Tantum ergo Sacramentum

                                                                                                                                                                                

Pax Vobiscum.
   In any discourse or verbal engagement with Protestants, two issues always seem to take precedence in the conversation. Indeed these same two issues are the major targets of derision and ridicule by the perfidious. These two matters are the Holy Eucharist, and Sacramental confession.   It's quite easy to see why those two issues are at the forefront. For verily, they are the foundation upon which the Spiritual life is built. Before one can build steps of sanctity, to ascend to the realm of holiness, one must have a firm foundation to build on. For us Catholics, the Blessed Sacrament and the Confessional are the sand and gravel, which, when mixed with the cement of Devotion and surmounted by the flagstone of the Papacy, provide the only sure foundation for the ascension of the spirit. Why it is that Our Lord willed it thus, we shall never fully know, but a few reflections can be garnered from the Scriptures.

Why Christ came to earth the redeem us, we shall not know, this side of the Judgment. But the fact is that he did. Rather than, in His Omnipotence, saying the word, and restoring human nature, which was corrupted by the sin of Adam, He chose a different, and much more beautiful way. He chose, rather than simply cleansing our humanity, to make us partakers in his Divinity. In the words of Athanasius,  God became man, so that men might become God . He willed to unite Himself to the whole human race, not just in a spiritual sense, but in a physical, real sense. He wished for us, as the Body of Christ, to truly be that, both in our Christian way of living, but also in our very substance. That is why He said  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life . How true this is, because by eating of the flesh of God, we bring His divinity into us. With normal food, when we eat it, it becomes like us, we digest it, and it becomes part of our matter. With the Flesh of Christ, it is the opposite, by eating it, we become like it, instead of it becoming like us. When we eat the Flesh, we are indeed part of the Body of Christ, and as a result, our Salvation shall be given unto us. We become the Son of God, and how could the Son of God come up lacking in the Judgment?
I am no Theologian, but that is my own reflection as to the "Why"  of it. The factual nature of it requires little explanation, as it was so clearly enunciated by Our Lord, who said:  This is my Body, This is my Blood ... Those are powerful words, and not ones which are open to various interpretations. He said this *Is* my body. If the Lutherans were right, He might have said  This contains my body . If the Methodists were right, He might have said:  This represents my body . But He said neither. He said,  This is my Body...Take ye, and eat...and I will raise you up on the last day

    Regarding Confession, I think that the “Why” is a bit more understandable. For as God willed the ultimate redemption and absolution, the Crucifixion, to happen to a man, Our Lord Jesus Christ, so also he willed that the individual redemption of each one of us should be accomplished through a man. And indeed, it is the same man both times, for when the Priest is exercising his office, he is the Altar Christus, another Christ. As St. Paul says,  And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me . St. Paul, as a Priest, very well understood this, that it was not he who worked the sacraments, and administered Grace, but rather Christ through him.
We all require forgiveness for our Sins and Iniquities. It is true, God could have chosen against the institution of Sacramental Absolution. But he did not. He gave the strict imperative:  Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, but through all this, God has given us an easy recourse. We must simply confess, and show ourselves humble and contrite before Our Lord in His representative , the Priest and all of our Sin is forgiven. My friend, what a marvelous gift this is, to have our iniquities wiped away in the sight of the most high. Each and every confession is , in a way, a continuation of Our Lord's Passion, for the Passion paid the penalty for all of our Sins, for all time. But at the time of His passion, many sins were yet to be committed. The redemption that Our Lord bought for us , with his blood, is still going on. When we commit a sin, we must go to the Priest and confess so that Our Lord may take that sin from our soul and extinguish it with the redemptive grace of his Passion and Death. We must not expect Our Lord to reach into our souls and remove our sin, instead we must have the humility to prostrate ourselves before the Lord and show him our sins. Then, He will stretch out His Hand, filled with the redemptive grace, and erase them.
    What a sublime mystery, what an ineffable boon to humanity. Since these truly comprise the cornerstone of our faith, it is no wonder that enemies of our faith mock and attack them unceasingly. But rather than simply weathering the storm, we must take the initiative, and go forth among the unbelievers, and by Gods grace, bring them the truth. For really they want the truth. They long for the fulfillment that is the Catholic Faith, but they know not how to identify their need. So we must be forthright, and go bring the word of salvation to all nations. We cannot wait for them to come to us. We must be the new Apostles, and go forth, bringing word of Christ’s saving sacraments.