The Arrow's Path

 I had someone query about being on the journey to join the Church but was afraid if she died before being Confirmed and receiving the Eucharist, she might go to hell. She was baptized in her current Protestant denomination, but still battles with the dread doubt that she might not be saved even when validly baptized. She asks if she is crazy for thinking this way.  This is my response: No, you are not crazy at all. In fact, this very topic is one of the major driving factors that fueled the early Reformation. One of the, I think, quite valid criticisms of the Medieval Church on the practical day-to-day ground level in normal parish life was a lack of catechism and understanding amongst the everyday laity about certain central topics like Salvation. This was not true all over Christendom. Some places were better at catechizing and preaching everyday people better than others. But, it was a big enough problem that large groups of people were living in perpetual fear a...

 I had a question posed about the Eucharist as follows: Question: if the Catholic teaching is that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ - the transfiguration into true flesh and blood - then what happened with the bread and wine that he broke with his apostles BEFORE his death? Was it also true flesh and blood? Seems strange that it would be, since he hadn’t been sacrificed yet, but if it wasn’t, then it would mean that the quintessential last supper that set the standard in every other way regarding the Eucharist didn’t share the one most important aspect of it. Just curious, thanks! My response: Hmmm, I am not quite following your logic here. It would seem, and correct me if I am wrong, that you are saying it can't be a sacrifice if He has not yet been sacrificed? I am understanding you correctly? Because there is the side issue, which you seem to posit as the primary issue, of whether it is the body and blood of Christ. It would seem to me...