Why do Catholics believe that the bread and wine actually turn into Christ’s body and blood at Mass?
The Church has always interpreted Jesus’ words, “This is My Body; this is My Blood”, which occur in four accounts of the Last Supper (Matt 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Cor 11:23-25), in a literal sense. Jesus says that what He holds in His hands is His Body and Catholics, like the apostles, humbly accept His word, for as God what He speaks, is, and He speaks only truth. There is no account of the institution of the Eucharist in St. John’s Gospel, which was written long enough after the others that he very likely knew these accounts existed. Instead, the entire sixth chapter of his Gospel is devoted to the theology of the Eucharist. First, Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed the multitude (John 6:1-15), prefiguring the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist. Next, He walked on the water to meet His disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee (John 6:16-21), showing that He could suspend the laws of nature with respect to His own body as well as with re
