My flesh is true food.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time August 17, 2024

Prv 9:1-6 Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 Eph 5:15-20 Jn 6:56 Jn 6:51-58

[Once again this is a written version of the homily I gave at Mass. I am no longer reading my homilies, so the written version is slightly different from what I delivered in person. Unfortunately I do not have a recording of the one I delivered in person.]

♫ Lord, I consume your Body, and I consume your Blood.  Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪ ♫ Lord, I consume your Body, and I consume your Blood.  Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪ ♫ Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪

What I just sang is the refrain of one of my favorite hymns called “Consume my Heart.”  It was written by a good friend of mine named Michael James Mette while he was at Eucharistic Adoration.  I had it sung as a Communion Meditation at my Mass of Thanksgiving on my Ordination Day, and I think it is an appropriate hymn to go along with our readings today.

I also played the guitar and sang this hymn at my dad’s funeral, as I thought it was a fitting hymn because of the Eucharistic Miracle he experienced in his life.  You see, my dad was an alcoholic, but when he finally hit rock bottom and began his recovery through A.A., he was also a Eucharistic Minister at his parish.  Now most recovering alcoholics can never ever drink any form or amount of alcohol, or they backslide into alcoholism again. 

My dad, however, truly believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  He believed that the bread and wine consecrated by the Priest transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  As a result, he had faith that partaking of the cup at communion would not cause him to faulter and slip into alcoholism again.  And it never did.  He never did!  And our Responsorial Psalm today of “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” is something my dad and my family could proclaim because of this miracle in his life.  He sought the Lord, and the Lord answered him and delivered him.

Now in our first reading today, from the Book of Proverbs, we have an invitation to one of two banquets.  The banquets are prepared by Wisdom and Folly; and today’s passage is an invitation from Wisdom to her banquet.  Eating the food of Wisdom and drinking her wine makes human beings live.  This reading relates to the Lord’s banquet in which he himself is the living bread from our Gospel reading.

Unfortunately, there are many, even among Catholics, who do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  Instead of accepting the invitation to Wisdom’s banquet, many have chosen Folly’s banquet invitation, who’s guests ultimately end up in the depths of the nether world. 

This why several years ago the Catholic Bishops here in the U.S. launched a three year Eucharistic Revival that culminated with a Eucharistic Congress which concluded on Sunday July 21st, just one week before the Gospel reading from John on the multiplication of the loaves and fish and the feeding of five thousand men, and the start of the John’s discourse on The Bread of Life. 

Interestingly, in our reading today, John uses two different Greek words for what is translated into English as the word “eat.”

In verse 53 is the word phagō [fag'-o] which means eat and is used as an alternate of katesthiō [kat-es-thee'-o] which means to devour.  Then in verses 54 & 56 we have trōgō [tro'-go] which is to gnaw or chew like animals do.  So, Jesus is quite literally telling his disciples and all who sought after him after being fed from the experience of the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish, that in order to have life, they must literally chew, gnaw and devour his flesh, and drink his blood!

This was not only difficult for the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Scribes to hear, but as we will hear in next week’s Gospel reading, many of His disciples left Him because of this teaching, and he let them go.  He didn’t tell them to come back and not leave; that he only meant it spiritually or metaphorically.  No, Jesus was quite literal and emphatic about what he said.

Fortunately for us, we literally have the opportunity to eat His flesh and drink His blood every time we come to Mass.  It is a gift that only we humans, created in God’s image and likeness, as a means to restore us from our fallen nature, can receive.  In fact, there is a popular post on social media of a quote attributed to Saint Maximilian Kolbe that “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.”  Angels can participate in the Mass with us here and now, but they cannot participate in Holy Communion with Jesus, only we can!  Let that sink in!

Now something interesting to note is that after the consecration of the Eucharist and before the reception of Holy Communion, we as a community, as members of the Body of Christ, pray together the “Our Father,” which includes the words “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Now in Mathew’s Gospel, this word daily comes from the Greek word epiousios/epiousion [ep-ee-oo'-see-os / ep-ee-oo'-see-on], which epiou means essence or super substantial.  We are literally saying give us this day our super substantial bread, which is the bread come down from heaven which Jesus is referring to in today’s Gospel.  ~[head explosion]~

It is not enough for us to believe in the Real Presence, and to receive Him in Holy Communion, but we must also allow ourselves to be consumed and transformed by Him.  We must allow Christ to consume our hearts; to become what we eat so that we may remain in Him, and He in us, and be raised on the last day.

Additionally, if we truly believe this, then we cannot keep it to ourselves; we need to also proclaim it to all we know, and all we encounter.  That’s why at the end of Mass, after receiving Holy Communion we are sent forth.  To live out what we just received.

How many of you know who Penn and Teller are?  Penn is an atheist who says he has no respect for any Christian that does not share their faith.  He was once touched by a man’s gesture to share his faith with him and said: “If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and you think it’s not worth telling someone about it, how much do you have to hate him to not proselytize? To believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell people? This man cared enough about me to proselytize.”

How about we take what Penn said and rephrase it to: “If we believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and we think it’s not worth telling someone about it, how much do we have to hate that person not to share it with them?”

Pretty harsh words to swallow because I know I’m guilty of not always taking the opportunity to share this with others.  It’s not something that is easy to do, especially in this day and age when Christians, especially Catholics, are despised, mocked and hated.  Definitely something I need to work on doing a better job of, and finding ways in which I can do it.  And that being said, a good place to start is with prayer; by going to Adoration and praying these words: ♫ Lord, I consume your Body, and I consume your Blood.  Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪ ♫ Lord, I consume your Body, and I consume your Blood.  Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪ ♫ Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪ ♫ Now Lord Jesus consume my heart. ♪♪