"The savage commonly believes that by eating the flesh of an animal or man he acquires not only the physical, but even the moral and intellectual qualities which were characteristic of an animal or man; so when the creature is deemed divine, our simple savage naturally expects to absorb a portion of its divinity along with its material substance. It may be well to illustrate by instances this common faith in the acquisition of virtues of vices of many kinds through the medium of animal food, even when there is no pretence that the viands consist of the body or blood of a god. The doctrine forms part of the widely ramified system of sympathetic or homoeopathic magic" (The New Golden Bough, Frazer and Gaster, 465).

There have been many questions concerning the meaning of John 6:53-55:

"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

Catholicism, like their pagan predecessors, take a somewhat literal interpretation, while Christianity understand the words Jesus spoke "they are spirit, and they are life". Now when I say that Catholicism takes a "somewhat literal intepretation", I mean, that whereas they boast that they keep the "literal", they do more than that, they add to what Jesus really said as well as take away from what He said.

Jesus clearly states that "except ye EAT the flesh, AND DRINK his blood, ye have no life in you". Yet, the Catholic hierarchy decided that there was no need to drink the cup because the bread already contained the "blood" along with the "soul and divinity". Rome took away the cup which takes away the "shed blood" and replaces it with blood "pulsating through the body". How then is Rome taking a "literal interpretation"? Jesus said, "AND DRINK HIS BLOOD". Amazing enough, Rome's own popes disputed over this matter. Pope Gelasius I (492-496), in a letter addressed to some bishops said:

"We have ascertained that certain persons having received a portion of the sacred body alone abstain from partaking of the chalice of the sacred blood. Let such persons...either receive the sacrament in its entirety, or be repelled from the entire sacrament, because a division of one and the same mystery cannot take place without great sacrilege."

Since we were never given the cup, there was no need to instruct us on how to drink "God". But there were very strict laws concerning the eating of the communion host. Roman Catholic priest, Rev. George Searle, in his book, How To Become A Catholic, pg.83-85, gives instructions on how to "eat God" properly. Since Rome teaches that the communion host is really and truly the "body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ", I have added "[God]" whenever Searle speaks of the host so one can better understand just exactly what Roman Catholicism is saying!

"It is very difficult for the priest to give Communion [God] to people holding their mouths shut without striking it [God] against their teeth, in which case it is very probable that it [God] may be broken, or at any rate that some particle of it [God] may be knocked off. Don't follow their bad example then, but hold your mouth wide open, and your tongue well out; then the priest can lay the Communion [God] on it without fear, and without danger of accident. When it [God] is laid on your tongue, withdraw your tongue immediately, and then close your mouth, being careful not to do so till the tongue is inside; then swallow it [God] as soon as possible. It [God] must not be allowed to melt in the mouth; if it [God] does, you do not receive the Sacrament [God]at all. If, however it [God] should adhere to the roof of the mouth, so that it [God] cannot immediately be swallowed, do not be disturbed, but loosen it [God] with your tongue; you will pretty certainly be able to do this before it [God] is all dissolved. Do not on any account, touch it [God] with your fingers. And take care not to CHEW it [God], or even touch it [God] with your teeth. Having swallowed it [God] you have now receive; and now is the time, more than any other, for fervent prayer, when the Real Presence of our Lord is with you.This Real Presence only remains while the Blessed Sacrament [God] still continues undestroyed, which will only be for a few minutes at most, for it [God] will usually be acted on more quickly by the stomach than by the mouth; but even after it [God] has passed away, prayer and thanksgiving for what has been received should be continued for some time...if possible, for as much as a quarter of an hour."

The "never changing Catholic church" now teaches her subjects to "chew God" and you are now permitted to hold "God" in your hand. We were forbidden to eat "God" unless we had fasted from midnight on. Now you can "eat God" one half hour after you have eaten a full course meal. Seems that the Catholic church is losing respect for her wafer god. Praise Jesus that we truly understand what He meant, because He gave us His word. Had the average Catholic read all of John 6, they would have run across this verse:

"Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6:34-35

Cometh = "never hunger"
Believeth = "never thirst"

Thus the reason why Jesus said in: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63

You can either go to Jesus and believe on Him and have eternal life as Christ said, "he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever", or you can eat the Roman Catholic man-made bread that one may eat and still die.

By Rebecca A. Sexton