Question: Why do Catholics take the bread only during
communion?
Answer: The Lord wants His disciples to partake of both the
bread and the wine in remembrance of His body and blood given for us.
The Bible says,
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,
"Drink
from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28).
Jesus gave bread and wine to all the apostles present at the meal.
Jesus emphasized that all should take the cup: “Drink from it, ALL OF
YOU.” This was the practice of the apostolic church, and the general
practice in all churches down to the twelfth century. We also notice
that the Eucharist was celebrated during a meal (“as they were eating”).
In the fifteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church decided to
establish a new and binding rule -- namely, that the laity should
receive only the bread, as expressed in the following citation:
Although Christ instituted this venerable sacrament after a meal
and ministered it to his apostles under the forms of both bread and
wine, nevertheless and notwithstanding this, the praiseworthy authority
of the sacred canons and the approved custom of the church have and do
retain that this sacrament ought not to be celebrated after a meal nor
received by the faithful without fasting…although this sacrament was
received by the faithful under both kinds in the early church,
nevertheless later it was received under both kinds only by those
confecting it, and by the laity only under the form of bread…it should
be held as a law which nobody may repudiate or alter at will without the
church's permission (Council of Constance, Session 13).
This rule was re-affirmed by the Council of Trent in the sixteenth
century, adding a curse on anyone who dares to say that it is a precept
of God that all Christians should receive both bread and wine:
If any one saith, that, by the precept of God, or,
by necessity of salvation, all and each of the faithful of Christ
ought to receive both species of the most holy sacrament not
consecrating; let him be anathema (Council of Trent, Session 21, Canon
1).
So, the Roman Catholic Church freely admits that:
-
The first Eucharist was taken during a meal, and not after a fast.
-
The apostles received both bread and wine.
-
The early Christians took both bread and wine.
Yet, despite the Biblical teaching and the tradition of the early
church, the Roman Catholic Church presumes to have the power to enact
different rules (e.g., obligatory fasting before communion and partaking
only of the bread by the laity) on the basis of the authority of the
magisterium.
While these rules are not the most serious errors with regard to the
Catholic teaching on the Eucharist, they do show clearly that Rome’s
claim to infallibly teach God’s Word is a sham. They do not teach God’s
Word; they teach their own! By their own presumed authority and
with complex arguments, the Catholic bishops twist the evident meaning
of the Bible to replace it with their own inventions. Was it not for this same
attitude that Jesus rebuked and warned the religionists of His time? Is
His warning not applicable to the Catholic magisterium today as well?
“This people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from
Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments
of men… making the word of God of no effect through your tradition
which you have handed down. And many such things you do” (Mark 7:6,
13).