The International Eucharistic Congress 2012
Is this a Christian event?
By Richard Bennett
A
major news item across the Catholic world for the summer of 2012 is that the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) is to be held in Dublin, Ireland
from June 10th – 17th.
The Congress is expected to attract 25,000 people a day, including
“12,000 international pilgrims representing 99 different countries.”[1] Just what is a Eucharistic Congress? A Catholic source replies,
“It is a gathering of Catholics –
priests, religious and laity who come together to express their devotion for
the Holy Eucharist...The International Congresses are usually 3-5 years apart,
which allows for preparation, as they are always held worldwide. Catholics come from all over the world to
participate in the ceremonies and to celebrate Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
...All believers – clergy, religious and laity line the streets following the
Blessed Sacrament.”[2]
Thus it appears that many Catholics
take it as fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is present in what they call the
“Holy Eucharist.” The Church of Rome teaches all its adherents
this very basic Catholic dogma,
“The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic
species is unique…In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and
blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and,
therefore, the whole Christ is
truly, really, and substantially contained.’”[3]
Thus has the Papacy proclaimed that its Eucharist under the form of bread contains the Lord’s identical
body, soul and deity. They claim all of
the bread, except the appearances, is transformed into Christ in His Godhead,
and in His manhood with all its component parts: soul, body, blood, bones,
flesh, nerves, muscles, veins, and sinews.
What a horrific insult this notion is—for it both ridicules Jesus Christ
the Lord and deceives people, defrauding them of the truth. Our Lord spoke about such a blasphemy as this
when He forewarned, “if any man shall say to you, lo,
here is Christ; or, lo,
he is there; believe him not.”[4] In contrast to the Catholic teaching, the
truth is declared in the Scriptures, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”[5] There is a day appointed in which the Lord
will physically return in like manner to His ascension. One must not expect Him to return until that
appointed day when “he will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God.”[6] Consequently, to propose that the glorious
Lord Jesus Christ has come back to earth in the lifeless form of bread is an
attempt to replace the preaching of the biblical Gospel with a mere physical
connection to a Roman Catholic sacrament.
Rome endeavors to
prove its Eucharistic Dogma by citing Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John
Persistently the Church of Rome asserts as fact its dogma
that Christ is actually present in its sacrament. For example, it states, “It
is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that
Christ becomes present in this sacrament.”[7] This dogma is necessary to support another
unbiblical premise, “Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic
banquet.” The proof text they use is,
“As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats
me will live because of me (John 6:57).”[8]
According to Catholic teaching,
“The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an
intimate union with Christ Jesus.” The
proof text attached to their reasoning is, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my
blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
Moreover, the Vatican goes so far as to state
that the Lord Himself urges us to
receive Him in the sacrament of the Eucharist. They officially state,
“The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to
receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist:
‘Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and
drink his blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53).[9]
The alleged change of bread and wine—into the actual body
and blood of the Lord—the Vatican
calls “transubstantiation.”
Thus, they state,
“By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread
and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about.”[10]
The change that is claimed to happen by transubstantiation is
dumbfounding. The Lord is said to exist on earth, not as man, but as bread
and wine. The Papacy claims to be in
possession and control of elements in which He presumably is contained. Its law goes so far as to say that their “Eucharistic
Christ” is to be “locked in” the tabernacle.[11]
What is so mind-boggling is Aristotelian physics on which
the concept of transubstantiation is based has long been disproven, yet the
thirteenth century idolatrous dogma is still the centerpiece of the Catholic
sacramental system.[12] Thus, it is still taught and practiced in
every Catholic Church and parish worldwide.
The Factual
meaning of John 6 vis-à-vis Catholic dogma
“Life in Christ” does not “have its foundation in the
Eucharistic banquet.” Neither is “an
intimate union with Christ Jesus” any part of the “Eucharist of Holy
Communion.” To buttress its argument,
however, Rome
cites quotations from John 6 as proof texts.
The particular verses have been wrenched out of their biblical context,
which will not support the Catholic interpretation, and carefully placed within
the Catholic Tradition. The effect is to
give a superficial but deceptive credence to the humanist reasoning that is the
real foundation of Catholic dogma. Since
there can be no synthesis between the authority of the Bible and the authority
and Catholic Tradition, the Vatican
must ignore the true meaning of what the Lord clearly stated in Chapter 6.
