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What's New
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July 2026
New article: “The Book of Revelation” (Revelation).
New article: “The Letters to the Seven Churches” (Revelation).
New article: “The Liturgy of Heaven” (Revelation).
New article: “The Woman, the Dragon, and the Lamb” (Revelation).
New article: “Babylon and the Judgment” (Revelation).
New article: “The New Jerusalem” (Revelation).
New article: “The Catholic Letters” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letter of James” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letters of Peter” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letters of John” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Letter of Jude” (Catholic Letters).
New article: “The Book of Acts” (Acts).
New article: “Pentecost” (Acts).
New article: “The Church of the First Days” (Acts).
New article: “The Gospel to the Nations” (Acts).
New article: “To the Ends of the Earth” (Acts).
New article: “The Book of Hosea” (Hosea).
New article: “The Book of Micah” (Micah).
New article: “The Book of Jonah” (Jonah).
New article: “The Book of Habakkuk” (Habakkuk).
New article: “The Book of Zephaniah” (Zephaniah).
New article: “The Book of Malachi” (Malachi).
New article: “The Book of Daniel” (Daniel).
New article: “Faith in the Trial” (Daniel).
New article: “The Kingdoms That Pass” (Daniel).
New article: “The Son of Man and the Resurrection” (Daniel).
New article: “Susanna and the Wisdom of God” (Daniel).
New article: “The Book of Jeremiah” (Jeremiah).
New article: “Jeremiah, the Tested Prophet” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The New Covenant” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The Fall of Jerusalem and the Lamentations” (Jeremiah).
New article: “Baruch and the Hope of Exile” (Jeremiah).
New article: “The Song of Songs” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Movement of Love” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Garden of Symbols” (Song of Songs).
New article: “Love Strong as Death” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Senses of the Song” (Song of Songs).
New article: “The Book of Job” (Job).
New article: “The Prologue and the Trial” (Job).
New article: “Job and His Friends” (Job).
New article: “God’s Answer” (Job).
New article: “My Eyes Have Seen You” (Job).
New article: “The Book of Ecclesiastes” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Quest for Happiness” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “A Time for Everything” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Joy That Is God’s Gift” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “Remember Your Creator” (Ecclesiastes).
New article: “The Book of Wisdom” (Wisdom).
New article: “The Righteous, the Wicked, and Immortality” (Wisdom).
New article: “Wisdom, the Breath of God” (Wisdom).
New article: “Wisdom, Guide of History” (Wisdom).
New article: “Knowing God and the Folly of Idols” (Wisdom).
New article: “The Book of Sirach” (Sirach).
New article: “The Fear of the Lord, Source of Wisdom” (Sirach).
New article: “Wisdom and the Law” (Sirach).
New article: “The Choice of Life and Everyday Wisdom” (Sirach).
New article: “The Praise of the Ancestors” (Sirach).
New article: “The Book of Proverbs” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Fear of the Lord and the Two Ways” (Proverbs).
New article: “Personified Wisdom” (Proverbs).
New article: “Wisdom for Daily Life” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Valiant Woman” (Proverbs).
New article: “The Psalter, Prayer of Israel” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Praise and Thanksgiving” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Supplication and Trust” (Psalms).
New article: “The Royal and Messianic Psalms” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms of Ascents and Wisdom” (Psalms).
New article: “The Psalms on the Lips of Christ” (Psalms).
New article: “The Crisis and the Profanation of the Temple” (1 Maccabees).
New article: “Eleazar and the Seven Brothers” (2 Maccabees).
New article: “Judas Maccabeus and the Dedication of the Temple” (1-2 Maccabees).
New article: “Jewish Independence” (1 Maccabees).
New article: “Tobit” (Tobit).
New article: “Judith” (Judith).
New article: “Esther” (Esther).
New article: “The Return and the House of God” (Ezra).
New article: “Ezra and the Return to the Law” (Ezra, Nehemiah).
New article: “Nehemiah and the Rebuilt City” (Nehemiah).
New article: “Samuel and the Rise of Kingship” (1-2 Samuel).
New article: “Saul and the Rise of David” (1 Samuel).
New article: “David, the Covenant, and the Promise” (2 Samuel).
New article: “Solomon and the Temple” (1 Kings).
New article: “The Schism and the Northern Kingdom” (1-2 Kings).
New article: “Judah until the Exile” (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles).
New article: “The Entry into the Promised Land” (Joshua).
New article: “The Division of the Land and the Covenant at Shechem” (Joshua).
New article: “The Time of the Judges” (Judges).
New article: “In Those Days There Was No King” (Judges).
