+ We have been basking in the
glory of the great Eucharistic Discourse of Jesus, these past several Sundays, given
to us according to the Gospel of St. John.
But we must be very careful at the outset: one of the most dangerous errors
that can be made, regarding scriptural interpretation of this theme, often
takes place right at the heart of this passage. Jesus himself is trying to be
very forceful in what he is saying, and he does in fact come across as such –
but there still remains a kind of sense that in some way he doesn’t really mean
exactly what he is saying! This is simply not the case! Jesus means exactly
what he says! UNLESS YOU EAT MY FLESH
AND DRINK MY BLOOD YOU WILL NOT HAVE LIFE WITHIN YOU – AND YOU WILL BE DENIED
EVERLASTING LIFE!
But as the gospel passage
today again points out, the people quarrel among themselves wondering what he
could possibly mean by this outlandish statement: “eating flesh, drinking blood.”
But Jesus persists: you MUST do this or
die spiritually!
The first reading from
Proverbs today gives us a clue as to how to deal with this mandate of Jesus:
Wisdom has “set up a wayside food and drink stand:” let whoever is simple turn in here, those lacking in understanding,
come and eat and drink of the food drink that I will prepare and you will
advance in the way of understanding! Those quarreling with Jesus, most
likely, were not the simple and the unlearned, and so they are just incapable
of “getting” what he is saying!
This
sentiment is echoed in the second reading from the letter of St. Paul to the
Ephesians: do not live like “foolish persons,” in ignorance, because they think
they are so smart; rather act like persons filled with the Wisdom of God, who
feast on what God prepares and then sing psalms and play instruments joyfully
to God always giving thanks to God for everything!
And so, yes, Jesus is serious
about the menu for eternal life, and the secret of understanding what it is all
about comes to the simple and the childlike: for they know that Jesus can do
anything he wants to do; all he has to do is “say and do” – and it is “said and
done.” Jesus takes bread and transubstantiates
it into his very real physical body (although it appears differently than
the one he lived his earthly life in), and he takes ordinary wine and transubstantiates it into his very real
physical blood so that we can indeed do what he commands!
The Mass is God’s supreme and
marvelous gift: the setting for such praying, psalm singing, instrument
playing, wisdom reading and transubstantiation rituals! They prepare us to go
out from the celebration and live radically transformed lives so to infect the
society in which we live with useful and redemptive Christian values!
And now, we cannot conclude
this homily without making a statement about the scandal that is rocking the
Church to its foundations AGAIN and for the second time in 16 years, and also
the apparent demise of the very foundations of our nation as a republic by the
surfacing once again in all his counterfeit glory of the “Prince of Darkness,
the Father of Lies, Satan himself on our very own American soil.
With the sex abuse scandal
which is now reaching epic proportions not only in our country but across the
globe, it is time for the entire administration of the Church – and the first
among them – the hypocritical and bad
shepherds of their flocks members of the hierarchy – to “repent in sackcloth
and ashes” and do public penance for their roles in what I call The Abomination of Desolation – the conspiratorial extermination of the
sacred childhoods of hundreds of thousands of children throughout not only
own country but the world by forcible acts of sexual aggression and in some
cases physical rape.
And as far as the national
debacle that is taking place which has its aim the extermination of freedom in
the very land that bases its very founding principles on this God-given right
and privilege. When the very person sitting in the chair of chief guardian and
defender of the Constitution has allegiance with our avowed enemies, and whose
main focus is to align our principles with those of dictators, autocrats and
murderers – it is time to remove him from office – or we will be coconspirators
with him – and our fate will be of our own making.
On two fronts then, the people
in our pews, the people in our homes, work places and schools are in deep
trouble – if they don’t feed on Jesus spiritually – join hands in prayer for
and with one another – and call on His Name to end the catastrophes that are
right smack dab upon us.
The Joyful Servants of the
Cross have prayed daily for 13 years now “for the purging, purification and
perfection of the Church on earth; and for the spiritual transformation of the
world into the glorious Kingdom of God in the new heavens and the new earth” –
dare I say, perhaps, our prayers are finally being answered – but in a way that
boggles the mind!
All of
you come, eat and drink, taste and see – experience and enjoy - the goodness of
the Lord.
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