“If souls but understood the
Treasure they possess in the Divine Eucharist, it would be necessary to
encircle the tabernacles with the strongest ramparts for, in the delirium of a
devouring and holy hunger, they would press forward themselves to feed on the
Bread of Angels. The Churches would overflow with adorers consumed with love
for the Divine prisoner no less by night than by day.” - Blessed Dina Belanger
of Québec
(Gospel Text: Jn 6:44-51)
Jesus
said to the crowds:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw
him,
and I will raise him on the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They shall all be taught by God.
Everyone
who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.
Not that anyone has
seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
Amen,
amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread
that comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the
living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live
forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my Flesh for the life of the world.”
I watched the Oscar winning movie “Gandhi”
many years ago but one scene remains vivid in my memory. After Gandhi returned
from South Africa and started getting involved in the struggle of Independence
of India, he made a journey all over the country to see and live “India” in the
villages. One of his close friends joined him in these trips, a missionary he
knew in South Africa, C. F. Andrews. In this particular scene from the movie,
they are travelling by a bus and Andrews notices some villagers sitting on the
roof of the bus. They invite him to go up. Once he reaches the top, the
villagers welcome him with broad smiles. One of them asks in his broken
English, “You, Christian?” Andrews nods yes. The villager continues, “I know
Christians. They drink blood”. Now Andrews is perplexed. But the villager
continues, “The blood of Christ… every morning..”
Sounds funny; but it is true.
Catholics not only drink the blood of Christ, we eat his flesh too. That is
what Jesus did two thousand years ago. On the Feast of Passover, at the table
when he broke bread with his friends, he told them that it was his body and
when he shared the cup of wine with them, he told them it was his blood.
While the other evangelists speak
about the sharing of bread and wine during the last supper, St John leaves that
space to mention another important event. Jesus makes himself small by washing
the feet of his disciples. And then he gives us the second of “the great
commandments” -that of loving one another. In a way, John reminds us that Jesus
has equated the Eucharist with loving one another. When we reach out to one
another in the loving service of “washing one another’s feet”, we are following
Jesus. Mother Teresa said, “In the Mass we have Jesus in the appearance
of bread, while in the slums we see Christ and touch him in the broken bodies,
in the abandoned children.” Our celebration of the Lord’s Supper at the Mass
should enable us to see Christ in the suffering people around us. It should
enable us to reach out to them in loving service.
Arch Bishop Oscar Romero of El
Salvador said, “My hunger is my physical problem, but the hunger of my neighbor
is my spiritual problem. It needs more attention than my own hunger”. The
hunger of others is a challenge for us. When Jesus shares his body as food for
us, he in turn challenges us to bring food for others. Are we willing to accept
this challenge? Romero took up the challenge and died the death of a martyr for
that cause. The day after the Last Supper, Jesus was crucified. If we take up
this challenge, then we should be ready to take up our own cross and follow the
Crucified Savior wherever he calls us to go.
Let us therefore be reconciled with
God. Let us bring that reconciliation to others. For in this is our peace; in
this lies the greatest hope for our world.
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