The Real Presence in the Eucharist Part 1

It was the question to answer all questions, and it was posed to me by someone rabidly against Catholicism who wanted to convince me to not become Catholic. This ex-Catholic told me, "It came down to the Eucharist. If the (Real Presence) Eucharist is true, then I had to stay Catholic." This ex-Catholic listened to Protestant rhetoric and decided the Eucharist isn't the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, and therefore everything else is untrue about Catholicism. It was time to leave and join a church where communion is symbolic. Their tactic backfired, though, because I grabbed onto their claim and made it my aim! If the Eucharist is true, I have to become Catholic. To deny Christ and His command as laid out in John 6 would be sin! Even before that, my journey towards the Eucharist began long before I was challenged with that question. In the Assembly of God church, communion is symbolic, but not just a remembrance ritual. We had to be born-again. Anyone who hadn't accepted Christ was discouraged from taking communion because eating and drinking unworthily brings damnation, as defined in 1 Corinthians 11:27. We were given a time before partaking to meditate on Christ's death and to ask forgiveness of our sins. When we started going to the Baptist church, I was surprised at how much more symbolic they take communion. "Eat and drink damnation" turned into, "well, it just doesn't mean anything to you." In the AG church, there was some measure of grace in partaking. In the Baptist church, it seemed to be just a remembrance ritual with no sacramentality at all other than what you get out of it by thinking about what Christ did. It got to a point where I couldn't, in good conscience, continue partaking of communion in the Baptist church. It also bothered me that in the AG church and the Baptist church, instead of just celebrating communion as Protestants, the pastors always had to emphasize how it is merely symbolic and there is no body and blood of Christ, sometimes inferring, sometimes directly saying how wrongly Catholics or "some people" believe. That bothered me. Why was it so important for them to speak of it nearly every single communion, especially when they knew their congregation believed as they do. Why even bring it up? Why are Protestants, and especially former Catholics so hostile towards Christ Jesus in the Eucharist? Often, in the AG and Baptist churches, I would hear pastors say of anti-Christians, "Well, if the Gospel isn't true, they wouldn't be so worried or hostile about it." I could turn around the say the same thing about them and the Eucharist. There's also the evidence that Satanists and terrorists don't break into Protestant churches and steal their crackers and grape juice. They steal the consecrated hosts out of Catholic Churches! You cannot perform dessicrations and Satanic sacrifices upon crackers and juice that are just symbols. Some may say that if the Hosts are Christ, Christ is in Heaven and cannot be re-sacrificed or hurt again. This is a greater theological issue that I don't have the credentials to explain fully, but one thing I noticed is that Protestants think linearly. Catholics think wholly. To Protestants, especially evanglicals, and especially dispensational rapture theorists, time is linear. They forget that Christ is outside of time. All of time is laid out and played out before God. He is in all of it all at once. What is past for us is always for God. If Christ's once for all sacrifice on the Cross covered the sins of us 2000 years later, it was/is affected by the sins against it by Eucharist abuse 2000 years later. During my argument with the ex-Catholic, I asked them to explain the Eucharistic miracles. They faultered and fumbled for an answer, and settled on a typical go-to: Satan does it. I told them that argument wouldn't hold up in court. I told them Catholics are careful to examine and re-examine any miracle. They hire doctors, scientists, they have a legal system, checks and balances, to make sure miracles are authentic. Tested Eucharistic miracles come up to be male human heart tissue with the same blood type....the same blood type on other Christ relics. Can Satan really turn bread into human heart?! As far as I know, Satan can only use what is already created. He can't turn plant cells into muscle cells. Only the One who created all things can do that. Part 2 will be more about my Bible study and personal experiences.