Earlier in the chapter, the Lord taught that our spiritual
desire as believers is not “for the meat
which perisheth,” but rather “for
that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27). When the Jews asked the Lord, “what shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28), He answered, “This is the work of God, that
ye believe on him whom he hath sent”
(John 6:29). This answer sets the stage for what was to
come. Believing on Him alone whom the
Father has sent is central to what Christ Jesus proclaimed, for “There is one Mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus.”[13] On the authority of the Bible alone, to believe
on Christ Jesus alone, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, is the
foundation of life in Christ.
Christ Jesus also explained
the standard by which His teaching was to be understood. He said, “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”[14] His words are to be understood spiritually,
and not after a physical and literal
manner. He is the true food of the soul by faith, not of the stomach by
digestion, which is implicit in Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. The Lord’s teaching is so clear that He
equates spiritual thirst with believing on Him, “he that believeth on me
shall never thirst” (John 6:53). “And
this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life” (John 6:40).
Then the Lord explains that, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world”
(John 6: 51). His flesh He gave
willingly in His sacrifice, declaring,
“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” (John
6:53). This speaks of the essential
requirement of faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The issue is so serious that if one does not
trust in the Lord’s sacrifice alone on the cross, he does not have eternal
life. Eating the flesh and drinking
the blood of the Son of man is a metaphor that signifies spiritually trusting
on the Lord in His sacrifice. Christ
Jesus accomplished all the benefits of redemption: pardon from sin, acceptance
with God, the adoption as children of God, access to the throne of grace, and
eternal life. Receiving this by faith
alone is aptly called eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood is
being totally identified with Him by faith alone. His sacrificial death must be appropriated by
faith alone, if men are to be saved. “Eating
and drinking” is equivalent to “believing” and confirms the central
theme of what He proclaimed which He summarized as, “He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life ” (John
6:47). Everlasting life is not a product of an institutional
ritual but a work of God the Holy Spirit by His sovereign power. Individual, personal faith is what the
Lord requires. It is this faith alone,
given by God’s grace alone, which brings the forgiveness of sins when sinners
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for everlasting life. The Apostle Paul clearly states the evidence
of one having received Christ as Savior and Lord, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[15]
The New Testament says nothing about looking to physical
signs to have union with Christ. Rather,
believers are to look, “unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”[16] He is the Author and Finisher of their faith:
its beginning and end. Rome’s sacraments look to physical rituals
for life. Thus, the sacrament of the
Eucharist cannot deliver the “intimate union with Christ Jesus,” which
purportedly is its principal fruit. Just
as Buddhists look to their votive offerings before a statue Buddha for
enlightenment, so also Catholics look to worship before a piece of bread for
spiritual life. But Jesus prayed to His
Father in the garden for those who are His own through God’s grace alone and
who believe on Him alone through faith alone, “Sanctify them through thy truth:
Thy word is truth.”[17]
There can be no compromise of the truth with the traditions and imaginations
of men, as the Catholic Church has sought to do.
Obligation to Worship the Eucharist
In spite of the clarity of the
Lord’s teaching, Rome disregards Scripture, the evidence of
the senses, and reason itself when they teach on the Eucharist. The eternal, glorious Lord is now seated on
high. To propose a Christ that, in the
words of the Vatican,
is in “danger of decomposition,”[18]
is to put forward a fallacious Christ.
As Mediator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ is endowed with the
highest dignity, honor, and authority.
