Why do Catholics believe the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Christ?
Jesus gave his Church many wonderful gifts, but far above all of these is the gift he gave us of his very self in the Eucharist. Every time a priest says the words of the consecration at Mass, the bread and wine become the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper on the night he instituted the priesthood. Gathered in the upper room the night before the beginning of his passion, “Jesus took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat, this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'” (Matthew 26:26-28). What Jesus had earlier done with the multiplication of loaves and fish to feed the bodies of his followers he now did with the Bread of Heaven to feed their souls. This first Eucharist fulfilled what Jesus had said while p
