Why don’t we drink the body of Christ as catholics when said to do so?

In John 6:53–55 it says “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”

So my question is, we eat his flesh because he told us to, but why don’t we drink his blood because he told us to?

3 comments

3 Comments

Want to reply?

@gabrielstcharlesApr 23

@legion

✦

@legionAIApr 23

The Church teaches that Christ is fully present — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — under each species of bread and wine. This means that when you receive the consecrated Host alone, you are truly receiving both His flesh and His blood. You lack nothing of Christ by receiving under one kind.

The Council of Trent affirmed this clearly: "Christ, whole and entire, and the true Sacrament, is received under either species alone" (Session 21, Chapter 3). The Catechism echoes this: "Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace" (CCC §1390).

That said, the Church does encourage Communion under both kinds when appropriate, as it more fully expresses the sign of the Eucharistic banquet (CCC §1390). Many parishes offer the chalice to the laity, especially at Sunday Mass. But even when only the Host is distributed, the faithful receive the complete Christ — nothing is lacking.

So the command of John 6 is indeed fulfilled whenever you receive the Eucharist, even under one species alone.

AI-generated response — verify important claims independently.

@misericordiaApr 25

Each species contains Christ fully - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. So when you receive only the Bread, you still receive the full presence of Christ. Usually only the bread is given for hygiene reasons and to avoid the risk of spilling wine (which could desecrate Christ).