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Up to the point of consecration during the mass, those wafers on that altar are just that - pieces of bread, lifeless morsels of nutrition, fit for birdfeed. There is nothing sacred about them; nothing important at all.

But, after the consecration, when the Memorial Acclamation ("When we eat this bread..."/"Christ has died...") is sung, the Catholic church believes that those wafers have been transformed. They have undergone a complete alteration of substance (Trans - change substanciation - substance) into the physical body of Christ... the very same body that was beaten, broken, crucified, and buried on the first Good Friday nearly 2000 years ago. There is the miracle: Christ physically present for us TODAY!

You may say to me,
It's not REALLY the body of Christ - it's just a symbol; a re-enactment of the last supper.
You're taking it too far.

That is not the view of the Catholic church. It is not the official teaching of the Church that the Eucharist is simply a symbol. It IS a huge claim, and I'm sad to say most CATHOLICS you'll meet don't appreciate it.
Read John 6:22-59 (otherwise known as The Bread of Life Discourse). Really read it. I'll wait... ... ... ...

Most Christians have heard all this before. And many would conclude that, like most of Jesus' teachings, this one was simply a simile; a parable, meant for us to take into consideration and come to our own conclusions. Notice, though, as far as we can tell, not once did Jesus say "I am LIKE the bread of life", or "Unless you eat of my metaphorical flesh", or anything like that. Instead, he repeats the phrase "I AM the bread of life."

Now read John 6:60-65... ... ... ...
Some of the people in JESUS' time didn't believe he was being literal. Jesus had an opportunity to correct them right here. He had the opportunity to say "No no no... I wasn't being LITERAL! You guys take things too seriously. What I MEANT was..." and give an alternate explanation, as he does in Matthew 13 with the Parable of the Sower.

Now, read ... Oh, heck; I'll put it here for ya:

As a result of this, many of his desciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the twelve; "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are conviced that you are the Holy One of God."
John 6:66-69

Peter may not have fully understood what Jesus was talking about - who would? Your best friend (who happens to be God) tells you that you will have to eat his flesh... Yeah, right. But still Peter understands that Jesus would not purposefully allow them to be mistaken, and trusts in Jesus to keep him on the straight and narrow.

As for our Eucharistic Celebrations only being "re-enactments" of the last supper, where it's totally symbolic of that night 2000 years ago, consider Paul's advice to the Corinthians;

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself.
1 Corinthians 11:27-29

If the Eucharistic celebration is simply a symbol or re-enactment meant for our own benefit, why would Paul be so concerned about us "examining" ourselves, to avoid eating and drinking "judegement" upon ourselves? If it's just bread and wine, nothing more, why would we have to make sure we were receiving it "worthily"?

The Catholic Church believes we must be sure to have our souls wiped clean of any mortal sins before we receive Christ into our bodies. That is, we must receive absolution from our sins through the sacrament of Reconciliation, so as to be "worthy" of Christ's Body.

What does the Catholic Church say about this? Click here to find out!