Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

JOHN 6:51-58

EVERY WEEK I BRING THE EUCHARIST TO A FEW PEOPLE WHO CAN'T GET TO CHURCH. ONE LADY ALWAYS KNEELS AND BOWS HER HEAD AFTERWARD. FOR SOME OF THEM AFTER THEY RECEIVE THEY RESUME THE CONVERSATION WE WERE HAVING BEFORE; THE EUCHARIST SEEMS TO HAVE HAD MINIMUM IMPACT. AND THERE ARE VARIOUS REACTIONS IN BETWEEN. BUT THERE IS ONE MAN WHO HAS ADVANCED ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. HE DOESN'T TALK MOST OF THE TIME BUT NOW AND THEN GETS A WORD OR TWO OUT. HE SITS IN A RECLINER ALL DAY LONG WATCHING OLD MOVIES ON A 56 INCH FLAT SCREEN TELEVISION. HE HAS FULL TIME CAREGIVERS WHO FEED HIM, MAKE SURE HE CHANGES HIS POSITION NOW AND THEN, AND CLEAN HIM UP. THEY PUT HIM TO BED AND GET HIM UP IN THE MORNING. WHEN YOU LOOK AT HIM YOU GET THE FEELING THAT THERE ISN'T MUCH THERE.

BUT WHEN I BRING HIM COMMUNION, HE'S ATTENTIVE; HE MAKES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS WITH ME, AND AS WE SAY THE LORD'S PRAYER, HIS LIPS ARE MOVING AND NOW AND THEN A WORD COMES OUT. AND HE RECEIVES THE EUCHARIST WITH REVERENCE. MOMENTS LATER HE IS BACK WATCHING TELEVISION AND I AM NO LONGER A PART OF HIS WORLD.

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS WAS ONCE ASKED, “WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A FRAGMENT OF THE EUCHARIST FELL TO THE FLOOR AND WAS EATEN BY A MOUSE?” AND THOMAS REPLIED, “NOTHING AT ALL”. BECAUSE IF YOU ARE GOING TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BE UNITED TO JESUS. AND IF YOU ARE GOING TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST WORTHILY, YOU HAVE TO BE RIGHTLY DISPOSED – THAT MEANS THAT YOU ARE FREE OF SERIOUS SIN, YOU RECOGNIZE THAT THE EUCHARIST IS THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, AND YOU DESIRE THAT JESUS BECOME ONE WITH YOU AND CONTINUE THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMING YOU INTO ANOTHER CHRIST, WHICH IS THE GOAL OF BEING A CHRISTIAN.

SO WHAT IS GOING ON WHEN I GIVE THE EUCHARIST TO MY FRIEND WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE? THERE IS SOMETHING IN HIM THAT RECOGNIZES THE EUCHARIST AND THE LORD'S PRAYER – MAYBE BARELY REMEMBERED HABITS THAT HE PICKED UP WHEN HE WAS A CHILD, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LAST TO GO. BUT DOES HE STILL HAVE THE CAPACITY TO RECEIVE? AND DOES HE BELIEVE? AND IS THERE THE DESIRE TO BECOME ONE WITH JESUS? OR IS GIVING HIM THE EUCHARIST A WASTE OF TIME – HE CERTAINLY ISN'T CAPABLE OF COMMITTING A SIN ANY MORE, AND ANY CHANGE IN HIS LIFE FROM NOW ON WILL ONLY BE MORE AND MORE MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE DARKNESS.

BUT JESUS SAID, “UNLESS YOU EAT THE FLESH AND DRINK THE BLOOD OF THE SON OF MAN, YOU WILL NOT HAVE LIFE IN YOU.”

IT'S INTERESTING THAT THE PASSAGES FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THAT WE ARE READING, KNOWN AS THE “BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE” HAVE ALWAYS RAISED CONTROVERSY. JOHN HIMSELF MUST HAVE WRITTEN THESE THINGS DOWN BECAUSE THERE WAS DISSENSION IN THE EARLY CHURCH. THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO SAID, “THIS IS A HARD SAYING, WHO CAN BELIEVE IT?” BUT FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES THE FATHER'S OF THE CHURCH WERE INSISTENT THAT THE BREAD AND WINE BECAME THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS. WHAT ELSE COULD JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAID THOSE STRANGE WORDS?

