The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

livingTHE HOLY EUCHARIST. 329bread which came down from heaven. Ifany man eat of this bread, he shall live forever:and the bread which I will give, is Myflesh for thelife of the world. The Jews, therefore, disputedamong themselves, saying How can this man : giveus His flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them :Amen,amen, I say to you Unless ye eat the flesh of the:Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not haveHe that eateth Mylife in you.flesh and drinkethMy blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise himup on the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed,land My blood is drink indeed." If you had been among the number of ourSaviour s hearers on that occasion, would you nothave been irresistibly led, by the noble simplicity ofHis words, to understand Him as speaking truly ofHis body and blood? For His islanguage not susceptible of any other interpretation.When our Saviour says to the Jews: "Yourfathers did eat manna, and died, .... but he thateateth this (Eucharistic) bread shall live for ever,"He evidently wishes to affirm the superiority of thefood which He would give, over the manna by whichthe children of Israel were nourished.Now, if the Eucharist were merely commemorativebread and wine, instead of being superior, it wouldbe really inferior to the manna ;for the manna wassupernatural, heavenly, miraculous food, while breadand wine are a natural, earthly food,28*1John vi. 48-56.