Word to the Wise
Friday, May 9, 2014 - 3rd Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 9:1-20 and John 6:52-59]"How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "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....." [John]
The Jews in the audience are not alone in their reaction to Jesus' teaching about giving us his "Flesh to eat and his Blood to drink." This is is a dividing issue - a line in the sand, if you will - in Catholic faith. As one young woman whom I received into the church once said to me, "If you accept the Eucharist, the rest is easy!"
I'm not sure I would want to give a eucharistic theology test to all the folks who come up in the line to "receive communion" in regard to their precise belief in what is happening! For some it may mean just what Jesus says - to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine. For others it may mean just being "in communion" with all the other people in the room that day. For others it may be just the fact that "This is what Catholics do!" Some might say, "It's just a symbol!" Only the folks who say that they are receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine would pass the test.
The two meanings of "bread of life" in the discourse are both important, as I have noted the last few days. We begin from faith in Jesus as the One whom God has sent. If that is our belief, then we should be able to accept his statement at the Last Supper that the bread he gave the disciples is his Body and the wine his Blood and that we are to do this in his memory! It is not some form of spiritual cannibalism but a profound way of being united with Jesus that transcends the physical even though it is physically manifest in ordinary elements. "Body" and "Blood" mean the whole person, who suffered and died and rose from the dead for our sake. His promise of the Holy Spirit comes to make the transformation of bread and wine when we gather to hear the Word and share the bread and cup! There is no "trick" to it, nor is it "magic." It is very simply God at work in our midst!
Some of Jesus' followers abandoned him when they heard this teaching. If we believe that Jesus is risen from the dead, the Eucharist makes tremendous sense. He promised to be with us till the end of time. The Eucharist is the most important way we have to experiencing that presence! AMEN