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Hi John,
Thanks for the question.
You wrote:
His daughter is currently preparing
for confirmation in the Episcopal church.
- He wants to know why, since he believes that
their rite of the Lord's Supper also results
in transubstantiation, he can't receive communion
at their service?
The short answer is:
- Because what the Catholic candidate
(father) believes, and what his
Episcopalian daughter believes
about the Eucharist are two different
things, and,
- the father can't receive the
Real Presence (the Eucharist)
in any Episcopalian church because of this difference in belief.
From a Catholic view, when one receives
the Eucharist in the Catholic Church,
it is also an acknowledgement that
(he/she) believes in all that the
Roman Catholic Church teaches and
believes — that the recipient is in a Common Union with the Church. You don't hear this as
much from the pulpit these days,
but you should. Believing in all
that the Catholic Church teaches,
yet going to another church on a
regular basis, would be a contradiction
between what a person "says" and "does".
I found a related question and answer
on the Catholic Answers website
at www.catholic.com,
which may help explain things from
our view:
Question:
Answer:
The Eastern non-Catholic Churches,
including the Eastern Orthodox,
also share the Church's faith
in transubstantiation, though
they do not call it that.
Typically, Episcopalians do not
believe in transubstantiation,
but in a concept of the Real Presence
that would best be termed consubstantiation (though
they don't use this term), since
they hold that both Christ, (the)
bread and wine are present.
In addition to what my colleagues
at Catholic Answers have said, I
would add the following two points:
First point:
Roman Catholics believe that after transubstantiation, 100% of the
substance of the bread and wine
are transubstantiated into the
Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Christ,
our God-Man Himself.
There is no substance of bread,
nor wine remaining.
Philosophically, what is called
the accidents of bread and wine remain. The accidents that remain are:
- the taste
- the touch
- the smell, and
- the sight of the (bread|wine).
Nevertheless Jesus is really and
100% sacramentally present
in the
Blessed Sacrament; there remain no
substance of either
the bread or wine.
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Second point:
A sad result of the Protestant
Reformation was that Thomas Cranmer
under Henry VIII, rewrote what
was a valid form
(or words) for the Sacrament of Holy Orders. These are important
words used in the Sacrament that
make a man,
a priest.
The result is that the Episcopalian
churches do not have a valid Eucharist, nor can their ministers absolve their
flock of their sins, because they
do not have valid Holy Orders;
one through which Jesus can act "in
the person of Christ" or (in the place of the priest),
and consecrate the Eucharist in
a valid manner.
Episcopalians who do receive the
Eucharist at their church, do
receive actual graces,
because they are striving to follow
Our Lord's command to:
- Do this in memory of me, and
- eat his body and drink his
blood, so they will live in
Jesus and allow Jesus to live
in them. (John 6:56)
- but they don't receive
Our Lord really,
or sacramentally.
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I may seem a little insensitive,
but if given a choice between the
truth and sensitivity,
I'll choose truth.
Hope this helps,
Mike Humphrey
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