Some gifts are hard to receive. Our Gospel today from John 6:60-69 draws our attention to the consternation of the Lord’s disciples when He instructs them to eat His body and drink His blood to have eternal life.
If a Catholic has not grappled with the question of whether the Eucharist is “really the flesh and blood of Christ,” then it is quite likely that he or she has not been hit with “shock” or “offense” at Jesus’ unequivocal words in John 6, as the apostles were.
The Bread of Life Discourse
Jesus launches into His Bread of Life discourse in John 6. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” From verse twenty-eight to verse fifty-eight, Jesus iterates His teaching on being the Bread of Life, and the need for His followers to eat His flesh and drink His blood. His Jewish disciples followed strict dietary laws and were not allowed to ingest the blood of any animal, let alone a human being, as blood contained the “life” of the animal. At this controversial teaching, many disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with Him. Jesus did not call them back or explain that they had “misinterpreted” His words. He let them stay offended because He could not modify the truth to appeal to a wider audience.
Transformation, and Transubstantiation
As Jesus gives thanks, a boy’s meagre lunch is supernaturally multiplied to feed at the minimum five thousand adult males. At Cana, Jesus gives thanks, and six jars, containing 20-30 gallons each of water supernaturally turn into the highest quality wine. At the last supper, Jesus gives thanks, holds up the bread and tells His apostles “This is My body, given up for you.”
Notice the pattern? Bread into flesh. Water into wine. Wine into blood. The Eternal Word is transformative.
Jesus meant His words literally. What Jesus says, quite simply, is. The Church has always taught that, at a Catholic Eucharist or Mass, the bread and wine are supernaturally transubstantiated by the priestly words of Consecration into the very body and blood of Christ, just as they were at the Lord’s Last Supper.
There are many wonderful resources available to help today’s Catholic understand the “hard teachings” of Jesus. The writings of the Early Church Fathers, in particular, bear strong testimony to the Church’s unbroken tradition on the doctrine of the Eucharist.
The Real Presence
I remember with clarity and gratitude the day I came to believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Decades into my adulthood, despite being a cradle Catholic. I was sitting in my hometown parish of St. Thomas More, with Scott Hahn’s book, The Lamb’s Supper, laid open upon my lap. The church was quiet, all gazing at the golden monstrance just a few feet ahead. Reading the inspired words, divine grace suddenly brought light to my darkened spirit. It dawned on me that when Jesus said, “This is My Body,” He had truly meant it. Daily, at Mass, He made Himself small for me. Just so that He could be in me and I in Him.
Life changed forever! Desperate for human comfort at a time of intense personal challenge, I had finally found “the throne from which flowed the river of the water of life, clear as crystal” (Rev 22:1-5). And it was right here, 8 minutes from home, on my humble, unadorned parish altar. The Bread of Life. The Way and the Truth. Eternal God, chose to inhabit bread and wine, to give me His divine lifeblood, the DNA for eternal life.
Come and Eat
Here indeed was Calvary, and Eden redeemed. Here was the Tree of Life, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations. In a reversal of Eden’s command “Do not eat” was a new command, “Come and eat.”
