by Fr. Tommy Lane
We continue to read John 6 and will conclude this beautiful chapter next Sunday. Throughout his sermon in John 6, Jesus has been trying to raise the thinking of the crowd to a higher level. In the previous part of Jesus’ sermon, when Jesus spoke of bread it could mean his spiritual teaching but in the part of Jesus’ sermon that we heard today, Jesus’ words make it clear that he is now talking of the gift of himself in the Eucharist:
whoever eats this
bread will live forever;
and the bread that I
will give
is my flesh for the
life of the world.
(John 6:51)
It is clear that Jesus is not talking symbolically because these words caused his Jewish listeners to quarrel among themselves asking how he could give his flesh to eat. Obviously, they were thinking in terms of cannibalism. But Jesus doesn’t say “you misunderstood me. I was only speaking symbolically.” Instead, he not only repeats about eating his flesh but said it is essential for our spiritual life:
unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life
within you.
(John 6:53)
The Eucharist really is Jesus.
John wrote his Gospel in Greek and there are two words in Greek for “eat.” To drive home his point and make sure people grasp what Jesus says, that he is not talking symbolically, from about halfway through our Gospel today (from verse 54 onwards) John uses the stronger of the two words for eating Jesus’ flesh (τρώγειν, not φαγειν). John wants us to understand that Jesus means literal eating. The strong word that John uses means crunching on something or gnawing it which we obviously would not do to the Eucharist but John deliberately used this word to drive home to us that Jesus was not talking symbolically and that Jesus meant consuming him in Holy Communion.
The bread becomes the body of Jesus at the consecration of the Mass. It is no longer bread though it continues to look like bread. It is not blessed bread or holy bread as some say; it is Jesus. The wine becomes the blood of Jesus at the consecration though it continues to look like wine; it is no longer wine but Jesus. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive the fulness of Jesus even when we don’t receive the chalice. Jesus is really present in the Eucharist and for anyone serious about following Jesus, the Eucharist is not an optional extra but is essential:
unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life
within you. (John 6:53)
We look forward to being with Jesus in the next life but already now we can be with Jesus in the Eucharist:
Whoever eats my flesh
and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in
him. (John 6:56)
This is an amazing grace and gift from Jesus. When we receive Jesus, he remains in us and we in him. Receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is our moment of highest union with Jesus; we are at one with him. A French spiritual writer describes it this way:
when we receive Christ, we . . . become one with Him. Communion is the closest union that can possibly be conceived; it is the highest degree of union in this world. (Abbé Portier L’Eucharistie, pain de vie p56)
That bears repeating:
Communion is the closest union that can possibly be conceived; it is the highest degree of union in this world.
Because receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is the closest union we can have with Jesus, we want to be as well prepared as possible to meet Jesus. If Jesus were to visit your house, you would, I presume, want to clean and tidy your house and make it look as well as possible for Jesus’ visit. Likewise with our soul; we want to have our soul in good condition to welcome Jesus in Holy Communion and we call this being in a state of grace to receive Jesus. Making a sincere confession restores us to a state of grace if we have lost it. Jesus coming to us in the Eucharist is pure gift and grace and I think we only understand a tiny glimpse of what it really means to receive Jesus in Holy Communion.
How did the crowd react to Jesus’ sermon? We will hear next Sunday. Many of Jesus’ disciples stopped following him and returned to their former way of life. They walked away after this sermon. They made a decision. We are here because we have decided that we believe Jesus and his words; we believe that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. We know that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, we do not have life within us and that when we eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood, we remain in Jesus and Jesus in us.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Twentieth Sunday of Year B
Little Nellie of Holy God longing for the Eucharist
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord
Related Homilies: Jesus’ sermon on the Eucharist 2011
Homilies on the Eucharist Stories about the Eucharist