Jesus said in the Gospel, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:53–56). 

Jesus was not speaking figuratively or symbolically about His Body and Blood, but literally.  The Holy Eucharist is one of the 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church.