Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 11, 2023 -
[Deut, 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10:16-17; John 6:51-58]The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [1 Corinthians] "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]
At the center of Catholic tradition is our faith in the "real presence" of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine transformed by the Holy Spirit into Jesus' body and blood at the celebration of the Eucharist. The words of St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, in the second scripture for today, are a testimony to this faith as being early and strong in Catholic belief. Later on in that same letter he says: "For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus , on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes."
The gospel scripture from the Gospel According to John, which would have been composed at least 40 years after St. Paul's letter, shows the continuation of the faith in the "real presence" of Jesus in the Eucharist. It was this faith that was leading to Christians being expelled from synagogues. It was and is the challenge of faith. At the end of chapter 6, we are told that many of Jesus' disciples "returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him." Jesus then put the question to the Twelve: "Do you also want to leave?" Peter answered, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
On the occasion of the feast of Corpus Christi - the Body and Blood of Christ - we follow the Lord's command to "do this in remembrance of me. The bread and wine, transformed by the Holy Spirit, are not mere symbols. They are the real thing - the body and blood of Christ. As one young woman whom I instructed in the faith replied to me when I asked her what was the most difficult truth of our faith to accept, "The Eucharist! If you can accept that, the rest is easy." Indeed! AMEN