Word to the Wise
Friday, April 19, 2024 - 3rd Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 9:1-20 and John 6:52-59]The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "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. 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. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread of heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." [John]
At the beginning of this passage, the Jews ask an important question, "How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?" Is he advocating a form of cannibalism? At the beginning of tomorrow's passage, Jesus' disciples will be asking a similar question, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" By the time the Gospel According to John was composed [between 90-110 AD], the Christian community had been proclaiming the meaning of Jesus' words at the Last Supper. St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 shows how early on the community proclaimed those words as part of faith in Jesus: "For I received from the Lord what I handed on to you..." [circa 56 AD]. The three synoptic gospels all report those words with slight variations.
The Eucharist is more than a symbol. It is the very person of Jesus Christ. The traditional formula, "body and blood, soul and divinity," captures the meaning. But this can have meaning only if it is accepted as a matter of faith. It is the gift of God, "[F]or nothing will be impossible for God." [Luke 1:37]. We will see tomorrow [Saturday], that even the disciples, let alone the Jews, had to struggle with Jesus' teaching. The Pew survey that I mentioned earlier indicates that in our own time, Catholics are letting the full meaning of the Eucharist to slip away. But tomorrow we will have Peter's response to challenge us. Stay tuned! AMEN