sjsprWriting

Being catholic, a ritual I perform weekly is that of the sacraments in our Sunday mass. After the father gives the mass, the last fifteen minutes or so are dedicated to taking the body and blood of Christ. During this time, you are supposed to feel closest to Jesus Christ because he is with you symbolically as you technically eat him. For my first communion, I asked my mom if you were actually eating his body and I was puzzled as to how thousands of people could still have his body after so many years after his death. She explained to me that having the body and blood of Christ was a way to symbolize Jesus’s sacrifice for us and that it was not actually his body that we ate. I was then relieved but a bit weirded out.

I have always wondered if other people find this ritual strange, too. In mass, no one hesitates and I have never overheard anyone question this ritual. Aren’t we symbolically being cannibals?