Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 14, 2020: We, though many, are one body...

We, though many, are one body…

How does Eucharist change us?

  Every time we participate in Eucharist, we are transformed.  It’s not surprising that, when we can’t receive communion in the context of liturgy, we feel unsettled:  to share in the Body and Blood of Christ during Mass is to move beyond the isolation we create for ourselves and into a sharing in and participating in each other’s lives.  In John’s gospel, Jesus tells the Jewish crowds that they will be called to eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood as a way of participating in Jesus’ life – this is how we remain in him and he in us.  In this way he is the living bread that came down from heaven, a source of eternal life for those who allow Eucharist to transform them, nourishing a life that is other-centered.  Eucharist is the means by which we have life because of Jesus; consequently, if God dwells in us and loves us, then we are to reveal that love to the world.

  The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ dates back to the thirteenth century; it is a celebration of God’s gift of his Son, who was born, suffered and died, yet remains with us. God has always been feeding God’s people.  Yet, unlike the manna with which God fed the people of Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy, Eucharist is an eternal, unceasing gift of life, flesh and blood that nourish us spiritually, targeting our hearts, our souls, our very lives.  And so, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, to bless the cup of blessing constitutes our participation in the blood of Christ just as breaking bread is a participation in his body.  It is true that, as Psalm 147 states, God fills us with the best of wheat, for which we are called to praise the Lord – but Eucharist is so much more!  Ultimately, it is a call to transformative union:  because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf, Paul writes.  We are not meant to leave the Eucharistic table the same as we arrived; we are to be transformed, changed, united as one people, intentional and aware of his life within us, ready to bend for the sake of other, to suffer if need be, that all might be one in the Body of Christ.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordclouds.com

Sunday Gospel Reflection, February 4, 2018: For this purpose have I come...

 For this purpose have I come… 

How clearly do we understand God's vision? 

   When his so-called friends challenge the good man Job for trusting in God even when Job’s life has fallen apart around him, Job does not hesitate to proffer a vision of life as he currently sees it:  Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?  Having endured months of misery and troubled nights, Job is without hope.  Job’s understanding of life, like our own, is limited by the very human parameters he places upon it.  With a growing sense that he has no control, Job is in despair:  I shall not see happiness again.  But as Job will come to learn, there is no moment when God is not by his side; once Job knows that, knows it in the very core of his being, he comes to appreciate life differently, seeing as God’s sees rather than as man does.  Only when Job gives all power over to God can he embrace the message of Psalm 147, and praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

   In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus heals not only Simon’s mother-in-law but all who were ill or possessed by demons, and in so doing, he removes all that stands in the way of their vision of God’s love for them.  Standing at their side, Jesus’ presence is a source of strength, a gift.  

   Like Job, we can be sidetracked by the challenges life brings us, yet, like those in need of healing in the Gospel, we must trust, we must let faith help us define our world, rather than our own limited human reason or experience.  Even Paul, writing to the Corinthians, acknowledges his own limited vision – he is ever challenged to understand what he is to do that will bring lasting meaning to his life.  Paul’s answer lies in preaching the gospel, sharing the good news of salvation of all.

   As he did to the suffering souls of his time, Jesus speaks words of love that help us to overcome all obstacles, that we might believe fully in the salvation that he offers – for this purpose did he come.  Our vision needs to be informed by faith, by the knowledge that God is with us, standing at our side, no matter the trial, no matter the challenge.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.

Image source:  www.wordle.net

Sunday Gospel Reflection, June 18, 2017: Whoever eats this bread will live forever...

 Whoever eats this bread will live forever… 

Why do we gather for Eucharist? 

   In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people that God has fed them with manna, a food unknown to them, in order to show them that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.  Throughout their sojourn in the desert, God takes care of God’s people, sees to it that they have everything they need.  And they do need physical food, yes, of course, but more than that, Moses says, they need to listen to the word of God, to allow it to feed and direct their lives – this is essential.  In Psalm 147, God is praised for having provided Jerusalem with the best of wheat, but also for proclaiming his word to Jacob, to Israel as a nation – the word of the Lord according to which they must live, for that word is life-giving.

   John’s Gospel makes this clear:  I am the living bread that came down from heaven; and the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.  Only by the Word of God – Jesus himself – do we live; God’s Word is essential, necessary to our existence.  At Creation, Jesus is the Word through whom all things come into existence; in the Incarnation, all Jesus says and does is of God, and reveals God—Jesus is the perfect revelation of God, of God’s eternal love for humankind, the fullest revelation of God we have ever received.  To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ –true food, true drink—is thus to be one in that revelation, to become one with that essence, one with the transformed bread and wine that become the body and blood of Christ.  We gather for Eucharist because in Eucharist, as Paul tells the Corinthians, the cup of blessing that we bless is a participation in the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a participation in Christ’s body.  In Eucharist, we participate in the body and blood of Christ.  In Eucharist, we are fed in our spiritual bodies by the Word made flesh, thus becoming one body, one essence.

   Why do we gather for Eucharist?  Because in Eucharist, we are made one, one with Christ, one with each other, one in that Body of Christ that is the life-giving essence of our identity as Christians, that we might share his gift of life with the world.

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle

Sunday Gospel Reflection, February 8, 2015: I am filled with restlessness...

I am filled with restlessness...

What weighs you down?

Often, it’s a problem of vision:  our ability to perceive things clearly is restricted by the burdens we bear, the difficulties we face.  And yet, God’s grace surrounds us.  Job had been prosperous, faithful, in right relationship with God.  And then terrible calamities start to occur:  he loses his house, his children, his livestock, his health.  Through it all, however, Job remains faithful, trusting in God, though he does experience moments of despair like the one we hear this week.  Through a series of powerful images, we feel Job’s pain:  he believes his life is like the wind; he can’t control, guide, or see it.  And so he is filled with restlessness until the dawn.  Sometimes it’s hard to see the bigger picture, the truth beyond the tangible…  And yet the Lord is there to see us through, as Job will shortly learn.

In Mark's Gospel, when Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, he is removing her, too, from the grip of all that weighs her down; he lifts her so that she can be whole again.  Indeed, in his healing ministry, Jesus releases many from whatever holds them back, yet often they still don’t see clearly.  They are now free to serve, free from constraint, free from what stood in the way of their experience of the fullness of God’s love.  Paul has experienced similar healing at Jesus’ hands, and thus he too is free to serve – it’s not a question of whether or not he will proclaim the Good News, but how he will do so.  And so he shares the vision of the healing Christ with the Corinthians – he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147) – hoping they, too, will come to praise the Lord, to sing praise to our God.

Every day has its share of difficulty; every day also has its share of grace.  Through all that we experience day-to-day, God does not abandon us. It’s up to us to expand our vision, so that we may see more clearly all that God is doing.  Our life is not truly like the wind; it’s so much more substantial than that, for we have the assurance of infinite love, an infinite love that heals and sustains… if only we open our eyes to see it.

This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source:  Wordle