New article: “Ruth the Moabite” (Ruth).
New article: “Abraham, Father of Believers” (Genesis).
New article: “Isaac and Jacob” (Genesis).
New article: “Joseph” (Genesis).
New article: “The Creation and the Rest” (Genesis).
New article: “The Garden and the Fall” (Genesis).
New article: “From Cain to Babel” (Genesis).
New article: “Personal Responsibility” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Ministry of the New Covenant” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “The Collection for the Saints” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “Strength in Weakness” (2 Corinthians).
New article: “The Decalogue.”
New article: “The Law of the Neighbor.”
New article: “The Law of Worship and Holiness.”
New article: “The Law and Christ.”
New article: “The Law, Gift of the Covenant.”
New article: “Freedom and idols” (1 Corinthians 8-10).
New article: “The charisms and the assembly” (1 Corinthians 12 and 14).
New article: “The Cardinal Virtues”.
New article: “Prudence”.
New article: “Temperance”.
The French Bible of the site is now the Chérubin translation, with section headings in the reader.
New article: “Resentment and Forgiveness”.
New article: “Judging One’s Neighbour”.
New article: “The New Temple and the River of Life” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Restoration of Israel” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Oracles Against the Nations” (Ezekiel).
New article: “The Symbolic Actions and the Judgment of Jerusalem”.
New article: “Ezekiel, the Prophet of the Exile”.
New article: “Anger and Meekness”.
New article: “Love”.
New article: “The Desire to Feel the Spirit”.
New article: “The Dark Night of the Soul”.
June 2026
New article: “Consolation and Desolation”.
New article: “Discerning the Movements of the Heart”.
New article: “The Fall of Nineveh”.
New article: “The God Who Judges and Who Saves”.
New article: “Nahum and the Assyrian Empire”.
New article: “Justice, the Day of the Lord, and Hope”.
New article: “The Visions and the Rejected Worship”.
New article: “The Judgment of the Nations and of Israel”.
New article: “Amos, the Shepherd Prophet”.
New article: “The Glory of the Second Temple”.
New article: “The Four Oracles”.
New article: “Haggai and the Rebuilding of the Temple”.
New article: “The Expansion of Christianity”.
New article: “All Under Sin”.
New article: “The Epistle to the Romans”.
New article: “Sinai and the covenant”.
New article: “The deliverance”.
New article: “The bondage and the call”.
New article: “The oracles against the nations”.
New article: “Sadness”.
New article: “Fear”.
New article: “The finger of God”.
New article: “The baptism of Christ”.
New article: “The Resurrection and the Glorification”.
New article: “Holy Week”.
New article: “The third year: the opposition”.
New article: “The second year: popularity”.
New article: “The first year: the inauguration”.
New article: “The preparation for the ministry”.
New article: “The prologues and the coming of Christ”.
New: the “Memorise” tool.
New article: “The Real Presence.”
New article: “The four Servant Songs”.
New article: “Trito-Isaiah”.
New article: “Deutero-Isaiah”.
New article: “Proto-Isaiah”.
New article: “Predestination”.
New article: “The Angel of the Lord”.
New article: “Wars of Extermination in the Bible”.
New article: “Slavery in the Bible”.
New article: “The Nature of God”.
New article: “The Age of the Martyrs”.
New article: “The Abode of the Dead”.
New article: “The Canon and the Deuterocanonical Books”.
New article: “The Deacon”.
New article: “The Priest”.
New article: “Sola Scriptura”.
New article: “The Angels”.
New article: “Sola Fide”.
New article: “Once Saved, Always Saved”.
New article: “Elijah at Horeb”.
New article: “Turning the Other Cheek”.
New article: “Buy a Sword”.
New article: “Let the Dead Bury Their Dead”.
New article: “Jesus before Pilate”.
New article: “Jesus and Nicodemus”.
New article: “Invincible Ignorance”.
New article: “The Prophet and His Time”.
New article: “The Eight Night Visions”.
New article: “Joshua, the Branch and the Crown”.
New article: “Fasting and Restoration”.
New article: “First Oracle: The King Who Comes”.
New article: “The Book of Obadiah”.
New article: “Second Oracle: The Pierced One”.
New article: “The Day of the Lord”.
New article: “The Plague and the Day of the Lord”.
New article: “Conversion and the Spirit Poured Out”.
New article: “The Judgment of the Nations and the Salvation of Zion”.
New article: “The Three Ways of the Interior Life”.
New article: “Freedom and Responsibility”.
New article: “The Moral Conscience”.
New article: “Doubt and the Moral Systems”.
New article: “Doing Evil for a Good”.
New article: “Adoration and Praise”.
New article: “Why God Asks for Adoration”.
New article: “Faith and Science”.
New article: “The Theory of Evolution”.
New article: “The Woes of Isaiah”.
New article: “The Dwelling, the Priesthood and the Sacrifices”.
New article: “The Forty Years in the Desert”.
New article: "The Discourses of Moses".
New article: "The Death of Moses".
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Sign in
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The Real Presence

