Abstract
This study exposits Thomas’s teaching on Eucharistic reception, giving particular attention to his treatment of spiritual and sacramental eating as well as the res et sacramentum of the sacrament. It traces the theology of spiritual and sacramental reception in the Summa theologies’ magisterial teaching on the Eucharist, and it argues that, far from acting merely as an esoteric or artificial heuristic intended to manage theological tensions in his doctrine of the Eucharist, Thomas identifies spiritual eating as vital for understanding three significant biblical accounts of receiving the body and blood of Christ. Thomas’s biblical commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew’s Last Supper Narrative (26:26-30), the Gospel of John’s Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:22-71), and Saint Paul’s I Corinthians discussion of worthy reception (I Cor. 11:23-34) observe that the very truth of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist –perfect in itself– makes sacramental and spiritual eating a decisive and scripturally operative difference for progress in the Christian life.
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