Several times during the course of the Mass, we are presented with something, and then we are asked to respond. To start the Mass, the priest greets the people saying, “The Lord be with you,” to which we reply, “And with your Spirit.” During the first part of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word, the lector proclaims a passage from the Old Testament, and then a passage from a letter in the New Testament. After each reading, the lector announces, “The Word of the Lord” and we respond “Thanks be to God.” Then the priest or deacon proclaims a passage from one of the four Gospels, and announces, “The Gospel of the Lord” to which we reply, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.” In our first reading today it states “that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” So after hearing the Word of God proclaimed it is fitting that we offer thanks and praise to God.
Then later in the Mass, during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, after the gifts are brought forward, and during the Eucharistic Prayer of consecration, Jesus, who himself is the very Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit transforms the gifts of bread and wine into his own body and blood. And then we are presented this body and blood of Christ himself with the words, “the Body of Christ” and “the Blood of Christ” to which we respond … “Amen.” The word “Amen” literally means “so be it” or “I believe.” So when we say “Amen” to the body of Christ, to what are we saying “I believe?”
Jesus gives us the answer to this in our gospel reading today when he says, “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. … For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” This is the most explicit language in all of Sacred Scripture that affirms our belief that the Eucharist is the true presence of Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained’” (1374). In a book called “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” the author, Dr. Brant Pitre, tells a story of meeting with his fiancé’s Baptist minister when they were preparing for marriage. The Baptist minister asked him, “How can you Catholics teach that bread and wine actually become Jesus’ body and blood? Do you really believe that? It’s ridiculous!” So – as Catholics – do we really believe this?
But now I would like to focus on what takes place after Jesus makes this claim. We’ve already heard that the Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” But then in the next passage many of Jesus’ disciples said “This saying is hard. Who can accept it?” And Jesus said, “Does this shock you? … The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” So just what does it mean to believe?
Our belief is much more than just acknowledging the facts. The facts that we teach are that the gifts of bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. But our belief goes much deeper than that. I’ll acknowledge that the New York Yankees are a dynasty in Major League Baseball, and they will probably be contending for the playoffs – again. But I’m still not going to root for them; I don’t identify myself with them. But if we truly believe in the Eucharist, then we must also embrace everything that Jesus was, said, and did. And then we must do the same.
Jesus challenges us with his words to change. We are invited to partake in the Body and Blood of Christ so that we are changed – transformed so that we may embrace the very identity of Jesus that can bring us everlasting life. But we have to live this change. This is precisely what Saint Paul meant in the second reading by participation in the body and blood of Christ. We are to be Jesus for others in our everyday living. We have to give our life – His life – for others. This is where the words of Jesus were so troubling to some of his disciples. If we look back at John’s gospel, it says, “As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” This is pretty amazing, because it’s the only time in any of the Gospels when disciples of Jesus left him because of something he taught.
But how often do we walk through those doors at the end of Mass and simply return to our former ways of life? Now I’m not saying that we need to become a missionary in another country, or to change jobs or careers, although a true participation in the body and blood of Christ might lead some people to do just that. I’m talking about a change in heart. Do we allow the Eucharist to change our hearts, to be more Christ-like in our daily lives – in our everyday dealings with others? You see, when we go through those doors after Mass, we are not going out of the church; we are being sent into the world.
Going back to Dr. Pitre’s story of his meeting with the Baptist minister, the minister said to him, “Don’t you understand that if the Lord’s Supper were really Jesus’ body and blood, then you would be eating Jesus. … Don’t you realize that if you were really able to eat Jesus, you would become Jesus?” Isn’t that what it’s all about? God became one of us so that we might become one with him. Without realizing it, that minister hit the nail on the head on what the Eucharist is really about. If we are not open to this kind of change, then our “Amen” when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ means nothing! To believe in the Eucharist, then, isn’t just to understand what it is, but to embrace who it is, what it can do. And this is where it takes faith!
After many of Jesus’ disciples left him, Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” This, by the way, is a question he also asks each of us. He gives us the choice. And then Peter, speaking for all of them said, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Essentially, Peter was saying, “I don’t quite get all this, but I do know who you are, and I trust you.”
This is what I would call simple faith. Jesus said it, so Peter believes it. Remember the story of the centurion who came to Jesus pleading for his ailing servant. Jesus was ready to go to his home and cure him, but the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Only say the word. Simple faith. He believed simply because Jesus said so. Think about when we were children, we believed and trusted everything our parents said. All it took was their word. Because they said so. Simple faith.
This, I believe, is what Jesus meant when he said that we must become like children to enter into the Kingdom of God. Simple faith. Why do I believe the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ? Not just because the Church says so, but because Jesus says so. This is my body, he says. This is my blood.
Amen!