Catechesis Notes for the Week — Catechesis Notes for the Week—They Drank from the Rock—This week’s Bible verse teaches us that Christ was actually in the Old Testament with the children of Israel in the Rock that followed them and from which they drank. This passage of the “real presence” is chosen to highlight that since Christ was actually present with the children of Israel in the Rock from which they drank in the Old Testament, how much more should we understand that Christ is truly present with us today in the Lord’s Supper. He declares of the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper: “This is My body…This is My blood…” Therefore it is His true body and blood.

This is My body. In the Lord’s Supper Jesus gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink. The Sacrament of the Altar rests upon the Word of God. Jesus’ words give what they say. The power and benefits of the Sacrament are given through the Word. Take away the Word and there is no Sacrament. With the Word, there is a Sacrament, namely, “the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself, for us Christians to eat and to drink.” What role does faith play in the Sacrament? Faith receives what the Word says. Faith believes in what the Word gives. Faith rests upon the promises of God. The essence of the Sacrament, that is, “what it is,” is determined by the Word. This gives faith its certainty. We know we receive the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins, because the Word says so.  Faith knows no other certainty but the promises of the Gospel.CP250216