DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Proverbs 9,1-6; Ephesians 5,15-20; John 6,51-58: 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B 2015)
No other teaching of Jesus met with stiff opposition from the Jews as the pronouncements he made about his body and blood being real food and real drink respectively. That was one teaching Jesus gave with repeated emphasis as we see in John’s gospel. The more the Jews expressed their displeasure with and rejection of the teaching, the more Jesus insisted on it with added emphasis: “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you”. In the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Church guards this gift jealously and continues to present it to the faithful as sure means of eternal salvation. So central is the Eucharist in Christian Theology that the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council described it as ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’. It is a sacrament and the greatest gift Christ gave to us – the gift of himself, whole and entire. It is the memorial of the sacrifice at Calvary, the real presence of Christ among us and above all, a sacred meal which assures us of life. In the magnificent antiphon of the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Church could not conceal her amazement at this wonderful gift as these words reveal: “Oh Sacred Banquet in which we partake of Christ: his sufferings are remembered, our minds are filled with his grace and we receive a pledge of the glory that is to be ours”.
In the first reading today, Wisdom makes a clarion call: ‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared’. In the gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ who is Wisdom par excellence makes an invitation that is also an emphatic command: “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you”. This is a command issuing from an overwhelming love. To ensure that we fully and intimately share in his life, Jesus invites us to feed on his very flesh and blood. Flesh and blood is a biblical expression to indicate a person in his entirety; here the person of Christ. Therefore, in the Eucharist, Jesus gave us his entire personality as a real gift, even though mysteriously, in the fullness of his humanity and divinity; he donates himself so that we may nourish ourselves from Him. When we nourish ourselves from the flesh and blood of Christ, a communion of life is effected, a profound and vital union between us and Jesus, already in this life. What is more, the divine life which is in God, the Father, is transmitted into our souls through our union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The soul is, thereby, introduced into the divine life of the Blessed Trinity. Nourishing oneself with the flesh and blood of Christ capacitates one not to fear death and helps one fix one’s mind on eternal life relying on the promise of Jesus that he would raise him/her on the last day.
The Eucharist, is a gift for which we must, always and everywhere give thanks to God. The best way we can appreciate the immensity of love Jesus showed us in the gift of his Body and Blood is to respond to this invitation with love and devotion, partake of this holy meal always and allow it to transform our lives. It would be a contradiction to feed on Life Himself without becoming fully alive and sharing this life with others. The worst of it all would be to treat this wonderful gift of love with indifference or cold response as many do today. For those who have lost touch with this sacrament altogether, let the words of Christ today serve as a reawakening: “If you do not eat the flesh… and drink his blood, you will not have life in you”. May we therefore, pray in this Eucharistic celebration that through the Holy Communion we receive, we may be profoundly and intimately united with Jesus Christ who donates his flesh and blood for our nourishment in this life and for eternal life in the next. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye (graphics by blogger : )
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