MARTIN LUTHER AND JOHN CALVIN ALSO SAID, “THIS IS A HARD SAYING, WHO CAN BELIEVE IT?” AND OUR PROTESTANT BROTHERS AND SISTERS DESPITE CLAIMING TO BELIEVE SCRIPTURE, DON'T BELIEVE THESE WORDS MEAN WHAT THEY SAY. FOR THEM IT IS JUST A SYMBOL, AND WHEN THEY READ THE CLEAR WORDS OF JESUS, THEY SAY THAT EATING AND DRINKING HIS BODY AND BLOOD WAS A WAY OF SAYING THAT WE NEEDED TO ACCEPT HIS TEACHINGS AND BELIEVE IN HIM AND ALLOW HIM TO BE OUR LORD AND MASTER.

A MOUSE MAY GET NOTHING OUT OF EATING THE FLESH AND DRINKING THE BLOOD OF JESUS. BUT I THINK MY FRIEND WITH ALZHEIMER'S DOES, AND SO DOES MY GRANDCHILD WHO IS MAKING HIS FIRST COMMUNION, AND SO DOES THE MOTHER HOLDING A CRYING BABY AS SHE HURRIEDLY RECEIVES WHILE TRYING TO QUIET THE CHILD DOWN. SO DOES THE MAN WHO IS THINKING ABOUT THE GOLF GAME HE PLANS TO GET TO AS SOON AS MASS IS OVER, AND CAN'T FATHER MOVE ALONG A LITTLE FASTER?

I BELIEVE THAT JESUS REALLY DOES WANT TO FEED US WITH HIS BODY AND BLOOD. HE CARES ABOUT OUR BODIES AND OUR SOULS, WHICH IS TO SAY THAT HE CARES ABOUT YOU AND I, PERSONS WHO ARE RELATED TO CHIMPANZEES AND ALL OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, BUT ARE ALSO RELATED TO ANGELS. AND WHEN JESUS FEEDS US THE EUCHARIST IS BROKEN DOWN JUST AS ANY FOOD IS, AND PROVIDES US WITH ENERGY AND WITH PROTEIN AND CARBOHYDRATES AND BECOMES PART OF OUR BODY. BUT BECAUSE WHAT WE EAT IS GOD HIMSELF, WE BECOME PART OF HIM, AND SINCE GOD IS ONE, WE ENTER INTO A UNION WITH EACH OTHER.

THIS IS THE INCREDIBLE MIRACLE WHICH OCCURS EVERY TIME WE RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST. THE UNION WITH GOD AND WITH EACH OTHER HAPPENS BECAUSE WE ARE HUMAN; IT HAPPENS AS LONG AS WE DON'T DO ANYTHING TO KEEP IT FROM HAPPENING; IT HAPPENS EVEN WHEN WE ARE THINKING ABOUT HOW TO KEEP THE BABY QUIET OR WHETHER WE WILL MAKE IT TO TEE TIME. IT HAPPENS EVEN IF THERE IS ALMOST NOTHING LEFT OF THE PERSON WE USED TO BE, BECAUSE THAT IS THE KIND OF LOVING CARING GOD WE HAVE.

BUT HOW WONDERFUL WHEN WE USE THIS MOMENT TO LOVE HIM BACK, TO SPEAK TO HIM, TO LISTEN TO HIM, TO CONSCIOUSLY ENTER INTO UNION WITH HIM. BECAUSE THAT IS POSSIBLE AS WELL. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PEOPLE, EVEN NON-CATHOLICS, WHO HAVE SENSED THE SPECIALNESS OF THE EUCHARIST. WE HAVE A PRIEST IN OUR DIOCESE WHO WAS A MORMON ELDER, BUT ULTIMATELY BECAME A CATHOLIC AND A PRIEST BECAUSE HE SENSED THE REAL PRESENCE.

IF YOU ARE A GREAT CHEF AND TURN OUT MARVELOUS MEALS, YOU WILL SEE THAT SOME PEOPLE GULP DOWN THE FOOD AND OFF THEY GO. OTHERS ARE DISTRACTED BY THE DINNER CONVERSATION AND BARELY NOTICE WHAT THEY ARE PUTTING IN THEIR MOUTHS. BUT THERE ARE A FEW WHO GET WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE, AND DIRECT ALL THEIR ATTENTION TO YOUR CREATIONS. YOU KNOW THAT MANY WILL NOT APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS, BUT YOU STILL MAKE THE EFFORT. YOU MAKE THE EFFORT BECAUSE YOU KNOW THAT A FEW PEOPLE WILL RESPOND TO YOUR INVITATION, A FEW PEOPLE WILL SEE FOOD IN A NEW WAY.

AND JESUS WILL CONTINUE TO FEED US AND NOURISH US AND LOVE US IN THE HOPES THAT A FEW OF US WILL RECOGNIZE WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US.

LET US PRAY THAT YOU AND I WILL BE GIVEN THE GRACE TO LOVE HIM BACK THE WAY HE DESERVES TO BE LOVED.