I am the bread of Life

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time August 22, 2021 John 6:60-69 Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Today after 6 Sundays we are coming to the end of our consideration of John 6, the bread of life discourse. In John 6 we find the evangelist’s teaching on the Eucharist. Jesus offers the disciples the gift of the Eucharist, the bread of life. He explains that if we eat this bread and drink this cup we will live forever and then he goes on to say he is the “bread of life.” With very graphic language he says, “If we eat his flesh and drink his blood we will live forever.” It should be clear that Jesus isn’t talking about symbolic meal. We don’t take the host because it is a reminder of Jesus, it isn’t a symbol of who Jesus is for us. No, Jesus is quite clear. The bread is his flesh, the wine is his blood, if we eat it, we will live forever. If we don’t, we will have no life within us. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? By our sharing in this Eucharist, we gain eternal life. Our sharing in this meal is our ticket into heaven. Who could resist such an offer? Well, it seems that most could not accept the offer. Well, it seems that most rejected the offer of eternal life. Our Gospel for today begins by saying that the people were shocked, most of the disciples returned to their former way of life. Why? Why do you think that this is? Jesus gives us this teaching on the Eucharist and then invites us to share the meal then why do most people reject the offer? What is so hard to take? Granted it is hard to understand. How does the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ? We might the answer from the catechism, but the truth is we really can’t understand it can we? So maybe some left because they didn’t understand. For me that isn’t a very good answer. They are a lot of things that I don’t understand. I don’t understand how my cell works, but I still use it all the time. I don’t understand why pastries from Porto’s taste so good, but I still eat them. I don’t know why my parents loved me so much, but I still accepted that gift of their love. Yes, it is hard to understand the mystery of the Eucharist, maybe that is why some people reject the gift. Jesus’ language is also very strong. “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood.” It sounds like cannibalism. Strange language to use. Quite possibly some people left Jesus because they were turned off by the language. They couldn’t accept the imagery that Jesus was using. Maybe that is why they left Jesus after he offered them the gift of the Eucharist, the gift of eternal life. I have another theory though about why people left Jesus. We as believers maybe don’t understand the Eucharist but we get it. We know that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. We receive the Eucharist, and we are transformed as well. We become a living tabernacle. Jesus lives in us as we receive the Eucharist. Not just the bread and wine are transformed but we are transformed as well. When we come together to celebrate the Eucharist we come together as a community of believers. Rich and poor, young and old, immigrants recently arrived and native Americans, saints and sinners as well. Everyone is welcome at the table of the Eucharist. As James Joyce said when he commented on the Catholic Church. “Here comes everyone.” So maybe just maybe people left not because they couldn’t understand Jesus’ words, maybe it wasn’t because they didn’t want to have this union with Jesus. Maybe it wasn’t because they thought he was talking about cannibalism. Maybe it was because they didn’t want to have to accept the presence of Jesus is the other. The poor and the lame. Those without home, work or documents. That is the part that is too hard for people to accept, maybe that is why most people left Jesus. Pope Benedict shared his thoughts on the Eucharist. He said: “I have to concentrate completely on the body of Christ, to allow myself be transformed completely, to the point of being burned by the fire. And it is for this reason that I have to remember that in the Eucharist I am united with the whole body of Christ, with the person sitting next to me, who maybe I don’t really care for, and also with those who are far away that I have never seen. Being one with them, I have to learn to be open to them, to try and understand their lives. This is the test of my love for Jesus. If I cannot see Jesus in my brother or sister, I won’t be able to see him in the Eucharist either.” The Gospel ends with Peter’s beautiful words. When all the others have left Jesus he turns to the 12 and asks, “Do you want to leave me as well?” Peter speaks for the 12, he speaks for us as well. “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of everlasting life.” We don’t understand but we believe. We believe in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist we believe in the presence of Jesus in one another. And to this we say: Amen!