Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

JOHN 6:24-35
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT HOW PECULIAR OUR CATHOLIC CHURCH IS? HOW STRANGE WE MUST LOOK TO SOMEONE OF ANOTHER RELIGION – OR EVEN TO MANY OTHER CHRISTIANS? AND ITS BECAUSE WE INSIST THAT THROUGH THE POWER GOD GIVES OUR PRIESTS, BREAD BECOMES THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND WINE BECOMES HIS BLOOD. WELL, I GUESS WE DON'T ALL BELIEVE IT. THEY DID A POLL AND THOSE WHO CALL THEMSELVES PRACTICING CATHOLICS WERE ABOUT EVENLY DIVIDED AS TO WHETHER THEY BELIEVED THIS CENTRAL TEACHING, OR WHETHER THEY CONSIDERED THE WHOLE THING JUST A SYMBOL. AND IT APPEARS THAT DESPITE THE EFFORTS OF OUR FAITH FORMATION PROGRAMS, THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF CATHOLICS CONSIDER THE EUCHARIST MERELY A SYMBOL IN A RATIO OF ABOUT 3 TO 1. AND I WOULD SUSPECT THAT EVEN AMONG THOSE WHO SAY THAT THEY BELIEVE THE EUCHARIST IS THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, NOT JUST A SYMBOL, FOR MANY IT'S JUST LIP SERVICE. BEGINNING WITH LAST SUNDAY, WE ARE HEARING EXERPTS FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, IN WHICH JESUS LAYS OUT VERY CLEARLY THAT HE IS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, THAT UNLESS WE EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD, WE CANNOT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE; AND HE IS SO INSISTENT ON THIS THAT WHEN HIS FOLLOWERS BEGIN TO DESERT HIM, BECAUSE THIS IS SUCH A HARD THING TO BELIEVE, HE INVITES HIS APOSTLES TO LEAVE AS WELL, IF THEY CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HE IS SAYING. AND THEY REPLY, “LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.” AND THEY BELIEVE, AND THEY LEARN AT THE LAST SUPPER WHAT THEY HAVE BELIEVED IN FAITH, AGAINST ALL LOGIC AND EXPERIENCE; THEY LEARN THAT JESUS CREATES A SACRAMENT, AND LEAVES HIS CHURCH WITH THE POWER TO CALL HIM INTO ITS MIDST WHENEVER IT CHOOSES TO DO SO.
JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT HE WOULD BE WITH THEM ALL DAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE WORLD; AND HE DIDN'T MEAN AS A GHOSTLY PRESENCE, AS A SET OF RULES TO FOLLOW, AS A WARM FUZZY FEELING IN ONE'S HEART; HE MEANT THAT HE WOULD BE WITH US, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY, FIRST OF ALL, IN THE BREAD AND WINE, THEN IN THE WORD, AND FINALLY, IN HIS PEOPLE. BUT FIRST OF ALL, IN THE BREAD AND WINE.
IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN IN LOVE, YOU KNOW THAT ITS VERY HARD TO CULTIVATE A LOVING RELATIONSHIP OVER THE PHONE OR THE INTERNET; YOU LONG TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ONE YOU LOVE. IF YOU KNOW THE PAIN OF HAVING A SON OR DAUGHTER LEAVE HOME AND GO OFF ON THEIR OWN, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF A LOVED ONE MEANS. AND THAT IS WHY JESUS WANTS TO BE WITH US, BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY; BECAUSE THE RELATIONSHIP HE WANTS WITH US IS A RELATIONSHIP OF DEEPENING LOVE, A RELATIONSHIP OF TWO BECOMING ONE. FOR JESUS THE MAN WHO LOVED US SO MUCH HE DIED FOR US, HE NEEDS TO BE PRESENT TO US TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR OUR LOVE TO GROW; FOR JESUS THE GOD, HE CAN DO THIS THROUGH HIS PRESENCE UNDER THE APPEARANCE OF BREAD AND WINE.
