I take it on faith that I receive the benefit of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood in communion, but not that I am eating literal flesh and drinking literal blood...you can believe what you want.
The "benefit"?! Where is that in Scripture? Again... I've done you the courtesy of posting from the Bible since you are of the Sola Scriptura camp... please do me the courtesy of showing references for your pronouncements. It would be the height of hypocrisy to criticize the Church for your perception of Her Teachings as extra-biblical and to then make up your own doctrines on the fly...
For the record, we Catholics simply take Christ at His Word and trust Him. He said it was His Body and Blood that He gave to His Apostles. We trust Him that they received His Body and Blood. He then gave the command to them to continue this practice in "remembrance". The problem of that word is that there is no direct translation for what it really means. The Passover supper they were sharing was also done in remembrance... that meant they were to have sandals on feet, staffs in hand and be prepared to make the Exodus the next day. It is more than the English word signifies... it is akin to a recreation... to make it real for all succeeding generations. We do that, as commanded, in the Mass.
If you take the Real Presence out of the Eucharist, you are left with an empty and vain ritual... something I thought Protestants detested.