presumably would be appalled by the idea of drinking blood, since it’s absolutely forbidden in the Torah (law), under any circumstances. It’s hard to imagine Jesus requiring breaking the law in any way.

Thanks a lot. Great background information .