Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 16, 2015 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Prov 9:1-6; Eph 5:15-20; John 6:51-58]"I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." [John]
The "Body of Christ" - we hear those words each time we receive communion. Our response is "Amen." That response is supposed to be a statement of our faith that we are truly receiving Jesus Christ in person. The traditional language is "body and blood, soul and divinity." The celebrant does not say, "This is a symbol of the Body of Christ."
Jesus draws a kind of "line in the sand" in today's portion of chapter six from the Gospel of John. The lines quoted above sum up the chapter which began with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. First of all, Jesus is the true "bread from heaven." Second, he gives himself entirely to us in the form of bread. His audience thought he was advocating cannibalism! But Jesus is on an entirely different level of understanding and faith. If he is the bread from heaven, then he can give himself to us as bread. It may seem a giant leap of faith to go from the figure on the cross to the host that is placed in our hand or on our tongue, but that is what he is asking.
Next Sunday, we will hear the reaction of the crowd and then of the disciples. That gives us a week to ponder our own response. The great Southern Catholic writer, Flannery O'Connor, was once present at a discussion of the eucharist at which some of those present professed that they saw it as only a symbol. Since she was known to be a devout Catholic, they asked her what she thought. Her response was, "If it's only a symbol, then I say the hell with it." What is our reponse to the same question? AMEN
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