Every three years, during the summer we read the entirety of
sixth chapter of John’s Gospel—Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse—over five
consecutive weeks. This is the third
week of Jesus’ five-week course on the mystery of his body and blood in the Eucharist. Two weeks ago we heard of Jesus’ miracle of the multiplication of the
loaves and fish. The crowds couldn’t
feed themselves—the disciples couldn’t feed the crowd—only the power of God was sufficient to meet
the needs of the people.
Last week we heard Jesus proclaim himself the bread of life;
He said, whoever comes to Him will never hunger, whoever believes in Him will
never thirst.”
At our deepest core is a spiritual hunger for God—a yearning
that cannot be satisfied by perishable food, by entertainment, by fame, by
relationships, by power. Our hearts are
restless until they rest in God. We will
always be unsatified, we will always lack peace, when continue to seek our
fulfillment in earthly things, worldly pursuits. We must go to God to be fed, and out of his
goodness he feeds us with His Body and Blood.
I’d like to focus on three lessons from our Gospel passage
today.
First, Jesus teaches that no one can come to him
"unless he is drawn by the Father."
We Catholics, week after week, year after year, come to the
altar to be fed by Jesus, not just because we think it is a really good idea,
but because we have been drawn here by the Father. We are here, now, today, because God is
working in our lives to make us holy. God
has drawn us here. We love God because
God has loved us first, we have been drawn to God because God has drawn near to
us. We have come to him to be fed, because he has placed in us the desire for
heaven.
Second, Jesus teaches that the Eucharist leads to "eternal life."
Eternal life. That’s what this is all
about. The Church is not a social club,
we aren’t here because we want to impress our neighbors, improve our social network,
or make business contacts. We aren’t
here because of the promise of financial success. You single Christians aren’t here to find a
date…well, maybe you are, and honestly, this isn’t too bad a place to
look. But primarily we come here, week
after week, year after year, because we believe that it is here that our
fallen, sinful humanity is redeemed and sanctified and made worthy of
heaven. It is here, that we are drawn
into a deep interpersonal intimacy with God, communion with Him, that we hope
will last into eternity.
Eternal life cannot be purchased at Ikea, obtained at the
sports arena, or discovered at a family picnic.
It can only be obtained by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of
Jesus Christ as he clearly stated.
Thirdly, Jesus teaches that He himself is the "bread"
of eternal life, He is its source and sustenance.
Eleven
times in this discourse Jesus calls himself as the bread of
life; he repeats this teaching to drill this message into us. When we receive
Holy Communion, it’s really Him. This is
why we genuflect towards the tabernacle when we enter a Church. Our Lord and God is really here. He IS the bread of life. That makes a Catholic Church different from
any other building on the planet. His
real presence cannot be found in a library, we do not genuflect when we enter a
movie theater, not even upon seeing a beautiful sunset, or at the grandeur of
the grand canyon. He is really here. If you do not recognize his presence, pray, that
your eyes of faith may be opened. For he
is really here.
St. Theresa said that if we really recognized the presence
of Jesus as we came forward for Holy Communion, we would fall flat on our
faces, prostrate on the ground, in awe of the presence of God before us. He whose face we long to see in heaven is
here, though that face is veiled behind what looks like bread and wine.
In the old days, when each communicant came forward to
receive the Eucharist, each would fall to their knees—kneeling—at the communion
rail, and receive Holy Communion on the tongue.
This posture of kneeling and receiving on the tongue was meant to
reinforce the reverence we are to always have for the Blessed Sacrament.
For the Eucharist is not ordinary food, not a cookie, or a
cracker, or merely a symbol—it is the living body and blood of Jesus Christ Our
God. And so we are always to show the
greatest reverence towards the Eucharist.
Now we aren’t ready to reinstall the communion rail here,
but I would encourage each of you to reflect upon HOW you come forward to
receive Holy Communion. Do you do so
with the greatest reverence you can muster? We are now instructed that when we
come forward to receive Communion, we are to make a profound bow of the head. We are then to receive Holy Communion in one
of two ways; either directly on the tongue, as has been done for centuries
past. Or to receive in the hand. When that is done, the hand with which you
will place the Eucharist in your mouth is to be placed underneath the hand upon
which the Host will be placed by the minister.
The Host should not be grabbed out of the hands of the minister. If you cannot receive the Host with both
hands, because you are carrying a purse, a cane, a handkerchief, or a child, you
are to receive directly on the tongue.
There is not to be any one handed receptions, especially out of danger
that the Host be dropped.
If someone took a video of us at Mass, would that video have
sufficient evidence for a court
of law to conclude that we truly
believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Our gestures, our singing, our responses, our
active listening to the prayers of the priest, our moments of silence, all form
that conscience and active participation at Mass that constitutes the act of
worship that gives glory and honor to God and leads to everlasting life.
Today, may our faith in the Eucharist—the Bread of Life—be
renewed, may our reverence be deepened, may our wonder and awe that God is here
present be magnified and fill our hearts with joy, may it strengthen us in our
mission to work and live always for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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