Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining Eternal Life?

[Tcg]

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Catholics place emphasis on the ritual known as Mass. It includes receiving the Eucharist, also known as Communion, where participants eat the body of Christ and drink his blood. Protestants also practice Communion thought they don't teach that it involves the actual blood and body of Christ. Some refer to it as the Lord's Supper.

This practice has been in the news recently as Pope Francis has suggested Biden continue to receive communion even though he is Pro-Choice. This has of course created quite a stir amongst the primarily Pro-Life Catholics. This caused me to wonder why Communion is so important to both Catholics and Protestants.

Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining eternal life?

If not, why is so much emphasis placed on the practice?


Tcg

[Miles]

Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining eternal life?

In as much as I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the Bible, I don't see how it could be, although this doesn't stop a religion from claiming it is, such as this statement from a Catholic website.

"The Necessity of Holy Communion
1. The Holy Sacrament of the Altar is the nourishment of our souls.
Consequently the reception of this Sacrament is an indispensable means whereby to attain spiritual perfection or sanctity here, and eternal life hereafter.
source

If not, why is so much emphasis placed on the practice?

The reasons above aside, I believe it's one of the ways a church keeps it parishioners pledged to it. Making parishioners feel more a part of their faith by psychologically uniting them with their savior.


.

[Tcg]

Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining eternal life?

In as much as I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the Bible, I don't see how it could be, although this doesn't stop a religion from claiming it is, such as this statement from a Catholic website.

"The Necessity of Holy Communion
1. The Holy Sacrament of the Altar is the nourishment of our souls.
Consequently the reception of this Sacrament is an indispensable means whereby to attain spiritual perfection or sanctity here, and eternal life hereafter.
source

This would certainly explain why it is so important to some Catholics. A Google search on "Catholic Mass" leads to results that include daily masses available on YouTube, through Catholic TV, and various streaming options. I'm not sure if one provides their own crackers and juice for these viewings or whether or not they provide that same level of merit as an in-person Mass.

If not, why is so much emphasis placed on the practice?

The reasons above aside, I believe it's one of the ways a church keeps it parishioners pledged to it. Making parishioners feel more a part of their faith by psychologically uniting them with their savior.


.

Given all the religious fanfare and somberness these events include, they must include a strong psychological pull for those who take these rituals seriously and could therefore potentially be a source for manipulation of the followers.


Tcg

[2ndpillar2]

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Catholics place emphasis on the ritual known as Mass. It includes receiving the Eucharist, also known as Communion, where participants eat the body of Christ and drink his blood. Protestants also practice Communion thought they don't teach that it involves the actual blood and body of Christ. Some refer to it as the Lord's Supper.

This practice has been in the news recently as Pope Francis has suggested Biden continue to receive communion even though he is Pro-Choice. This has of course created quite a stir amongst the primarily Pro-Life Catholics. This caused me to wonder why Communion is so important to both Catholics and Protestants.

Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining eternal life?

If not, why is so much emphasis placed on the practice?
Tcg

The news report I read, which was from the Vatican side, was that they would not confirm what you said. As for Biden's side, Biden would only hear what he wanted to hear, and forget what he heard before he walked out the door.

As for the last supper, it was simply the Jewish requirement of keeping the feast of Unleavened bread, which is a required yearly reenactment of the passing over of the angels of death. It is represented in the last supper in a more spiritual manner, in that the unleavened bread, the "bread of life", the "Word of God", message of the "son of man" (Matthew 13:37), must be eaten without the leaven of hypocrisy, which would be the leaven of the Pharisees, and the wine/blood, a semblance of life, such that life, life of the spirit, resides in the blood. Which is to say, it is not enough to eat the bread of life ( the message of the son of man) with out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, but one must also drink the wine, receive the anointing of the Spirit of God. The anointing gives understanding, and without understanding, one has an impotent message. The reenactment happens once a year, on the day following Passover. The "Christians", followers of the church of the Roman emperor Constantine, keep good Friday, in line with Easter, the feast of the queen of heaven, Astarte, instead of keeping the Jewish feast, because that is what the Council of Nicaea, convened by Constantine, decreed. The "Christians" keep their abominations in line with the pagan rituals because as stated in Revelation 13:14: "Those who dwell on the earth" have been "deceived" by the beast with two horns like a lamb, the Roman emperor Constantine. They have no rock/foundation, and are blown around by the wind. For this abomination, apparently they get to drink from the cup of God's anger (Revelation 14:10).

