Once again, our church’s beautiful stained glass windows feature an image that we hear in today’s readings, this time our first reading from the Book of Proverbs. This reading begins with: “Wisdom has built her house, she has set up her seven columns.” You’ll find that on the top of the fifth panel on your left in the nave of our church. The reading goes on to invite us to “come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed.” And, you will notice that under the seven-columned house Jesus is changing water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. This prefigures his turning wine into his sacred blood at the Last Supper. It’s easy to see why this passage was selected as the first reading today as we continue to hear John’s discourse on the Eucharist. You may recall that this important discourse began three weeks ago with Jesus feeding the five thousand. Since then, we’ve heard Jesus teach that, unlike the bread that we eat every day that is perishable, the bread that he offers us will last forever; that he is the bread of life, the living bread that has come down from heaven. Today, we hear Jesus invite us to eat his body and drink his blood. In fact, he says that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”
We also hear the Jews quarreling among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” And, next week, we will hear some of them say, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” And, we hear that, as a result of his teaching, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. The reason some of his followers left his side was because they did not recognize that Jesus was God and had the power to do this. Just as God – through Moses – had given the ancient Israelites manna in the desert to nourish them on their journey to the Promised Land of Canaan, so God – in the person of Jesus – has given us sacred bread and wine to nourish us on our journey to the eternal Promised Land – heaven. When we receive Holy Communion – our Lord’s very life becomes our own. Jesus speaks of bread and wine as the sign of his presence. In fact, the reason he took on flesh and blood was so that he could offer us his life. He has taken on mortality so that everyone who feeds on him could live forever. It is this mystery that we celebrate and share every time we gather around our Lord’s Table.
The Eucharist draws countless people to Mass, to adoration and to the Catholic Church every day. Sadly, like some of the people of Jesus’ time, there are those today who find this saying too hard. Many people who have left the Catholic Church today cite one of the reasons being that they no longer believe what Jesus teaches about his Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
We who believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist turn to him now for strength, especially during these very trying times. We can all identify with St. Paul as he writes to the community of Christians living in Ephesus in the first century AD when he states, as we hear in today’s second reading: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish person but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil.” Whether your concern is political or economic or educational or moral, I think we can all agree that the days are evil. Yet, we can live in hope. Why? Jesus answered that question for us when he said: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” We want to share in the true life that only our Lord can give us. And ultimately, we want to journey through this life in such a way as to get to heaven. Jesus has given us the Eucharist to strengthen us with the peace of his life in this world and the promise of eternal peace in heaven.
Our first reading from the Book of Proverbs tells us to “forsake foolishness that you might live.” And, as I mentioned a moment ago, St. Paul teaches us, as he taught the community in Ephesus, “watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.” Where some consider it foolish to believe in God, in God’s Son or in the Eucharist, for the person of faith who is open to the Word made flesh it would be foolish not to believe. The world tells us this is myth, we say, “no, it is mystery.”
In the midst of these troubling times, we look forward to the true and lasting peace that we will find only in heaven. And so, we acknowledge the truth of Jesus’ words to eat his flesh and drink his blood, and to do so worthily. Then, we will have life – eternal life – because of him. The early followers of Christ asked the question: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The answer is simple yet profound – because he is God. God has made us in his image and likeness and for himself. He longs to re-establish the close relationship we enjoyed with him before Adam and Eve turned away to follow the lies of the devil. And, God has re-established this close relationship through his Son, who gives us his life-giving body and blood that nourishes us through this life to eternal life in the heavenly banquet. Remember, when we receive the Body of Christ, we become the Body of Christ. What a great gift we have in the Eucharist