This is not superstition, but biblical and was taught by a disciple of St. John the Apostle as well as by all the early church fathers:
“I am the bread of life. {49} Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. {50} But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. {51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. {52} Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? {53} Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, 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 him 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 him. {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 forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. [JOHN 6:48-58]
St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Apostle and successor of St. Peter as bishop of Antioch, wrote: They [the heretics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His goodness, raised up again (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6 [A.D. 107]).
[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kG3RaCtMDm0J:www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/1.2/nutsandbolts.html+whoever+eats+my+my+flesh&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&ie=UTF-8]
The Eucharist and all sacraments tells us that Christ isn’t “out of physical reach.” Each sacraments contains something material and something spiritual.
“I am the bread of life. {49} Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. {50} But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. {51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. {52} Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? {53} Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, 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 him 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 him. {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 forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. [JOHN 6:48-58]
St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Apostle and successor of St. Peter as bishop of Antioch, wrote: They [the heretics] abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, Flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His goodness, raised up again (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6 [A.D. 107]).
[http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:kG3RaCtMDm0J:www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/1.2/nutsandbolts.html+whoever+eats+my+my+flesh&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&ie=UTF-8]
The Eucharist and all sacraments tells us that Christ isn’t “out of physical reach.” Each sacraments contains something material and something spiritual.
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