It is not a ritual, it is exactly how Catholic’s fulfill Christ’s direct, personal and explicit command for all Christians of John 6:
“Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
If you put your ‘faith in Jesus’, why do you not do as He commands you to do in John 6?..
For the Greater Glory of God
metaphors
Not quite. Actually, not at all. What Catholics do is claim that when a certain fellow chants a phrase over some wafer and wine, they can pretend that it becomes the body and blood of Jesus. They openly crucify Him again and conduct a pagan scene of re-enacting His execution. The Scriptures simply say to eat and drink in remembrance of Him. May wish to read the rest of the story.