[papertyger]

I respond thusly: I’m always amazed by people who read the words “eat the bread” and “drink the cup” and find “eat Jesus’ body” and “drink his blood” But since many of these people drink neither the cup nor the blood in their masses, it seems a bit ironic that they believe us to have the reading comprehension issues.

How so? If you read "This is my body...etc" and see only "eat the bread," then you do indeed have a reading comprehension problem.

[Mad Dawg]

The legalism is also interesting. Catholics are said to be legalistic, yet we can see good reason for someone with gluten problems to participate only in the cup and for others to participate only in the bread.

Again, It makes me think of the magic -- sacrament polarity or the 'conjuring' -- 'asking and receiving' polarity.

It seems that there's a lingering thought that the spell must be wound up properly or it won't work. That,to me, seems like a parody of what we say about 'confecting' the Sacrament, rather than a portrayal of it.