The last time I preached on these readings, I was on a cruise ship bound for Alaska. As you can well imagine, most of the passengers on board were looking forward to a week of superb foods and fine wines. Thus, the opening passage from Wisdom provided a very fitting backdrop for our trip, “Come, eat of my food and drink the wine I have mixed!”
Even Paul and Jesus speak of feasting. Continuing on what he said last week in which he calls on Christians to live in a manner worthy of those who have been called by Christ, Paul now makes the point that to live a good life in the name of Christ, we must try to understand the will of the Lord.
Trying to understand the will of Jesus Christ doesn’t come easy, certainly not, when it comes to what he is telling us in today’s gospel. Jesus startled a fair number of people when he said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Notice that he didn’t make this claim casually. Nor was he speaking of symbols or metaphors. In fact, unlike any other point made elsewhere in the four gospels, Jesus was so emphatic that he reiterates his message in this brief passage four more times. In no uncertain terms, he is telling anyone who is listening, “If you eat my flesh, you will live forever.”
Many who first heard Jesus were understandably offended. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Had they been there, today’s generation would likely have said, “How gross!” How his words have been understood and dealt with over time has generated numerous debates, prompting in part the Protestant reformation by those who chose to refrain from such worship because they could not comprehend how one could literally eat the flesh of the Son of Man.
Even within our own Church, a fair number of Catholics have a difficult time literally accepting what Jesus is saying here. The claim is made that up to 2/3 of surveyed Catholics don’t believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Perhaps that is why so many don’t see the beauty of this gift we have before us. Unlike with most non Catholics, this isn’t a matter of conscious dissent on their part. It is a profound ignorance of what the Eucharist really is; a sad outcome of the generic approach to religious education used in the past.
Have that many Catholics lost sight of the most central truth of our faith? Namely, that Jesus Christ literally gives himself to us in this sacrament? Notice that Jesus isn’t content to just send a message about himself whenever we celebrate the Mass. He didn’t tell us that the bread and wine would merely represent him. He actually gives himself to us in the Eucharist. Can you believe that? Do you believe that?
We call this belief in the Eucharist the real presence. We don’t take communion simply to remind us of Jesus. Rather, we take communion to become one with Jesus. As the saying goes, we become what we eat. By eating his flesh, we enter into an intimate union with Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you about one of my heroes and his belief in the Real Presence of Jesus, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador. When he became bishop in 1977, he was a quiet and unassuming priest. As archbishop, he fought against government sponsored injustice in his country. When soldiers occupied a church once, he risked his life to retrieve and protect the Blessed Sacrament. On March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass, he was shot at the moment he elevated the host during the consecration. Like Jesus, he became a martyr for the truth and a prophet of justice. This man truly appreciated this priceless gift from Jesus Christ.
For us to better appreciate what Jesus is offering us here, let’s step back a bit and ponder just what a sacrament is. Many people think of the sacraments as mere human inventions, or some form of Christianized magic, or just empty works. To correct these misunderstandings, the Catechism provides a concise two part definition of a sacrament. First, they are words and actions accessible to our human nature. They aren’t abstract notions or empty words. They are signs—water, oil, wine and bread— that are concrete and material in nature that we can feel and touch. Second, “By the action of Christ and the Holy Spirit, they make present efficaciously the grace that they signify.”
Because the sacraments are the work of Jesus and not simply human creations, they enable us to partake in his divine nature. If you are wondering how material things could impart spiritual power, keep in mind that God became man in the person of Jesus and did so to become one with us.
Although he is by virtue of his divine nature limitless in what he can do, Jesus made a choice to accept the limitations of a human body. He did this so that he could be present to us in time and space as a man living in first century Palestine. At the end of his life he underwent a process which enabled him to break through the barriers of time and space. For this reason, he is able to offer us his body even though we live twenty centuries and thousands of miles apart from him. If we so desire, Jesus gives us the opportunity to connect with him on the deepest possible level. For those who believe, he is the living bread come down from heaven. If we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we will have his life within us, the only life which endures forever.
Now, if that isn’t food for thought, I don’t know what is. As for me, I believe every word Jesus said. Do you?