Is it true that the body of the Lord Christ, i.e., the Church, is the same body on the altar and the same body that ascended into heaven and sat on the Father’s right hand, both being One? Is this mentioned in the sayings of any of the father saints?
1. The Lord’s body that is on the altar is the body born by the Holy Virgin Mary, the body that was crucified, buried and risen, that ascended into heaven and sat on the right hand of the Father.
As for the Lord’s body, meaning the Church, it refers to the whole congregation of believers and it is not reasonable to say that they all were born of the Holy Virgin.
Is it possible that the millions of Christians who live now, the millions who departed and the millions who will be born in future, all of them are born of the Holy Virgin as the body who sat on the Father’s right hand and moreover they are that same body?
2. We worship the Lord’s body that is on the altar and say, “We worship Your Holy Body, O Lord.” We say also, “His divinity was not separated from His humanity not even for a moment or a twinkling of an eye.” We say the same to the body that ascended and sat on the right hand of the Father.
It is different from the body of the Lord meaning the Church; for we do not worship the Church nor say about it – as a body – that its divinity was not separated from its humanity!!
3. The Lord Christ’s body that is on the altar is the body that redeemed us and died for us then ascended into heaven in glory. Can we say then it is the church that redeemed us, died for us and ascended into heaven in glory?
4. We partake of the Lord’s Body and Blood on the altar, do we partake of the Church (if we agree that the Church and the Lord’s Body are One)? God forbid…
5. The Lord Christ’s Body, meaning the Church, is not yet complete. There are
members that have not yet joined it, i.e., those who are not yet born and those who will accept faith in future.
But the Lord Christ’s Body that is on the altar and in heaven is perfect without deficiency and no other members will join it.
6. The Lord Christ’s Body, meaning the Church, is ourselves while His Body that is on the altar and in heaven is Christ Himself. If both are One, are we then Christ?
Are we sitting now on the Father’s right hand? Are we in heaven? And when we partake do we partake of the Church or of Christ?
7. The Lord Christ’s Body, meaning the Church, includes all the believers who have not yet completed their struggle and who are still struggling against the evil powers and not yet crowned. As for the Lord’s body that is on the altar and sitting on the right hand of the Father, it has no members who are still struggling the evil power to conquer and be crowned. It has overcome and is glorified and helps us to walk in the procession of His victory.
8. The Lord Christ’s body on the altar is a real body in the literal meaning of the word “body”. But the Church is the Lord’s Body in the spiritual meaning as it is His bride in the spiritual meaning also…….
9. If the Church is the same Body of the Lord Christ that is on the altar and on the Father’s right, we would be lead to the heresy of “the one existence” in which many philosophers and heretics fell.
10. No one of the fathers adopted this wrong opinion and if it is attributed by any Christian writer to any saint, this writer is certainly wrong in conveying the words or in understanding the intent of the saint and should make sure of the text and its source.
It is impossible that any of the saints speak words contradicting faith exposing himself to criticism as we have seen while analysing this thought.
Dear reader, you should examine carefully all that you read and don’t believe what some may attribute to saints which saints did not say.
