Words on church mysteries must be carefully chosen

Isn’t it ironical that in the article announcing the Holy Father’s exhortation on the Eucharist, the writer includes this line:

“Christ, ‘who is present in the bread and wine through the power of the Holy Spirit.’ The teaching of the Church is that when Christ is present in the Eucharist, bread and wine no longer exist.”

…it has always been the conviction of the Church of God …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.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1376).

Christ is not present in the bread and wine, only the appearance of bread and wine are present. We receive the real and true Christ under those appearances. It is truly a mystery to be sure, but our faith has many wonderful mysteries. When we write about the mysteries of our faith, our words must be carefully chosen.