Thursday, August 13, 2009

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 16, 2009


Lectionary #119

Proverbs 9: 1-6
Ephesians 5: 15-20
John 6: 51-58

“The Jews quarreled among themselves saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” (Gospel of John)

There have been surveys that asked Catholics whether or not they believed the Church’s teaching on Christ’s Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist. One survey was taken by Gallup in 1992, and the other survey was taken by the New York Times/CBS news. The results of these surveys showed that a growing number of Catholics, especially young Catholics, no longer believe that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist. Why this unbelief? Is it a perceived lack of reverence in the Eucharistic liturgy? Is the result of Western skepticism about all things mystical? Or could it be that we have not lived Eucharistic lives?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because he loves us so much, is willing to give himself to us in the form of bread and wine; so that the gift of divine life will be renewed within us. And what have we done with this gift? When we eat this bread of life, do we open ourselves completely to the Presence of Christ? Do we allow Jesus in, and allow him to transform us? Have we forsaken foolishness? It is we who will provide living proof of the power of the Eucharist to transform.

I want to close with the words of St. Francis of Assisi, from his writings, The Admonitions, “And we may ask in the words of Scripture, Men of rank, how long will be dull of heart? (Ps. 4: 3). Why do you refuse to recognize the truth and believe in the Son of God? (Jn 9: 34) Every day he humbles himself just as he did when he came from his heavenly throne (Wis. 18: 15) into the Virgin’s womb; every day he comes to us and lets us see him in abjection, when he descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar. He shows himself to us in this sacred bread just as he once appeared to his apostles in real flesh. With their own eyes they saw only his flesh, but they believed that he was God, because they contemplated him with the eyes of the spirit. We, too, with our own eyes, see only bread and wine, but we must see further and firmly believe that this is his most holy Body and Blood, living and true. In this way our Lord remains continually with his followers, as he promised, Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world (Mt. 28: 20).”*


*The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi, Franciscan Herald Press, 1976

No comments:

Post a Comment