Fr. JC Maximilian

Reading Sacred Scripture can be very awe-inspiring, and in the Word of God the most profound mysteries of God, Creation, the Human Person, and God’s love for us are presented for our contemplation. However, taken out of their full context, there are some very amusing lines in Scripture. This week, as we were trying to decide what to put on the marquee sign in front of Our Lady of Sorrows, we amusingly considered these lines from this weekend’s readings, “Let whoever is simple turn in here….” (Proverbs 9:4), or “Forsake foolishness that you may live” (Proverbs 9:6), or “Do not continue in ignorance….” (Ephesians 5:17). Could you imagine what some people would think as there drove past a sign saying something like that?

Yet there is a reason for language such as this in the Sacred Scriptures. Largely that is because we can all be quite foolish at times, for the wisdom of God is often quite beyond our understanding. And when we do not understand something, we tend to think the other person is foolish.

Jesus is facing just such a situation in today’s Gospel reading. For the past few weeks we have been hearing from the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel, commonly called the “Bread of Life Discourse.” It is a long speech of Jesus in which He explains just how much God loves us, with the summit being Jesus declaring that He is the living bread from Heaven, and we must eat His flesh and drink His blood if we want to live forever in Heaven.

The Jewish people were very familiar with the image of God taking care of them, and providing for their needs. In today’s first reading, from the Book of Proverbs, we hear God calling to the people to eat the food and drink the wine that He would prepare for them. The devout Jew of the time of Jesus knew, but looking at their history and reading Scripture, that when the people did not let God provide for them that things went badly for them. Not doing the will of God was the height of foolishness. However, they still often did not have the “Big Picture” in mind, and only looked at the here-and-now. In that they were still acting in ignorance and foolishness.

They thought that God would provide for them in a purely temporal and material manner. They did not see that what was truly important was the eternal and spiritual. Therefore, when Jesus spoke about His flesh being true food, and his blood true drink which they would need to eat and drink, many of them thought that He was crazy. Scholars tell us that there was no way they could understand Jesus’ words as being just symbolic because the word they used, which we have translated as “eat,” was more like “munched” or “gnawed.” There was no doubt that Jesus was talking about a real, physical eating and drinking of His Body and Blood. Next week we will hear that many of His disciples followed Him no longer. How foolish.

Yet, we too, often continue in this foolishness. Some surveys suggest that nearly 60% of American Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Sixty percent! How sad; the central Mystery of our Faith, discounted by too many as just a “sign” or “symbol” of fellowship, or a memory tool for remembering what Jesus did for us. Just so we are clear: the Eucharist is REALLY the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Jesus has given Himself to us in a real, lasting and personal way in giving us the Eucharist. Why did Jesus give us the Eucharist?

The Eucharist is the sacrament of hope. Jesus knows that we can become very short-sighted. Too often we can get totally wrapped up in the here-and-now and the material that we forget about the eternal and spiritual. This is NOT our true home. God created us to love and serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next. Our real home, our ultimate destiny is Heaven.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the Holy Spirit” (CCC #1817). God want us to be happy. Unfortunately too often we think that we will find true happiness in this life. Too often we think that things – whether it is a new car, house, fancy clothes, a boat, or reputation, or power – will bring us lasting happiness. To that God says, “Do not continue in ignorance,” and “Forsake foolishness that you may live.” For “In God alone will my soul be at rest, from whom comes my hope” (Ps 62:6).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem said, “he who receives the Lord’s flesh and blood is so united with him that Christ dwells in him and he in Christ.” For this to happen we must “change our hearts.” A true conversion of heart is not merely a turning away from sin, but involves turning towards Christ with all our heart.

St. Teresa of Avila warns that if we receive Jesus in the Eucharist in a distracted way, with our hearts and minds “in other business and occupations and worldly hindrances…” then we forfeit our union with Christ. She continues by saying that a tepid Eucharistic life “makes all possible haste to prevent the Lord from taking possession of the house which is his own” (Way of Perfection, 34).

“If we honestly want to posses Christ and be possessed by him in the next life, we have to work for it in this life. This means living in such a way that our desire for Christ directs our heart and mind toward him, regardless of our obligations and activities. It means keeping God present during the day, visiting and receiving Christ in the Eucharist frequently, and living under the influence of the Eucharist” (Ermatinger, Sacerdos Homilies: Cycle B, August-September, p. 16).

In case you are wondering what we finally decided to put on the marquee in front of the church, I think we settled on (if we had enough letters), “whoever eats this bread will live forever.” How true it is.