BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 38)
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
BIBLE READINGS
Prv 9:1-6 // Eph 5:15-20 // Jn 6:51-58
Here is an interesting story that illustrates the skepticism of an unbeliever with regards to the power of the Eucharist and the indomitable wisdom of the believer derived from his faith in it.
A man came to a priest and wanted to make fun of his faith, so he asked, “How can bread and wine turn into the Body and Blood of Christ?”
The priest answered, “No problem. You yourself change food into your body and blood, so why can’t Christ do the same?”
But the objector did not give up. He asked, “But how can the entire Christ be in such a small host?”
“In the same way that the vast landscape before you can fit into your little eye.”
“But he still persisted, “How can the same Christ be present in all your churches at the same time?”
The priest then took a mirror and let the man look into it. Then let the mirror fall to the ground and broke it and said to the skeptic, “There is only one of you and yet you can find your face reflected in each piece of that broken mirror at the same time.”
Indeed, with the eyes of faith, it is easy to perceive the answer to the “HOW” of salvation and the workings of the miracle of love, the Eucharist. From the point of view of the believer’s heart, everything is possible with God. The principal challenge in today’s Gospel reading (Jn 6:51-18) is faith in the power of God and his beloved Son, Jesus, to give life by the means they choose. According to Teresa Okure, “this believing is the master key that enables one to unlock and tap into God’s life imparted by Jesus, his envoy, through word and sacrament.”
Today’s Gospel reading begins with the last verse of the passage that was proclaimed last Sunday in the liturgical assembly: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51). Hearing this radical affirmation, the Jews were flabbergasted and started to argue among themselves: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52). The unbeliever’s cynicism unleashes anew its attack.
Jesus did not answer the cynical “HOW” of the unbelievers, but responded to them with more powerful statements about himself and the new presence that he will assume in the sacrament of the Eucharist. He also affirmed the necessity of feeding upon his own body and blood as the natural food for the new life that he came to give in abundance. In Jn 6:53-55, we therefore read the following revelatory and challenging statements of the life-giving Jesus: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
Jesus identifies himself with the “Son of Man”, who in the Book of Daniel, embodies the salvation of Israel. As the new embodiment of salvation, the “Son of Man”, Jesus Christ is made present in the sacrament of the Eucharist and continues to live on in the Church and in the world in the “here and now”. In the holy mystery of the Eucharist, Jesus is the point of encounter between God and his beloved people. He is present in the Eucharist with a “presence” that is not physical, or moral, or spiritual, but “sacramental”. In the Eucharistic species, he is the true FLESH to eat and the true BLOOD to drink. Through a miracle of love and the power of faith, the Eucharistic bread has become the reality of Jesus’ glorified body; the Eucharistic wine has become the reality of Jesus’ sacred blood.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1375-1376: “It is by conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in the sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion … By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the body of Christ of our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood.”
The Eucharist brings about a true symbiosis, or in other words, a true “living with” the Lord. The one who feeds on the flesh and blood of Jesus shares intimately in the divine life, thus actualizing his astounding promise: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:54). Indeed, the fullness of life that the Father shares with his Son is communicated to us through this marvelous life-giving sacrament, the Eucharist, in accordance with what Jesus asserted: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57).
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 5, concluded with conviction: “Strengthened by this food from heaven, we shall be able to make the most of the opportunity and, whatever the difficulties of the journey, to walk at a brisk pace, reciting ‘psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’. Traveling from Eucharist to Eucharist, we shall arrive at the promised day of eternal life.”
(Prayer composed by Blessed Alberione; text of the assembly’s refrain from Prv 9:1,2,5)
Leader: Jesus, eternal Truth, I believe you are really present in the bread and wine. You are here with your body, blood, soul and divinity. I hear your invitation: “I am the living bread descended from heaven”, “take and eat; this is my body”. I believe, Lord and Master, but strengthen my weak faith.
Assembly: Wisdom has built her house. She has spread her table and calls: “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed.”
Leader: Jesus Master, you assure me: “I am the Life”, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life.” In baptism and in the sacrament of reconciliation you have communicated to me this life of yours. Now you nourish it by making yourself my food. Take my heart; detach it from the vain things of the world. With all my heart I love you above all things because you are infinite goodness and eternal happiness.
Assembly: Wisdom has built her house. She has spread her table and calls: “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed.”
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (Jn 6:55-56)
Prepared by: Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM