I love quotes. In fact, at the ripe old age of eight, I began to collect quotes in a little green, spiral notebook. I still collect them today. Here's one of my favorites. "Never sacrifice what you want the most for what you want at the moment." In today's society, many of us tend to focus our energy on instant gratification. I fall prey to this weakness; so I constantly recite this quote to stay focused on my long term goal: eternity with God in heaven.

Here are a couple of other insightful quotes. "Well done is better than well said." "A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person." I don't know the author of the first two quotes, but Dave Barry is the author of the third one. I don't remember a lot about Mr. Barry; except I know he wrote a non-fiction book that contains some useful quotes.

Every faithful Catholic should know the author of the following quote. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day." God first spoke these words nearly 2000 years ago. He still speaks them today. They are found in John's gospel (6:54) as part of the Bread of Life discourse (6:22-71). Jesus is extremely clear when He makes this promise to us. If we eat and drink His flesh and blood, we will have eternal life, intimate union with Him in heaven.

As clear as Jesus is, not all Christians believe Him. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians do; but hundreds of millions of other Christians do not accept Jesus' words, literally. They do not believe God is truly present in the bread and the wine. They believe Holy Communion is merely symbolic of what Jesus did at the Last Supper. Before the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, few Christians rejected the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Today, hundreds of millions of Christians reject it. This reality is disheartening. Yet, I find it much more disheartening to acknowledge recent surveys that claim a majority of Catholics do not believe that Jesus is present, Body and Blood, in the consecrated bread and wine. This is a pillar of our Catholic faith. If we profess to be faithful Catholic Christians, we must accept this truth. The early Christians did. In fact, tens of thousands of them gave their lives rather than deny Jesus' real presence. Their faithfulness speaks volumes to what modern day Christians are called to believe.

Life was difficult hundreds and thousands of years ago. The Jews and the early Christians struggled against the natural elements, man made empires, and diseases. They spent most of their day worrying about food and water. Self-gratification was not high on their priority list. Survival was. The vast majority of people did not focus much time on extensive knowledge or formal education. Their knowledge and education was centered on what God had revealed through Moses and the prophets and through Jesus and the Apostles. When Moses revealed in the first five books of the Old Testament that God created the entire universe, through faith the Jews accepted and believed in God's word. When Jesus revealed in the gospels that He was God and His flesh and blood were truly present in the bread and wine, through faith the Christians accepted and believed in God's Word.

What has changed over the last 500 years? For many Christians, including Catholics, faith and trust in God has been replaced by education and knowledge.

Faith, education, and knowledge are all gifts from God. Through these gifts God reveals volumes of information about His beautiful creation. Each of these gifts must be treasured; but one gift should not be used to discount or reject another gift. Saint Paul says in Heb 11:1, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The gift of faith does not ask us to reject education and knowledge. Nor does the proper use of the gift of education and knowledge ask us to reject the gift of faith. Unfortunately, too many educated people ignore or reject faith because they do not believe things they cannot prove. Can I prove to you that Jesus Christ, true God and true man is truly present, Body, Blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist? No! If a scientist placed consecrated bread and wine under a microscope, he would not observe any divinity.

In many ways, life for today's Christian is more difficult and challenging than it was in the early Church. Education and knowledge are a big part of the reason. Listen to the words of one of the world most educated and knowledgeable theologians whoever lived. Saint Thomas Aquinas said, "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and His true Blood is something that cannot be apprehended by the senses, but only by faith, which relies on divine authority." Saint Cyril of Alexandria, another well educated theologian said, "Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since He is truth, He cannot lie."

Let me leave you with one final quote from an unknown author. "Ignoring the facts doesn't change the facts." As Saint Cyril stated, God cannot lie. If He tells us to eat His flesh and drink His blood, what would we accomplish by rejecting His command? Nothing! Faith, education, and knowledge are all gifts from God; but the gift of faith makes all men, women, and children equal before God. Have faith in God's Real Presence in the Eucharist. It will save your life.

For more insight read CCC paragraphs 1323-25, 1333-40, 1374-81, 1392. Also, pull out your "Catholic" Bible and reference Ex 12:8, 46; Mt 26:26-30; Mk 14:22-26; Lk 22:14-20; Jn 6:53-56, 63-64, 66-69; Acts 2:42, 46; 1 Cor 10:16-17; 11:23-29.