I'm going to take bite a tempting fishhook and respond to one of the things said in the anti-Catholic thread in the "Christian" Witness Union that I alluded to previously. In due time, I'll respond to more of what he's said, but I'll begin with his throwawy comment about Catholics and our "wafer god", since all I have to do is re-post something I wrote previously.

Here's what the originator of the anti-Catholic thread had to say, one of his criticisms of Catholicism. Keep in mind that this is apparently a college-educated person writing this.

- the wafer god, basically they have an idol in their hands, if you dont accept that wafer as jesus christ, you shall be accursed. They basically are sayying thatthe wafer is jesus himsel in the middle ages if you didnt accept the wafer as jesus, you will die.

He's talking, of course, about Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian faith. And also, both inside and outside of Catholicism, one of the most misunderstood aspects of the faith.

Catholicism makes what seems, initially, to be a very bold claim: that Christ Jesus literally becomes present in the breaking of the bread at each and every Mass, that the bread and wine cease to be bread and wine, retaining only the "accidental" (to use the Aristotelean term) of qualities of each -- the bread and wine still look like bread and wine, and still taste like it. But, contrary to the "if it quacks like a duck" thinking of the rest of the world around us, Catholics nevertheless boldly assert that despite the fact that the bread and wine seem, by all appearances, to still be bread and wine, they are in fact anything but.

It's a bold declaration of complete faith...faith not in the Church (as an institution), nor faith in the priest, nor faith in the wafer itself. No, it is a declaration of faith in Christ, an affirmation of the Catholic belief that Christ really is Lord and King of all creation, and the He does so love the world -- and everyone in it -- that He desires to draw to Him those who profess their need for Him.

Equally, it is a declaration of faith in a Christ whose love and desire to be in communion with those who profess their need for His promise of salvation and forgiveness of sin that He will make Himself present to them, in keeping with His promise that He would be in the midst of any number who gather in His name. We all must die in due course and will, in so doing, end up before the Lord. But prior to that, Christ -- out of love -- elects to come into our presence too. His love for humanity is so great, and His desire to be in communion with us so powerful, that He will step down, but for a moment, to be with us in our present-tense reality, appearing before us in a guise at once hidden and yet obvious, as surely as He appeared to the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.

It's a powerful belief. But then, Christ is Lord and King of all creation -- it is proper that a teaching pertaining to the direct intersection of Christ and the world is powerful.

Within Scripture, the first hints of the Eucharist are presented in the Gospel of John, in chapter 6. The close association between the Eucharistic revelation and the Paschal Meal is at once obvious.

[4] Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
[5] Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"
[6] This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
[7] Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
[8] One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
[9] "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?"
[10] Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
[11] Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
[12] And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost."
[13] So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten.
[14] When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!"
[15]Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

These are not usually the verses cited in any apologetic concerning the Eucharist, but I would like to preface my analysis by noting the significance of the event within them. A large multitude has gathered to see and hear the teachings of Jesus, and Jesus -- deeply moved -- worries after the need of the people to eat. There is precious little food available to achieve that end, of course -- to feed five thousand, two loaves and five fishes would amount to mere crumbs per person.

And so Jesus effects a miracle, both as a sign to the people and as a test of faith for the disciples. I've always thought the scene's portrayal in the movie "Jesus of Nazareth" captured the mood of the disciples perfectly, and I am still struck by the image of the apostle John holding forth an empty basket, apologizing that what little is in it is all he has. And yet, when the camera pans back to the basket, it is overflowing.

Jesus takes the small quantity of food and makes it into a bountiful quantity of food; five loaves and two fish feed thousands of people. This is an incredible miracle, but it also prefaces an even more important revelation with a vital truth: Christ can make that which is scarce plentiful, that which is one into many, and that which is little into much. And the people realize this -- indeed, Christ withdraws from them, for the great revelation of his power had moved the crowd to entertain the thought of crowning him king (which would, of course, have likely caused a bloody revolution).

[16] When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
[17] got into a boat, and started across the sea to Caper'na-um. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
[18] The sea rose because a strong wind was blowing.
[19] When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat. They were frightened,
[20] but he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
[21] Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
[22]On the next day the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

John continues his account with another important testimony of Christ's power, specifically a testament to His being master of all creation. The Lord is able to join his disciples in the boat after it had set out across the water, and all who observed the disciples in their boat from the shore saw only the one boat which held the disciples. Yet Christ, Lord and King even over the waters, is able to join them, walking out over the sea as though it were dry land.

All creation is bent to Christ's will, and over every aspect of creation does Christ have power. This will be important to remember shortly.

[35]Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

[36] But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
[37] All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.
[38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me;
[39] and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.
[40] For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
[41]The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."

[42] They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"
[43] Jesus answered them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.
[44] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
[45] It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
[46] Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.
[47] Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
[48] I am the bread of life.
[49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
[50] This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.
[51] I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
[52]The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

[53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly, 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;
[54] he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
[55] For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
[56] He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
[57] As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
[58] This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

John then moves on in his testimony of Christ's sayings to this all-important teaching. It is a hard teaching for the assembled crowd to hear, though. Observant Jews all, they would of course have been mindful of the teaching of Moses that we, today, recognize as Deuteronomy 12:23-24. Consumption of blood, especially, was strictly prohibited for the Jews, and consumption of any flesh along with the blood that had been in it doubly so (it is also prohibited in the Book of Leviticus). Then there was the whole suggestion of cannibalism, which would have been regarded as even more problematic. With the teaching above, Jesus is beyond saying radical things -- He is saying impossible things...or, rather, impossible from within the context of only the Law.

And yet, he also speaks very plainly: "Truly, 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; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

I suspect that in this teaching, the true purpose behind God's giving of the law concerning the non-consumption of blood is revealed: there is but one blood that it is fitting for man to consume, that which is the most precious and holy blood of the Son of Man, the Son of God.

And when people doubt, Jesus rebukes them -- indeed, his words are almost defiantly challenging: "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? " He escalates the situation at this point, saying that if the people find it impossible that He suggests they eat of His flesh, they will be wholly unable to comprehend his rising again in glory and ascension into Heaven. This is also a teaching for us, looking back: Christ is Lord and King over all creation, and even over life and death. If Christ is so powerful as to master even death, and in so doing rise again and ascend into Heaven, is he not powerful enough to divide himself for us, and give himself to us, just as surely as he divided the loaves and fishes and bade them be distributed to the thousands who had assembled?

The Jews doubt this teaching, and many turn and refuse to follow Christ any longer. Some ask directly: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus does not answer them directly in that moment, but His answer does come. Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22 all tell of the same essential teaching that Jesus gives in His last celebration of the Passover meal. Below is Matthew's account of what transpired.

[26]Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."

[27] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you;
[28] for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
[29] I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Jesus is again direct; of the bread He says "this is my body", while of the wine He says "this is my blood". There is nothing in His recorded words to suggest that he is being in any metaphorical in giving these teachings; he directly equates the breaking of the bread to the coming breaking of his body.