JOHN 6:60-69
THE POET, GERALD MANLEY HOPKINS, BEGAN
ONE OF HIS MOST FAMOUS WORKS WITH THE WORDS, “THE WORLD IS CHARGED
WITH THE GRANDEUR OF GOD.” KARL RAHNER, A FAMOUS THEOLOGIAN,
DESCRIBED A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE HE ONCE HAD, IN WHICH HE FELT HIMSELF
LIFTED OFF THE EARTH, BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM, FAR OUT PAST THE MILKY
WAY, UNTIL HE COULD SEE THE WHOLE UNIVERSE – AND WHAT HE SAW WAS
THE FACE OF CHRIST. TEILARD DE CHARDIN, A PALEONTOLOGIST AND JESUIT
PRIEST, PROPOSED THAT MATTER, EVEN THE SMALLEST ATOM, WAS IN A
CONSTANT STATE OF SEEKING COMPLEXITY; EVOLUTION, WHETHER ORGANIC OR
INORGANIC, WAS DRIVEN INTERNALLY TO BECOME THE NOOSPHERE, WHERE ALL
THAT EXISTED BECAME ONE.
IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, YOU HAVE TO
DEAL WITH THE IDEA OF THE EUCHARIST. AFTER ALL, THE GOSPELS ALL TALK
ABOUT IT, AND WE HAVE JUST BEEN THROUGH THE PASSAGE FROM JOHN
STARTING WITH THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES, AND ENDING WITH
THE READING TODAY, IN WHICH, BECAUSE THIS WAS A HARD THING TO
BELIEVE, MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES LEFT HIM. JESUS NEVERTHELESS LEFT HIS
DISCIPLES WITH EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS TO TAKE BREAD AND SAY, “THIS
IS MY BODY” AND TO TAKE WINE AND SAY, “THIS IS MY BLOOD”; AND
TO EAT AND DRINK THIS SACRAMENT TOGETHER. AND WE KNOW THAT OUR
CHURCH TEACHES THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION, WHICH MEANS THAT
WHAT WAS BREAD IS NOW JESUS UNDER THE APPEARANCE OF BREAD, AND THE
SAME FOR THE WINE. OTHER CHRISTIAN BODIES TEACH THAT JESUS IS REALLY
PRESENT, BUT SO IS THE BREAD, OR THAT THE ACTION IS MERELY A SYMBOL.
AND NOW AND THEN SOMEONE DECIDES YOU DON'T EVEN NEED BREAD AND WINE,
YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO CARRY OUT JESUS' INSTRUCTIONS, EXCEPT IN HOW
YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE.
IN OUR EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS, THERE IS THE MOMENT CALLED THE “EPICLYSIS” IN WHICH THE PRIEST
CALLS UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT TO TRANSFORM THE BREAD AND WINE. ONE OF
THE PRAYERS ADDS THE PHRASE, “LIKE THE DEW FALL”. WHEN I FIRST
HEARD THIS, I DIDN'T SEE THE POINT. AFTER ALL, I DON'T THINK ABOUT
DEW AND DEW FALL MORE THAN ONCE A YEAR, I'M SURE, AND I CERTAINLY HAD
NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE ACTIONS OF THE SPIRIT IN THOSE TERMS;
USUALLY HIS APPEARANCE IS ACCOMPANIED BY FIRE, OR WIND, OR EVEN
EARTHQUAKES. SUBTLE HE DOES NOT SEEM TO BE.
WHY NOT “LIKE THE SNOWFALL?” THAT
MIGHT MEAN MORE TO US UP HERE IN THE NORTH. BUT SNOW MERELY COVERS
THINGS UP. IF SNOW FALLS ON MY CAR, IT'S STILL A CAR. AND ONCE THE
SNOW MELTS, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE EXERTED A GREAT DEAL OF ENERGY MOVING
IT AROUND, IT'S AS THOUGH IT WAS NEVER THERE.