BUT JESUS COMES INTO OUR MIDST; HE IS PRESENT HERE, JUST LIKE HE WAS AT THAT LAST SUPPER, JUST LIKE HE WAS WHEN HE WALKED WITH HIS APOSTLES. HE IS REALLY HERE; AND IF HE IS NOT, IF THIS IS JUST A SYMBOL, THEN WE ARE ALL FOOLS. THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE WOULD BE FOOLS BECAUSE WE BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT ISN'T TRUE; AND THOSE OF US WHO DON'T BELIEVE ARE FOOLS BECAUSE IF SERMONS AND MUSIC ARE ALL THERE IS, THEN YOU COULD BE SOMEWHERE WHERE THESE TAKE PRIORITY INSTEAD OF SPENDING SO MUCH TIME AROUND A PIECE OF BREAD AND A CUP OF WINE. HE IS REALLY HERE, BECAUSE WE HAVE A RECORD OF HIS WORDS, AND WE HAVE THE PEOPLE OF THE EARLY CHURCH WHO BELIEVED THIS AND WROTE ABOUT IT. LISTEN TO WHAT ST AUGUSTINE SAID IN THE THIRD CENTURY: “YOUR ONLY SON HAS REDEEMED ME WITH HIS BLOOD; LET NOT THE PROUD LOOK DOWN ON ME, FOR I AM MINDFUL OF MY RANSOM. I EAT IT, I DRINK IT, I DISPENSE IT TO OTHERS, AND AS A POOR MAN I LONG TO BE FILLED WITH IT AMONG THOSE WHO ARE FED AND FEASTED.” I DON'T THINK HE WAS TALKING ABOUT A SYMBOL, DO YOU?
JESUS WANTS US TO LOVE HIM LIKE HE LOVES US; HE WANTS US TO COME INTO HIS PRESENCE, BECAUSE FOR HUMAN BEINGS, PHYSICAL PRESENCE IS WHERE LOVE GROWS. IN THE OLDEN DAYS, WE CALLED IT “CULTIVATING A DEVOTION TO THE EUCHARIST”. BUT THERE IS NOTHING MAGIC ABOUT THIS, NOTHING SECRET OR HIDDEN; IT IS JUST A MATTER OF ACTING OUT WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE. JESUS IS HERE, IN THE BREAD AND THE WINE; AND HE REMAINS HERE, IN THE TABERNACLE, EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR EXCEPT GOOD FRIDAY – YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND HIM. AND IF YOU DRIVE PAST THE CHURCH, SAY, “HELLO, JESUS, HOW ARE YOU?” AND IF YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES BEFORE OR AFTER MASS, SPEAK TO HIM; HE'S WAITING. AND IF YOU REALLY LOVE HIM, MAKE A LITTLE TIME FOR HIM, AND COME MAKE A VISIT, MAYBE WHILE YOU ARE OUT WALKING, OR ON THE WAY TO THE GROCERY STORE. AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BUILD UP YOUR LOVE, COME AND SIT IN HIS PRESENCE WHEN THE EUCHARIST IS EXPOSED ON TUESDAY OR ON FIRST FRIDAY, AND SPEAK TO HIM ABOUT WHATEVER IS ON YOUR MIND, AND HE WILL SPEAK TO YOU AS WELL.
CAN YOU IMAGINE, BACK WHEN YOU WERE MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOUR SPOUSE, SAYING “I'D RATHER NOT SPEND TIME WITH YOU, BECAUSE I HAVE OTHER THINGS I'D RATHER DO.” I GUESS IF YOU HAD SAID THAT, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN MARRIED. CAN YOU IMAGINE YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER CALLING AND SAYING, “I'D LIKE TO COME FOR A VISIT,” AND YOU REPLY, “I'D RATHER YOU DIDN'T, BECAUSE I'D RATHER NOT SEE YOU.” IT ISN'T ANY DIFFERENT WITH JESUS, OUR LORD, OUR GOD, OUR BROTHER, THE ONE WHO SAID THAT EVERYONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF THE FATHER IS A MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY. HE IS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN; HE IS THE GREATEST LOVER WE COULD HAVE. AND HE WAITS IN THE TABERNACLE, IN THE LONELY CHURCH, FOR A FEW MOMENTS ALONE WITH YOU.
WE CATHOLICS HAVE A PECULIAR RELIGION; WE CLAIM THAT WHAT LOOKS LIKE BREAD IS THE REAL PRESENCE OF THE MAN WHO FOUNDED OUR CHURCH, THE MAN WHO IS GOD. TO A NON-CATHOLIC, THAT SOUNDS CRAZY. BUT IF YOU ARE NOT A CATHOLIC, YOU ARE QUICKLY REASSURED; BECAUSE MOST OF US DON'T ACT LIKE WE BELIEVE IT.