Santa Catalina Catholic Church

One thing I find hard to wrap my head around as a Catholic: Do we actually believe that what we are receiving at communion is really the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ himself? Juliette in Guelph, Ontario, Canada
The Catholic Church teaches that Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist: body, blood, soul, and divinity. This is sometimes referred to as the “True Presence" or the “Real Presence." This term underscores that at Mass we are not merely mimicking what Jesus did at the Last Supper and using bread and wine as props as one would in a stage play. During the worship services of many other Christian denominations, believers will often ritually enact the Last Supper because Jesus did say, “Do this in memory of me." In most cases, though, other Christians do not believe that any miraculous change occurs while they're doing that.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus states emphatically, over and over again, that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we will not have eternal life within us. He says, "My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (John 6:55). So, yes, we believe that during communion we are really receiving the flesh and blood of Christ. How can that be, you may ask, since it doesn't look or taste like human flesh or blood, but rather seems much more like it's still bread and wine?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes it this way: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering ... [we believe] that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change [we call] transubstantiation" (CCC 1376).
What's important to focus on here is the word “substance." The Church uses that term intentionally and in a somewhat technical sense. The substance of a thing is that which is most important in defining who or what it is. A good synonym might be the essence of something. In Greek philosophy, which Catholic theology builds upon, this essence or substance is distinct from the outer material form of something- one of these can change without the other changing.
Let's use a real-world example. Imagine someone whom you had not seen in a long time had dyed his hair and lost a lot of weight. Your first impression might be that this person is now very different. But after talking with him for a few minutes, everything sounds familiar. “Yup, this is the same old guy that I used to know, even if he looks quite different on the outside." Now imagine the opposite. You encounter another old friend after several years and marvel at how she hasn't aged a day. celt's amazing, you look the same!" Then she tells you about a life-changing event that happened to her. You notice that her whole perspective on the world has shifted substantially. Maybe she had a brush with death but survived, and she is noticeably a more grateful or compassionate person. You think, "This is not the same person I used to know." On the outside, her looks are indistinguishable from before; her voice sounds the same. But on the inside, a fundamental change has taken place. And unlike the hair dye that will eventually grow out, the life-changing event has had a permanent effect; there's no going back to the way things used to be. This is most akin to what we Catholics call transubstantiation.
What we believe happens to the bread and wine during Mass is this kind of change. Our senses cannot perceive a difference. The little round wheat wafer still looks, smells, and tastes the same; it's the same size and shape. But that which is most fundamental to its existence, the very essence of it, has been changed into the True Presence of Christ's flesh. A cynic might counter, "Well, isn't it convenient that you believe in this miraculous change that cannot be measured by science?" To which I'd respond, "Don't humans believe in other imperceptible concepts like love and truth and beauty?" We do, and we take them for granted, or if you will, take them on faith. The great twelfth-century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas put it this way: "That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that 'cannot be apprehended by the senses, but only by faith, which relies on divine authority"' (CCC 1381).
So, yes, we are truly receiving Christ's flesh and blood in communion, fulfilling his command.

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