It has been on my mind to write this reflection for a long time. The scriptures today jumped out at me. I hope you like it.
I graduated from a Parochial High School in 1963. The priest who taught us Religious education was a parochial priest by the name of Father Moran. Behind his back we would call him “Bugs”. All-in good-natured kidding. He was a very good teacher. He gave us a nine-week seminary class that used the King James Version of the Bible to prove various Catholic Doctrine. One of the proofs was for the Doctrine of Transubstantiation. To this day none of my High School buddies remember it, but I did. It changed my life.
Starting in John Chapter 6: 51-56; it starts with Jesus having feeding the five thousand and having twelve wicker baskets left over and walked on water that night. It is the next day and Jesus says,
Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring* among yourselves. 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.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats* my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
Even after all the miracles that Jesus perform even the day before and feeding the 5000, the crowd of followers starts running away. They cannot accept what Jesus is saying. Great numbers leave Him. To be honest I can see why. Most societies consider cannibalism unnatural. The people listening thought it was. There are historical exceptions. In ancient Fiji it was used to take power from their enemy. In America in the Nineteenth Century we had the survivors of the Donner Pass who used it to survive. Nonetheless, most peoples consider it unnatural.
As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Those that remained, stayed because Jesus had the words of eternal life. The twelve apostles stayed. People like Mary Magdalen stayed. I am sure there were others, but great numbers left. The sad thing is they returned to their former way of life.
Why would Jesus turn the people He came to save away?
In Luke 22: 14-20 When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover* with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup,* gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.
No matter what language you speak there is no doubt about the meaning of “is”. Jesus was finally explaining the meaning of the words of John 6. The true presence of the Body and Blood of Christ “is” clear. It is not a symbol. It is not a memory. It is real.
It is the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is sad to think that 60 % of Catholics in America do not believe this.
At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass I am awe struck by the miracle that occurs at the consecration. The Holy Eucharist and a relationship with Jesus Christ are the words and food of eternal life.
Luke 24 6-12 He is not here, but he has been raised.Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles, but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.
Next comes one of the funniest parts of scripture the ” Walk to Emmaus”
Luke 24: 30-31 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.
Think about this when and pray about it the next time you witness the and experience the Body and Blood of Christ.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray for peace in the Ukraine. Pray for all Cancer victims and their caregivers.
