The second part has nothing to do with the Eucharist.
Protestants miss the point of having a relationship with Christ as His Body
His Body is His Church--the members of Christ. If you go into any Catholic Church during service, you will see people--that is His body regardless the denomination.
Most Catholics if not all, are if fact pagan. Or at least take part in the paganism within the Catholic church. Sure they believe in Christ or this figure they call "Jesus" but that doesn't mean that they are doing Yahuah's Will.
Same would go for with Lent. Just because Catholics claim to take it as their own and rename it or try to reform it, doesn't mean that they aren't "celebrating" its original purpose.
First, were are you from? Please don't belittle Americans. They have as much right to worship and authenticity in their worship and practices to the true Christ just as you and anyone else.
Also, that is a complete insult to any Catholic. That is like a Catholic coming to you and saying you are not Christian because you are not part of the Church.
Both are wrong and very insulting to both Christians--Catholic and protestant.
You cannot be pagan and Catholic at the same time. A pagan is someone who is not Catholic and who in the technical (rather than modern) sense of the term, is polytheistic and is very ethnic in origin. Pagans are in
all parts of the world in different countries with or without Christianity affiliated with it. So, to use the word pagan is not helping much.
If you want to discredit the Catholic faith (Which is unchristian to do), you have to say what type of paganism (what Country) of practices they are using. Even more so, you have to demonstrate how that ethnic practice has anything to do with how a Catholic sees their relationship with Christ within how they worship (looking at their
personal relationship with Christ not the outer parts all anti-Catholics distaste).
Plus, you cannot pin someone as a pagan because they hold a Catholic label and the way they bow or hold hands. You do not know their relationship with the True Yeshuah. No one should assume someone else's spiritual path in life based on a label.
If you are referring to the Eucharist, and Christ being "fully present" in it, well then there is another problem right there. First of all, how is that not considered cannibalism. Even since you don't believe that "Jesus" is God, you can't make that argument that you aren't eating a person, you're eating God. However if you were to make that argument I would still say that God became flesh, and became a human, therefore it would be some sort of cannibalistic practice.
Where did you get Cannibalism at? No Catholic sees Jesus' fingers, toes, and hands when they take the Eucharist. Physically present is saying it is a fact that Jesus said "this is my blood; this is my body." The
fact that it is in scripture and because it is in scripture, Catholics take it as a fact/literal/truth. Facts do not have to apply to the five senses. Perfect example: you say God is real, it is a fact. There is no evidence of God. There are different types of fact. Not all are present by five senses only.
To say they are eating Jesus is silly. They are taking Him in flesh and in Spirit. Catholicism puts a heavy emphasis on external means of worship not just inner means; they go together--just as your body and spirit.
Here's a question for you then. If "Jesus" is fully present within the Eucharist, then what is the point of a second coming if he is already here? Every Sunday Catholics "re-sacrifice" the final sacrifice, therefore re-crucifying Christ.
If I'm understanding Revelations correctly, in the second coming, He comes with His physical body and spirit. If you go to Mass and see the Eucharist, you will see bread and wine, you will not see Jesus toes and head and hair and so forth. You are misinterpreting the nature of the Eucharist.
Many Catholics may disagree with how I express this, but, because you cannot see his toes and fingers, it is not literal, it is spiritual in nature. For example, my grandmother's favorite food, among many, is cornbread. The last time we sat and ate (this was years ago) was cornbread; that is how I remember her. So, when she passed away, every time I ate cornbread, I remember her. Her
Spirit is in the food I eat. To a Christian, it is more powerful because unlike me where my grandmother never told me she will be the spirit in the food I will eat once she passed; Jesus said He IS the food they eat and the wine they drink after He is resurrected.
They aren't re-crucifying Jesus.
"Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed is He who comes to the
supper of the Lamb." (Looking at how they used to slain the Lamb in sacrifice and eat of its flesh; it is no different with Christ).
Jesus (His physical body and Spirit) has not climbed down from heaven to
be the hosts. If that were the case, the priest would be holding a person's body not bread/wine.
Instead, the priest is reinacting what Christ said to His disciples--this is my blood and body. He shows it to the whole congregation so they know they are in communion with each other when they consume of the food (just as the disciples did when they were around the table--they didn't just look at the food Jesus gave them, they
ate it too)
Then the priest breaks the bread (you can't break Jesus) and gives it to everyone to be
in communion with Jesus (He and His followers) through His blood and body.
Many cultures put a great value to food. Food holds the family together. It is a thanksgiving. Many Americans do not know the importance of food in other countries. Christianity is not a modern faith. Food is very important in this faith as well.
Hence, why Jesus uses food to represent
His body (mana, nourishment) and blood (life, sacrifice, passion).
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What's throwing you off is it is food and you feel its an inanimate object. Also, transubstantiation is throwing you off too. It's just blessing the bread and wine which in itself by God's blessing not the priest's.
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Basically, God is restating what He said at the Lord's Supper. It is misleading, because you see a priest do it rather than Jesus.