[JoeyKnothead]

Ya know, if I ground me up someone and cooked em up in a cracker, all I'd see me is the gray walls of a prison.

Grind you up Jesus and do it, and folks'll put money in the plate.

"Eternal life through the cracker eating" is just one more means to gul the gullible.

[Tcg]

Ya know, if I ground me up someone and cooked em up in a cracker, all I'd see me is the gray walls of a prison.

Grind you up Jesus and do it, and folks'll put money in the plate.

"Eternal life through the cracker eating" is just one more means to gul the gullible.

Yes, it's so easy for us on the outside looking in to see this. Why is it so hard for those eating a wheat based product of some sort to see it? Or is it a gluten free rice based cracker these days?


Tcg

[Tcg]

As for Biden's side, Biden would only hear what he wanted to hear, and forget what he heard before he walked out the door.

This is an interesting assertion. Can you provide any verifiable evidence to support it?


Tcg

[nobspeople]

.
Catholics place emphasis on the ritual known as Mass. It includes receiving the Eucharist, also known as Communion, where participants eat the body of Christ and drink his blood. Protestants also practice Communion thought they don't teach that it involves the actual blood and body of Christ. Some refer to it as the Lord's Supper.

This practice has been in the news recently as Pope Francis has suggested Biden continue to receive communion even though he is Pro-Choice. This has of course created quite a stir amongst the primarily Pro-Life Catholics. This caused me to wonder why Communion is so important to both Catholics and Protestants.

Is receiving Communion a requirement for gaining eternal life?

If not, why is so much emphasis placed on the practice?


Tcg

Speaking as a past protestant, it's simply symbolic, nothing more.
I was never taught nor told it's necessary in anyway; fact is it was always seen as optional. Even when I was practicing, I often times sat out communion. It made little sense and seemed nothing more than a show. And if god couldn't see my heart, eating a wafer and drinking juice wouldn't have helped open its eyes.

[2ndpillar2]

As for Biden's side, Biden would only hear what he wanted to hear, and forget what he heard before he walked out the door.

This is an interesting assertion. Can you provide any verifiable evidence to support it?


Tcg

Biden stated that he didn't remember anyone telling him to keep residual forces in Afghanistan. Every one of his military advisers said they certainly had recommended that he keep a residual military force in Afghanistan. Either they are lying, or the guy is very forgetful. As for hearing what he wants, he dismissed the current polls saying he isn't doing so well.

[bluegreenearth]

Biden stated that he didn't remember anyone telling him to keep residual forces in Afghanistan. Every one of his military advisers said they certainly had recommended that he keep a residual military force in Afghanistan. Either they are lying, or the guy is very forgetful. As for hearing what he wants, he dismissed the current polls saying he isn't doing so well.

Note: Admittedly, the following critical thinking question is tangential to the OP topic, but I thought it would be worth considering nonetheless:

Have you ever noticed that this type of defensive and possibly duplicitous posturing exhibited by of a prominent political figure is always immediately identified and confidently criticized by the people who didn't vote for that individual even though the exact same behavior is routinely exhibited by nearly all prominent political representatives of both parties in response to negative press? Given that a suspiciously "convenient" memory lapse or the propagation of an "alternative" fact appears to be a ubiquitous rhetorical tactic for managing negative press across the entire political spectrum these days, is it not equally disingenuous when average citizens deploy a disproportionate amount of skepticism and critical thinking towards this type of political messaging from representatives of the opposition party than they do for the same type of defensive posturing from their favored public figures?