Matthew Kelly (editor and contributor), 2023

ISBN 978-1-63582-517-6

“Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist should be like touching Heaven. and that should change the way we live on earth!” – Matthew Kelly

“the Eucharist is the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ {CCC 1324}

Introduction (by Matthew Kelly)

“there were two times when people fled from Jesus:

at His arrest

when He spoke to them about the Eucharist [John, chapter 6]

note that He didn’t beg them back nor change His teaching

Where else can I get the Eucharist [but] the Catholic Church? … This sets the Catholic Church apart: Jesus truly present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is uniquely Catholic.

the Eucharistic miracle in Lanciano, Italy, around 700 AD

the bread changed into living Flesh and the wine changed into Blood [right] before the [doubting priest’s very] eyes

the Flesh and Blood have remained there [in the church in Lanciano] for thirteen hundred years.

the[y] have been studied by scientists on a number of occasions, [with] the following conclusions: the Flesh is muscular tissue from [a human] heart, and the Blood is real human blood

and there is no evidence of preservatives or any other chemical agents

This is one of thousands of Eucharistic miracles that have been documented throughout the life of the Church.

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, ‘This is My Body ; this is My Blood’ {Luke 22:19}

[and] we take Jesus at His word.

If you want a life-changing experience, find an Adoration Chapel … and … sit there in Jesus’s presence for one hour. You will be amazed how powerful Jesus’s presence is, and how much He will teach you about yourself and your life in one hour.

When you go to Mass, keep in mind [that] the Eucharist is not a symbol. This is Jesus. The same Jesus Who healed, Who taught, Who fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish, Who rose from the dead.”

Chapter 2 (by Fr. Mike Schmitz)

a college classmate was always eating Eucharistic crumbs off the floor after Mass – why?

because he’d heard a story about a Catholic church in China that had been desecrated, and the Communist soldiers threw the Eucharistic hosts onto the ground outside the window

a 12-year-old girl faithfully came each night to consume one host at a time

the soldiers caught her on the last night, and killed her

one crumb of the Body of Jesus is enough to save the world, and one drop of the Blood of Jesus is enough to save the world

Chapter 4 (by Peter Kreeft)

a Catholic said to a Muslim friend: “We believe that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus, and that we actually receive Him in Communion.”

Muslim: “I have trouble believing that.”

Catholic: “I know that Jesus’s Real Presence in the Eucharist can be a difficult belief to wrap one’s head around, but . . . “

Muslim: “No, I believe that ; what I don’t believe is that you really believe it.”

Catholic: “Why do you say that?”

Muslim: “Because if you did, you’d be crawling up the aisle at Communion time, begging to receive Him.”

“our culture is in crisis – a crisis of Christlessness (remoteness from The Person”)

“Nothing less than Christ could have Christianized the world, nothing less than Christlessness has de-Christianized it, and nothing less than Christ can re-Christianize it.”

Chapter 5 (by Jenna Greiwe)

“[Even] if I were the only person who ever lived [or sinned], Jesus still would have died for me.”

Chapter 6 (by Bishop Andrew Cozzens)

“Today, the vision that the world gives us for happiness is basically that ‘we have to get everything right’. . . . But a very powerful thing can happen in a person’s life when [s/he] experiences the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, because then the Lord is real, and He’s right there before me. I’ve seen it happen so many times.”

Chapter 7 (by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen)

“The Eucharist is the greatest of all sacraments because it contains in a substantial way the Person of Christ.”

“[At the Last Supper, Jesus] said over the bread, ‘this is My Body’. He did not say this represents my body, this symbolizes my body, this is a token of my body, but ‘this is My Body’. . . . [amd] over the chalice of wine He said, ‘this is My Blood’.”

Chapter 8 (by Bobby Angel)

“C.S. Lewis’s ‘Trilemma’: Jesus was either (1) a liar, (2) a lunatic, or (3) the Lord.

[logically] we can’t have Jesus as [just] a ‘nice teacher’

To be intellectually honest, we must take a side.”

“God awaits us always in the Eucharist. As long as we never tire of seeking Him there, we will find exactly what our souls need.”

Chapter 9 (by Fr. Eric Boelscher)

“if you’re looking for proof that God’s love is real, God has already given it – on the Cross. . . . Is that enough for you to know that God loves you? I honestly cannot imagine what more He could do to prove it.”

Chapter 10 (by Allen Hunt)

“the genius of the Catholic Church”

“Let us never take for granted the extraordinary treasure of the Eucharist.”

Chapter 11 (by Sr. Helena Burns, FSP)

“What makes the Catholic Church different from all the other Christian churches? The Most Blessed Sacrament. It isn’t like each Christian church is claiming: ‘No! He’s in our box! We have Him!’ They don’t even have boxes. Soooo . . . if Jesus is truly present in the tabernacles of Catholic churches all over the world, then this is His Church, and I need to stop disbelieving and fighting against her other doctrines.”

“[In the Adoration Chapel of a Catholic Church,] I said these exact words: ‘Jesus, if You are in the tabernacle, I will accept the Catholic Church’s teachings - lock, stock, and barrel – stop rejecting them, and strive to understand them. So, are You there, Lord?’

I looked intently at the gold repository and instantly heard: ‘Yes, I am here,’ and He was nodding but I didn't see His head nor His face, and I have no idea how that works, but all I can tell you is that He was emphatic. And I, just as instantly, believed.”

Chapter 12 (by Sr. Matt Warner)

“On issue after issue of Catholic teaching – some of them shocking and strange – I discovered deeply satisfying reasons for everything. All of a sudden, believing everything the Church taught felt so straightforward and logical.

Believing that Jesus’s Body and Blood are truly present in the Eucharist seems silly – on the surface – but it kept making more and more sense from every angle I looked at it:

Scripture is clear on it

The first generation of Christians believed it

The early Christians died for it

‘Until Zwingli (in the 1500s), no orthodox, traditional, non-heretical, mainline, historic, apostolic Christian ever believed . . . the Eucharist to be only a symbol of Christ, but instead – Christ Himself.’

The list of reasons just kept going on. It became clear that the only logical worldview is a Eucharistic one.”

Conclusion (by Matthew Kelly)