We just heard John 6:52, “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
That reminds of me two men who lived in a small town who got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve. So, they decided to talk to the wisest man in town.
The first man went to the house of the wise man and told him his version of what happened. When he finished, the sage said, "You are absolutely right."
The following night, the second man approached the sage and told him his version of events. The sage replied: "You are absolutely right."
Later, the sage's wife rebuked her husband. He said, “Those two men told you two different stories, and you told them they were absolutely right. That's impossible - they can't both be absolutely right. "
The sage turned to his wife and said, "You are absolutely right."
In our First Reading from the first six verses of Proverbs, from chapter 9, a meal is described that bestows wisdom, which is a foreshadowing of the Eucharist.
There was a study on the Eucharist from a university in Santa Barbara, California, about Catholic Mass and its healing implications for the addicted person whereby the social network and group norms that prescribe patterns of perceiving, thinking, feeling, and behaving that promoted drug use are now replaced by the Catholic Mass and receiving the Eucharist in the state of grace. It’s applicable to everyone regarding our attachments and sins, e.g., in our Second Reading, “do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Addicts develop a deep emotional attachment and assign a meaning that is very personal to their substance abuse, but, in recovery, the time and space of Mass and Adoration of the Eucharist outside of Mass can alter this attachment to become a source of transformation by an alternative Eucharistic consciousness in Jesus Christ.
One person in the study said, “The Eucharist at the altar is a gift from God who loves us so much.... he’s not going to leave us alone….as the person eats God, he or she experiences becoming part of Him as well.”
We heard John 6:53 and John 6:54, in our Gospel, “53. Jesus said to them, “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. 54. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
As memory device, Renee Oania, shared, “I attended Mass… After making the sign of the cross, my priest recited this verse[s] with the parishioners, which was John 6:53-54. He asked us to sing this and we repeated after him:
John 6, John 6, then [we] clapped our hands six times, then sang the numbers 53 and 54. Then sang verse 54:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day.1
2. Another person in the study realized that by his presence at Mass there was a “giving” because the offering of his personal intentions at Mass with Jesus to the Father was a way he could give to others.
Pope Pius XI taught that Catholics should not be “detached and silent spectators” at Mass (Divini Cultus of 1928). Christianity is not a spectator sport. Catholics “assist” at Mass. E.g., “Pray brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.” You offer Jesus to the Father—your life and for your personal intentions, at every Mass, which is a re-presentation of the Last Supper and Calvary.
In the study, that individual and others also reported feeling better after receiving communion, tearing up with emotion, renewing their faith, and getting spiritual strength. “God knows I’m here again” one of them said. Many, in the study, described wanting to go and worship at Mass and looking forward to it, rather than going from a sense of obligation.
We heard John 6:57-58: “The one who feeds on me will have life because of me…. whoever eats this bread will live forever."
It’s like the difference between the Israelites who eat manna in the desert and yet died nonetheless vs. Jesus’ sweet promise that those who eat the Eucharist will live forever, which is echoed in the Responsorial Psalm, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”
“Eternal life begins in the here-and-now. [With the Eucharist] the life within us can become an unstoppable force that undergoes no appreciable change even with our own death… this force is a life we can share with others. Whenever we, like Jesus, help another overcome evils like fatigue, illness, fear or alienation, we become the bread that supports the life of the world,” so we live eucharistic lives.2
3. All of the participants in the study said that spirituality is big part of their recovery. The bread and wine, which had in its physical form symbolizing our human selves and self-giving is altered in substance to become Christ Himself. They are no longer two things but God.
It’s like what the Catechism teaches in number 1331: In Holy Communion, we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.4. As one person noted, Catholics come to the altar from our need, our brokenness. As Holy Communion is received, the communicant receives creative healing energy to calm, and we begin to listen deep within. Jesus becomes part of our bodies. In the Eucharist we become one with Christ...and we go out changed, holier than when we came in because of uniting to Christ in the sacrament.”
The Catechism describes this renewal in this way: “Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh ‘given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,’ preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism” (CCC 1392).
5. Others mentioned surrendering at the altar and offering oneself to the Lord simultaneously as the priest was speaking Jesus words.
The Eucharist is a cause of holiness in us when worthily received because it helps prevent the relapse of sin by the strength of this soul food.
It’s the resentments and anger that often causes relapses.
E.g. St. Paul cautions the Ephesians that if they give up invoking and relying on the Holy Spirit they will become bitter. Paul is saying to forgive and be kind and compassionate and remove all bitterness and anger and be like Christ who died for us as a sacrificial offering.
In conclusion, a priest I know said that “Some years back, while still in campus, walking between two blocks, I happened to run into the principal. I introduced myself as a priest and a current research student. The principal’s next question was, “So what are you working on?” “My project is on spirituality and addictive behavior,” I said. The Principal, a Jesuit theologian himself, was obviously in a hurry, as Principals usually are! He offered me a quick quip. It came in the form of a question: “Don’t you think almost all our spiritual and moral struggles are basically centered around addiction and idolatry?” And off he went. But his rhetorical question lingered on in my mind for days.3
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, observed, “We become like that which we gaze upon. Looking into a sunset, the face takes on a golden glow. Looking at our Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way.” (Treasure in Clay, p. 198).”
1. Renee Oania, blog; John 6:53-54, Catholic 365, 09/24/2014
2. Michael Simone, S.J., Eternal life begins today; America: The Jesuit Review, 07/27/2018
3. Fr. Sahaya G. Selvam, sdb
