(June 28, 2021 at 12:53 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Hmmm...this doctrine is called called a mystery but it really is not as mysterious as it seems. The sacrament changes the final cause but not the material cause. The result is a new substance in the Scholastic sense for using the word substance, i.e. as the manifestation of causes in a single unity. Catholic use the same wording when referring to their denomination as the body of Christ as they do the host, also referred to as body of Christ. My translation would be something like this is the people (food, texts, etc.) dedicated as a means for fulfilling Christ's redemtive purpose in the world.
Church-speak is kind of a pet peeve of mine. And yet this is a nomenclature refined over 2000 years to be as exact as possible so another pet peeve of mine is when people unfamiliar with the jargon go off on it.
I think that's about the most charitably as it can be put. Still, as someone who was raised Catholic, I wonder if it isn't put a bit too charitably.
We were taught that once the Eucharist is performed, the bread and wine that has been "transubstantiated" must be stored in the tabernacle and every last bit of it consumed. I know there's some nuance to it, but this sort of treatment of snacks and beverages smacks of superstition.
According to the Church, it's the only thing in the building that is holy. The crucifix is a reminder, nothing holy about it. The alter is an instrument... nothing holy about it. But the wafers and wine (after the Eucharist)... those are treated as holy. THOSE are why the priest kneels and crosses himself as he approaches the alter... etc.
