The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-28
PAULIST MISSION
TO CLOSE SUNDAY
Large Attendance Last Night, When
Rev. Father Healy Discussed
the Lords Supper"

One of the largest congregations of the
week attended the Paulist mission at st.
Paurs church last night when the Rev.
Father Healy delivered lecture on the
pivotal institution of all Trintarian de-
nomnations-"the Lords Supper"
Just before the lecture the Rev. Father
OHern answered questions propounded
through the medium of the query box.
The mission will come to a close next
Sunday night There will be a lecture to-
night and another Friday night, but none
on Saturday night.
In explaining and defending the Cath
Ollie doctrines of "The Lords Supper
involving the doctrine of the Real Pres
ence," Father Healy said in part:
Man needs the assistance of divine
grace in order to be faithful to the reve-
lation received from Christ The chief
means of obtaining this divine assistance
is in the sacrament of the Eucharist in
which Christ Himself becomes the spirit
ual food for mans soul to nourish and
sustain its supernatural life
Labor not for the meat which per-
isheth but for that which endureth unto
everlasting life The bread that | will
give you is my flesh. which | will give
for the life of the world. These words
were taken in their literal Significance
by those to whom they were addressed,
but they questioned the power of Christ
to verify them. Their objection was:
How can this man give his flesh TO catT
Christians today cannot question Christ
power, though they may legtinlately ask
were those people correct in taking
Christ's words literally? That they We're
correct in this is evident from the fact
that in answer to this complaint CHRIST
repeats His words six times over, each
time stronger than before. Now many OF
His disciples abandon Him and Walk no
more with Him. because they find TINS
"a hard saying, and who can near II
Christ allows the multitude and many OF
His disciples to desert Him rather than
give a fguratve meaning to His words.
He is prepared to sacrifice the eompan-
ionship OF the chosen twelve. VIII you
also go away?' Peter replies Tor the
twelve: Lord, to whom can we go: me
apostles accept Christ's words question
ing not their meaning or His power, Tor
they believe that He alone has the words
of eternal life They accept the mys-
terry. so great Is their faith In Him
..At THE Last supper Christ's promise
Is FULFILLED He says: Take, eat. This
is nv body Drink ye all of this. rms
10 INV blood 1t is frequently objected
that these words are not to be taken
literally any more than the expressions,
Il am the door + am the vine etc. But
the slightest consideration will show that
there is no parallel between the express
sions mentioned and the words This IS
nv body The word this is pronoun
and as such refers to some object surely
not bread for the word bread in Greek
(the language of the evangests)' is mas
culine In gender. IT refers to body
which in Greek is neuter in gender. be-
cause the pronoun this is written in the
neuter form in all three eYangelsts and
in St Paul q Cor. XII. 26), The word
this means nothing, and can mean moth
ing, until identified at the close of the
sentence with the word body to which
IL refers.
The apostles understood Christ to have
worked some mysterious change. They
understood Him to have given them power
to work the same change. Further. they
understood that He gave them the right
to transmit that power to their success
sors, for that Is what they actually did.
THE words of st. Paul's First Epistle
to the Corinthians X, 1927. prove that
he taught them this doctrine. st. Paul
speaks of the one who eats or drinks
unworthily as being guilty OF the body
| and blood of Christ How could one be
thus guilty II the body or blood were
not really present?
Christian church for sixteen centuries. 1t
words must be read. This represents my