10 Ways to Increase Belief in the Eucharistic Lord

In Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked who people said he was, and his two polls showed that only one person — Peter — said he believed Jesus was who he truly was, the Messiah and Son of God (Matthew 16:13-20).

In July, the Pew Research Center asked U.S. Catholics who or what they understood the Eucharist to be. The response, like the one Our Lord received in Caesarea, was sobering.

Only 50% of U.S. Catholics said that they knew the Church’s teaching that, after the consecration, the bread and wine are totally changed into Jesus’ Body and Blood; 45% said that the Church teaches that the “bread” and “wine” are only symbols, and 5% didn’t know what the Church teaches.

Even among the 50% of those who were aware of the Church’s teaching, a third said that they still regarded the Eucharist as a symbol, leaving only 31% who actually believed the Church’s teaching.

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