Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Today is the third Sunday in a stretch of five Sundays wherein we hear from the 6th Chapter of St. John's Gospel, an elongated passage known as “The Bread of Life Discourse," a crash-course on the meaning of the Holy Eucharist.
Last week, Our Lord taught us: “This is the work of God: that you believe in the One He sent.” This means that belief in Christ as the Son of God come down from heaven is the essence of Christian faith. This belief, He taught, will link us to the eternal life enjoyed by the Holy Trinity: The Lord then gives Himself in the mystery of the Eucharist, revealing Himself as the Bread of Life which will sustain the spiritual life as well as the quest for eternal life within us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ provides us with a challenge far greater than a good example for living: Christ is telling us that He is our life. Following Him, sustained in faith by the Eucharist, brings us to a share in God’s “life,” so that eternal life begins, in a limited measure, here and now.
While last week the Lord gave us this spectacular Revelation, and asked us to believe it through Faith, even though the essence of what He taught would remain a mystery… this week we look at how we are to respond to His Teaching, and how this response forms our life.
He begins with the unexpected statement: “Stop murmuring among yourselves,” which echoes God the Father’s words to Moses: “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.” This suggests that complaining about God’s Providence, and questioning Church Teaching are ancient practices of God’s People that continue with us today.
But why does Christ say “stop murmuring?” It is because the Truth of God’s Revelation infinitely surpasses the thoughts and opinions of those who will receive His Teachings in ancient days, and in our day as well. At another time in Salvation History, God the Father had said to His People through the Prophet Isaiah “My thoughts are not your thoughts…” yet both God the Father and God the Son entrust us mere mortals with Eternal Truths.
The Lord Jesus commands, “stop murmuring” because it could lead to further doubt, dissent, disobedience or despair. Grounding one’s faith in one’s own thoughts rather than in the mysteries of faith revealed to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ, can lead even further to heresy, agnosticism, or atheism, severing the union that the soul seeks with God, and the communion the person enjoys with His Church, whereas (as Jesus says) those who listen to the Father (in the authoritative Teaching of His Church) shall be taught by God Himself.
This is how the Protestant denominations came into being, and why the Lord commands people to stop murmuring and, instead, to listen and to receive. This also introduces the essential difference between Catholic and Protestant ethos, which is the shared understanding of:
+ revealed law
+ Church Teaching
+ hierarchical authority - and -
+ moral life
The Catholic ethos is based in Obedience: “The Church teaches; I will obey, as difficult as that can be, at times.”
The Protestant ethos is based in Self-determinism: “The Church speaks (or not); I will decide for myself.”
This central ethic applies to the acceptance and the living of the whole of Catholic faith, including, but not limited to:
+ Revealed mysteries
+ Moral Law
+ Church Authority
It is that ethos of self-determinism which Saint Paul says “grieves the Holy Spirit.”
The ethos of Obedience in Catholic Tradition allows a person to embrace mystery and to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The ethos of self-determinism in Protestant and other thought encourages a person to think of the mystery of the Eucharist, and wonder: “Hmmm… this makes no real sense to me; perhaps Christ is only symbolically present.”
When the Lord says, “stop murmuring,” He doesn’t mean that we should not seek further understanding and clarification concerning the mysteries of our faith; He is, instead, cautioning against making-up our own theologies, born of doubt or dissent, which will only lead to isolation from His community of faith, and, perhaps, even to despair. The Jews of His day murmured against Jesus because orthodox teaching, when first introduced, often sparks controversy.
When a person stops believing that Christ is truly Present in the Holy Eucharist, his Catholic faith is weakened to the very core, and then one’s motivation for attending Mass can change dramatically. If Christ is merely “symbolically present” in the Eucharist, then the focus of worship changes: Instead of being present to the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass taking place upon the altar, now one seeks fellowship with other worshippers in the pew as the first-fruits of our gathering. Fellowship is certainly one fruit of our gathering, but our primary focus, our reason for attending Mass, is to meet Christ in the renewal of that First Sacrifice in the Upper Room, continuing in each celebration of Holy Mass.
Christ present among us in the Holy Eucharist is our shared identity, our true raison d’être. Without the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, we would gather as little more than any other fraternal organization. Let me give you an example of the unifying power of Christ in the Eucharist:
At the Ordination/Installation Mass for our new Bishop last month, I was seated in the very last row of Priests who would be concelebrating from the pews. Seated next to me was a visitor, a young Greek Orthodox Priest. Dressed in his black soutane and hat, he took part in the Mass as far as his Tradition would allow: standing, sitting, kneeling, etc.
At the time for the Sign of Peace, I turned to him and with a nod, said, “The Peace of Christ.” He, in turn, made a profound bow and said, “Christ is here.” I experienced this as a more profound gesture and more profound greeting, adding some solemnity to the moment, far surpassing what I sometimes see in the pews at this point in the Mass. Though we are from different Christian Traditions, Christ seemed truly present between us.
When we come from our many homes to meet Christ in the Eucharist, to worship, adore, and receive Him, we find that He has been here all along, waiting for us.
We can see this reflected in the story of Elijah today: Exhausted from battle and fleeing for his life, he journeys into the desert. There he prays that God would let him die, saying, “This is enough, O Lord!” This speaks to the exhaustion many people now experience, living in the stress of a high-tech, fast-paced, post-Christian society. But the Lord sends angels with food and drink to protect Elijah, and to strengthen him for the task ahead.
However, we are given an even greater gift at Mass than what Elijah received because it is no mere Angel that comes to us, but Christ Himself, with His flesh and blood as spiritual food and drink.
The grace of the Eucharist strengthens and renews the soul. It is food for our spiritual journey, which, in itself, strengthens us for our spiritual, emotional, moral, and social life. So, stay close to the Eucharist, never miss an opportunity to attend Mass — even while traveling — because you need the Grace. We close now, by listening once more to the words of God’s holy angel: “Get up and eat, else the journey be too hard for you.”