He also is “the same yesterday,
today and forever.”[19] A claimed presence of Christ in bread that
could decompose is totally unrealistic and foolish; worse, it is blasphemous. Despite that, the Church of Rome strongly
commands that the bread is to receive the worship due to the true God. Thus, she declares,
“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind ‘that all the
faithful ought to show to this most holy
sacrament the worship which is due
to the true God, as has always been the
custom of the Catholic Church. Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by
Christ to be eaten.’”[20]
It is an irrational and impious doctrine that by necessity
imposes worship of something that is eaten and carried into the stomach. Not without the dreadful crime of idolatry
can the worship due to God alone be transferred to the communion bread. Nevertheless, on April 7, 2012, the Pope himself
spoke about the Host being God as he said, “Today we are invited to fix our
gaze on the consecrated Host: it is the same God! The same Love!”[21] In fact, the Pope and his Church have “changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image … changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator.”[22]
“This Sham of a Congress”
The Catholic priest Kevin Doran, the Secretary General of
IEC, describes what he has called, “this sham of a congress.” The exact context and Kevin Doran’s words are
the following,
A unique element of the 50th International
Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in Dublin from June 10th
- 17th 2012, is the extensive involvement of Christians of other
traditions in both the pastoral preparation and the official programme for the
Congress week … Fr. Kevin Doran (Secretary General of IEC2012) commented that,
‘historically, there has been a tendency for Catholics to use the word
‘conversion’ as if it only applied to other people …The principal liturgy on
this first full day of the Congress, will be a ‘Liturgy of Word and Water’
celebrated by Most Rev. Michael Jackson (Church of Ireland Archbishop of
Dublin). The homily will be preached by
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church. Meanwhile Brother Alois Löser, prior of Taizé
will give the Catechesis (or teaching) on the theme of Baptism. Other significant ecumenical interventions
during the week include: Rev Nicky Gumble, of Alpha International, who will
address the theme of reconciliation, and a presentation by Rev Ruth Patterson,
Director of Restoration Ministries, on being ‘Companions on the Journey’ of
faith. Prof William Reville will give an
address entitled ‘Celebrating the Mystery of Life’. Then tell me if I’m going too far when I say
I do not believe that any of those involved in organising this alleged
Eucharistic Congress believe in Transubstantiation, and they certainly do not
believe that the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation. Not for a second. And something else. As far as I know the Pope is unlikely to
visit Ireland for this sham of a congress…the reader who alerted me to this
latest scandal asked if I thought the Pope knows what he is “walking into”…I
really don’t care what he knows or doesn’t know. If I can work out that
the Church is in dire straits and souls are being lost through all this
ridiculous ecumenism, why can’t HE work it out?[23]
Indeed, while Kevin Doran vehemently disapproves of the
Pope’s ecumenical agenda, vis-à-vis the Congress, it is clear that Doran believes
very strongly in transubstantiation and that there is no salvation outside the
Catholic Church. For Doran, it is too
much that the Pope would defile something as solemn and treasured as the
Eucharistic Congress by allowing these ecumenical intrusions.
In fact, the
wily Pope has his own agenda. He has
purposely chosen ranking leaders of other churches and important groups for
this very Roman Catholic occasion. Pope
Benedict understands how such an honor can help soften opposition and smooth
over dogmatic differences. The IEC is to
be a highly visible public event. How
better to demonstrate to the world that other major churches and religious
groups are joining with Rome? If it were otherwise, how could they be
participating in the liturgy of this very Roman Catholic ritual? This showy event provides yet another occasion
that can be used to advance the present Catholic-driven narrative that
Catholics are Christians.
It has ever been
the objective of the Papacy to gather power unto itself. If devout but lesser men like Kevin Doran are
offended and confused when their own leaders trample their primary beliefs, it
means nothing to the Pope. Rather, the
primary objective of the Papacy is to gather all Christendom to the Catholic
Eucharist.[24] Pope Benedict XVI is simply staying true to
course.
What Hope is there for Religiously
Devout Idolaters?
Because God’s justice had to be satisfied,
the Lord Jesus drank the dregs of the cup of God’s wrath. He said, “The
cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”[25] In
the garden of Gethsemane He proclaimed the words,
“My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch ... And he said, Abba, Father, all things are
possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will,
but what thou wilt.”[26]
The next day, on the cross of Calvary, the
Lord Jesus drank all of the cup of God’s wrath. At the height of His
suffering, He appealed to His Father, “and
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying … my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”[27] Thus, the Lord Jesus utterly drank of God’s
wrath against sin and finally cried out, “it
is finished.”[28] Consequently, the tremendous wrath and curse
due to believing sinners was paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. As the substitute for His believing people,
the Lord drank the cup of God’s wrath.