See first: The Eucharist.

The objections to the Eucharist come down to two: the real presence is not read in Scripture, bread and wine being only symbols; or the Mass and adoration offend the unique sacrifice of Christ. Each gives way as soon as one looks closely at what Jesus says and what he does.

“This is my body,” in the proper sense

It is objected that Christ’s words are an image, as when he calls himself the door or the vine: “this is my body” would mean “this represents my body.” But Scripture closes that way. At Capernaum, Jesus announces that he will give his flesh to eat, and his hearers take his words in the proper sense. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” John 6:52 Far from correcting what they take literally, he affirms it more strongly. “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” John 6:53 The verb he then uses is no longer merely to eat, but to gnaw, to chew: the Greek word trōgō (τρώγω) denotes the concrete act of grinding with the teeth. When he calls himself the door or the vine, no one is scandalised, because the image is understood of itself; here, the scandal costs him disciples. “From that moment, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” John 6:66 He lets them go, without a word that would reduce everything to a figure. On the evening of the Supper, he says at last how this flesh is eaten. “This is my body… This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28

“The flesh profits nothing”

It is objected that Jesus himself undoes the carnal sense of his words. “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail.” John 6:63 But this sentence cannot mean the flesh of Christ, for he has just said that this flesh, given for the life of the world, procures eternal life. “The bread that I will give is my flesh, given for the life of the world.” John 6:51 The flesh of Christ, delivered on the Cross, saves the whole world: far from “profiting nothing,” it is what gives life. The Greek word rendered “flesh,” sarx (σάρξ), here denotes the carnal way of judging, that of the man who stops at what his eyes see and refuses what surpasses him. John uses it elsewhere in the same sense, on the lips of Christ addressing the Pharisees. “You judge in a merely human way.” John 8:15 “The Spirit that gives life” is the Holy Spirit, without whom the sacrament would remain without fruit. Far from reducing his words to an image, Christ warns that they must receive them in a spiritual understanding.

More than a remembrance

It is objected that Christ asked only for a memorial, “in memory of me,” and that there would be in it only a remembrance, not a presence. But the memorial, in Scripture, is not confined to recalling the past: the Passover that Israel ate made present, to each generation, the deliverance from Egypt. The very word Christ uses says it: in memory of me. “Do this in memory of me.” Luke 22:19 The Greek term anamnēsis (ἀνάμνησις), which renders the Hebrew zikkaron (זכרון) of the Passover, does not denote the recollection of one absent but the act that makes the event present to those who celebrate it. The Eucharist makes present what it recalls, and Paul attests it in terms that exclude the mere symbol. “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 11:27 One does not profane a sign; one profanes a presence. So he warns the one who would approach without recognising this body. “Whoever eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks his own condemnation.” 1 Corinthians 11:29 Paul goes further still. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion in the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16 The Greek word rendered “communion,” koinōnia (κοινωνία), means a real participation: the one who drinks takes part in the very blood of Christ, not in its image.

One single sacrifice, made present

It is objected that Christ offered himself once for all, and that the Mass, by claiming to offer him again, adds to a finished sacrifice. But the Mass does not repeat the Cross and adds nothing to it: it makes present the one sacrifice, offered a single time on Calvary. The “once for all” of the letter to the Hebrews does not condemn the Mass, it founds it: what it excludes is a new and different offering, not the presence of the one. “For by a single offering he has made perfect forever those whom he sanctifies.” Hebrews 10:14 And if Scripture adds that there is no longer any offering to present, it is that no other sacrifice is to be sought: “Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Hebrews 10:18 The Mass seeks no other; it makes that one present. And this offering is not an act closed in the past: in heaven Christ stands before the Father as the Lamb at once slain and living, ever offered. “a Lamb standing, as though slain.” Revelation 5:6 The victim is the same, the priest is the same, Christ; only the manner changes: once in blood and death, today under the species of bread and wine. Scripture foretold this offering spread among the nations. “In every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering.” Malachi 1:11 And the letter to the Hebrews recognises that the Church has an altar of its own, distinct from the old worship. “We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.” Hebrews 13:10 The tent is the sanctuary of the Old Covenant, where Israel rendered its worship. The Christian, for his part, has his altar. Now an altar is made for a sacrifice: the Mass is that one sacrifice, not another.

Adoring Christ, not the bread

It is objected at last that to adore the host is to adore bread, and to fall into idolatry. Everything depends on what the host is. If the bread remained bread, to adore it would indeed be idolatry; but if Christ is really present in it, body, blood, soul and divinity, through the change of the whole substance that the Church calls transubstantiation, the adoration does not go to the bread, it goes to him. The question of idolatry therefore comes down to that of the real presence, already settled by his words. His words were indeed received thus from the earliest days of the Church. Around the year 107, Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of the apostles and martyr, reproaches certain heretics for abstaining from the Eucharist because they do not confess that it is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the flesh that suffered for our sins and that the Father raised. The real presence is therefore no late invention: it is the faith of the Church of the martyrs, contemporary with the apostles. Before him present, to refuse adoration would be the only fault. One does not adore the sign, but the one it makes present.

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