John 6

I thought I might start out by backing up.  Since we are in the middle of our journey through John 6, which we undertake every three years, I though I'd post the first articles over the next couple days.  Enjoy!

Today’s Gospel passage shows the Jews grumbling because Jesus said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven”.  They immediately start saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?”  In the same way, so many look at the holy Eucharist and find themselves unable to get beyond what they think they know, they can’t get beyond the appearance.  Indeed, in both cases, they and we begin raising objections which keep us from receiving and accepting the truth of the matter, and the Truth Himself.

While the Jews in today’s Gospel point to Jesus’ assumed parentage and then ask, “how can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’”, we look at the Blessed Sacrament and pile on all kinds of objections: “It looks like bread, it tastes like bread, it must be bread”, or, “What, are we cannibals now???”; and we even try to accommodate what Jesus has said with our preconceptions, saying: “Well, it is bread, but Jesus somehow inhabits the bread so that He and the bread exist side by side”.  Finally, some just completely dismiss the idea and claim that Jesus must be speaking allegorically: (we will discuss in a couple of weeks why this doesn’t hold water) In which case, Communion must simply be a mere remembrance of the Last Supper.

All of these ways of dealing with what our Lord says has very serious implications for how we see the Eucharist, how we approach the reception of holy Communion, and what we believe about our Eucharistic discipline – that is, who is able to receive Communion in our Church, and why we are unable to receive Communion in Churches and Ecclesial Communities outside of the Catholic Church (in the former instance because of their discipline, and in the latter instance because of ours).

But for today, it is enough for us to recognize that we need to take Jesus at His word.  We may not understand (yet!) how this can be; we may have difficulty accepting what He is saying; but, if we but trust Him and patiently wait for that Truth to fully reveal itself, we will be richly rewarded.

So, be patient.  Dawn will rise and we will see and rejoice in the Truth of our Lord’s presence among us in the most holy Eucharist; and we will then desire this gift like no other, because it is the gift of His very self.