Word to the Wise
Friday, April 24, 2015 - 3rd Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 9:1-20 and John 6:52-59]"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him." [John]
The Bread of Life discourse has now fully shifted in meaning from seeing and believing in Jesus to actually consuming Jesus as a way of seeing and believing in him. This is a kind of theological "line in the sand" for many people and I would not want to question an ordinary congregation too closely on their understanding of this essential Catholic teaching! It is certainly clear to me from having given "communion" to thousands of people in my 43 years as a priest that the understanding of the Eucharist admits of thousands of degrees. Given the depth and complexity of theological reflection on this "mystery" over the centuries, such a diversity in the personal faith of the People of God is to be expected even if some of this diversity is sad. The past debates on denying communion to politicians and the current ones on denying communion to divorced-and-remarried Catholics testify to the way the Eucharist can become a kind of commodity.
The audience that heard this teaching for the first time (and subsequent audiences who heard the preaching of the early community) reacted to what they thought was cannibalism. Jesus speaks of life - eternal life - that is given when we eat the bread and that has been consecrated. This is the most physical form of what we call "the real presence." There are other forms of the real presence. The Constitution on the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council tells us that Christ is truly present in the assembly, the celebrant and in his Word proclaimed. It is our recognition of Christ's presence that is at the root of the Eucharist. The physics or metaphysics of the transformation that takes place will always be debated, but in the end, it is the promise of Christ that must convince. Tomorrow's feast of St. Mark (April 25) will displace the dramatic scene of those who turn away and those who stay. I urge the Beloved Congregation to continue to read the rest, especially John 6:66-68. AMEN
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