Jesus said to the crowds, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” As we heard, the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Many people have wondered that ever since. Jesus’ words make no sense to the casual bystander. They won’t for us either unless we thoughtfully chew on them.
How can he give us his flesh to eat? Some of you may be wondering that even now. Perhaps you see the bread and wine as only symbolizing the body and blood of Jesus like many Protestants do, but for us Catholics, they are not symbols. What was bread and wine before Mass began becomes the real presence, truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is what nourishes and sustains our faith. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”
But that is still bread and wine you may be thinking. True, what you see at communion look and taste like bread and wine, just as they would back in the sacristy, but their substances through the intercession of the Holy Spirit have been changed.
If you are among those who see the bread and wine as only being symbols, I urge you to heed Paul’s advice and try to understand the will of the Lord. Recall what Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper. You hear those words every time the Mass is celebrated. Jesus didn’t tell the apostles that the bread would symbolize his body or that the wine would symbolize his blood. Instead he told them to eat his body and drink his blood in remembrance of him.
But you protest, how can that happen? Think back to the opening lines of the book of Genesis. Out of nothing God created all that exists from the most remote stars to the flowers of the field, from the orcas in the sound to the eagles in the sky, from every unborn fetus to the countless bugs that surround us. Who are we to limit what God can do?
Like many Catholics I believe that bread and wine when consecrated at Mass become for us the person of Jesus Christ himself. Recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread, I have life because I choose to feed on him.
If we spent time praying and contemplating the gift our Lord is offering us in this sacrament, we would be awestruck, not complacent. Jesus is giving us himself, lock, stock and barrel. Not a thin host or a sip of wine, but himself. He is literally giving us everything he has to offer, his very body, blood, soul, and divinity. Not even the greatest theological scholar or the holiest of saints can fully understand this mystery we are blessed to celebrate, nor will we.
The first reading encourages us, “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding.” What timely advice! Do not be foolishly misled by whatever public sentiment you have heard that seeks to destroy the beauty of our faith. The devil is doing its best to destroy our love for the Eucharist, with scandals that dishearten us. To abandon this awesome sacrament because of what a handful of awful priests and bishops have wrongfully done in the past is to foolishly surrender our chance to live eternally.
In the second reading, St. Paul cautions, ”Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity because the days are evil.” Yes, the days are evil. They have always been evil for the devil is constantly working at ways to distance us from Jesus Christ. Once again, we have been broadsided by the criminal misconduct of priests who failed to honor their obligation to live celibate lives and harmed many people in doing so.
Not only am I angry, sad and ashamed by their deplorable conduct, I ache for the many who have abandoned this sacrament as a consequence of what was done to them or to their loved ones. The devil has succeeded in driving a wedge between them and the Eucharist.
“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” we sang moments ago. However you feel about the sins of others, do not let their errant ways provoke you to boycott this meal. Instead, be mindful that this sacrament, when partaken in a state free of grave sin, provides us with the grace we need to resist the devil and his temptations in our lives.
Alas, many fellow Catholics have quit attending Mass for any number of reasons, and more might do so because of this scandal yet I wonder what Holy Communion meant for them before they did. What does it mean for you? The saints leave no doubt what the Eucharist meant for them. St. Augustine marveled at this gift. He said, “Although God is all powerful, he is unable to give us more; though supremely wise, he knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, he has no more to give.”
Today we join countless Christians around the world to receive the Eucharist just as many have done for centuries. We don’t need to be saints to receive the gift of Jesus himself nor does a priest need to be saintly in order to celebrate Mass but we do so with gratitude. After all, the alternate name for this sacrament is Eucharist, which is Greek for thanksgiving. Thanks be to God for the freedom and the opportunity to celebrate Mass and receive his son.