Real Presence in the Eucharist

Father Jeff VonLehmen answers questions about one of the fundamental beliefs of the Catholic Church: Why does it make sense for Catholics to believe in what traditionally has been called transubstantiation (the changing of the whole substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ)? Why is it important to say that the Eucharist is a concrete encounter of the community with Jesus and not just a spiritual thing between an individual and God?

Father Jeff VonLehmen. writes, “In our own human experience, we can discover why real presence and the body-and-blood presence of Christ are important to us and to God.”

Updated in 2015.