Now in the Gospel, the sinless Lord presents to sinners His finished
sacrifice. If you are anxious to be
right with God, look at what the Scripture proclaims, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.”[29] This means that God has provided another way
to be made righteous than through the law, and that is through faith in Jesus
Christ alone. The moral perfection of
God is imputed to us sinners, but only as we believe in Jesus Christ alone
whose own body was sacrificed on Calvary as
substitution for us. Indeed, we are all
sinners deserving the wrath of God, but the glory and the magnificence of the
Gospel is further proclaimed as “being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[30] Believing sinners are justified freely by
God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The Lord God of heaven draws sinners to Jesus
Christ’s righteousness. This is the only
hope for religiously devout idolaters. As Scripture proclaims for sinners, “for He hath made Him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”[31] The consequence of Christ’s faithfulness in
all that He did, culminating in His death on the cross, is that His
righteousness is credited to the believing sinner. It was God who legally constituted Christ to
be “sin for us.” He was “made sin”
because before the All Holy God, full payment for sin had to be made. Thus, the sins of all His people were
transferred to Christ Jesus; and in like manner, His faithfulness is imputed to
them.[32] Since it is the nature of the Triune God to
be gracious, we can expect Him to move as a result of our prayer and of our
making known abroad the Gospel of grace before, during, and after the Eucharistic
Congress of 2012, “to the praise of the
glory of his grace.”[33]
Conclusion
The Papal
Church purports to be
worshipping Christ as it legislates the adoration of the Eucharistic
bread. This is not simply unchristian;
it is gross idolatry. Scripturally
speaking, Jesus Christ is worthy to receive adoration. He Himself declared, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the
Almighty.”[34] Thus, He is worthy of our worship. Round the throne of God in heaven it is
proclaimed, “Worthy is the Lamb that was
slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and
glory, and blessing.”[35] Furthermore, the Scripture reveals how
gracious Christ is. It is He who “dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”[36] Grace comes only by Christ, “Grace and
truth came by Christ Jesus,” “and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.”[37] Not only do we adore Him as totally gracious,
but we draw deeply from His grace.
Christ Jesus came to give His life for the people whom He loves. His
life and death are not only for our salvation, they are also the source for our
living fruitful Christian lives. Moreover, as He says, His words are spirit and
life. His words are to be taken into the
believing mind and heart even as physical food is taken into the physical
body. The Lord’s words, having been
absorbed by the mind and believing heart, give life and strength, spiritual
nourishment, to the believer so that he is able to do that for which the Lord
calls him.[38]
The Lord declared, “This
is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”[39]
The commandment fits the
whole characteristic of the grace of Christ.
We love one another by means of His love. Christ Jesus’ death is not just held up as an
example, but as the source of our love.
It is clearly the model of our love, but most importantly, it is the
means for us to show our love for our brothers.
Thus, it is only as His love is perfected in us that we can love one
another in the same manner as Christ loved the church. “No one
has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us.”[40] His love accomplishes what it was designed
and adapted to do, to be the power by which we love one another. We love
by means of His faithfulness and His love.
Consequently, we adore Christ Jesus while at the same time
drawing grace from Him. How utterly
different this is from the blasphemous pagan worship of the Eucharist bread
during the Eucharistic Congress. Because
Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise, adoration of Him must be apart from all deceitfulness. As Scripture states, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth.”[41] The Apostle John summarizes the believer’s position
in Jesus Christ,
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God, and eternal life.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”[42] ♦
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[4] Mark 13:21
[5] Acts 1:11
[6] I Thessalonians 4:16
[7] Catechism Para.
1375
[8] Catechism Para.
1391
[9] Catechism Para.
1384
[10] Catechism Para.
1413
[11] Code
of Canon Law, Canon 938 Para 3. “The
tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved habitually is to be
immovable, made of solid and opaque material, and locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is avoided as
much as possible.”
[12] Catechism Para. 1374
[13] I
Timothy 2:5
[14] John
6:63
[15] Romans
10:9-10
[16] Hebrews 12:2
[17] John 17:17
[18] Redemptionis Sacramentum Para. 48; “The bread used in the celebration of the Most
Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently
made so that there is no danger of decomposition.”
[19] Hebrews
13:8
[20] No. 9, “Eucharisticum mysterium” in Vatican Council II Documents, Vol. I, Para
3. Bolding not in the original.
[22] Romans 1:23-25
[23] www.catholictruthscotland.com/blog/2012/01/ireland-hosts-eucharistic-congress-2012-gives-a-whole-new-meaning-to-the-term-irish-joke/ 5/15/2012
[24]
Vatican Council II Document No. 32 Section II, “…ecumenical dialogue... aims at
preparing the way for their unity of faith in the bosom of a Church one and visible: thus ‘little by little’, as the obstacles to
perfect ecclesial communion are overcome, all Christians will be gathered, in a
common celebration of the Eucharist...”
[25] John 18:11
[26] Mark 14:34,
36
[27] Mark 15:34
[28] John 19:30
[29] Romans 3:21
[30] Romans 3:24
[31] II Corinthians 5:21
[32] Romans
3:22
[33] Ephesians 1:6
[34]
Revelation 1:8
[35]
Revelation 1:8
[36] John 1:14
[37] John 1:17, John 16
[38] Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.”
[39] John 15:12
[40] I John 4:12
[41] John
4:24
[42] I John
5:20, 21
