Occult to Catholic: An Encounter with Christ (VIDEO)
Holy Communion: Real Presence, or Purely Symbolic? Part 1
This debate is constant. I have toiled and fought to uphold the real presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist since I first learned about it myself. Why? Because Jesus can’t make it any more clear, and too many people are A.) Missing the point entirely, and B.) not taking advantage of the ABUNDANT graces and healing that comes from adoring and receiving the Eucharist. I’d like to put this discussion to bed, once and for all. Yes, I know that’s me dreaming….but we can still try.
What I cannot understand is how protestants can believe that a new interpretation of Jesus’ very plain speak, 1500 years after the death of Christ can be correct. So let’s back it up to the first interpretation, and the one that has held strong for 2000 years, at least in Catholicism.
So how do we know that Jesus was not speaking “symbolically”, but He did in fact mean that His real flesh was the Bread of Life? Easy….He let 5,000 people walk away angry, thinking He’s a lunatic, for wanting people to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Remember, Jesus KNEW the reaction His words would have on a first century Jew. “Eat his flesh?! Drink his blood?!! That’s it! You blew it! You might be a good speaker, but you aren’t the Messiah for sure!” You see, drinking blood all forms of cannibalism are illegal for Jews. However, Jesus let them leave for lack of faith….
If the above reference from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, was merely meant for symbolism, why didn’t Jesus say… “Wait up you guys! Don’t go! I was only speaking metaphorically! It isn’t the REAL flesh, it’s just bread, it’s just a representation! Stick around!”
The Lord didn’t say that, did He? No. He said the following:
53 Jesus said to them,Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Gospel of St. John 6:53-58
Now, the Bible tells us they were grumbling amongst themselves as to how this was possible. “How could one man give everyone his flesh to eat?? He’s crazy!” But He repeated himself, in a different manner in v. 54.
Notice in verse 53, the Lord says “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He called them to eat His flesh FIVE TIMES in the quoted verses, giving no other explanation.
Thousands of people left the Lord, thinking He’d gone off His holy rocker. If the Lord was speaking symbolically, why wouldn’t He clear up the HUGE misunderstanding?
Let’s be clear here. Jesus always made sure to put things in very, very simple terms so that everyone could understand; even the dullest knife in the drawer could grasp His concepts, meanings, and parables. This time, Jesus gave a very hard teaching, and demanded extreme faith. To those that refused to believe and were stubborn, He gave them the same hard teaching, five times, rather than explain to them that He was just simply misunderstood.
Get ready for Part Two, because we are going to give you more scripture that proves the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
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About the Author
My name is Jeff Sokol. I'm an author of several books on subjects ranging from entrepreneurship to spirituality. Now, the Lord has called me to be a witness to His Glory and power, so here I am.
I was born and raised in both New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana. We were raised Southern Baptist but went to Catholic schools, as were some of the best schools in Louisiana. Shortly after high school I stopped going to church altogether, and ended up living in New York. I was a survivor of the WTC tragedy on 9/11/2001, as I was working on the 29th floor of the South Tower when the planes hit. At the time, I didn't have a spiritual life and was living a very worldly lifestyle.
The trauma of the events in New York left me with some questions in my life, as many spiritual things began to happen to me, things that the Church says we should stay away from, spiritual events. In an effort to learn more about it, I fell deeply into the practice of New Age/Occult methods of spirituality. Living this lifestyle allowed a strong demonic influence over my life, which needed to go. I was starkly set against the Catholic Church, and had every single jab at it memorized, as do many non-believers. My amazing wife, who is Catholic, just continued to pray for me to Our Blessed Mother, which I thought was just nonsense, but out of love, she did anyway.
I met a guy named Daniel. He began to witness to me which fell on deaf ears. He finally called me out on my New Age beliefs, and told me the truth of Jesus Christ. Slowly, over about 6 months, it began to sink in and I started learning more about the Church on my own, and really seeking Jesus.
One day while working in Africa in the oil and gas industry, the Lord Jesus Christ came to me, embraced me, and healed me. I've never felt so much love, compassion, mercy, or peace as I did when Jesus hugged me, and cleansed me. The Lord was there with me, in my apartment in Nigeria, and gave me the tremendous grace of faith. Praise God!
Since then, I've been working for the Lord, converted to Catholicism, and have spent years studying our amazingly beautiful, deep, and supremely rich Catholic Faith. The Lord has delivered many miracles, and saved my life on multiple occasions before I came to Him, protecting me from evil and keeping me out of hell. I'll be sure to fill you in on the amazing miracles God has worked in our lives, so stay tuned!
