Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 2, 2009 - St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church
[Acts 9:31-42 and John 6:60-69]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 convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
A young woman whom I received into the church told me that once she accepted the truth about the Eucharist, the rest was easy! That's a good idea to bear in mind when reading the "Bread of Life" discourse in the Gospel of John. The sixth chapter begins with the "sign" of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and ends with the dramatic question that Jesus asks of "the Twelve," quoted above. Like all the Johannine "mini-dramas" the chapter begins with a "sign" or statement and goes through stages of understanding before coming to the climactic moment of faith (or not) in Jesus. It is in this chapter that the full meaning of the "I AM" statement: "I AM the Bread of Life," is set forth. It is the very person of Jesus that we must accept in the form of food. The audience that listened and went away were convinced Jesus was advocating cannibalism on one hand or magic on the other. In faith we know that he advocated neither of those! Nor did he mean it in some symbolic sense that makes this food simply a "reminder" of something outside of it. As Flannery O'Connor, the famous Southern Catholic writer once said in reply to a question about the Eucharist being just a symbol, "I say if it's just a symbol, then the hell with it!" It may well be that the term adopted by the Council of Trent in the 16th century to designate what happens in the celebration of the Eucharist, namely transubstantiation, is not the most effective expression for our age and time. This is not to deny at all what that term is seeking to describe. It IS to say that there may be more than one truthful way to respond in faith to what Jesus teaches in the gospel about the total gift of himself. Transubstantiation presumes not a knowledge of the gospel but a knowledge of Aristotelean physics! On the other hand, our current cultural philosophy is based on "Cartesian" empirical categories that take the position that if it cannot be measured, it is meaningless. There is no way to measure the change in the bread and wine at Mass any more than there is a way to measure love, trust, hope, compassion - yet we cannot live without those realities. Nor, as Simon Peter indicates, can we live without the words of eternal life. The Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life - they are all the same person. When we receive communion at Mass, it is not a tasteless wafer or a less than outstanding vintage of wine that we receive - it is the person of Jesus. Yes, it is a mystery. No, we can't live without it and call ourselves Catholics! AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
77 ms
4
