30 July 2012

From Pippen to St. Thomas


Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
            One of my favorite movies is the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.  While the purists may argue about the real value of the movies, I like them.  One of my favorite comedic dialogues from the Trilogy, is between Aragorn, Pippin, and Merry, as they’re going to Rivendell, the home of the Elves.  Pippin wants to stop for breakfast, but Aragorn tells them that they have to keep going, and besides, they’ve already had breakfast.  Pippen then says, “We’ve had one, yes.  But what about second breakfast?”  Merry chimes in, “Don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.”  To which, Pippen replies, “What about elevensies?  Luncheon?  Afternoon tea?  Dinner?  Supper?”
            In the overall picture of destroying the One Ring and defeated Sauron, all those meals, as good as they are, were not as important.  There are greater goals which trump the goods of “nice, crispy bacon.”  The same can be said for our Gospel passage today.
            Today marks the beginning of a continuous reading of John 6, called the Bread of Life discourse, as we hear about the Multiplication of the Loaves.  The Multiplication itself was prefigured in God giving the Israelites manna in the dessert (though, as we’ll hear in the next few weeks, the people later thought it was Moses who gave them manna), as well as in our first reading, when Elisha fed one hundred people with only twenty barley loaves.
            But the Multiplication of the Loaves was not the goal.  The goal was the teaching on the Eucharist, a tough teaching indeed.  In fact, it was so tough, that most of Jesus’ disciples abandoned Him.  But we’ll hear about that in a few weeks.
            Still, the problem is that we can be more like Pippen than we’d like to admit.  The story of the food can distract us from the point of the miracle that Jesus performed.  And John is quite clear that Jesus is the agent, not the people.  John writes, “[Jesus] himself knew what he was going to do” and “Jesus…distributed [the loaves] to those who were reclining,” after he had first given thanks (in Greek eucharistesas…it sounds like Eucharist).  But, as will hear later, the people get stuck with the feeding, and they don’t understand the spiritual truth for which the miracle was meant to prepare the way.  And that spiritual truth was that Jesus was to give Himself as the Bread of Life for the people in the Eucharist, which is truly His Flesh, and the Wine of Salvation which is truly His Blood.
            Sadly, many Catholics today get stuck with the food, and don’t realize the truth.  Too many Catholics see bread and think…bread.  Or taste wine and think…wine.  Some surveys say that only 30% of Catholics believe that the bread and the wine, given by the people to the priest, to offer in their name to God, really becomes, for as long as it exists, the Body and Blood of Jesus.  And even if we didn’t have a scientific study, actions speak louder than words.    
            For example, I have often heard people say, “I prefer going to the Lutheran service, or the Evangelical service, because they have better music and better preaching.”  They might have better music (arguments can be made), and there are a great deal of priests that struggle with preaching (you may think you’re looking at one).  But what others don’t have is Jesus’ Body and Blood.  They may celebrate communion, but no Protestant theologian would ever say that they believe in Transubstantiation: that the substance of the bread and wine change into the substance of Jesus, that is, His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.  They might believe it becomes a symbol of Jesus’ Body and Blood, or even that it’s in the bread, with the bread, underneath the bread, and around the bread, what some call Consubstantiation, but that it remains, in essence only bread.  But, getting back to the point, it breaks my heart when people go to a service elsewhere and don’t go to Mass, because they’re missing out on union with Jesus through the Eucharist, a special union where we become one with Him in a way that cannot happen through any other means, as good as those other services may be.
            Or, when people drink coffee or eat food right before Mass starts, or chew gum, even during Mass itself!  The reason why the Church tells us to fast 1 hour before receiving communion is to prepare not only our souls, but also our bodies (since the two are integrally connected) to receive our Lord.  Practically, an hour before receiving communion is about 20 minutes before Mass, which is not that long.  Not fasting before the reception of Holy Communion can demonstrate a lack of understanding of what the Eucharist truly is.  We get stuck at the food part, and don’t consider the reality that what looks like bread and wine is not bread and wine, but Jesus.   
            If we truly believe that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, then no other service, no matter how much we enjoy it, is ever the same, because we lack that intimate connection that comes only through the Divine Liturgy of the Mass.  If we know that we are going to become one with our Savior, then holding off on food or drink (except water and medicine), as long as it does not truly injure our health, is a way of saying that nothing matters more than Jesus, and that we will hunger and thirst for Him.  Even though it looks like bread and wine, let us not be deceived by our senses, but affirm with our faith that the One we receive is none other than Jesus Himself.  As the beautiful hymn Adoro Te, Devote by our parish patron, St. Thomas Aquinas, says about the Eucharist,

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How? says trusty hearing that shall be believed;
What God’s Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there’s nothing true.