August 9, 2009 Cycle B
1 Kings 19:4-8 Ephesians 4:30-5:2 John 6:41-51
Two weeks ago we heard about the multiplication of loaves. Today’s Gospel continues what is known as the “Bread of Life” teaching from the 6th Chapter of St. John’s Gospel. The rest of the month we will continue to hear Gospel readings that form the basis for our understanding of the Eucharist.
As one priest reflected on this teaching of the “Bread of Life,” he described a scrumptious scene involving an Italian family seated around the table. Mama comes in with a platter of steaming food and she exclaims “Mangia! Eat.”
Let’s look at that scene today and try to reflect on some meaning from it. Imagine that among those seated at the table is a small boy. We could call him Luigi. Everyone else is eating away but Luigi is sitting quietly thinking. He asked suddenly, “Why do we eat food?” Everyone pauses, but no one at the table can offer Luigi a satisfactory answer.
Luigi continues to ponder this question and one day he goes to a doctor, an Italian doctor of course. The doctor is able to explain to Luigi how the body works and how food is digested and how the body is nourished.
Now imagine that you are Luigi here at this Eucharist banquet that we are about to enjoy and you ask, “Why do we eat the Body and Blood of Christ? Why Communion? Why the Eucharist?” This time I would like to tell you about another Italian doctor, the great doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. You see he asked that same question many centuries ago.
St. Thomas came up with four reasons for why we partake of the Eucharist. All of them related to ordinary food.
First of all, Aquinas said, “We consume ordinary food for nourishment. Unless we eat, we die. The same holds for the Eucharist. Unless we consume the Eucharist our faith begins to die. And our faith can die. It’s been estimated recently that more than 70% of Catholics do not receive the Eucharist on a regular basis. The good doctor, Aquinas, might say that is one reason there is so little faith in the world.
Next Thomas Aquinas said “We receive Communion in order to grow in faith.” We know from experience that unless a child receives ordinary food, that child will not grow. The same is true with faith. In that regard each of us is still growing. None of us has reached maturity.
How do we measure growth? For ordinary growth we might use a measuring tape. Perhaps on one wall in the house, somewhere in the past, there was that ascending mark of pencil marks which traced your children’s growth over time. But when it comes to faith the one way we might measure growth is by the increased compassion we have for other people. Not a conservative compassion, but a compassion that makes us increasingly sensitive to and disturbed by the sufferings of the poor, the disadvantaged, all those who suffer injustice. I am speaking then of heightened awareness of the need for social justice.
Third, St. Thomas said ordinary food is needed to repair injury. When someone is sick or has been injured we may give that person special food for healing and strengthening. Think, for example, of chicken noodle soup. Thomas Aquinas said the Eucharist does the same on the level of faith. It heals and repairs the injury caused by sin in our lives. Through a life of prayer we become more aware of our own sinfulness. Yet, if we are receiving the Eucharist regularly, a kind of quiet healing is going on in our souls.
Finally, St. Thomas said, “Ordinary food brings us joy and pleasure.” This is the answer to Luigi’s question. It is a joy to eat good food, to converse with others, and to share in the pleasures of a good meal. The same applies to our heavenly food, the Eucharist. We receive the Eucharist with joy and take pleasure in the company of those who share this banquet with us.
Many, many years ago when I was in formation, we were asked to read the great spiritual writer the Benedictine Abbot Marmion. He wrote that joy is the “echo of God’s life within us.” This is quite a beautiful thought. From the moment we gathered today we began to participate in God’s life. And in a few moments we will receive that Life “par excellence” in the Body and Blood of Christ. Our hearts, our minds, and our voices echo that Life of God within us.
With that knowledge of what is about to happen to us when we receive the Eucharist, we might say today, with new enthusiasm “Mangia!”
Amen. Amen. Msgr. Tom, Pastor Christ the King