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Readings for Sunday, June 26
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6: 51-58
Accustomed as we are to the Eucharist, we seldom or never think, as those in today's gospel thought, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Indeed, this is a stumbling block for those of other churches and other faiths to belief in the Catholic faith.
In the light of what happened after this gospel: the Last Supper, where this became clearer when Jesus told his disciples about the bread: this is my body, and about the wine: this is the cup of my blood, we see more clearly how this can be so. We see with the eyes of faith.
But how incredible this must have seemed to the people to whom the Lord spoke before the Last Supper and before Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit revealed all things to the disciples and they believed. We, too, believe that we partake of the real Body and Blood of Christ when we eat this bread and drink from this cup, and that, as the Lord said, we will have eternal life. "Whoever eats this bread will live forever."
The early Christians gathered in "house churches" where the holy meal was presided over by the master or mistress of the house. So Paul can address the "brothers and sisters" who partake of one bread, one loaf, that therefore we are one body.
Our belief that this bread and wine is the real Body and Blood of Christ is still a stumbling block to others. People still wonder how this isn't cannibalism. It's hard to explain a matter of such profound faith. In the sixteenth century, a fiery anti-Catholic preacher called it "magic" and ridiculed the "magic words" "Hocus Pocus;" a mocking of the Latin words of institution: "Hoc est enim Corpus Meum." ("For this is My Body...") So this has been going on for a long time.
There have been, and still are, difficult times in the Church. But in surveys, large numbers of Catholics, when asked why they stay in the Church, reply that it is because of the Eucharist. It is central to our lives as Catholic Christians. It is the central point of our liturgy and our faith. It is both sacrifice and meal, a matter of deep and profound belief.
It is something that we trust in the Lord and in the centuries of tradition that this is so, and we do not take it lightly or distractedly. Of course, we are creatures, and sometimes we do get distracted, but in our hearts, we welcome the Lord who is with us always, even when we get distracted. Our faith keeps us as one body, even as the Lord promised, destined for eternal life.
O Lord, you welcome us to your table, and give us to eat of yourself, for the life of the world.
Help us to know you in the breaking of the bread, and to honor you always in this great gift.
We make this prayer in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Kathleen Spears Hopkins
Kathleen Spears Hopkins holds degrees from The Catholic University of America and from the Catholic Theological Union. She is a freelance writer specializing in Theological Reflection.
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