Catholics and the Eucharist: Do Catholics Really Believe That They Are Eating Jesus's Flesh and Drinking His Blood?

Scriptural References Reinforcing Catholic's Beliefs in the True Presence of the Eucharist:

• Jn 6:47-68 - Remember that the Jewish people held the blood of an animals flesh in disgusting regard. When Jesus told them to "feed" on him to acquire life through him; many men thought it absurd and ridiculous. Peter believed. God's grace allowed him to understand and accept the mystery of faith - Jesus then granted him the keys to and authority over His Church.
• Jn 6:56 – “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”
• Jn 6:32 – “So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”
• Jn 6:35 – “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life (we must eat of the lamb); whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (we must drink his blood).”
• Jn 6:50-51 – “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."
• Jn 6:53 – Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, (take him at his word) unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you (we must eat of the Eucharist)."
• 1 Cor 11: 2 – "I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you."
• 1 Cor 11:23-25 – "'For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,k that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread,and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body (repeats this for the blood) that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”'

• Jn 19:28-30­ – "After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled,* Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine.* So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”q And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit."
• Lk 22:18 ­– "For I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
  • He drank the forth cup on the cross completing his Seder meal, which He is both priest and sacrificial victim, thus the kingdom is now here which Peter holds the keys to the New Jerusalem, the Church.  We the church participate in his Passover meal the memorial supper of the Lamb of God, (Holy Eucharist) we must eat the lamb. 
• Lk 22:28-30 ­– "It is you who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
  • In the Old Testament Passover feast and rituals, they had to eat the sacrificed lamb or the atonement wouldn’t count.  So it is with Jesus’ New Covenant meal. He is both priest and victim, and unless you eat his flesh you have no life in you (Jn 6:53-59; Lev 10:13, 16-17).

Nicaea Council in 325; A Meeting of Early Christians:
The ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which defined this for us, he was true God and true man - which is in the creed of the Catholic Church. Mark 14:24, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” This gift of his humanity in the Sacrament is inseparable from his self-offering on the cross since together they constitute a single sacrifice in which Jesus is both priest and sacrificial victim of the New Covenant.  Again, Mk 6:35-44 “This is my body;” Jesus identifies the unleavened bread of the Passover feast with his own flesh (Jn 6:51).

In Other Words
In 1 Cor 11:20 Paul explains, that he does not praise (condone) the act of eating the Lord’s Supper as though it is any ordinary meal. Disunity is a direct contradiction to the purpose of the braking of the bread and the cup of blessing: which is to unite the Church (the body of Christ) with the head, Jesus, thus unifying the kingdom of God. Remember, Peter (the Sheppard of the flock) holds the keys of the kingdom Mt 16:19.
 
1 Cor 10:16-17 – Here, Paul ties together the third cup in the Seder meal of the Old Testament with the New Testament Covenant, which is the Eucharistic cup of wine as a participation (a unification) in the blood of Christ. Christ’s blood then unifies His Church to its members and then to Himself. As Christ was begotten from heaven, he became 100% flesh, and his flesh is now the true manna from heaven in which we partake in so that we enter true communion with him. Paul says, this in the context of how we ought to worship (1Cor 10:14). Worshiping God thus becomes more than spiritual; it becomes a physical participation! We the Church, become ONE with Christ in an intimate way. This action is hardly just a symbol; it truly His body, His blood - soul and divinity; Jesus said it. It’s truly Jesus’ body and blood made present by the priest. It is NOT another sacrifice but the one and only Sacrifice made present at the table of the Lamb, representative of the Passover meal.
 
Lk 24:13 – Recall the episode on the walk to Emmaus; they did not recognize Jesus until He broke the bread, recalling the Last Supper. So let’s take Jesus at his word; after all he is the “Word of God.” “It’s a heavenly thing, supernatural which requires faith in the one who is and who spoke the Word of God” (John 3: 11-12). God never said it would be easy for us to understand; this is why it is called 'the mystery of faith.'