Fr. JC Maximilian

I think I have mentioned that the parish to which I am currently assigned has a lot of permanent deacons. One of deacons has recently moved, so the deacons’ schedule had to be revised, and with seven of them, it can be a bit confusing. This morning I had the 7:30 a.m. Mass, and there was no deacon present. While praying Mass without a deacon is not a problem for me, it was one of our “Deacon Preach” weekends, so I did not have a homily prepared. These are the situations where you say, “OK Lord, its gonna have to be all You, for I’m not prepared.” Of course God is Good.

In fact that was one of the main points of my homily: God is Good. Too often people think of God as just being off at a great distance, and not really in our midst. I think that is what so many of the people were murmuring about in today’s Gospel. They could accept Jesus has a religious teacher, even a prophet sent from God. As such they expected Him to say “holy things,” some of which would be challenging to accept, but almost expected. Things like “love your enemy as yourself,” must have been hard to hear, especially when Jesus was talking about loving the Romans, but deep down people expect “holy” people to say stuff like that. Its like when I recently challenged some people I know who were saying some rather uncharitable things about the situation in the Middle East. I have no doubt about the dangerousness of the various Muslim terrorists (or any terrorists), but “wiping those people off the face of the earth” really is not a Christian attitude. All people are made in the image and likeness of God, even those whom we call “enemy.” Of course when I said this, the people I was talking with basically rolled their eyes and I could almost see what they were thinking, “Oh, he has to say stuff like that, because he is a priest,” and then just dismiss it.

However, the murmuring we hear about in today’s Gospel was something much more, for Jesus’ teaching was much more shocking for the people. Jesus was not just telling them how they should behave, rather He dared to say to them that He was the Bread of Life, that He was divine, and that God so loves us that He gets intimately involved in our lives.

We see this in today’s first reading. Elijah is worn out — physically, mentally, and spiritually. He has proclaimed God’s message and has been rejected. He goes out into the desert to die, but God feeds him. God provides the nourishment that he needed so that he could complete the journey God had set him on.

God has also set each of us on a journey. In our baptism and Confirmation we have all been given a share in the mission of the Church, to proclaim the Good News to the end of the earth, and to make disciples of all the nations. Each of us face difficulties and challenges in living out our mission in the particular situations and vocation that God has called us to. Yet God provides the nourishment we need. In the Eucharist we are given the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. We are given the Divine Life to eat, so that we will have the strength for the journey.

However, like the people who first heard Jesus speak, we do a lot of murmuring. Recent polls suggest that 60% of American Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Rather they see it as a sign or symbol, but not the Real Jesus. Is it any wonder that the world is not Christian when so many do not accept the Food come down from Heaven?

Just as Jesus called those who He spoke to in today’s Gospel to believe in Him for such belief would lead to eternal life, so Jesus continues to call us to believe in Him. While most of the Mass has been translated into nearly every language in the world, one small Hebrew word is never translated; “Amen.” It means “I believe,” but we do not translate it because by saying “Amen” when the minister says “The Body of Christ” and/or “The Blood of Christ” we are joining in oneness, in communion, with all those who expressed, and lived, their faith in Jesus; God among us.