Homily — 20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

We all know fine Christian folk who are very devoted to the Sacred Scriptures. They have tremendous love and respect for the Bible as the inspired written Word of God. They read the Bible frequently, study it deeply, and order their lives according to its teaching. Regardless of their particular denomination, they frequently refer to themselves as "Bible Christians." Generally speaking, Roman Catholics are not usually included in this category. While we certainly have great reverence for the Sacred Scriptures and their unique role in our faith, we also recognize that the Bible is not all there is to Divine Revelation. There is Tradition with a capital T: the truths of the Faith which were handed down to us from the Apostles by word of mouth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And we acknowledge the role of the Sacred Magisterium: the teaching office of the Church which ensures that Scripture and Tradition are rightly interpreted and applied in our lives, and which is also protected from error by the work of the Holy Spirit, promised by Christ to the Church to lead her into all truth.

Bible Christians are known for their literal interpretation of Scripture: whatever the Bible says, even in the minutest details of history or natural science, is to be understood as literal truth. This approach has much to commend it because it is simple and direct. Indeed, it is the best starting point for understanding the Sacred Scriptures. We do believe the Bible to be free from error. And we should read the Bible according to the way in which the human authors wrote it and the way in which they understood what they wrote. From there, we delve deeper into what the divine author intended to convey. So a literal interpretation is certainly not to be rejected. Bible Christians, however, have difficulty with certain passages of Scripture. The literal interpretation is just too uncomfortable. Today’s Gospel is a prime example. I know this for a fact because I grew up a fundamentalist Protestant, it wasn’t until my senior year in Bible college that I discovered this passage of Scripture on my own. The Bread of Life Discourse (which we have been reading these past few weeks at Sunday Mass) and especially the verses in today’s Gospel were never taught in any of my classes and I never heard a sermon preached on them. I don’t say this to criticize Bible Christians, but merely to point out the fact that sometimes a literal interpretation will take you in a direction you don’t want to go. Sadly, this particular teaching of Jesus has been a cause of division among his followers from the very first day he spoke it, as we will hear in next week’s Gospel.

In this instance, however, the Catholic Church has always taken Jesus precisely at his word. He meant exactly what he said when he uttered this profound teaching: "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. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me."

It is clear that Jesus really does mean to give us his flesh and blood to be our food and drink. This is the literal truth. But how is this possible? In the most Holy Eucharist he gives himself to us, not in a cannibalistic sense as some have criticized (and as a strictly literal interpretation might lead us to believe); but we receive Christ sacramentally. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the bread and wine are transformed in their substance—their inner reality—into the living and life-giving Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, while only the appearances of bread and wine remain. When we receive Holy Communion, we do not eat a piece of dead flesh, but we receive the whole Christ, risen from the dead and living for evermore. He comes into our being to dwell within us and to give us, as he promised, eternal life.

It’s good to reflect on the truths contained in the pure and simple words of Jesus—words which he spoke to his disciples in the synagogue of Capernaum. Throughout history and into the present day, these truths have been questioned and challenged and reinterpreted, even by those who profess to be Catholic. But his word is true, and he meant what he said. He gives us this wonderful gift of himself because of his infinite love for us. He wants to be in relationship with each one of us in the most intimate way possible. In the ordinary course of nature, when we eat something, that food becomes part of us—part of our very being. But when we feed on Christ in Holy Communion, we become what we receive—we are transformed into the Mystical Body of Christ becoming members of that Body, and increasingly conformed into his divine image.

Because of our Lord’s promise (and his word cannot be broken), the real presence of Jesus Christ—his Body and Blood, soul and divinity, whole and entire—is an objective reality at every Mass. But the effect this will have on our lives largely depends on our faith. If our faith is simple and pure, like that of a child, the transforming power of the most Holy Eucharist will be tremendous in our souls. If our faith is weak, if we simply go through the motions without giving much thought to what we’re doing, then the fruits of the Mass in our lives will be greatly diminished and correspondingly weak. If our faith is bad, marked by doubt and unbelief, then our unworthy reception of Holy Communion can even bring about condemnation.

This is why it is vitally important that we examine our hearts each time we approach Holy Communion to be sure that they are conformed to that divine wisdom of which today’s first reading spoke: "Let whoever is simple turn in here; to the one who lacks understanding, [wisdom] says, come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding." Our merely human wisdom and understanding can never grasp these truths. We could only know about our Lord’s Eucharistic presence because he himself revealed it to us. May he then help us to believe with pure and simple hearts and to receive him with great love and devotion.

© 2003, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor

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