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There are a few articles on the Real Presence (communion being the actual Body and Blood of Jesus) on AboutCatholics.com.
The Eucharist[/url:2963t6ld]
The Real Presence[/url:2963t6ld]
Catholics Claim They Eat Jesus[/url:2963t6ld]
[quote:2963t6ld]so i think that protestants focus more on the second half of that statement, and catholics the first, and neither of us really read the whole thing and decide what Jesus literally meant.[/quote:2963t6ld]
Catholics actually put a lot of focus on both halves. We believe the Eucharist is transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ and, because we are to partake of communion in remembrance of Him, every parish celebrates the Eucharist at least once a week on Sunday. (Some do it more often. My parish offers communion 22 times a week.)
[quote:2963t6ld]Did He just mean that at the last supper it was his blood and body, and that we are to use the same emblems to remember Him, or did he mean that whenever we take part to remember Him, it’s still ACTUALLY His blood and body?[/quote:2963t6ld]
We believe that Jesus was not only telling the Apostles to receive communion in remembrance of Him, but to follow His blessing, breaking, and giving. We believe that the Apostles constitute a sacerdotal priesthood formed and given authority by Christ and, therefore, that they truly offer the same Eucharist as Jesus did.
[quote:2963t6ld]i followed them and went for a blessing. . . . she took part. . . . she said that you’re not supposed to in a catholic church unless you belong to the church.[/quote:2963t6ld]
Because the Catholic Church believes that the Eucharist is really the Body and Blood of Christ, we do not allow non-Catholics (other than our Orthodox brethren) to receive communion because, as St. Paul tells us, “he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:29)” Because no Protestants believe the same as the Catholic Church concerning the essence and purpose of the Eucharist, we cannot allow them to “eat and drink judgment to themselves.”
On the other hand, Catholics are not allowed to receive communion in other churches (except the Orthodox Churches under certain circumstances). There are several reasons for this, but I feel the most poignant reason I have heard is because we do not believe in fornication. You can get a free CD on Marriage and the Eucharist by John Martignoni at the Bible Christian Society[/url:2963t6ld] that explains what that means.
Communion is meant to express communion. As much as we are both Christian, I do not have communion with Pentecostals and you do not have communion with the Catholic Church. So it is, in a way, lying to receive communion among those with whom I am not in communion. And if not because they believe it so, then because I believe it so (i.e., even if every member of your parish told me they view communion as a communion of Christians, and therefore have no reason to deny me communion, I still view communion differently and could not receive).