BUT MAYBE “LIKE THE RAINFALL”
WOULD BE BETTER. RAIN REALLY SOAKS. IT CAN CHANGE A DRY BROWN LAWN
TO A HEALTHY GREEN ONE. AND IF IT FALLS ON MY NEWSPAPER, IT BECOMES
MUSH, AND CAN'T BE READ ANYMORE. RAIN CAN GIVE LIFE AND CAN DESTROY
AS WELL. THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD IMAGE FOR THE SPIRIT. AND ONE OF THE
PSALMS ASKS GOD TO SEND FORTH HIS SPIRIT, AND THEY SHALL BE CREATED;
AND THE PSALM GOES ON TO SAY, TAKE AWAY YOUR SPIRIT, AND THEY ARE
DESTROYED. SO THAT IS A GOOD ANALOGY FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT. BUT NOT WHERE THE EUCHARIST IS CONCERNED. THE BREAD IS NOT
DESTROYED, NOR IS IT ENLIVENED. IT SIMPLY CEASES TO EXIST AND JESUS
IS PRESENT.
IF YOU GO OUT IN THE EARLY MORNING AND
THE CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, YOU MIGHT NOTICE DEW. FROM A SCIENTIFIC
STANDPOINT, DEW REQUIRES THE PRESENCE OF A LIVING PLANT, AS WELL AS
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS THAT PREVENT THE MOISTURE THAT IS ALWAYS
COMING OUT OF THE PLANT FROM VAPORIZING INTO THE AIR. IN OTHER
WORDS, DEW EMERGES; IT IS NOT IMPOSED, IT DOES NOT COVER UP.
WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN INCARNATION.
GOD EMERGES INTO OUR WORLD, HE PENETRATES, HE DIVINIZES, HE
TRANSFORMS. THE HOLY SPIRIT CAUSED GOD TO ENTER MATTER, TO TAKE ON
FLESH IN THE WOMB OF MARY, AND BECOME A MAN. THE WORDS USED BY THE
ANGEL ARE INTERESTING; THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL “OVERSHADOW” YOU, HE
SAYS. HIS PRESENCE CAUSES GOD TO BE DRAWN INTO MATTER. KIND OF LIKE
THE IDEA OF DEW FALL, THE MOISTURE BEING DRAWN FROM WITHIN THE LIVING
PLANT.
INCARNATION IS NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT.
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS THE STORY OF GOD JOINING HIMSELF TO HIS
CREATION, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, SHAPING HIS CREATION TO ACCEPT HIS
PRESENCE. THE NEW TESTAMENT BEGINS WITH GOD TAKING ON FLESH, MAKING
MATTER INTO HIS BODY, GLORIFYING FOREVER THE MATERIAL WORLD.
HAVING DONE THIS, HE TAKES MARY TO
HIMSELF, BODY AND SOUL, FOR ALL ETERNITY; MATTER BECOMES IMMORTAL.
AND HIS INTENTION IS TO BRING HIS WHOLE CREATION TO THE CENTER OF HIS
BEING; NOTHING HE MADE WILL BE WASTED. INCARNATION IS ALWAYS GOING
ON.
THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON THE
BREAD AND WINE IS A HINT AT WHAT IS IN STORE FOR OUR UNIVERSE.
THROUGH HIS ACTION, GOD WILL EMERGE, AND IS ALREADY EMERGING. WHEN
WE HAVE EYES TO SEE, WE SEE HIS TRACES IN NATURE – FROM A SNOWFLAKE
TO THE STARS IN THE SKY, FROM A BUG TO A BUFFALO. GOD IS PRESENT,
EMERGING FROM HIS CREATION AND IN SO DOING, TRANSFORMING ALL OF
NATURE, ALL OF MANKIND. AND THAT IS WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES –
DRAWS GOD FORTH. AND THAT IS WHAT HE DOES IN THE EUCHARIST. THE
BREAD AND WINE BECOME GOD, THE SON, THE INCARNATED ONE, ACHIEVING THE
DESTINY OF ALL MATTER, TO BE TRANSFORMED SO THAT IN THE END THERE IS
ONLY GOD. HOPKINS, RAHNER, AND DECHARDIN ALL SAW THIS IDEA, THIS
MYSTICAL VISION.
LIKE THE DEW FALL. NOT LIKE A
SNOWFALL, NOT LIKE A RAINFALL. BUT TRANSFORMATION FROM WITHIN,
TRANSFORMATION WHICH IN A MIRACULOUS WAY, DOES NOT DESTROY, BUT
CHANGES. TRANSFORMATION WHICH LEAVES THOSE WONDERFUL THINGS LIKE
TASTE AND SMELL AND TEXTURE AND COLOR, BUT NOW JESUS IS THERE.
TRANSFORMATION WHICH TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT HOW IT WILL BE FOR YOU
AND I, WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON US LIKE HE DID UPON MARY, LIKE
THE DEW FALL, AND CHANGES US FOREVER.
