20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle
B
August
16, 2015 9:30 and 11:00am
Saint Margaret
Parish, Bel Air
Second Graders
When we
prepare our second graders for First Communion, we are careful in the way we
teach them.
What I
mean is that today Jesus speaks of our “eating
his flesh and drinking his blood.” This
can be startling and confusing to second-graders.
So, on
the one hand, we are clear that Jesus gives us this gift at the Last
Supper. We are clear that he gives us
this spiritual food as a way to be very close to us.
At the
same time, we are also clear that the bread still looks and tastes like a thin
wafer of bread. And the wine still looks
and tastes like real wine.
The People in the Gospel
Maybe
like our second graders, the people in today’s gospel are startled at Jesus’
words.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I
in them.”
The
people ask, “How can this be? How can he say this?”
So,
what is Jesus really saying here and what are we to believe? I am seeing three lessons for our reflection.
Lesson 1: The Person of Jesus
Is Present
The first is that Jesus,
as a person, is present here.
When he says these
words about the bread and wine being his body and blood, this is what it all
comes down to. This is what sacrament
means and what this sacrament is about.
We believe that
these ordinary things – bread and wine – we believe that these are signs or
symbols but not just symbols. They actually
make present what they signify – Jesus in his humanity.
We can use all
kinds of theology to try to explain this.
We can use the theory of transubstantiation and say that the substance
of bread and wine actually becomes the substance of Jesus’ body and blood.
We can say all of
this, but what it still comes down to is: Jesus, the person, is present
here. That is what we mean by the doctrine
of the real presence.
Lesson 2: Jesus Comes from the Father
The second lesson
is that Jesus comes from the Father.
He says: “I am the living bread that came down from
heaven. The Father sent me and I have
life because of the Father…”
I would bet that
these words are also a reason why some of the people who first heard Jesus say
them pack up and leave. What Jesus is
saying is that God directly sent him.
He comes from the
Father and this means that God’s life, divine life comes through him. So, through this food, we now have a new life
within us, God’s life.
That is why we
call this Communion, Holy Communion, a communion of life with the Holy One,
with God Himself. This is one of the
most wonderful and comforting parts of our faith.
Lesson 3: Jesus Gives Both Body and Blood
And the third
lesson is that Jesus gives us both his body and his blood.
It would have been
enough for Jesus to give us just his body, which included his blood. But he
separates them and gives us his blood separately.
And the reason for
this is that Jesus is giving us himself as having poured out his blood on the
cross. And in giving himself to us in
this way, Jesus is defining the divine life we are now to live.
Like him, we are
now to give of ourselves for one another.
We are to pour out our energy and life not just for ourselves, but also
for our loved ones, our community, and people in need whom we do not even know.
I have to wonder
if the people in Jesus’ day realize this and also have a hard time with this. It is what the Eucharist moves us to do.
Conclusion
Well, that’s it.
They are my
thoughts on this packed passage of Scripture.
I hope they are enriching for us today.
